The Satires of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and Lucilius

By Author	[ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z \| Other Symbols ]
By Title	[ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z \| Other Symbols ]
By Language

Download this book: [ ASCII | HTML | PDF ]

Look for this book on Amazon

We have new books nearly every day.
If you would like a news letter once a week or once a month fill out this form and we will give you a summary of the books for that week or month by email.

Title: The Satires of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and Lucilius
Author: Gifford, William, Evans, Rev. Lewis, Juvenal, Decimus Junius, Persius, Sulpicia
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.

*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Satires of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and Lucilius" ***

book was produced from scanned images of public domain
material from the Google Books project.)

THE
SATIRES
OF
JUVENAL, PERSIUS,
SULPICIA, AND LUCILIUS,

Literally Translated into English Prose,

WITH NOTES, CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES, ARGUMENTS, &c.

THE REV. LEWIS EVANS, M.A.,

LATE FELLOW OF WADHAM COLLEGE, OXFORD.

TO WHICH IS ADDED THE

METRICAL VERSION OF JUVENAL AND PERSIUS,

BY THE LATE

WILLIAM GIFFORD, ESQ.

NEW YORK:

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
1881.

HARPER'S

NEW CLASSICAL LIBRARY.

COMPRISING LITERAL TRANSLATIONS OF

CÆSAR.
VIRGIL.
SALLUST.
HORACE.
TERENCE.
TACITUS. 2 Vols.
LIVY. 2 Vols.
CICERO'S ORATIONS.
CICERO'S OFFICES, LÆLIUS, CATO MAJOR, PARADOXES, SCIPIO'S DREAM, LETTER
TO QUINTUS.
CICERO ON ORATORY AND ORATORS.
CICERO'S TUSCULAN DISPUTATIONS, THE NATURE OF THE GODS, AND THE
COMMONWEALTH.
JUVENAL.
XENOPHON.
HOMER'S ILIAD.
HOMER'S ODYSSEY.
HERODOTUS.
DEMOSTHENES. 2 Vols.
THUCYDIDES.
ÆSCHYLUS.
SOPHOCLES.
EURIPIDES. 2 Vols.
PLATO (SELECT DIALOGUES).

12mo, Cloth, $1 50 per Volume.

☞ HARPER & BROTHERS _will send either of the above works by mail,
postage prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on
receipt of the price_.

PREFACE BY THE TRANSLATOR.

While the poetical versions of Juvenal deservedly hold a very high
place in the literature of this country, it is a curious fact that
there exists no single prose translation which can stand the test
of even ordinary criticism. Whether it be that the temptation to a
metrical version of a poetical writer is too great with some, or
whether the labor of faithfully representing the genius of confessedly
the most difficult writer in the Latin language has deterred others,
the fact is undeniable, that there is no prose version from which the
unclassical reader can form any adequate idea of the writings of the
greatest of Satirists.

Madan, though faithful, is utterly unintelligible to any one who has
not the Latin before him. Sheridan is far too free, in every sense of
the word, to be either a fair expositor of his original, or to suit the
taste of the present day; and without any disparagement of the labors
of Sterling, Nuttall, Smart, or Wallace, it was found impossible to
adopt any one of them even as the _basis_ of a version which should be
worthy of a place in the present series.

The accompanying translation, therefore, is entirely original; and
the translator is not aware of having copied a single line from any
previous version. How far he has succeeded in giving a faithful
transcript of the author, and in, at the same time, infusing some
spark of the fire and spirit of the original, must be for others to
determine; all that he dares venture to assert is, that he has brought
to the task an enthusiastic admiration of his author, and a careful
study of many years. The same remarks apply to the translation of
Persius.

The notes are to a considerable extent original, and the English,
perhaps even the classical, reader may not be displeased at the
occasional introduction of passages from metrical versions in which the
sense appeared to be the most forcibly given.

A Chronological Table has been added, which the labors of Mr. Clinton
have enabled the Translator to present in a far more correct form than
heretofore.

The poetical version by Gifford has been annexed, as having the
greatest hold on the public favor, and as being perhaps the best,
because the most equal; though, unquestionably, in all the Satires
which Dryden translated, he has immeasurably surpassed Gifford in fire
and spirit, as Hodgson has in elegance and poetic genius, and Badham in
taste, scholarship, and terse and vigorous rendering. But Gifford is
always equal, and generally faithful.

The remains of Sulpicia and Lucilius appear now for the first time
in English. Of the value of the latter, and of the propriety of
appending his Fragments to a translation of the great Roman Satirists,
no scholar-like reader of Juvenal and Horace can entertain a doubt.
The recent labors of foreign scholars have presented us with the text
in a purer form than almost any collection of Fragments of the older
Latin writers. In the Arguments prefixed to the several Books, and in
the notes, will be found the essence of the criticisms of Jan. Dousa,
Van Heusde, Corpet, Schoenbeck, Schmidt, Petermann, and especially of
Gerlach, whose readings have in general been preferred.

L. E.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

LIFE of Juvenal, by Gifford i

Essay on the Roman Satirists, by Gifford xii

Chronology of Juvenal, Persius, and Sulpicia xxxix

On the date of Juvenal's Satires xlix

Arguments of the Satires of Juvenal lvii

THE SATIRES OF JUVENAL 1

THE SATIRES OF PERSIUS 199

SULPICIA 269

FRAGMENTS OF LUCILIUS 280

Juvenal in verse, by Gifford 369

Persius in verse, by Gifford 488

THE LIFE OF JUVENAL,

BY WILLIAM GIFFORD, ESQ.

Decimus Junius Juvenalis,[1] the author of the following Satires,
was born at Aquinum, an inconsiderable town of the Volsci, about the
year of Christ 38.[2] He was either the son, or the foster-son, of a
wealthy freedman, who gave him a liberal education. From the period
of his birth, till he had attained the age of forty, nothing more is
known of him than that he continued to perfect himself in the study
of eloquence, by declaiming, according to the practice of those days;
yet more for his own amusement, than from any intention to prepare
himself either for the schools or the courts of law. About this time he
seems to have discovered his true bent, and betaken himself to poetry.
Domitian was now at the head of the government, and showed symptoms of
reviving that system of favoritism which had nearly ruined the empire
under Claudius, by his unbounded partiality for a young pantomime
dancer of the name of Paris. Against this minion, Juvenal seems to have
directed the first shafts of that satire which was destined to make
the most powerful vices tremble, and shake the masters of the world on
their thrones. He composed a few lines[3] on the influence of Paris,
with considerable success, which encouraged him to cultivate this kind
of poetry: he had the prudence, however, not to trust himself to an
auditory, in a reign which swarmed with informers; and his compositions
were, therefore, secretly handed about among his friends.[4] By
degrees he grew bolder; and, having made many large additions to his
first sketch, or perhaps re-cast it, produced what is now called
his Seventh Satire, which he recited to a numerous assemblage. The
consequences were such as he had probably anticipated: Paris, informed
of the part which he bore in it, was seriously offended, and complained
to the emperor, who, as the old account has it,[5] sent the author, by
an easy kind of punishment, into Egypt with a military command.
To remove such a man from his court must undoubtedly have been
desirable to Domitian; and, as he was spoken of with kindness in
the same Satire, which is entirely free from political allusions,
the "facetiousness" of the punishment (though Domitian's was not a
facetious reign) renders the fact not altogether improbable. Yet, when
we consider that these reflections on Paris could scarcely have been
published before LXXXIV., and that the favorite was disgraced and
put to death almost immediately after, we shall be inclined to doubt
whether his banishment actually took place; or, if it did, whether it
was of any long duration. That Juvenal was in Egypt is certain; but he
might have gone there from motives of personal safety, or, as Salmasius
has it, of curiosity. However this may be, it does not appear that
he was ever long absent from Rome, where a thousand internal marks
clearly show that all his Satires were written. But whatever punishment
might have followed the complaint of Paris,[6] it had no other effect
on our author, than that of increasing his hatred of tyranny, and
turning his indignation upon the emperor himself, whose hypocrisy,
cruelty, and licentiousness, became, from that period, the object of
his keenest reprobation. He profited, indeed, so far by his danger or
his punishment, as to recite no more in public; but he continued to
write during the remainder of Domitian's reign, in which he finished,
as I conceive, his second, third,[7] fifth, sixth,[8] and perhaps
thirteenth[9] Satires; the eighth[10] I have always looked upon as his
first.

In XCV., when Juvenal was in his 54th year, Domitian banished
the philosophers from Rome, and soon after from Italy, with many
circumstances of cruelty; an action, for which, I am sorry to observe,
he is covertly praised by Quintilian. Though Juvenal, strictly
speaking, did not come under the description of a philosopher, yet,
like the hare in the fable, he might not unreasonably entertain some
apprehensions for his safety, and, with many other persons eminent for
learning and virtue, judge it prudent to withdraw from the city. To
this period I have always inclined to fix his journey to Egypt. Two
years afterward the world was happily relieved from the tyranny of
Domitian; and Nerva, who succeeded him, recalled the exiles. From this
time there remains little doubt of Juvenal's being at Rome, where he
continued his studies in tranquillity.

His first Satire after the death of Domitian, seems to have been what
is now called the fourth. About this time, too, he probably thought
of revising and publishing those which he had already written; and
composed or completed that introductory piece,[11] which now stands
at the head of his works. As the order is every where broken in upon,
it is utterly impossible to arrange them chronologically; but I am
inclined to think that the eleventh Satire closed his poetical career.
All else is conjecture; but in this he speaks of himself as an old man,

"Nostra bibat vernum contracta cuticula solem;"

and indeed he had now passed his grand climacteric.

This is all that can be collected of the life of Juvenal; and how much
of this is built upon uncertainties! I hope, however, that it bears the
stamp of probability; which is all I contend for; and which, indeed, if
I do not deceive myself, is somewhat more than can be affirmed of what
has been hitherto delivered on the subject.

Little is known of Juvenal's circumstances; but, happily, that little
is authentic, as it comes from himself. He had a competence. The
dignity of poetry is never disgraced in him, as it is in some of his
contemporaries, by fretful complaints of poverty, or clamorous whinings
for meat and clothes: the little patrimony which his fosterfather left
him, he never diminished, and probably never increased. It seems to
have equaled all his wants, and, as far as appears, all his wishes.
Once only he regrets the narrowness of his fortune; but the occasion
does him honor; it is solely because he can not afford a more costly
sacrifice to express his pious gratitude for the preservation of his
friend: yet "two lambs and a youthful steer" bespeak the affluence of a
philosopher; which is not belied by the entertainment provided for his
friend Persicus, in that beautiful Satire which is here called the last
of his works. Farther it is useless to seek: from pride or modesty, he
has left no other notices of himself; or they have perished. Horace
and Persius, his immediate predecessors, are never weary of speaking
of themselves. The life of the former might be written, from his own
materials, with all the minuteness of a contemporary history: and the
latter, who attained to little more than a third of Juvenal's age, has
left nothing to be desired on the only topics which could interest
posterity--his parent, his preceptor, and his course of studies.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "Junius Juvenalis liberti locupletis incertum filius an alumnus, ad
mediam ætatem declamavit, animi magis causa, quam quod scholæ aut foro
se præpararet." The learned reader knows that this is taken from the
brief account of Juvenal, commonly attributed to Suetonius; but which
is probably posterior to his time; as it bears very few marks of being
written by a contemporary author: it is, however, the earliest extant.
The old critics, struck with its deficiencies, have attempted to render
it more complete by variations, which take from its authenticity,
without adding to its probability.

[2] I have adopted Dodwell's chronology. "Sic autem (he says) se rem
illam totam habuisse censeo. Exul erat Juv. cum Satiram scriberet
xv. Hoc confirmat etiam in v. 27, scholiastes. 'De se Juv. dicit,
quia in Ægypto militem tenuit, et ea promittit se relaturum quæ ipse
vidit.'" Had not Dodwell been predisposed to believe this, he would
have seen that the scholium "confirmed" nothing: for Juvenal makes
no such promise. "Proinde rixæ illi ipse adfuit quam describit." So
error is built up! How does it appear that Juvenal was present at the
quarrel which he describes? He was in Egypt, we know; he had passed
through the Ombite nome, and he speaks of the face of the country
as falling under his own inspection: but this is all; and he might
have heard of the quarrel at Rome, or elsewhere. "Tempus autem ipse
designavit rixæ illius cum et 'nuper'[12] illam contigisse dicit, et
quidem 'Consule Junio.' Jun. duplicem habent fasti, alium Domit. in x.
Consulatu collegam App. Junium Sabinum A.D. lxxxiv.; alium Hadriani
in suo itidem consulatu III. collegam Q. Junium Rusticum. Quo minus
prior intelligi possit, obstant illa omnia quæ in his ipsis Satiris
occurrunt Domitiani temporibus recentiora." Yet, such is the capricious
nature of criticism! Dodwell's chief argument to prove the late period
at which Juvenal was banished, is a passage confessedly written under
Domitian, and foisted into a satire published, as he himself maintains,
many years after that emperor's death! "Posteriorem ergo intellexerit
oportet. Hoc ergo anno (CXIX.) erat in exilio. Sed vero Roma illum
ejicere non potuit Trajanus, qui ab anno usque CXII. Romæ ipse non
adfuit; nec etiam ante CXVIII. quo Romam venit imperator Hadrianus. Sic
ante anni CXVIII. finem, aut CXIX. initium, mitti vix potuit in exilium
Juvenalis: erat autem cum relegaretur, octogenarius. Proinde natus
fuerit vel anni XXXVIII. fine, vel XXXIX. initio." Annal. 157-159.

I have made this copious extract from Dodwell, because it contains
a summary of the chief arguments which induced Pithæus, Henninius,
Lipsius, Salmasius, etc., to attribute the banishment of the author to
Hadrian. To me they appear any thing but conclusive; for, to omit other
objections for the present, why may not the Junius of the fifteenth
Satire be the one who was Consul with Domitian in 84, when Juvenal, by
Dodwell's own calculation, was in his 47th instead of his 80th year.

[3] "Deinde paucorum versuum satira non absurde composita in Paridem
pantomimum, poetamque Claudii Neronis" (the writer seems, in this and
the following clause, to have referred to Juvenal's words; it is,
therefore probable that we should read Calvi Neronis, _i. e._ Domitian;
otherwise the phrase must be given up as an absurd interpolation),
"ejus semestribus militiolis tumentem: genus scripturæ industriose
excoluit." Suet.

[4] "Et tamen diu, ne modico quidem auditorio quicquam committere ausus
est." Suet. On this Dodwell observes: "Tam longe aberant illa a Paridis
ira concitanda, si vel superstite Paride fuissent scripta, eum irritare
non possent, cum nondum emanassent in publicum," 161. He then adds that
"Martial knew nothing of his poetical studies,[13] who boasted that
he was as familiar with Juvenal as Pylades with Orestes!" It appears,
indeed, that they were acquainted; but I suspect, notwithstanding the
vehemence of Martial's assertions, that there was no great cordiality
between minds so very dissimilar. Some one, it seems, had accused the
epigrammatist to the satirist, not improbably, of making too free
with his thoughts and expressions. He was seriously offended; and
Martial, instead of justifying himself (whatever the charge might be),
imprecates shame on his accuser in a strain of idle rant not much above
the level of a schoolboy. Lib. vii. 24.

But if he had been acquainted with his friend's poetry, he would
certainly have spoken of it. Not quite so certainly. These learned
critics seem to think that Juvenal, like the poets he ridicules, wrote
nothing but trite fooleries on the Argonauts and the Lapithæ. Were the
Satires of Juvenal to be mentioned with approbation? and, if they were,
was Martial the person to do it? Martial, the most devoted sycophant of
the age, who was always begging, and sometimes receiving, favors from
the man whose castigation was, in general, the express object of them.
Is it not more consonant to his character to suppose that he would
conceal his knowledge of them with the most scrupulous care?

But when Domitian was dead, and Martial removed from Rome, when, in
short, there was no danger of speaking out, he still appears, continue
they, to be ignorant of his friend's poetic talents. I am almost
ashamed to repeat what the critics so constantly forget--that Juvenal
was not only satirist, but a republican, who looked upon Trajan as a
usurper, no less than Domitian. And how was it "safe to speak out,"
when they all assert that he was driven into banishment by a milder
prince than Trajan, for a passage "suspected of being a figurative
allusion to the times?" What inconsistencies are these!

[5] "Mox magna frequentia, magnoque successu bis ac ter auditus est; ut
ea quoque quæ prima fecerat, inferciret novis scriptis,

'Quod non dant proceres dabit histrio,' etc.

Sat. vii., 90-92.

Erat tum in delitiis aulæ histrio, multique fautorum ejus quotidie
provehebantur. Venit ergo in suspicionem quasi tempora figurate
notasset; ac statim per honorem militiolæ, quanquam octogenarius, urbe
summotus, missusque ad præfecturam cohortis in extrema parte tendentis
Ægypti. Id supplicii genus placuit, ut levi atque joculari delicto
par esset. Verum intra brevissimum tempus angore et tædio periit."
Suet. Passing by the interpolations of the old grammarians, I shall,
as before, have recourse to Dodwell. "Recitavit, ni fallor, omnia,
emisitque in publicum CXVIII. (Juvenal was now fourscore!) postquam
Romam venissit Hadrianus quem ille principem à benevolo ejus in hæc
studia animo, in hac ipsa satira in qua occurrunt verba illa de Paride
commendat." 161. Salmasius supposed that the last of his Satires only
were published under Hadrian; Dodwell goes farther, and maintains that
the whole, with the exception of the 15th and 16th[14] ("si tamen
vere et illa Juvenalis fuerit"), were then first produced! "Illa in
Paridem dicteria histrionem, in suum (cujus nomen non prodidit auctor)
histrionem dicta interpretabatur Hadrianus. Inde exilii causa. Scripsit
ergo in exilio Sat. XV. Sed cum 'nuper Consulem Junium' fuisse dicat,
ante annum ad minimum CXX. scribere illam non potuit Juv. Nec vero
postea scripsisse, exinde colligimus, quod 'intra brevissimum tempus'
perierit." 164. Such is the manner in which Dodwell accommodates
Suetonius to his own ideas: which seem, also, to have been those of
a much higher name, Salmasius; and, while I am now writing, to be
sanctioned by the adoption of the learned Ruperti. I never affected
singularity; yet I find myself constrained to differ from them all:
but I will state my reasons. In his 7th Satire, after speaking of
Quintilian, Juvenal adds,

"Si fortuna volet, fies de rhetore consul:
Si volet hæc eadem fies de consule rhetor."

Which, taking it for a proverbial expression, I have loosely rendered,
Fortune can make kings of pedants and pedants of kings. Dodwell,
however, understands it literally. "Hæc sane cum Quintiliani causa
dicat, vix est quin Q. talem ostendant è rhetore nimirum 'nobilem,
senatorium, consularem,' et quidem illis divitiis instructum, quæ
essent etiam ad censum senatorium necessariæ." 152. Now, as Pliny, who
probably died before Trajan, observes that Quintilian was a man of
moderate fortune, it follows that he must have acquired the wealth and
honors of which Juvenal speaks at a later period. Dodwell fixes this to
the time when Hadrian entered Rome, CXVIII., which he states to be also
that of the author's banishment. It must be confessed that Juvenal lost
no time in exerting himself: he had remained silent fourscore years;
he now bursts forth at once, as Dodwell expresses it, recites all his
Satires without intermission ("unis continuisque recitationibus"),
celebrates Quintilian, attacks the emperor, and is immediately
dispatched to Egypt! 162. Here is a great deal of business crowded into
the compass of a few weeks, or perhaps days; but let us examine it a
little more closely. Rigaltius, with several of the commentators, sees
in the lines above quoted a sneer at Quintilian, and he accounts for
the rhetor's silence respecting our author, by the resentment which he
supposes him to have felt at it. As this militates strongly against
Dodwell's ideas, he will not allow that any thing severe was intended
by the passage in question; and adds that Quintilian could not mention
Juvenal as a satirist, because he had not then written any satires.
160. I believe that both are wrong. In speaking of the satirists,
Quintilian says that Persius had justly acquired no inconsiderable
degree of reputation by the little he had written. Lib. x., c. 1. He
then adds, "sunt clari hodieque, et qui olim nominabuntur." There are
yet some excellent ones, some who will be better known hereafter. It
always appeared to me, that this last phrase alluded to our author,
with whose extraordinary merits Quintilian was probably acquainted, but
whom he did not choose, or, perhaps, did not dare to mention in a work
composed under a prince whose crimes this unnamed satirist persecuted
with a severity as unmitigated as it was just. Quintilian had no
political courage. Either from a sense of kindness or fear, he flatters
Domitian almost as grossly as Martial does: but his life was a life of
innocence and integrity; I will therefore say no more on this subject;
but leave it to the reader to consider whether such a man was likely to
startle the "god of his idolatry" by celebrating the Satires of Juvenal.

Nor do I agree with the commentators whom Dodwell has followed, in
the literal interpretation of those famous lines. "Unde igitur tot,"
etc. Sat. vii., v. 188-194. Quintilian was rich, when the rest of
his profession were in the utmost want. Here then was an instance of
good fortune. He was lucky; and with luck a man may be any thing;
handsome, and witty, and wise, and noble, and high-born, and a member
of the senate. Who does not see in this a satirical exaggeration?
Wisdom, beauty, and high birth luck can not give: why then should the
remainder of this passage be so strictly interpreted, and referred to
the actual history of Quintilian? The lines, "Si fortuna volet," etc.,
are still more lax: a reflection thrown out at random, and expressing
the greatest possible extremes of fortune. Yet on these authorities
principally (for the passage of Ausonius,[15] written more than two
centuries later, is of no great weight) has Quintilian been advanced to
consular honors; while Dodwell, who, as we have seen, has taken immense
pains to prove that they could only be conferred on him by Hadrian, has
hence deduced his strongest arguments for the late date of our author's
Satires; which he thus brings down to the period of mental imbecility!
Hence, too, he accounts for the different ideas of Quintilian's wealth
in Juvenal and Pliny. When the latter wrote, he thinks Quintilian had
not acquired much property, he was "modicus facultatibus:" when the
former, "he had been enriched by the imperial bounty, and was capable
of senatorial honors." Yet Pliny might not think his old master rich
enough to give a fortune with his daughter adequate to the expectations
of a man of considerable rank (lib. vi., 32), though Juvenal, writing
at the same instant, might term him wealthy, in comparison of the
rhetoricians who were starving around him; and count him a peculiar
favorite of fortune. Let us bear in mind, too, that Juvenal is a
satirist, and a poet: in the latter capacity, the minute accuracy of an
annalist can not be expected at his hands; and in the former--as his
object was to show the general discouragement of literature, he could
not, consistently with his plan, attribute the solitary good fortune of
Quintilian to any thing but luck.

But why was Quintilian made consul? Because, replies Dodwell (164),
when Hadrian first entered Rome he was desirous of gaining the
affections of the people; which could be done no way so effectually as
by conciliating the esteem of the literati; and he therefore conferred
this extraordinary mark of favor on the rhetorician. How did it escape
this learned man, that he was likely to do himself more injury in their
opinion by the banishment of Juvenal at that same instant? an old
man of fourscore, who, by his own testimony, had spoken of him with
kindness, in a poem which did more honor to his reign than any thing
produced in it! and whose only crime was an allusion to the influence
of a favorite player! Indeed, the informers of Hadrian's reign must
have had more sagacious noses than those of Domitian's, to smell out
his fault. What Statius, in his time, was celebrated for the recitation
of a Thebaid, or what Paris, for the purchase of an untouched Agave?
And where, might we ask Dodwell, was the "jest" of sending a man on
the verge of the grave, in a military capacity, into Egypt? Could the
most supple of Hadrian's courtiers look on it as any thing but a wanton
exercise of cruelty? At eighty, the business of satirizing, either in
prose or verse, is nearly over: what had the emperor then to fear? And
to sum up all in a word, can any rational being seriously persuade
himself that the Satires of Juvenal were produced, for the first time,
by a man turned of fourscore?

[6] But why should he complain at all? Was he ashamed of being known to
possess an influence at the imperial court? Those were not very modest
times, nor is modesty, in general, the crying vice of the "quality."
He was more likely to have gloried in it. If Bareas, or Camerinus, or
any of the old nobility, had complained of the author, I should have
thought it more reasonable: but Domitian cared nearly as little for
them as Paris himself did.

[7] I hold, in opposition to the commentators, that Juvenal was known
in Domitian's time, not only as a poet, but as a keen and vigorous
satirist. He himself, though he did not choose to commit his safety
to a promiscuous audience, appears to make no great secret of his
peculiar talents. In this Satire, certainly prior to many of the
others, he tells us that he accompanied Umbritius, then on his way
to Cumæ, out of the gates of Rome. Umbritius predicted, as Tacitus
says, the death of Galba, at which time he was looked upon as the most
skillful aruspex of the age. He could not then be a young man; yet, at
quitting the capital, he still talks of himself as in the first stage
of old age, "nova canities, et prima et recta senectus." His voluntary
exile, therefore, could not possibly have taken place long after the
commencement of Domitian's reign; when he speaks of Juvenal as already
celebrated for his Satires, and modestly doubts whether the assistance
of so able a coadjutor as himself would be accepted.

This, at least, serves to prove in what light the author wished to
be considered: for the rest, there can, I think, exclusively of what
I have urged, be little doubt that this Satire was produced under
Domitian. It is known, from other authorities, that he revived the
law of Otho in all its severity, that he introduced a number of
low and vicious characters, "pinnirapi cultos juvenes, juvenesque
lanistæ," into the Equestrian Order, that he was immoderately attached
to building, etc., circumstances much dwelt on in this Satire, and
applicable to him alone.

[8] The following line, "Dacicus et scripto radiat Germanicus auro,"
seems to militate against the early date of this Satire. Catanæus and
Arntzenius say that Juvenal could not mean Domitian here, because "he
did not think well enough of him to do him such honor; whereas he was
fond of commending Trajan." I see no marks of this fondness; nor were
the titles, if meant of Domitian, intended to do him honor, but to
reprove his vanity.

Whether medals were ever struck with the inscription of Dacicus and
Germanicus in honor of Domitian, I am not qualified to determine.
Certain it is, however, that he assumed both these titles; the latter,
indeed, in common with his predecessors from the time of Germ. Cæsar;
and the former, in consequence of his pretended success in the Dacian
war, for which he is bitterly sneered at by Pliny, as well as Dio.
It is given to him, among others, by Martial, who dedicates his
eighth book, "Imper. Domit. Cæs. Augusto Germanico _Dacico_." Dodwell
appropriates (as I do) the line to Domitian--a little inconsistently,
it must be confessed; but that is his concern. If, however, it be
adjudged to Trajan, I should not for that bring down the date of
the Satire to a later period. Juvenal revised and enlarged all his
works, when he gave them to the public: this under consideration,
in particular, has all the marks of having received considerable
additions; and one of them might be the line in question.

[9] This satire has contributed as much perhaps as the seventh to
persuade Lipsius, Salmasius, and others, that Juvenal wrote his best
pieces when he was turned of fourscore.

"----Stupet hæc, qui jam post terga reliquit
Sexaginta annos, Fonteio Consule natus!"

There were four consuls of this name. The first is out of the question;
the second was consul A.D. 13, the third in 59, and the fourth in 68.
If we take the second, and add any intermediate number of years between
sixty and seventy, for Calvinus had passed his sixtieth year, it will
just bring us down to the early part of Domitian's reign, which I
suppose to be the true date of this Satire; for I can not believe, as
I have already observed, that this, or indeed any part of Juvenal's
works, was produced when he was trembling on the verge of ninety, as
must be the case if either of the latter periods be adopted. But he
observes, "Hæc quota pars scelerum quæ custos Gallicus urbis," etc.
Now Rutilius Gallicus was præfect of Rome from the end of 85 to 88
(Domitian succeeded his brother in 81), in which year he died. There
seems to be no necessity for mentioning a magistrate as sitting, who
was not then in existence; nor can any reason be assigned, if the
Satire was written under Hadrian, for the author's recurring to the
times of Domitian for a name, when that of the "custos urbis" of
the day would have better answered his purpose. It is probable that
Gallicus succeeded Pegasus, who was præfect when the ridiculous farce
of the turbot took place (Sat. iv.); this would fix it to 85, the year
before Fuscus, who was present at it, was sent into Dacia.

[10] This Satire is referred by the critics to the reign of Trajan,
because Marius, whose trial took place under that prince, is mentioned
in it. I have attributed it to an earlier period; principally moved by
the consideration that it presents a faithful copy of the state of Rome
and the conquered provinces under Nero, and which could scarcely have
been given in such vivid colors after the original had ceased to affect
the mind. What Rome was under Domitian, may be seen in the second
Satire, and the difference, which has not been sufficiently attended
to, is striking in the extreme. I would observe too, that Juvenal
speaks here of the _crimes_ of Marius--they might be, and probably
were, committed long before his condemnation; but under Domitian it was
scarcely safe to attempt bringing such gigantic peculators to justice.
Add to this, that the other culprits mentioned in it are all of them
prior to that prince; nay, one of them, Capito, was tried so early as
the beginning of Nero's reign. The insertion of Marius, however (which
might be an after-thought), forms a main argument with Dodwell for the
very late date of this Satire; he observes that it had escaped Lipsius
and Salmasius; and boasts of it as "longe certissimum," etc. 156.

[11] I have often wondered at the stress which Dodwell and others lay
on the concluding lines of this Satire: "Experiar quid concedatur,"
etc. They fancy that the engagement was seriously made, and religiously
observed. Nothing was ever farther from the mind of Juvenal. It is
merely a poetical, or, if you will, a satirical, flourish; since there
is not a single Satire, I am well persuaded, in which the names of many
who were alive at the time are not introduced. Had Dodwell forgotten
Quintilian? or, that he had allowed one of his Satires, at least, to be
prior to this?

[12] This "nuper" is a very convenient word. Here, we see, it signifies
lately; but when it is necessary to bring the works of our author down
to a late period, it means, as Britannicus explains it, "de longo
tempore," long ago.

[13] But how to this ascertained? Very easily; he calls him "fecundus
Juvenalis." Here the question is finally left; for none of the
commentators suppose it possible that the epithet can be applied to any
but a rhetorician. Yet it is applied by the same writer to a poet of no
ordinary kind;

"Accipe, _facundi_ Culicem, studiose. Maronis
Ne, nugis positis, arma virumque canas."

Lib. xiv., 185.

And, by the author himself, to one who had grown old in the art:

"--------tunc seque suamque
Terpsichoren odit _facunda_ et nuda senectus."

Let it be remembered, too, that Martial, as is evident from the
frequent allusions to Domitian's expedition against the Catti, wrote
this epigram (lib. vii., 91) in the commencement of that prince's
reign, when it is acknowledged that Juvenal had produced but one or two
of his Satires.

[14] The former of these, Dodwell says, was written in exile, after
the author was turned of eighty. Salmasius, more rationally, conceives
it to have been produced at Rome. Giving full credit, however, to
the story of his late banishment, he is driven into a very awkward
supposition. "An non alio tempore, atque alia de causa Ægyptum lustrare
juvenis potuit Juvenalis? animi nempe gratia, και της ἱστοριας χαριν,
ut urbes regionis illius, populorumque mores cognosceret?" Would it not
be more simple to attribute his exile at once to Domitian?

With respect to the 16th Satire, Dodwell, we see, hesitates to
attribute it to Juvenal; and, indeed, the old Scholiast says, that, in
his time, many thought it to be the work of a different hand. So it
always appeared to me. It is unworthy of the author's best days, and
seems but little suited to his worst. He was at least eighty-one, they
say, when he wrote it, yet it begins--

"----Nam si----
Me pavidum excipiet tyronem porta secundo
Sidere," etc.

Surely, at this age, the writer resembled Priam, the _tremulus miles_,
more than the timid tyro! Nor do I believe that Juvenal would have
been much inclined to amuse himself with the fancied advantages of
a profession to which he was so unworthily driven. But the Satire
must have been as ill-timed for the army as for himself, since it
was probably, at this period, in a better state of subjection than
it had been for many reigns. I suppose it to be written in professed
imitation of our author's manner, about the age of Commodus. It has
considerable merit, though the first and last paragraphs are feeble and
tautological; and the execution of the whole is much inferior to the
design.

[15] "Q. consularia per Clementem ornamenta sortitus, honestamenta
potius videtur quam insignia potestatis habuisse. In gratiar. act."
Quintilian, then, was not actually consul: but this is no great
matter--it is of more consequence to ascertain the Clemens by whom he
was so honored. In the preface to his fourth book, he says, "Cum vero
mihi Dom. Augustus sororis suæ nepotum delegavit curam," etc. Vespasian
had a daughter, Domitilla, who married, and died long before her
father: she left a daughter, who was given to Flavius Clemens, by whom
she had two sons. These were the grandchildren of Domitian's sister,
of whom Quintilian speaks; and to their father, Clemens, according
to Ausonius, he was indebted for the show, though not the reality,
of power. There is nothing incongruous in all this; yet so possessed
are Dodwell and his numerous followers (among whom I am sorry to rank
Dusaulx) of the late period at which it happened, that they will needs
have Hadrian to be meant by Domitianus Augustus, though the detestable
flattery which follows the words I have quoted most indisputably proves
it to be Domitian; and though Dodwell himself is forced to confess
that he can find no Clemens under Hadrian to whom the passage applies:
"Quis autem fuerit Clemens ille qui Q. ornamenta illa sub Hadriano
impetraverit, me sane fateor ignorare!" 165. Another circumstance
which has escaped all the commentators, and which is of considerable
importance in determining the question, remains to be noticed. At the
very period of which Dodwell treats, the boundaries of the empire were
politically contracted, while Juvenal, whenever he has occasion to
speak on the subject, invariably dwells on extending or securing them.

ESSAY ON THE ROMAN SATIRISTS,

BY WILLIAM GIFFORD, ESQ.

It will now be expected from me, perhaps, to say something on the
nature and design of Satire; but in truth this has so frequently been
done, that it seems, at present, to have as little of novelty as of
utility to recommend it.

Dryden, who had diligently studied the French critics, drew up from
their remarks, assisted by a cursory perusal of what Casaubon,
Heinsius, Rigaltius, and Scaliger had written on the subject, an
account of the rise and progress of dramatic and satiric poetry among
the Romans; which he prefixed to his translation of Juvenal. What
Dryden knew, he told in a manner that renders every attempt to recount
it after him equally hopeless and vain; but his acquaintance with works
of literature was not very extensive, while his reliance on his own
powers sometimes betrayed him into inaccuracies, to which the influence
of his name gives a dangerous importance.

"The comparison of Horace with Juvenal and Persius," which makes a
principal part of his Essay, is not formed with much niceness of
discrimination, or accuracy of judgment. To speak my mind, I do not
think that he clearly perceived or fully understood the characters of
the first two: of Persius indeed he had an intimate knowledge; for,
though he certainly deemed too humbly of his poetry, he yet speaks of
his beauties and defects in a manner which evinces a more than common
acquaintance with both.

What Dryden left imperfect has been filled up in a great measure by
Dusaulx, in the preliminary discourse to his translation of Juvenal,
and by Ruperti, in his critical Essay "De diversa Satirarum Lucil.
Horat. Pers. et Juvenalis indole." With the assistance of the
former of these I shall endeavor to give a more extended view of the
characteristic excellencies and defects of the rival Satirists than
has yet appeared in our language; little solicitous for the praise of
originality, if I may be allowed to aspire to that of candor and truth.
Previously to this, however, it will be necessary to say something on
the supposed origin of Satire: and, as this is a very beaten subject, I
shall discuss it as briefly as possible.

It is probable that the first metrical compositions of the Romans, like
those of every other people, were pious effusions for favors received
or expected from the gods: of these, the earliest, according to Varro,
were the hymns to Mars, which, though used by the Salii in the Augustan
age, were no longer intelligible. To these succeeded the Fescennine
verses, which were sung, or rather recited, after the vintage and
harvest, and appear to have been little more than rude praises of the
tutelar divinities of the country, intermixed with clownish jeers
and sarcasms, extemporally poured out by the rustics in some kind of
measure, and indifferently directed at the audience, or at one another.
These, by degrees, assumed the form of a dialogue; of which, as nature
is every where the same, and the progress of refinement but little
varied, some resemblance may perhaps be found in the grosser eclogues
of Theocritus.

Thus improved (if the word may be allowed of such barbarous
amusements), they formed, for near three centuries, the delight of
that nation: popular favor, however, had a dangerous effect on the
performers, whose licentiousness degenerated at length into such wild
invective, that it was found necessary to restrain it by a positive
law: "Si qui populo occentassit, carmenve condisit, quod infamiam faxit
flagitiumve alteri, fuste ferito." From this time we hear no farther
complaints of the Fescennine verses, which continued to charm the
Romans; until, about a century afterward, and during the ravages of a
dreadful pestilence, the senate, as the historians say, in order to
propitiate the gods, called a troop of players from Tuscany, to assist
at the celebration of their ancient festivals. This was a wise and a
salutary measure: the plague had spread dejection through the city,
which was thus rendered more obnoxious to its fury; and it therefore
became necessary, by novel and extraordinary amusements, to divert the
attention of the people from the melancholy objects around them.

As the Romans were unacquainted with the language of Tuscany, the
players, Livy tells us, omitted the modulation and the words, and
confined themselves solely to gestures, which were accompanied by the
flute. This imperfect exhibition, however, was so superior to their
own, that the Romans eagerly strove to attain the art; and, as soon as
they could imitate what they admired, graced their rustic measures with
music and dancing. By degrees they dropped the Fescennine verses for
something of a more regular kind, which now took the name of SATIRE.[16]

These Satires (for as yet they had but little claim to the title of
dramas) continued, without much alteration, to the year 514, when
Livius Andronicus, a Greek by birth, and a freedman of L. Salinator,
who was undoubtedly acquainted with the old comedy of his country,
produced a regular play. That it pleased can not be doubted, for it
surpassed the Satires, even in their improved state; and, indeed,
banished them for some time from the scene. They had, however, taken
too strong a hold of the affections of the people to be easily
forgotten, and it was therefore found necessary to reproduce and join
them to the plays of Andronicus (the superiority of which could not be
contested), under the name of Exodia or After-pieces. These partook, in
a certain degree, of the general amelioration of the stage; something
like a story was now introduced into them, which, though frequently
indecent and always extravagant, created a greater degree of interest
than the reciprocation of gross humor and scurrility in unconnected
dialogues.

Whether any of the old people still regretted this sophistication of
their early amusements, it is not easy to say; but Ennius, who came to
Rome about twenty years after this period, and who was more than half
a Grecian, conceived that he should perform an acceptable service by
reviving the ancient Satires.[17] He did not pretend to restore them
to the stage, for which indeed the new pieces were infinitely better
calculated, but endeavored to adapt them to the closet, by refining
their grossness and softening their asperity. Success justified the
attempt. Satire, thus freed from action, and formed into a poem, became
a favorite pursuit, and was cultivated by several writers of eminence.
In imitation of his model, Ennius confined himself to no particular
species of verse, nor indeed of language, for he mingled Greek
expressions with his Latin at pleasure. It is solely with a reference
to this new attempt that Horace and Quintilian are to be understood,
when they claim for the Romans the invention[18] of this kind of
poetry; and certainly they had opportunities of judging which we have
not, for little of Ennius, and nothing of the old Satire, remains.

It is not necessary to pursue the history of Satire farther in this
place, or to speak of another species of it, the Varronian, or, as
Varro himself called it, the Menippean, which branched out from
the former, and was a medley of prose and verse; it will be a more
pleasing, as well as a more useful employ, to enter a little into
what Dryden, I know not for what reason, calls the most difficult
part of his undertaking--"a comparative view of the Satirists;" not
certainly with the design of depressing one at the expense of another
(for, though I have translated Juvenal, I have no quarrel with Horace
and Persius), but for the purpose of pointing out the characteristic
excellencies and defects of them all. To do this the more effectually,
it will be previously necessary to take a cursory view of the times in
which their respective works were produced.

LUCILIUS, to whom Horace, forgetting what he had said in another place,
attributes the invention of Satire, flourished in the interval between
the siege of Carthage and the defeat of the Cimbri and Teutons, by
Marius. He lived therefore in an age in which the struggle between
the old and new manners, though daily becoming more equal, or rather
inclining to the worse side, was still far from being decided. The
freedom of speaking and writing was yet unchecked by fear, or by any
law more precise than that which, as has been already mentioned, was
introduced to restrain the coarse ebullitions of rustic malignity.
Add to this, that Lucilius was of a most respectable family (he was
great-uncle to Pompey), and lived in habits of intimacy with the chiefs
of the republic, with Lælius, Scipio, and others, who were well able
to protect him from the Lupi and Mutii of the day, had they attempted,
which they probably did not, to silence or molest him. Hence that
boldness of satirizing the vicious by name, which startled Horace, and
on which Juvenal and Persius delight to felicitate him.

Too little remains of Lucilius, to enable us to judge of his manner:
his style seems, however, to bear fewer marks of delicacy than of
strength, and his strictures appear harsh and violent. With all this,
he must have been an extraordinary man; since Horace, who is evidently
hurt by his reputation, can say nothing worse of his compositions than
that they are careless and hasty, and that if he had lived at a more
refined period, he would have partaken of the general amelioration. I
do not remember to have heard it observed, but I suspect that there was
something of political spleen in the excessive popularity of Lucilius
under Augustus, and something of courtly complacency in the attempt of
Horace to counteract it. Augustus enlarged the law of the twelve tables
respecting libels; and the people, who found themselves thus abridged
of the liberty of satirizing the great by name, might not improbably
seek to avenge themselves by an overstrained attachment to the works of
a man who, living, as they would insinuate, in better times, practiced
without fear, what he enjoyed without restraint.

The space between Horace and his predecessor, was a dreadful interval
"filled up with horror all, and big with death." Luxury and a long
train of vices, which followed the immense wealth incessantly poured in
from the conquered provinces, sapped the foundations of the republic,
which were finally shaken to pieces by the civil wars, the perpetual
dictatorship of Cæsar, and the second triumvirate, which threw the
Roman world, without a hope of escape, into the power of an individual.

Augustus, whose sword was yet reeking with the best blood of the
state, now that submission left him no excuse for farther cruelty,
was desirous of enjoying in tranquillity the fruits of his guilt. He
displayed, therefore, a magnificence hitherto unknown; and his example,
which was followed by his ministers, quickly spread among the people,
who were not very unwilling to exchange the agitation and terror of
successive proscriptions, for the security and quiet of undisputed
despotism.

Tiberius had other views, and other methods of accomplishing them.
He did not indeed put an actual stop to the elegant institutions of
his predecessor, but he surveyed them with silent contempt, and they
rapidly degenerated. The race of informers multiplied with dreadful
celerity; and danger, which could only be averted by complying with a
caprice not always easy to discover, created an abject disposition,
fitted for the reception of the grossest vices, and eminently favorable
to the designs of the emperor; which were to procure, by universal
depravation, that submission which Augustus sought to obtain by the
blandishments of luxury and the arts.

From this gloomy and suspicious tyrant, the empire was transferred to
a profligate madman. It can scarcely be told without indignation, that
when the sword of Chærea had freed the earth from his disgraceful sway,
the senate had not sufficient virtue to resume the rights of which they
had been deprived; but, after a timid debate, delivered up the state to
a pedantic dotard, incapable of governing himself.

To the vices of his predecessors, Nero added a frivolity which rendered
his reign at once odious and contemptible. Depravity could reach no
farther, but misery might yet be extended. This was fully experienced
through the turbulent and murderous usurpations of Galba, Otho, and
Vitellius; when the accession of Vespasian and Titus gave the groaning
world a temporary respite.

To these succeeded Domitian, whose crimes form the subject of many a
melancholy page in the ensuing work, and need not therefore be dwelt
on here. Under him, every trace of ancient manners was obliterated;
liberty was unknown, law openly trampled upon, and, while the national
rites were either neglected or contemned, a base and blind superstition
took possession of the enfeebled and distempered mind.

Better times followed. Nerva, and Trajan, and Hadrian, and the
Antonines, restored the Romans to safety and tranquillity; but they
could do no more; liberty and virtue were gone forever; and after a
short period of comparative happiness, which they scarcely appear to
have deserved, and which brought with it no amelioration of mind, no
return of the ancient modesty and frugality, they were finally resigned
to destruction.

I now proceed to the "comparative view" of which I have already spoken:
as the subject has been so often treated, little of novelty can be
expected from it; to read, compare, and judge, is almost all that
remains.

HORACE, who was gay, and lively, and gentle, and affectionate, seems
fitted for the period in which he wrote. He had seen the worst times
of the republic, and might therefore, with no great suspicion of his
integrity, be allowed to acquiesce in the infant monarchy, which
brought with it stability, peace, and pleasure. How he reconciled
himself to his political tergiversation it is useless to inquire.[19]
What was so general, we may suppose, brought with it but little
obloquy; and it should be remembered, to his praise, that he took no
active part in the government which he had once opposed.[20]

If he celebrates the master of the world, it is not until he is asked
by him whether he is ashamed that posterity should know them to be
friends; and he declines a post, which few of his detractors have merit
to deserve, or virtue to refuse.

His choice of privacy, however, was in some measure constitutional;
for he had an easiness of temper which bordered on indolence; hence he
never rises to the dignity of a decided character. Zeno and Epicurus
share his homage and undergo his ridicule by turns: he passes without
difficulty from one school to another, and he thinks it a sufficient
excuse for his versatility, that he continues, amid every change, the
zealous defender of virtue. Virtue, however, abstractedly considered,
has few obligations to his zeal.

But though, as an ethical writer, Horace has not many claims to the
esteem of posterity; as a critic, he is entitled to all our veneration.
Such is the soundness of his judgment, the correctness of his taste,
and the extent and variety of his knowledge, that a body of criticism
might be selected from his works, more perfect in its kind than any
thing which antiquity has bequeathed us.

As he had little warmth of temper, he reproves his contemporaries
without harshness. He is content to "dwell in decencies," and, like
Pope's courtly dean, "never mentions hell to ears polite." Persius, who
was infinitely better acquainted with him than we can pretend to be,
describes him, I think, with great happiness:

"Omne vafer vitium ridenti Flaccus amico
Tangit, et admissus circum præcordia ludit,
Callidus excusso populum suspendere naso."

"He, with a sly insinuating grace,
Laugh'd at his friend, and look'd him in the face:
Would raise a blush, where secret vice he found,
And tickle, while he gently probed the wound:
With seeming innocence the crowd beguiled;
But made the desperate passes when he smiled."
These beautiful lines have a defect under which Dryden's translations
frequently labor; they do not give the true sense of the original.
Horace "raised no blush" (at least Persius does not insinuate any such
thing), and certainly "made no desperate passes."[21] His aim rather
seems to be, to keep the objects of his satire in good humor with
himself, and with one another.

To raise a laugh at vice, however (supposing it feasible), is not
the legitimate office of Satire, which is to hold up the vicious, as
objects of reprobation and scorn, for the example of others, who may
be deterred by their sufferings. But it is time to be explicit. To
laugh even at fools is superfluous; if they understand you, they will
join in the merriment; but more commonly, they will sit with vacant
unconcern, and gaze at their own pictures: to laugh at the vicious,
is to encourage them; for there is in such men a willfulness of
disposition, which prompts them to bear up against shame, and to show
how little they regard slight reproof, by becoming more audacious in
guilt. Goodness, of which the characteristic is modesty, may, I fear,
be shamed; but vice, like folly, to be restrained, must be overawed.
Labeo, says Hall, with great energy and beauty--

"Labeo is whipt, and laughs me in the face;
Why? for I smite, and hide the galled place.
Gird but the Cynic's helmet on his head,
Cares he for Talus, or his flayle of lead?"

PERSIUS, who borrowed so much of Horace's language, has little of his
manner. The immediate object of his imitation seems to be Lucilius;
and if he lashes vice with less severity than his great prototype, the
cause must not be sought in any desire to spare what he so evidently
condemned. But he was thrown "on evil times;" he was, besides, of a
rank distinguished enough to make his freedom dangerous, and of an age
when life had yet lost little of its novelty; to write, therefore,
even as he has written, proves him to be a person of very singular
courage and virtue.

In the interval between Horace and Persius, despotism had changed its
nature: the chains which the policy of Augustus concealed in flowers,
were now displayed in all their hideousness. The arts were neglected,
literature of every kind discouraged or disgraced, and terror and
suspicion substituted in the place of the former ease and security.
Stoicism, which Cicero accuses of having infected poetry, even in his
days, and of which the professors, as Quintilian observes, always
disregarded the graces and elegancies of composition, spread with
amazing rapidity.[22] In this school Persius was educated, under the
care of one of its most learned and respectable masters.

Satire was not his first pursuit; indeed, he seems to have somewhat
mistaken his talents when he applied to it. The true end of this
species of writing, as Dusaulx justly says, is the improvement of
society; but for this, much knowledge of mankind ("quicquid agunt
homines") is previously necessary. Whoever is deficient in that, may be
an excellent moral and philosophical poet; but can not, with propriety,
lay claim to the honors of a satirist.

And Persius was moral and philosophical in a high degree: he was also
a poet of no mean order. But while he grew pale over the page of Zeno,
and Cleanthes, and Chrysippus; while he imbibed, with all the ardor
of a youthful mind, the paradoxes of those great masters, together
with their principles, the foundations of civil society were crumbling
around him, and soliciting his attention in vain. To judge from what
he has left us, it might almost be affirmed that he was a stranger
in his own country. The degradation of Rome was now complete; yet he
felt, at least he expresses, no indignation at the means by which it
was effected: a sanguinary buffoon was lording it over the prostrate
world; yet he continued to waste his most elaborate efforts on the
miserable pretensions of pedants in prose and verse! If this savor
of the impassibility of Stoicism, it is entitled to no great praise
on the score of outraged humanity, which has stronger claims on a
well-regulated mind, than criticism, or even philosophy.

Dryden gives that praise to the dogmas of Persius, which he denies to
his poetry. "His verse," he says, "is scabrous and hobbling, and his
measures beneath those of Horace." This is too severe; for Persius has
many exquisite passages, which nothing in Horace will be found to equal
or approach. The charge of obscurity has been urged against him with
more justice; though this, perhaps, is not so great as it is usually
represented. Casaubon could, without question, have defended him more
successfully than he has done; but he was overawed by the brutal
violence of the elder Scaliger; for I can scarcely persuade myself that
he really believed this obscurity to be owing to "the fear of Nero, or
the advice of Cornutus." The cause of it should be rather sought in his
natural disposition, and in his habits of thinking. Generally speaking,
however, it springs from a too frequent use of tropes, approaching in
almost every instance to a catachresis, an anxiety of compression,
and a quick and unexpected transition from one overstrained figure to
another. After all, with the exception of the sixth Satire, which, from
its abruptness, does not appear to have received the author's last
touches, I do not think there is much to confound an attentive reader:
some acquaintance, indeed, with the porch "braccatis illita Medis,"
is previously necessary. His life may be contemplated with unabated
pleasure: the virtue he recommends, he practiced in the fullest extent;
and at an age when few have acquired a determinate character, he left
behind him an established reputation for genius, learning, and worth.

JUVENAL wrote at a period still more detestable than that of Persius.
Domitian, who now governed the empire, seems to have inherited the bad
qualities of all his predecessors. Tiberius was not more hypocritical,
nor Caligula more bloody, nor Claudius more sottish, nor Nero more
mischievous, than this ferocious despot; who, as Theodorus Gadareus
indignantly declared of Tiberius, was truly πηλον αἱματι πεφυραμενον· a
lump of clay kneaded up with blood!

Juvenal, like Persius, professes to follow Lucilius; but what was
in one a simple attempt, is in the other a real imitation, of his
manner.[23] Fluent and witty as Horace, grave and sublime as Persius;
of a more decided character than the former, better acquainted with
mankind than the latter; he did not confine himself to the mode of
regulating an intercourse with the great, or to abstract disquisitions
on the nature of scholastic liberty; but, disregarding the claims of
a vain urbanity, and fixing all his soul on the eternal distinctions
of moral good and evil, he labored, with a magnificence of language
peculiar to himself, to set forth the loveliness of virtue, and the
deformity and horror of vice, in full and perfect display.

Dusaulx, who is somewhat prejudiced against Horace, does ample justice
to Juvenal. There is great force in what he says; and, as I do not know
that it ever appeared in English, I shall take the liberty of laying a
part of it before the reader, at the hazard of a few repetitions.

"The bloody revolution which smothered the last sighs of liberty,[24]
had not yet found time to debase the minds of a people, among whom the
traditionary remains of the old manners still subsisted. The cruel
but politic Octavius scattered flowers over the paths he was secretly
tracing toward despotism: the arts of Greece, transplanted to the
Capitol, flourished beneath his auspices; and the remembrance of so
many civil dissensions, succeeding each other with increasing rapidity,
excited a degree of reverence for the author of this unprecedented
tranquillity. The Romans felicitated themselves at not lying down, as
before, with an apprehension of finding themselves included, when they
awoke, in the list of proscription: and neglected, amid the amusements
of the circus and the theatre, those civil rights of which their
fathers had been so jealous.

"Profiting of these circumstances, Horace forgot that he had combated
on the side of liberty. A better courtier than a soldier, he clearly
saw how far the refinement, the graces, and the cultivated state of his
genius (qualities not much considered or regarded till his time[25]),
were capable of advancing him without any extraordinary effort.

"Indifferent to the future, and not daring to recall the past, he
thought of nothing but securing himself from all that could sadden the
mind, and disturb the system which he had skillfully arranged on the
credit of those then in power. It is on this account, that, of all his
contemporaries, he has celebrated none but the friends of his master,
or, at least, those whom he could praise without fear of compromising
his favor.

"In what I have said of Horace, my chief design has been to show that
this Proteus, who counted among his friends and admirers even those
whose conduct he censured, chose rather to capitulate than contend;
that he attached no great importance to his own rules, and adhered to
his principles no longer than they favored his views.

"JUVENAL began his satiric career where the other finished, that is
to say, he did that for morals and liberty, which Horace had done for
decorum and taste. Disdaining artifice of every kind, he boldly raised
his voice against the usurpation of power; and incessantly recalled the
memory of the glorious æra of independence to those degenerate Romans,
who had substituted suicide in the place of their ancient courage; and
from the days of Augustus to those of Domitian, only avenged their
slavery by an epigram or a bonmot.

"The characteristics of Juvenal were energy, passion, and indignation:
it is, nevertheless, easy to discover that he is sometimes more
afflicted than exasperated. His great aim was to alarm the vicious,
and, if possible, to exterminate vice, which had, as it were,
acquired a legal establishment. A noble enterprise! but he wrote in a
detestable age, when the laws of nature were publicly violated, and
the love of their country so completely eradicated from the breasts
of his fellow-citizens, that, brutified as they were by slavery and
voluptuousness, by luxury and avarice, they merited rather the severity
of the executioner than the censor.

"Meanwhile the empire, shaken to its foundations, was rapidly crumbling
to dust. Despotism was consecrated by the senate; liberty, of which
a few slaves were still sensible, was nothing but an unmeaning word
for the rest, which, unmeaning as it was, they did not dare to
pronounce in public. Men of rank were declared enemies to the state for
having praised their equals; historians were condemned to the cross,
philosophy was proscribed, and its professors banished. Individuals
felt only for their own danger, which they too often averted by
accusing others; and there were instances of children who denounced
their own parents, and appeared as witnesses against them! It was not
possible to weep for the proscribed, for tears themselves became the
object of proscription; and when the tyrant of the day had condemned
the accused to banishment or death, the senate decreed that he should
be thanked for it, as for an act of singular favor.

"Juvenal, who looked upon the alliance of the agreeable with the odious
as utterly incompatible, contemned the feeble weapon of ridicule,
so familiar to his predecessor: he therefore seized the sword of
Satire, or, to speak more properly, fabricated one for himself, and
rushing from the palace to the tavern, and from the gates of Rome to
the boundaries of the empire, struck, without distinction, whoever
deviated from the course of nature, or from the paths of honor. It is
no longer a poet like Horace, fickle, pliant, and fortified with that
indifference so falsely called philosophical, who amused himself with
bantering vice, or, at most, with upbraiding a few errors of little
consequence, in a style, which, scarcely raised above the language of
conversation, flowed as indolence and pleasure directed; but a stern
and incorruptible censor, an inflamed and impetuous poet, who sometimes
rises with his subject to the noblest heights of tragedy."

From this declamatory applause, which even La Harpe allows to be worthy
of the translator of Juvenal, the most rigid censor of our author can
not detract much; nor can much perhaps be added to it by his warmest
admirer. I could, indeed, have wished that he had not exalted him at
the expense of Horace; but something must be allowed for the partiality
of long acquaintance; and Casaubon, when he preferred Persius, with
whom he had taken great, and indeed successful pains, to Horace and
Juvenal, sufficiently exposed, while he tacitly accounted for, the
prejudices of commentators and translators. With respect to Horace, if
he falls beneath Juvenal (and who does not?) in eloquence, in energy,
and in a vivid and glowing imagination, he evidently surpasses him
in taste and critical judgment. I could pursue the parallel through
a thousand ramifications, but the reader who does me the honor to
peruse the following sheets, will see that I have incidentally touched
upon some of them in the notes: and, indeed, I preferred scattering
my observations through the work, as they arose from the subject, to
bringing them together in this place; where they must evidently have
lost something of their pertinency, without much certainty of gaining
in their effect.

Juvenal is accused of being too sparing of praise. But are his critics
well assured that praise from Juvenal could be accepted with safety?
I do not know that a private station was "the post of honor" in those
days; it was, however, that of security. Martial, Statius, V. Flaccus,
and other parasites of Domitian, might indeed venture to celebrate
their friends, who were also those of the emperor. Juvenal's, it is
probable, were of another kind; and he might have been influenced no
less by humanity than prudence, in the sacred silence which he has
observed respecting them. Let it not be forgotten, however, that this
intrepid champion of virtue, who, under the twelfth despot, persisted,
as Dusaulx observes, in recognizing no sovereign but the senate, while
he passes by those whose safety his applause might endanger, has
generously celebrated the ancient assertors of liberty, in strains that
Tyrtæus might have wished his own.

He is also charged with being too rhetorical in his language. The
critics have discovered that he practiced at the bar, and they
will therefore have it that his Satires smack of his profession,
"redolent declamatorem."[26] That he is luxuriant, or, if it must
be so, redundant, may be safely granted; but I doubt whether the
passages which are cited for proofs of this fault, were not reckoned
among his beauties by his contemporaries. The enumeration of deities
in the thirteenth Satire is well defended by Rigaltius, who admits,
at the same time, that if the author had inserted it any where but
in a Satire, he should have accounted him a babbler; "faterer Juv.
hic περιλαλον fuisse et verborum prodigum." He appears to me equally
successful, in justifying the list of oaths in the same Satire, which
Creech, it appears, had not the courage to translate.

The other passages adduced in support of this charge, are either
metaphorical exaggerations, or long traits of indirect Satire, of
which Juvenal was as great a master as Horace. I do not say that these
are interesting to us; but they were eminently so to those for whom
they were written; and by their pertinency at the time, should they,
by every rule of fair criticism, be estimated. The version of such
passages is one of the miseries of translation.

I have also heard it objected to Juvenal, that there is in many of
his Satires a want of arrangement; this is particularly observed of
the sixth and tenth. I scarcely know what to reply to this. Those
who are inclined to object, would not be better satisfied, perhaps,
if the form of both were changed; for I suspect that there is no
natural gradation in the innumerable passions which agitate the human
breast. Some must precede, and others follow; but the order of march
is not, nor ever was, invariable. While I acquit him of this, however,
I readily acknowledge a want of care in many places, unless it be
rather attributable to a want of taste. On some occasions, too, when
he changed or enlarged his first sketch, he forgot to strike out the
unnecessary verses: to this are owing the repetitions to be found in
his longer works, as well as the transpositions, which have so often
perplexed the critics and translators.

Now I am upon this subject, I must not pass over a slovenliness in some
of his lines, for which he has been justly reproached by Jortin and
others, as it would have cost him no great pains to improve them. Why
he should voluntarily debase his poetry, it is difficult to say: if he
thought that he was imitating Horace in his laxity, his judgment must
suffer considerably. The verses of Horace are indeed akin to prose; but
as he seldom rises, he has the art of making his low flights, in which
all his motions are easy and graceful, appear the effect of choice.
Juvenal was qualified to "sit where he dared not soar." His element was
that of the eagle, "descent and fall to him were adverse," and, indeed,
he never appears more awkward than when he flutters, or rather waddles,
along the ground.

I have observed in the course of the translation, that he embraced no
sect with warmth. In a man of such lively passions, the retention with
which he speaks of them all, is to be admired. From his attachment
to the writings of Seneca, I should incline to think that he leaned
toward Stoicism; his predilection for the school, however, was not
very strong: perhaps it is to be wished that he had entered a little
more deeply into it, as he seems not to have those distinct ideas
of the nature of virtue and vice, which were entertained by many of
the ancient philosophers, and indeed, by his immediate predecessor,
Persius. As a general champion for virtue, he is commonly successful,
but he sometimes misses his aim; and, in more than one instance,
confounds the nature of the several vices in his mode of attacking
them: he confounds too the very essence of virtue, which, in his
hands, has often "no local habitation and name," but varies with the
ever-varying passions and caprices of mankind. I know not whether it be
worth while to add, that he is accused of holding a different language
at different times respecting the gods, since in this he differs little
from the Greek and Roman poets in general; who, as often as they
introduce their divinities, state, as Juvenal does, the mythological
circumstances coupled with their names, without regard to the existing
system of physic or morals. When they speak from themselves, indeed,
they give us exalted sentiments of virtue and sound philosophy; when
they indulge in poetic recollections, they present us with the fables
of antiquity. Hence the gods are alternately, and as the subject
requires, venerable or contemptible; and this could not but happen
through the want of some acknowledged religious standard, to which all
might with confidence refer.

I come now to a more serious charge against Juvenal, that of indecency.
To hear the clamor raised against him, it might be supposed, by one
unacquainted with the times, that he was the only indelicate writer
of his age and country. Yet Horace and Persius wrote with equal
grossness: yet the rigid Stoicism of Seneca did not deter him from
the use of expressions, which Juvenal perhaps would have rejected:
yet the courtly Pliny poured out gratuitous indecencies in his frigid
hendecasyllables, which he attempts to justify by the example of a
writer to whose freedom the licentiousness of Juvenal is purity! It
seems as if there was something of pique in the singular severity with
which he is censured. His pure and sublime morality operates as a tacit
reproach on the generality of mankind, who seek to indemnify themselves
by questioning the sanctity which they can not but respect; and find a
secret pleasure in persuading one another that "this dreaded satirist"
was at heart no inveterate enemy to the licentiousness which he so
vehemently reprehends.

When we consider the unnatural vices at which Juvenal directs his
indignation, and reflect, at the same time, on the peculiar qualities
of his mind, we shall not find much cause, perhaps, for wonder at the
strength of his expressions. I should resign him in silence to the
hatred of mankind, if his aim, like that of too many others, whose
works are read with delight, had been to render vice amiable, to
fling his seducing colors over impurity, and inflame the passions by
meretricious hints at what is only innoxious when exposed in native
deformity: but when I find that his views are to render depravity
loathsome; that every thing which can alarm and disgust is directed at
her in his terrible page, I forget the grossness of the execution in
the excellence of the design; and pay my involuntary homage to that
integrity, which fearlessly calling in strong description to the aid
of virtue, attempts to purify the passions, at the hazard of wounding
delicacy and offending taste. This is due to Juvenal: in justice to
myself, let me add, that I could have been better pleased to have had
no occasion to speak at all on the subject.

Whether any considerations of this or a similar nature deterred our
literati from turning these Satires into English, I can not say; but,
though partial versions might be made, it was not until the beginning
of the seventeenth century that a complete translation was thought of;
when two men, of celebrity in their days, undertook it about the same
time; these were Barten Holyday and Sir Robert Stapylton. Who entered
first upon the task, can not well be told. There appears somewhat of
a querulousness on both sides; a jealousy that their versions had
been communicated in manuscript to each other: Stapylton's, however,
was first published, though that of Holyday seems to have been first
finished.

Of this ingenious man it is not easy to speak with too much
respect. His learning, industry, judgment, and taste are every
where conspicuous: nor is he without a very considerable portion of
shrewdness to season his observations. His poetry indeed, or rather
his ill-measured prose, is intolerable; no human patience can toil
through a single page of it;[27] but his notes will always be consulted
with pleasure. His work has been of considerable use to the subsequent
editors of Juvenal, both at home and abroad; and indeed, such is
its general accuracy, that little excuse remains for any notorious
deviation from the sense of the original.

Stapylton had equal industry, and more poetry; but he wanted his
learning, judgment, and ingenuity. His notes, though numerous, are
trite, and scarcely beyond the reach of a schoolboy. He is besides
scandalously indecent on many occasions, where his excellent rival was
innocently unfaithful, or silent.

With these translations, such as they were, the public was satisfied
until the end of the seventeenth century, when the necessity of
something more poetical becoming apparent, the booksellers, as Johnson
says, "proposed a new version to the poets of that time, which was
undertaken by Dryden, whose reputation was such, that no man was
unwilling to serve the Muses under him."

Dryden's account of this translation is given with such candor, in the
exquisite dedication which precedes it, that I shall lay it before the
reader in his own words.

"The common way which we have taken, is not a literal translation, but
a kind of paraphrase, or somewhat which is yet more loose, betwixt a
paraphrase and a translation. Thus much may be said for us, that if we
give not the whole sense of Juvenal, yet we give the most considerable
part of it: we give it, in general, so clearly, that few notes are
sufficient to make us intelligible: we make our author at least appear
in a poetic dress. We have actually made him more sounding, and more
elegant, than he was before in English: and have endeavored to make him
speak that kind of English, which he would have spoken had he lived in
England, and had written to this age. If sometimes any of us (and it
is but seldom) make him express the customs and manners of his native
country rather than of Rome, it is, either when there was some kind of
analogy betwixt their customs and ours, or when, to make him more easy
to vulgar understandings, we gave him those manners which are familiar
to us. But I defend not this innovation, it is enough if I can excuse
it. For to speak sincerely, the manners of nations and ages are not to
be confounded."[28]

This is, surely, sufficiently modest. Johnson's description of it is
somewhat more favorable: "The general character of this translation
will be given, when it is said to preserve the wit, but to want the
dignity, of the original." Is this correct? Dryden frequently degrades
the author into a jester; but Juvenal has few moments of levity. Wit,
indeed, he possesses in an eminent degree, but it is tinctured with his
peculiarities; "rarò jocos," as Lipsius well observes, "sæpius acerbos
sales miscet." Dignity is the predominant quality of his mind: he can,
and does, relax with grace, but he never forgets himself; he smiles,
indeed; but his smile is more terrible than his frown, for it is never
excited but when his indignation is mingled with contempt; "ridet
et odit!" Where his dignity, therefore, is wanting, his wit will be
imperfectly preserved.[29]

On the whole, there is nothing in this quotation to deter succeeding
writers from attempting, at least, to supply the deficiencies of Dryden
and his fellow-laborers; and, perhaps, I could point out several
circumstances which might make it laudable, if not necessary: but this
would be to trifle with the reader, who is already apprised that, as
far as relates to myself, no motives but those of obedience determined
me to the task for which I now solicit the indulgence of the public.

When I took up this author, I knew not of any other translator; nor
was it until the scheme of publishing him was started, that I began to
reflect seriously on the nature of what I had undertaken, to consider
by what exertions I could render that useful which was originally
meant to amuse, and justify, in some measure, the partiality of my
benefactors.

My first object was to become as familiar as possible with my author,
of whom I collected every edition that my own interest, or that of my
friends, could procure; together with such translations as I could
discover either here or abroad; from a careful examination of all
these, I formed the plan, to which, while I adapted my former labors, I
anxiously strove to accommodate my succeeding ones.

Dryden has said, "if we give not the whole, yet we give the most
considerable part of it." My determination was to give the whole, and
really make the work what it professed to be, a translation of Juvenal.
I had seen enough of castrated editions, to observe that little was
gained by them on the score of propriety; since, when the author was
reduced to half his bulk, at the expense of his spirit and design,
sufficient remained to alarm the delicacy for which the sacrifice had
been made. Chaucer observes with great naiveté,

"Whoso shall tell a tale after a man,
He moste reherse as neighe as ever he can
Everich word, if it be in his charge,
All speke he never so rudely and so large."

And indeed the age of Chaucer, like that of Juvenal, allowed of such
liberties. Other times, other manners. Many words were in common
use with our ancestors, which raised no improper ideas, though they
would not, and indeed could not, at this time be tolerated. With the
Greeks and Romans it was still worse: their dress, which left many
parts of the body exposed, gave a boldness to their language, which
was not perhaps lessened by the infrequency of women at those social
conversations, of which they now constitute the refinement and the
delight. Add to this that their mythology, and sacred rites, which took
their rise in very remote periods, abounded in the undisguised phrases
of a rude and simple age, and being religiously handed down from
generation to generation, gave a currency to many terms, which offered
no violence to modesty, though abstractedly considered by people of a
different language and manners, they appear pregnant with turpitude and
guilt.

When we observe this licentiousness (for I should wrong many of
the ancient writers to call it libertinism) in the pages of their
historians and philosophers, we may be pretty confident that it raised
no blush on the cheek of their readers. It was the language of the
times--"hæc illis natura est omnibus una:" and if it be considered
as venial in those, surely a little farther indulgence will not be
misapplied to the satirist, whose object is the exposure of what the
former have only to notice.

Thus much may suffice for Juvenal: but shame and sorrow on the head of
him who presumes to transfer his grossness into the vernacular tongues!
"Legimus aliqua ne legantur," was said of old, by one of a pure and
zealous mind. Without pretending to his high motives, I have felt the
influence of his example, and in his apology must therefore hope to
find my own. Though the poet be given entire, I have endeavored to make
him speak as he would probably have spoken if he had lived among us;
when, refined with the age, he would have fulminated against impurity
in terms, to which, though delicacy might disavow them, manly decency
might listen without offense.

I have said above, that "the whole of Juvenal" is here given; this,
however, must be understood with a few restrictions. Where vice, of
whatever nature, formed the immediate object of reprobation, it has
not been spared in the translation; but I have sometimes taken the
liberty of omitting an exceptionable line, when it had no apparent
connection with the subject of the Satire. Some acquaintance with the
original will be necessary to discover these lacunæ, which do not, in
all, amount to half a page: for the rest, I have no apologies to make.
Here are no allusions, covert or open, to the follies and vices of
modern times; nor has the dignity of the original been prostituted, in
a single instance, to the gratification of private spleen.

I have attempted to follow, as far as I judged it feasible, the style
of my author, which is more various than is usually supposed. It is not
necessary to descend to particulars; but my meaning will be understood
by those who carefully compare the original of the thirteenth and
fourteenth Satires with the translation. In the twelfth, and in that
alone, I have perhaps raised it a little; but it really appears so
contemptible a performance in the doggerel of Dryden's coadjutor,
that I thought somewhat more attention than ordinary was in justice
due to it. It is not a chef-d'œuvre by any means; but it is a pretty
and a pleasing little poem, deserving more notice than it has usually
received.

I could have been sagacious and obscure on many occasions, with very
little difficulty; but I strenuously combated every inclination to
find out more than my author meant. The general character of this
translation, if I do not deceive myself, will be found to be plainness;
and, indeed, the highest praise to which I aspire, is that of having
left the original more intelligible to the English reader than I found
it.

On numbering the lines, I find that my translation contains a few
less than Dryden's. Had it been otherwise, I should not have thought
an apology necessary, nor would it perhaps appear extraordinary,
when it is considered that I have introduced an infinite number of
circumstances from the text, which he thought himself justified in
omitting; and that, with the trifling exceptions already mentioned,
nothing has been passed; whereas he and his assistants overlooked whole
sections, and sometimes very considerable ones.[30] Every where, too, I
have endeavored to render the transitions less abrupt, and to obviate
or disguise the difficulties which a difference of manners, habits,
etc., necessarily creates: all this calls for an additional number of
lines; which the English reader, at least, will seldom have occasion to
regret.

Of the "borrowed learning of notes," which Dryden says he avoided as
much as possible, I have amply availed myself. During the long period
in which my thoughts were fixed on Juvenal, it was usual with me,
whenever I found a passage that related to him, to impress it on my
memory, or to note it down. These, on the revision of the work for
publication, were added to such reflections as arose in my own mind,
and arranged in the manner in which they now appear. I confess that
this was not an unpleasant task to me, and I will venture to hope,
that if my own suggestions fail to please, yet the frequent recurrence
of some of the most striking and beautiful passages of ancient and
modern poetry, history, etc., will render it neither unamusing nor
uninstructive to the general reader. The information insinuated into
the mind by miscellaneous collections of this nature, is much greater
than is usually imagined; and I have been frequently encouraged to
proceed by recollecting the benefits which I formerly derived from
casual notices scattered over the margin, or dropped at the bottom of a
page.

In this compilation, I proceeded on no regular plan, farther than
considering what, if I had been a mere English reader, I should wish
to have had explained: it is therefore extremely probable, as every
rule of this nature must be imperfect, that I have frequently erred;
have spoken where I should be silent and been prolix where I should
be brief: on the whole, however, I chose to offend on the safer side;
and to leave nothing unsaid, at the hazard of sometimes saying too
much. Tedious, perhaps, I may be; but, I trust, not dull; and with
this negative commendation I must be satisfied. The passages produced
are not always translated; but the English reader needs not for that
be discouraged in proceeding, as he will frequently find sufficient in
the context to give him a general idea of the meaning. In many places
I have copied the words, together with the sentiments of the writer;
for this, if it call for an apology, I shall take that of Macrobius,
who had somewhat more occasion for it than I shall be found to have:
"Nec mihi vitio vertas, si res quas ex lectione varia mutuabor, ipsis
sæpè verbis quibus ab ipsis auctoribus enarratæ sunt explicabo, quia
præsens opus non eloquentiæ ostentationem, sed noscendorum congeriem
pollicetur," etc. Saturn., lib. i., c. 1.

* * * * *

I have now said all that occurs to me on this subject: a more pleasing
one remains. I can not, indeed, like Dryden, boast of my poetical
coadjutors. No Congreves and Creeches have abridged, while they
adorned, my labors; yet have I not been without assistance, and of the
most valuable kind.

Whoever is acquainted with the habits of intimacy in which I have
lived from early youth with the Rev. Dr. Ireland,[31] will not want
to be informed of his share in the following pages. To those who are
not, it is proper to say, that besides the passages in which he is
introduced by name, every other part of the work has been submitted to
his inspection. Nor would his affectionate anxiety for the reputation
of his friend suffer any part of the translation to appear, without
undergoing the strictest revision. His uncommon accuracy, judgment, and
learning have been uniformly exerted on it, not less, I am confident,
to the advantage of the reader, than to my own satisfaction. It will be
seen that we sometimes differ in opinion; but as I usually distrust my
own judgment in those cases, the decision is submitted to the reader.

I have also to express my obligations to Abraham Moore, Esq., barrister
at law, a gentleman whose taste and learning are well known to be
only surpassed by his readiness to oblige: of which I have the most
convincing proofs; since the hours dedicated to the following sheets
(which I lament that he only saw in their progress through the press)
were snatched from avocations as urgent as they were important.

Nor must I overlook the friendly assistance of William Porden,
Esq.,[32] which, like that of the former gentleman, was given to me,
amid the distraction of more immediate concerns, with a readiness that
enhanced the worth of what was, in itself, highly valuable.

A paper was put into my hand by Mr. George Nicol, the promoter of
every literary work, from R. P. Knight, Esq., containing subjects for
engravings illustrative of Juvenal, and, with singular generosity,
offering me the use of his marbles, gems, etc. As these did not fall
within my plan, I can only here return him my thanks for a kindness
as extraordinary as it was unexpected. But I have other and greater
obligations to Mr. Nicol. In conjunction with his son, Mr. William
Nicol, he has watched the progress of this work through the press with
unwearied solicitude. During my occasional absences from town, the
correction of it (for which, indeed, the state of my eyes renders me
at all times rather unfit) rested almost solely on him; and it is but
justice to add, that his habitual accuracy in this ungrateful employ is
not the only quality to which I am bound to confess my obligations.

FOOTNOTES:

[16] The origin of this word is now acknowledged to be Roman. Scaliger
derived it from σατυρος (_satyrus_), but Casaubon, Dacier, and others,
more reasonably, from _satura_ (fem. of _satur_), rich, abounding, full
of variety. In this sense it was applied to the lanx or charger, in
which the various productions of the soil were offered up to the gods;
and thus came to be used for any miscellaneous collection in general.
_Satura olla_, a hotch-potch; _saturæ leges_, laws comprehending a
multitude of regulations, etc. This deduction of the name may serve
to explain, in some measure, the nature of the first Satires, which
treated of various subjects, and were full of various matters: but
enough on this trite topic.

[17] It should be observed, however, that the idea was obvious, and
the work itself highly necessary. The old Satire, amid much coarse
ribaldry, frequently attacked the follies and vices of the day. This
could not be done by the comedy which superseded it, and which, by
a strange perversity of taste, was never rendered national. Its
customs, manners, nay, its very plots, were Grecian; and scarcely more
applicable to the Romans than to us.

[18] To extend this to Lucilius, as is sometimes done, is absurd, since
he evidently had in view the old comedy of the Greeks, of which his
Satires, according to Horace, were rigid imitations:

"Eupolis atque Cratinus, Aristophanesque poëtæ
Atque alii, quorum comœdia prisca virorum est;
Si quia erat dignus describi, quod malus, aut fur,
Quod mœchus foret, aut sicarius, aut alioqui
Famosus, multa cum libertate notabant.
HINC omnis pendet Lucilius, hosce secutus,
Mutatis tantum pedibus, numerisque."

Here the matter would seem to be at once determined by a very competent
judge. Strip the old Greek comedy of its action, and change the metre
from Iambic to Heroic, and you have the Roman Satire! It is evident
from this, that, unless two things be granted, first, that the actors
in those ancient Satires were ignorant of the existence of the Greek
comedy; and, secondly, that Ennius, who knew it well, passed it by for
a ruder model; the Romans can have no pretensions to the honor they
claim.

And even if this be granted, the honor appears to be scarcely worth
the claiming; for the Greeks had not only Dramatic, but Lyric and
Heroic Satire. To pass by the Margites, what were the Iambics of
Archilochus, and the Scazons of Hipponax, but Satires? nay, what were
the Silli? Casaubon derives them απο του σιλλαινειν, to scoff, to treat
petulantly; and there is no doubt of the justness of his derivation.
These little pieces were made up of passages from various poems, which
by slight alterations were humorously or satirically applied at will.
The Satires of Ennius were probably little more; indeed, we have the
express authority of Diomedes the grammarian for it. After speaking of
Lucilius, whose writings he derives, with Horace, from the old comedy,
he adds, "et olim carmen, quod ex variis poematibus constabat, satira
vocabatur; quale scripserunt Pacuvius et Ennius." Modern critics agree
in understanding "ex variis poematibus," of various kinds of metre;
but I do not see why it may not mean, as I have rendered it, "of
various poems;" unless we choose to compliment the Romans, by supposing
that what was in the Greeks a mere cento, was in them an original
composition.

It would scarcely be doing justice, however, to Ennius, to suppose
that he did not surpass his models, for, to say the truth, the Greek
Silli appear to have been no very extraordinary performances. A few
short specimens of them may be seen in Diogenes Laertius, and a longer
one, which has escaped the writers on this subject, in Dio Chrysostom.
As this is, perhaps, the only Greek Satire extant, it may be regarded
as a curiosity; and as such, for as a literary effort it is worth
nothing, a short extract from it may not be uninteresting. Sneering at
the people of Alexandria, for their mad attachment to chariot-races,
etc., he says, this folly of theirs is not ill exposed by one of those
scurrilous writers of (Silli, or) parodies: ου κακως τις παρεποιησε των
σαπρων τουτων ποιητων·

Ἁρματα δ' αλλοτε μεν χθονι πιλνατο πουλυβοτειρῃ,
Αλλοτε δ' αεξασκε μετηορα· τοι δε θεαται
Θωκοις εν σφετεροις, ουθ' ἑστασαν, ουδ' εκαθηντο,
Χλωροι ὑπαι δειους πεφοβημενοι, ουδ' ὑπο νικες
Αλληλοισι τε κεκλομενοι, και πασι θεοισι
Χειρας ανισχοντες, μεγαλ' ευχετοωντο ἑκαστοι.
Ἡυτε περ κλαγγη γερανων πελει, ηε κολοιων,
Ἁι τ' επει ουν ζυθον τ' επιον, και αθεσπατον οινον,
Κλαγγῃ ται γε πετονται απο σταδιοιο κελευθου. κ. τ. λ.

_Ad Alexand. Orat._ xxxii.

[19] I doubt whether he was ever a good royalist at heart; he
frequently, perhaps unconsciously, betrays a lurking dissatisfaction;
but having, as Johnson says of a much greater man, "tasted the honey of
favor," he did not choose to return to hunger and philosophy. Indeed,
he was not happy; in the country he sighs for the town, in town for the
country; and he is always restless, and straining after something which
he never obtains. To float, like Aristippus, with the stream, is a bad
recipe for felicity; there must be some fixed principle, by which the
passions and desires may be regulated.

[20] He is careful to disclaim all participation in public affairs. He
accompanies Mæcenas in his carriage; but their chat, he wishes it to be
believed, is on the common topics of the day, the weather, amusements,
etc. Though this may not be strictly true, it is yet probable that
politics furnished but a small part of their conversation. That both
Augustus and his minister were warmly attached to him, can not be
denied; but then it was as to a plaything. In a word, Horace seems to
have been the "enfant gaté," of the palace, and was viewed, I believe,
with more tenderness than respect.

[21] Mr. Drummond has given this passage with equal elegance and truth:

"With greater art sly Horace gain'd his end,
But spared no failing of his smiling friend;
Sportive and pleasant round the heart he play'd,
And wrapt in jests the censure he convey'd;
With such address his willing victims seized,
That tickled fools were rallied, and were pleased."

[22] Dusaulx accounts for this by the general consternation. Most of
those, he says, distinguished for talents or rank, took refuge in the
school of Zeno; not so much to learn in it how to live, as how to die.
I think, on the contrary, that this would rather have driven them into
the arms of Epicurus. "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die,"
will generally be found, I believe, to be the maxim of dangerous times.
It would not be difficult to show, if this were the place for it, that
the prevalency of Stoicism was due to the increase of profligacy, for
which it furnished a convenient cloak. This, however, does not apply to
Persius.

[23] I believe that Juvenal meant to describe himself in the following
spirited picture of Lucilius:

"Ense velut stricto quoties Lucilius ardens
Infremuit, rubet auditor, cui frigida mens est
Criminibus, tacita sudant præcordia culpa."

[24] This is an error which has been so often repeated, that it is
believed. What liberty was destroyed by the usurpation of Augustus? For
more than half a century, Rome had been a prey to ambitious chiefs,
while five or six civil wars, each more bloody than the other, had
successively delivered up the franchises of the empire to the conqueror
of the day. The Gracchi first opened the career to ambition, and wanted
nothing but the means of corruption, which the East afterward supplied,
to effect what Marius, Sylla, and the two triumvirates brought about
with sufficient ease.

[25] This is a very strange observation. It looks as if Dusaulx had
leaped from the times of old Metellus to those of Augustus, without
casting a glance at the interval. The chef d'œuvres of Roman literature
were in every hand, when he supposed them to be neglected: and, indeed,
if Horace had left us nothing, the qualities of which Dusaulx speaks
might still be found in many works produced before he was known.

[26] I have often wished that we had some of the pleadings of Juvenal.
It can not be affirmed, I think, that there is any natural connection
between prose and verse in the same mind, though it may be observed,
that most of our celebrated poets have written admirably "solutâ
oratione:" yet if Juvenal's oratory bore any resemblance to his poetry,
he yielded to few of the best ornaments of the bar. The "torrens
dicendi copia" was his, in an eminent degree; nay, so full, so rich,
so strong, and so magnificent is his eloquence, that I have heard one
well qualified to judge, frequently declare that Cicero himself, in his
estimation, could hardly be said to surpass him.

[27] With all my respect for the learning of the good old man, it is
impossible, now and then, to suppress a smile at his simplicity. In
apologizing for his translation, he says: "As for publishing poetry, it
needs no defense; there being, if my Lord of Verulam's judgment shall
be admitted, 'a _divine rapture_ in it!'"

[28] He evidently alludes to the versions of the second and eighth
Satires by Tate and Stepney, but principally to the latter, in which
Juvenal illustrates his argument by the practice of Smithfield and
Newmarket! Indeed, Dryden himself, though confessedly aware of its
impropriety, is not altogether free from "innovation;" he talks of the
Park, and the Mall, and the Opera, and of many other objects, familiar
to the translator, but which the original writer could only know by the
spirit of prophecy.

I am sensible how difficult it is to keep the manners of different
ages perfectly distinct in a work like this: I have never knowingly
confounded them, and, I trust, not often inadvertently; yet more
occasions perhaps of exercising the reader's candor will appear, after
all, than are desirable.

[29] Yet Johnson knew him well. The peculiarity of Juvenal, he says
(vol. ix., p. 424), "is a mixture of gayety and stateliness, of pointed
sentences, and declamatory grandeur." A good idea of it may be formed
from his own beautiful imitation of the third Satire. His imitation
of the tenth (still more beautiful as a poem) has scarcely a trait of
the author's manner--that is to say, of that "mixture of gayety and
stateliness," which, according to his own definition, constitutes the
"peculiarity of Juvenal." "The Vanity of Human Wishes" is uniformly
stately and severe, and without those light and popular strokes of
sarcasm which abound so much in his "London."

[30] In the fourteenth Satire, for example, there is an omission of
fifteen lines, and this, too, in a passage of singular importance.

[31] Sub-Dean and Prebendary of Westminster, and Vicar of Croydon, in
Surrey.

[32] The architect of Eton Hall, Cheshire, a structure which even now
stands pre-eminent among the works which embellish the nation, and
which future times will contemplate with equal wonder and delight.

CHRONOLOGY OF JUVENAL, PERSIUS, AND SULPICIA.

A.D. 14-138.

L. E.

APPENDIX, ON THE DATE OF JUVENAL'S SATIRES.

The first Satire appears, from internal evidence, to have been written
subsequently to at least the larger portion of the other Satires. But
in this, as probably in many others, lines were interpolated here and
there, at a period long after the original composition of the main body
of the Satire; the cycle of events reproducing such a combination of
circumstances, that the Satirist could make his shafts come home with
two-fold pungency. For instance, the lines 60 _et seq._, which probably
were in the first edition of the Satire directed against Nero and his
favorite Sporus, would tell with equal effect against Hadrian and
Antinous.

It is impossible, therefore, from any one given passage, to assign a
date to any of the Satires of Juvenal. All that can be done, is to
point out the allusion probably intended in the particular passages,
and by that means fix a date prior to which we may reasonably conclude
that portion could not have been written.

In those Satires whose subject is less complicated and extensive, a
nearer approximation may be obtained to the date of the composition; as
e. g. in the case of the second and eleventh Satires, and we may add
the thirteenth and fifteenth.

But in the first Satire, the allusions extend over so wide a period,
that unless we may suppose, as in the case just cited, that other
persons are intended under the names known to history, to whom his
readers would apply immediately the covert sarcasm, we can hardly
imagine that they could _all_ at any one given time serve to give point
to the shaft of the Satirist. Thus Crispinus, mentioned l. 27, was made
a senator by Nero, and lived probably under Domitian also. The barber
alluded to in l. 25 (if, as the commentators suppose, Cinnamus is the
person), must have lost all his wealth, and been reduced to poverty,
somewhere about A.D. 93, the date of Martial's seventh book of Epigrams
(who mentions the fact, and advises him to recur to his old trade, Ep.
VII. lxiv.). Massa and Carus (l. 35, 36) are mentioned by Martial as
apparently flourishing when he wrote his twelfth book, which was sent
to Rome A.D. 104. Again, line 49 seems to refer to the condemnation of
Marius as a recent event; but this took place in A.D. 100. And in that
same year M. Cornelius Fronto was consul with Trajan; and may have been
the proprietor of the plane-groves, mentioned l. 12. But then, again,
we hear of Julius Fronto in A.D. 129, and Hadrian's conduct toward
Antinous in that and the following year, might well have given occasion
to the 60th and following lines; and if we are right in applying line
40 to Plotina's manœuvring to secure the succession to Hadrian, it will
furnish an additional argument for supposing these passages to have
been added some time after. We may therefore offer the conjecture, that
the first Satire was written shortly after the year A.D. 100, as a
preface or introduction to the book, and that a few additions were made
to it, even so late as thirty years subsequently.

The second Satire was, in all probability, the first written. The
allusion in the first line to the Sarmatæ, may perhaps be connected
with the Sarmatian war, which took place A.D. 93, and in which
Domitian engaged in person. And this date will correspond with the
other references in the Satire by which an approximation to the time
of its composition may be obtained. In A.D. 84 Domitian received the
censorship for life (l. 121), at the same time that he was carrying on
an incestuous intercourse with his own niece Julia. This connection
was continued for some years. Shortly after the death of Julia, the
Vestal virgin Cornelia was buried alive, A.D. 91. These are alluded
to as _recent_ events (l. 29, "nuper"). Agricola, too, the conqueror
of Britain, died A.D. 93 (cf. l. 160), whose campaigns are spoken of
as recent occurrences, "modo captas Orcadas." The mention of Gracchus
also connects this with the eighth Satire, part of which at least was
probably written soon after the consulship of Lateranus in A.D. 94. We
may therefore conjecture that the Satire was composed between the years
A.D. 93 and 95.

The third Satire may perhaps have been written in the reign of
Domitian, and may refer to the general departure of men of worth from
Rome, when Domitian expelled the philosophers, A.D. 90. Umbritius,
who predicted the murder of Galba, A.D. 69, might have been alive at
that time; and, from his political views, would have been a friend of
Juvenal, who was a bitter enemy of Otho. The nightly deeds of violence
perpetrated by Nero would have been still fresh in men's memories (l.
278, _seq._; cf. Pers., Sat., iv., 49); as would the judicial murder of
Barea Soranus, and the arrogance of Fabricius Veiento (l. 116, 185).
Still there are other parts of the Satire that seem to bear evidence of
a later date. The name of Isæus would hardly have been so familiar in
Rome till ten years after this date, l. 74. It was not till A.D. 107
that Trajan undertook the draining of the Pontine marshes; to which
there is most probably an allusion in l. 32 and 307; to which nothing
of importance had been done since the days of Augustus. The great
influx of foreigners into Rome, in the train of Hadrian, at a still
later date, A.D. 118, probably gave rise to the spirited episode from
l. 58-125. (See Chronology.) We may therefore consider it probable that
the main body of the Satire was written toward the close of the reign
of Domitian, and received additions in the commencement of the reign of
Hadrian.

The fourth Satire in all probability describes a real event; and would
have possessed but little interest after any great lapse of time,
subsequent to the fact described. We may therefore fairly assign it
to the early part of Nerva's reign, very shortly after the death of
Domitian, which is mentioned at the close of the Satire.

The fifth Satire contains nothing by which we can determine the date.
From Juvenal's hatred of Domitian, we may suppose that l. 36 was
suggested by the condemnation of Senecio, who was put to death for
writing a panegyric on Helvidius Priscus, A.D. 90. If the Aurelia
(l. 98) be the lady mentioned by Pliny (Epist., ii., 20), this would
strengthen the conjecture, as Pliny's second book of Epistles was
probably written very shortly before that date.

There is little doubt that considerable portions of the sixth Satire
were written in the reign of Trajan. 1. The lines 407-411 describe
exactly the events which took place at Antioch, in A.D. 115, when
Trajan was entering on his Armenian and Parthian campaigns. 2. The
coins of Trajan of the year A.D. 110, have the legend Dacicus and
Germanicus, cf. l. 205; and although Domitian triumphed over the
Dacians and Germans, none of his extant coins bear that inscription;
the general title being Augustus Germanicus simply. 3. Again, l.
502 describes a kind of headdress, very common on the coins of the
reigns of Trajan and Hadrian, representing Plotina the wife of Trajan,
Marciana his sister, and Sabina the wife of Hadrian, and others: and
this fashion was a very short-lived one. Beginning with the court, it
probably soon descended to the ladies of inferior rank; but like its
unnatural antitype, the towering, powdered, and plastered rolls of our
own countrywomen, in the degraded days of the two first Georges, it was
too unnatural and disfiguring to remain long in vogue with that sex,
to whom "tanta est quærendi cura decoris tanquam famæ discrimen agatur
aut animæ." 4. The subject itself also affords an additional reason
for supposing that the Satire was composed when the poet was advanced
in life. The vices of women are hardly a topic for a young writer to
select; but the vigorous manner in which he handles the lash, rather
marks the state of mind of the man who has outgrown the passions of
early manhood, and from "the high heaven of his philosophy" looks down
with cold austerity on the desires, and with bitter indignation at the
vices, of those whose feelings he has long since ceased to share.
Juvenal was, as Hodgson says, "an impenetrable bachelor," and if, as
he conjectures, he was jilted in his early youth, this fact would give
additional bitterness to the rancor which in old age he would feel
toward the sex by whom his personal happiness had been embittered, as
well as the ruin of his native country precipitated. 5. If we are right
in supposing that by Heliodorus, Juvenal meant Artemidorus Capito (and
the change in the name is both simple and readily suggested), this
would also bring down the date of this Satire to Juvenal's later years,
as about A.D. 122 was the time when this court-physician of Hadrian had
attained his greatest reputation. 6. In line 320, Saufeia is spoken of
in similar terms to those employed in the eleventh Satire, which was
confessedly the work of his later years. 7. Compare also the mention
of Archigenes (l. 236) with the 98th line of the thirteenth Satire,
written A.D. 118. 8. The allusions to the importation of foreigners,
with their exotic vices, would also refer to the same date. See Chron.,
A.D. 118.

The date of the seventh Satire will depend mainly on the question, Whom
does Juvenal intend to panegyrize in his 1st line?

"Et spes et ratio studiorum in Cæsare tantum."

Gifford pronounces unhesitatingly in favor of Domitian, and his
argument is very plausible. "The Satire," he says, "would appear to
have been written in the early part of Domitian's reign; and Juvenal,
by giving the emperor '_one honest line_' of praise, probably meant to
stimulate him to extend his patronage. He did not think very ill of him
at the time, and augured happily for the future." Juvenal's subsequent
hatred of Domitian was caused, he thinks, by his bitter mortification
at finding, in a few years, this "sole patron of literature" changed
into a ferocious and bloody persecutor of all the arts. This opinion
he supports by some references to contemporary writers, and by the
evidence of coins of Domitian existing with a head of Pallas on the
reverse, to symbolize his royal patronage of poetry and literary
pursuits. But in almost every instance Gifford errs in assigning too
early a date to the Satires; and one or two points in this clearly
show that we must bring it down to a much later period. Domitian
succeeded to the throne A.D. 81, and it could only have been in the
_earlier_ years of his reign that even his most servile flatterers
could have complimented him upon his patronage of learning. Now,
1. It was not till about ten years after this that the actor Paris
acquired his influence and his wealth; and even allowing the very
problematical story of the banishment of Juvenal having been caused by
the offense given to the favorite by the famous lines (85-92) to be
true, this would bring it down to a time subsequent to the banishment
of philosophers from Rome; after which act Juvenal, certainly, would
not have written the first line on Domitian. 2. Again, in A.D. 90,
Quintilian was teaching in a public school at Rome, and receiving a
salary from the imperial treasury; it could hardly therefore be so
early as this date that he had acquired the fortune and estates alluded
to in l. 189. 3. In l. 82, the Thebaid of Statius is mentioned. This
poem was finished A.D. 94; and though it is true that Statius might,
most probably, have publicly recited portions of it _during its
progress_, it would have hardly earned the great reputation implied in
Juvenal's lines, at a sufficiently early date to allow us to assign it
to the first two or three years of Domitian's reign.

I should, therefore, rather suppose that by Cæsar we are to understand
Nerva. The praise of Domitian is incompatible with Juvenal's universal
hatred and execration of him. The opening of the reign of the mild and
excellent Nerva might well inspire hopes of the revival of a taste for
literature and the arts; and I would conjecture the close of A.D. 96 as
the date of the Satire. Before the end of the year Statius was dead;
but Juvenal's words seem to imply that he was still living. Again,
Matho the lawyer has failed, and is in great poverty (l. 129), to which
Martial alludes in lib. xi., Ep., part of which book was evidently
written shortly before A.D. 97. But if we are right in supposing the
first Satire to have been written about A.D. 100, the intervening
years will have given Matho ample time to retrieve his fortune by his
infamous trade of informing, and reappear as the luxurious character
described Sat., i., 32.

Of the eighth Satire, if "Lateranus" be the true reading (l. 147), or
if he be intended by "Damasippus," as I believe, we may assume the year
A.D. 101 or 102 as the probable date: Lateranus had been consul A.D.
94, and in the year A.D. 101 Trajan for the first time extended the
arms of Rome beyond the Danube. Cf. l. 169.

The plunder of his province of Africa, by Marius Priscus, was a recent
event (l. 120 "nuper"); but, as we have said above, he was impeached by
Pliny and Tacitus in the year A.D. 100. Ponticus, to whom the Satire
is addressed, may be the person to whom Martial refers in his twelfth
book, which was written A.D. 104.

There are two allusions by which we may form a conjecture as to the
date of the ninth Satire. Crepereius Pollio is mentioned as nearly in
the same circumstances of profligate poverty (l. 6, 7) as is described
in the eleventh Satire (l. 43), which was undoubtedly written in
Juvenal's later years; and he alludes (l. 117) to Saufeia, in very much
the same terms in which he speaks of her in the sixth Satire (l. 320),
which we suppose to have been written in his old age.

The internal evidence, supplied by the sustained majesty and dignified
flow of language of the tenth (as well as of the fourteenth) Satire,
without taking into consideration the philosophical nature of the
subject of both, is quite sufficient to prove that they must have been
the finished productions of a late period of a thoughtful life. We are
therefore quite prepared to admit the conjecture that the allusion in
line 136 is to the column of Trajan, erected in the year A.D. 113. The
repetition of the line (226) also connects this with the first Satire,
which it probably preceded only by a short interval.

The 203d line of the eleventh Satire fixes its date to the later
years of Juvenal's life. It breathes, besides, throughout the spirit
of a calm and philosophic enjoyment of the blessings of life, that
tells of declining age; cheered by a chastened appreciation of the
comforts by which it is surrounded, but far removed from all extraneous
or meretricious excitement, and utterly abhorrent of all noisy or
exuberant hilarity. An additional argument is mentioned in the
Chronology for referring it to the date A.D. 124.

The twelfth Satire contains nothing by which we can fix its date with
any certainty. If, however, as the commentators suppose, the wife of
Fuscus, in the 45th line, be Saufeia, it will be connected with the
sixth, ninth, and eleventh Satires, and may probably be considered the
work of his advanced age.

The thirteenth Satire is fixed by line 17 to the year A.D. 118, the
60th after the consulship of L. Fonteius Capito. This is the only
Satire to which Mr. Clinton has assigned a date.

The argument applied to the tenth Satire will apply with nearly equal
force to the fourteenth. We are therefore prepared to admit the
plausibility of the conjecture, that l. 196 refers to the progress of
Hadrian through Britain, which would fix the date to A.D. 120; a very
short time previous to the composition of the following Satire.

The event recorded in the fifteenth Satire occurred shortly after the
consulship of Junius, l. 27, "nuper consule Junio gesta." This was, in
all probability, Junius Rusticus, who was consul with Hadrian A.D. 119.
The 110th line also probably refers to the influx of Greeks and other
foreigners into Rome, in the train of Hadrian (to which we have alluded
in discussing the date of the third Satire), which took place in the
preceding year.

The sixteenth Satire may have either been the draft of a longer poem,
commenced in early life (as l. 3 _may_ imply), which the poet never
cared to finish; or an outline for a more perfect composition, which he
never lived to elaborate. The mention of Fucus may connect it with the
twelfth Satire. But though there is quite enough remaining to warrant
us in unhesitatingly ascribing the authorship to Juvenal, there is too
little left to enable us to form even a probable conjecture as to the
date of its composition.

It is hardly necessary to add, that, after a careful examination
of the foregoing Chronology, it must be evident to every novice in
scholarship, that the whole life of Juvenal, as usually given, is
a mere myth, to which one can not even apply, as in many legendary
biographies, the epithet of poetical.

L. E.

ARGUMENTS OF THE SATIRES OF JUVENAL.

SATIRE I.

This Satire seems, from several incidental circumstances to have been
produced subsequently to most of them; and was probably drawn up after
the author had determined to collect and publish his works, as a kind
of Introduction.

He abruptly breaks silence with an impassioned complaint of the
importunity of bad writers, and a resolution of retaliating upon them;
and after ridiculing their frivolous taste in the choice of their
subjects, declares his own intention to devote himself to Satire. After
exposing the corruption of men, the profligacy of women, the luxury of
courtiers, the baseness of informers and fortune-hunters, the treachery
of guardians, and the peculation of officers of state, he censures the
general passion for gambling, the servile rapacity of the patricians,
the avarice and gluttony of the rich, and the miserable poverty and
subjection of their dependents; and after some bitter reflections on
the danger of satirizing living villainy, concludes with a resolution
to attack it under the mask of departed names.

SATIRE II.

This Satire contains an animated attack upon the hypocrisy of the
philosophers and reformers of the day, whose ignorance, profligacy, and
impiety it exposes with just severity.

Domitian is here the object; his vices are alluded to under every
different name; and it gives us a high opinion of the intrepid spirit
of the man who could venture to circulate, even in private, so faithful
a representation of that blood-thirsty tyrant.

SATIRE III.

Umbritius, an Aruspex and friend of the author, disgusted at the
prevalence of vice and the disregard of unassuming virtue, is on the
point of quitting Rome; and when a little way from the city stops
short to acquaint the poet, who has accompanied him, with the causes
of his retirement. These may be arranged under the following heads:
That Flattery and Vice are the only thriving arts at Rome; in these,
especially the first, foreigners have a manifest superiority over
the natives, and consequently engross all favor--that the poor are
universally exposed to scorn and insult--that the general habits of
extravagance render it difficult for them to subsist--that the want
of a well-regulated police subjects them to numberless miseries and
inconveniences, aggravated by the crowded state of the capital, from
all which a country life is happily free: on the tranquillity and
security of which he dilates with great beauty.

SATIRE IV.

In this Satire Juvenal indulges his honest spleen against Crispinus,
already noticed, and Domitian, the constant object of his scorn
and abhorrence. The introduction of the tyrant is excellent; the
mock solemnity with which the anecdote of the Turbot is introduced,
the procession of the affrighted counselors to the palace, and the
ridiculous debate which terminates in as ridiculous a decision, show a
masterly hand. The whole concludes with an indignant and high-spirited
apostrophe.

SATIRE V.

Under pretense of advising one Trebius to abstain from the table of
Virro, a man of rank and fortune, Juvenal takes occasion to give a
spirited detail of the insults and mortifications to which the poor
were subjected by the rich, at those entertainments to which, on
account of the political connection subsisting between patrons and
clients, it was sometimes thought necessary to invite them.

SATIRE VI.

The whole of this Satire, not only the longest, but the most complete
of the author's works, is directed against the female sex. It may
be distributed under the following heads: Lust variously modified,
imperiousness of disposition, fickleness, gallantry, attachment to
improper pursuits, litigiousness, drunkenness, unnatural passions,
fondness for singers, dancers, etc.; gossiping, cruelty, ill manners;
outrageous pretensions to criticism, grammar, and philosophy;
superstitious and unbounded credulity in diviners and fortune-tellers;
introducing supposititious children; poisoning their step-sons to
possess their fortunes; and, lastly, murdering their husbands.

SATIRE VII.

This Satire contains an animated account of the general discouragement
under which literature labored at Rome. Beginning with poetry, it
proceeds through the various departments of history, law, oratory,
rhetoric, and grammar; interspersing many curious anecdotes, and
enlivening each different head with such satirical, humorous, and
sentimental remarks as naturally flow from the subject.

SATIRE VIII.

Juvenal demonstrates, in this Satire, that distinction is merely
personal; that though we may derive rank and titles from our ancestors,
yet if we degenerate from the virtues by which they obtained them,
we can not be considered truly noble. This is the main object of the
Satire; which, however, branches out into many collateral topics--the
profligacy of the young nobility; the miserable state of the provinces,
which they plundered and harassed without mercy; the contrast between
the state of debasement to which the descendants of the best families
had sunk, and the opposite virtues to be found in persons of the lowest
station and humblest descent.

SATIRE IX.

The Satire consists of a dialogue between the poet and one Nævolus, a
dependent of some wealthy debauchee, who, after making him subservient
to his unnatural passions, in return starved, insulted, hated, and
discarded him. The whole object seems to be, to inculcate the grand
moral lesson, that, under any circumstances, a life of sin is a life of
slavery.

SATIRE X.

The subject of this inimitable Satire is the vanity of human wishes.
From the principal events of the lives of the most illustrious
characters of all ages, the poet shows how little happiness is promoted
by the attainment of what our indistinct and limited views represent as
the greatest of earthly blessings. Of these he instances wealth, power,
eloquence, military glory, longevity, and personal accomplishments;
all of which, he shows, have proved dangerous or destructive to their
respective possessors. Hence he argues the wisdom of acquiescing in
the dispensations of Heaven; and concludes with a form of prayer, in
which he points out with great force and beauty the objects for which a
rational being may presume to approach the Almighty.

SATIRE XI.

Under the form of an invitation to his friend Persicus, Juvenal takes
occasion to enunciate many admirable maxims for the due regulation
of life. After ridiculing the miserable state to which a profligate
patrician had reduced himself by his extravagance, he introduces the
picture of his own domestic economy, which he follows by a pleasing
view of the simplicity of ancient manners, artfully contrasted with
the extravagance and luxury of the current times. After describing
with great beauty the entertainment he proposes to give his friend, he
concludes with an earnest recommendation to him to enjoy the present
with content, and await the future with calmness and moderation.

SATIRE XII.

Catullus, a valued friend of the poet, had narrowly escaped shipwreck.
In a letter of rejoicing to their common friend, Corvinus, Juvenal
describes the danger that his friend had incurred, and his own hearty
and disinterested delight at his preservation, contrasting his own
sacrifices of thanksgiving at the event, with those offered by the
designing legacy-hunters, by which the rich and childless were
attempted to be insnared.

SATIRE XIII.

Calvinus had left a sum of money in the hands of a confidential
person, who, when he came to re-demand it, forswore the deposit. The
indignation and fury expressed by Calvinus at this breach of trust,
reached the ears of his friend Juvenal, who endeavors to soothe and
comfort him under his loss. The different topics of consolation follow
one another naturally and forcibly, and the horrors of a troubled
conscience were perhaps never depicted with such impressive solemnity
as in this Satire.

SATIRE XIV.

The whole of this Satire is directed to the one great end of
self-improvement. By showing the dreadful facility with which children
copy the vices of their parents, the poet points out the necessity as
well as the sacred duty of giving them examples of domestic purity
and virtue. After briefly enumerating the several vices, gluttony,
cruelty, debauchery, etc., which youth imperceptibly imbibe from their
seniors, he enters more at large into that of avarice; of which he
shows the fatal and inevitable consequences. Nothing can surpass the
exquisiteness of this division of the Satire, in which he traces the
progress of that passion in the youthful mind from the paltry tricks
of saving a broken meal to the daring violation of every principle,
human and divine. Having placed the absurdity as well as the danger of
immoderate desires in every point of view, he concludes with a solemn
admonition to rest satisfied with those comforts and conveniences which
nature and wisdom require, and which a decent competence is easily
calculated to supply.

SATIRE XV.

After enumerating with great humor the animal and vegetable gods of the
Egyptians, the author directs his powerful ridicule at their sottish
and ferocious bigotry; of which he gives an atrocious and loathsome
example. The conclusion of the Satire, which is a just and beautiful
description of the origin of civil society (infinitely superior to any
thing that Lucretius or Horace has delivered on the subject), founded
not on natural instinct, but on principles of mutual benevolence
implanted by God in the breast of man, and of man alone, does honor to
the genius, good sense, and enlightened morality of the author.

SATIRE XVI.

Under a pretense of pointing out to his friend Gallus the advantages of
a military life, Juvenal attacks with considerable spirit the exclusive
privileges which the army had acquired or usurped, to the manifest
injury of the civil part of the community.

JUVENAL'S SATIRES.

SATIRE I.

Must I always be a hearer only? Shall I never retaliate,[33] though
plagued so often with the Theseid of Codrus,[34] hoarse _with reciting
it_? Shall one man, then, recite[35] to me his Comedies, and another
his Elegies, with impunity? Shall huge "Telephus" waste a whole day for
me, or "Orestes," with the margin of the manuscript full to the very
edge, and written on the back too,[36] and yet not finished, _and I not
retort_?

No one knows his own house better than I do the grove of Mars, and
Vulcan's cave close to the Æolian rocks. The agency of the winds,[37]
what ghosts Æacus is torturing, whence another bears off the gold[38]
of the stolen fleece, what huge mountain-ashes Monychus hurls, _all
this_ the plane-groves of Fronto,[39] and the statues shaken and the
columns split by the eternal reciter, are for ever re-echoing. You may
look for the same themes from the greatest poet and the least.

And yet I too have shirked my hand away from the rod.[40] I too
have given advice to Sylla, that he should enjoy a sound sleep by
returning to a private station.[41] When at every turn you meet so
many poetasters, it were a foolish clemency to spare paper that is
sure to be wasted. Yet why I rather choose to trace my course over
that plain through which the great foster-son of Aurunca[42] urged his
steeds, I will, if you are at leisure, and with favorable ear listen to
reason, tell you. When a soft eunuch[43] marries a wife; when Mævia[44]
transfixes the Tuscan boar, and, with breasts exposed, grasps the
hunting-spears; when one man singly vies in wealth with the whole body
of patricians, under whose razor my beard, grown exuberant, sounded
while I was in my prime;[45] when Crispinus, one of the dregs of the
mob of the Nile, a born-slave of Canopus, (while his shoulder hitches
up his Tyrian cloak,)[46] airs his summer ring from his sweating
fingers, and can not support the weight of his heavier gem;--it is
difficult not to write satire. For who can be so tolerant of this
iniquitous city, who so case-hardened,[47] as to contain himself! When
there comes up the bran-new litter of Matho[48] the lawyer, filled with
himself; and after him, he that informed upon his powerful friend; and
will soon plunder the nobility, already close-shorn, of the little
that remains to them; one whom even Massa fears, whom Carus soothes
with a bribe; or a Thymele suborned by some trembling Latinus.[49]
When fellows supplant you, who earn their legacies by night-work,
lifted up to heaven[50] by what is now the surest road to the highest
advancement, the lust of some ancient harridan. Proculeius gets one
poor twelfth; but Gillo has eleven twelfths. Each gets the share
proportioned to his powers. Well! let him take the purchase-money of
his blood, and be as pale as one that has trodden on a snake with naked
heel, or a rhetorician about to declaim at the altar at Lyons.[51]

Why need I tell with what indignation my parched liver boils, when
here, the plunderer of his ward (reduced by him to the vilest gains)
presses on the people with his crowds of menials, and there, he that
was condemned by a powerless sentence. (For what cares he for infamy
while he retains the plunder?) Marius,[52] though an exile, drinks
from the eighth hour, and laughs at the angry gods, while thou, O
Province, victorious in the suit, art in tears! Shall I not deem these
themes worthy of the lamp of Venusium?[53] Shall I not lash these?
Why rather sing tales of Hercules or Diomede, or the bellowing of
the Labyrinth, and the sea struck by the boy Icarus, and the winged
artificer?[54] When the pander inherits the wealth of the adulterer
(since the wife has lost the right of receiving it),[55] taught
to gaze at the ceiling, and snore over his cups with well-feigned
sleep. When he considers himself privileged to expect the command of
a cohort, who has squandered his money on his stables, and has run
through all his ancestors' estate, while he flies with rapid wheel
along the Flaminian road;[56] for while yet a youth, like Automedon,
he held the reins, while the great man showed himself off to his
"mistress-in-his-cloak."[57] Do you not long to fill your capacious
tablets, even in the middle of the cross-ways, when there comes borne
on the shoulders of six slaves, exposed to view on either side, with
palanquin almost uncurtained, and aping the luxurious Mæcenas, the
forger, who made himself a man of splendor and wealth by a few short
lines, and a moistened seal?[58] Next comes the powerful matron, who
when her husband thirsts, mingles the toad's-poison in the mellow
wine of Cales which she is herself about to hand him, and with skill
superior even to Locusta,[59] initiates her neighbors, too simple
before, in the art of burying their husbands, livid from the poison, in
despite of infamy and the public gaze.[60]

Dare some deed to merit scanty Gyarus[61] and the jail, if you wish to
be somebody. Honesty is commended, and starves. It is to their crimes
they are indebted for their gardens, their palaces, their tables, their
fine old plate, and the goat standing in high relief from the cup.
Whom does the seducer of his own daughter-in-law, greedy for gold,
suffer to sleep? Or the unnatural brides, or the adulterer not out of
his teens?[62] If nature denies the power, indignation would give birth
to verses, such as it could produce, like mine and Cluvienus'.

From the time that Deucalion ascended the mountain in his boat, while
the storm upheaved the sea,[63] and consulted the oracle, and the
softening stones by degrees grew warm with life, and Pyrrha displayed
to the males the virgins unrobed; all that men are engaged in, their
wishes, fears, anger, pleasures, joys, and varied pursuits, form the
hotch-potch of my book.

And when was the crop of vices more abundant? When were the sails of
avarice more widely spread? When had gambling its present spirits? For
now men go to the hazard of the gaming-table not simply with their
purses, but play with their whole chest[64] staked. What fierce battles
will you see there, while the steward supplies the weapons for the
contest! Is it then mere common madness to lose a hundred sestertia,
and not leave enough for a tunic for your shivering slave![65] Which
of our grandsires erected so many villas? Which of them ever dined by
himself[66] on seven courses? In our days the diminished sportula is
set outside the threshold, ready to be seized upon by the toga-clad
crowd.[67] Yet he (that dispenses it), before giving, scans your
features, and dreads lest you should come with counterfeit pretense
and under a false name. When recognized you will receive your dole.
He bids the crier summon the very Trojugenæ themselves. For even they
assail the door with us. "Give the prætor his! Then to the tribune."
But the freedman must first be served! "I was before him!" he says.
"Why should I fear or hesitate to stand up for my turn, though I was
born on the banks of Euphrates, which the soft windows[68] in my ears
would attest, though I myself were to deny the fact. But my five
shops bring me in four hundred sestertia. What does the Laticlave[69]
bestow that's worth a wish, since Corvinus keeps sheep for hire in the
Laurentine fields? I own more than Pallas[70] and the Licini. Let the
tribunes wait then!" Let Riches carry the day, and let not him give
place even to the sacrosanct magistrate, who came but the other day
to this city with chalked feet.[71] Since with us the most revered
majesty is that of riches; even though as yet, pernicious money, thou
dwellest in no temple, nor have we as yet reared altars to coin, as we
worship Peace and Faith, Victory and Virtue, and Concord, whose temple
resounds with the noise of storks returning to their nests.[72] But
when a magistrate of the highest rank reckons up at the end of the
year, what the sportula brings him in, how much it adds to his revenue,
what shall the poor retainers do, who look to this for their toga, for
their shoes, their bread and fire at home? A closely-wedged crowd of
litters is clamorous for the hundred quadrantes, and his wife, though
sick or pregnant, accompanies and goes the rounds with her husband.
One practicing a crafty trick now worn threadbare, asks for his wife
though really absent, displaying in her stead an empty and closed
palanquin: "My Galla is inside," he says, "dispatch us with all speed.
Why hesitate?" "Put out your head, Galla!" "O don't disturb her! she's
asleep!"

The day is portioned out with a fine routine of engagements. First
the sportula; then the Forum,[73] and Apollo[74] learned in the law;
and the triumphal statues, among which some unknown Egyptian or
Arabarch has dared set up his titles, whose image, as though sacred,
one dare not venture to defile.[75] At length, the old and wearied-out
clients quit the vestibule and give up all their hopes;[76] although
their expectation of a dinner has been full-long protracted: the poor
wretches must buy their cabbage and fire. Meanwhile their patron-lord
will devour the best that the forest and ocean can supply, and will
recline in solitary state with none but himself on his couches. For
out of so many fair, and broad, and such ancient dishes, they gorge
whole patrimonies at a single course. In our days there will not be
even a parasite! Yet who could tolerate such sordid luxury! How gross
must that appetite be, which sets before itself whole boars, an animal
created to feast a whole company! Yet thy punishment is hard at hand,
when distended with food thou layest aside thy garments, and bearest
to the bath the peacock undigested! Hence sudden death, and old age
without a will. The news[77] travels to all the dinner-tables, but
calls forth no grief, and thy funeral procession advances, exulted
over by disgusted friends![78] There is nothing farther that future
times can add to our immorality. Our posterity must have the same
desires, perpetrate the same acts. Every vice has reached its climax.
Then set sail! spread all your canvas! Yet here perchance you may
object, whence can talent be elicited able to cope with the subject?
Whence that blunt freedom of our ancestors, whose very name I dare not
utter, of writing whatever was dictated by their kindling soul. What
matter, whether Mucius forgive the libel, or not? But take Tigellinus
for your theme, and you will shine in that tunic, in which they blaze
standing,[79] who smoke with throat transfixed, and you will draw
a broad furrow in the middle of the sand. "Must he then, who has
given[80] aconite to his three uncles, be borne on down cushions,
suspended aloft, and from thence look down on us?" Yes! when he meets
you press your finger to your lip! There will be some informer standing
by to whisper in his ear, That's he! Without fear for the consequences
you may match[81] Æneas and the fierce Rutulian. The death of Achilles
breeds ill-will in no one; or the tale of the long-sought Hylas, who
followed his pitcher. But whensoever Lucilius, fired with rage, has
brandished as it were his drawn sword, his hearer, whose conscience
chills with the remembrance of crime, grows red. His heart sweats with
the pressure of guilt concealed. Then bursts forth rage and tears!
Ponder well, therefore, these things in your mind, before you sound the
signal blast. The soldier when helmeted repents too late of the fight.
I will try then what I may be allowed to vent on those whose ashes are
covered by the Flaminian[82] or Latin road.

FOOTNOTES:

[33] _Reponam_, "repay in kind." A metaphor taken from the payment of
debts.

[34] _Codrus_; a poor poet in every sense, if, as some think, he is the
same as the Codrus mentioned iii., 203.

[35] _Recitaverit._ For the custom of Roman writers to recite their
compositions in public, cf. Sat. vii., 40, 83; iii., 9. Plin., 1,
Ep. xiii., "queritur se diem perdidisse." _Togata_ is a comedy on a
Roman subject; _Prætexta_, a tragedy on the same; _Elegi_, trifling
love-songs.

[36] _In tergo._ The ancients usually wrote only on one side of the
parchment: when otherwise, the works were called "Opisthographi," and
said to be written "aversa charta."

[37] _Venti_; cf. xii., 23, where he uses "Poëtica tempestas" as a
proverbial expression.

[38] _Aurum_; probably a hit at Valerius Flaccus, his contemporary.

[39] _Julius Fronto_ was a munificent patron of literature, thrice
consul, and once colleague of Trajan, A.D. 97. Cassiod.

[40] "Jam a grammaticis eruditi recessimus." Brit.; and so Dryden.

[41] "That to sleep soundly, he must cease to rule." Badham.

[42] Lucilius was born at _Aurunca_, anciently called Suessa.

[43] _Spado_, for the reason, vid. Sat. vi., 365.

[44] _Mævia._ The passion of the Roman women for fighting with wild
beasts in the amphitheatre was encouraged by Domitian, but afterward
restrained by an edict of Severus.

[45] "Who reap'd my manly chin's resounding field." Hodgson. Either
Licinus, the freedman of Augustus, is referred to (Hor., A. P., 301),
or more probably Cinnamus. Cf. Sat. x., 225. Mart., vii., Ep. 64.

[46] This is the most probable meaning, and adopted by Madan and
Browne; but there are various other interpretations: e. g., "Cumbered
with his purple vest." Badham. "With cloak of Tyrian dye, Changed oft a
day for needless luxury." Dryden. "While he gathers now, now flings his
purple open." Gifford. "O'er his back displays." Hodgson.

[47] _Ferreus_, "so steel'd."

[48] "Fat Matho plunged in cushions at his ease." Badham.

[49] Cf. Mart., i., v., 5, "Quâ Thymelen spectas derisoremque Latinum."

[50] _Cœlum._ There is probably a covert allusion here to Adrian, who
gained the empire through the partiality of Plotina, in spite of the
will of her dying husband Trajan.

[51] _Lugdunensem._ There was a temple erected in honor of Augustus
at Lyons, A.U.C. 744, and from the very first games were celebrated
there, but the contest here alluded to was instituted by Caligula. Cf.
Suet., Calig., xx. It was a "certamen Græcæ Latinæque facundiæ," in
which the vanquished were compelled to give prizes to the victors, and
to write their praises. While those who "maximè displicuissent" had
to obliterate their own compositions with a sponge or their tongues,
unless they preferred being beaten with ferules, or ducked in the
nearest river. Caligula was at Lyons, A.D. 40, on his way to the ocean.

[52] _Marius Priscus_, proconsul of Africa, was condemned for
extortion, A.D. 100. Vid. Clinton in a. Pliny the Younger was his
accuser, 2 Ep., xi. (Cf. Sat. viii., 120, "Cum tenues nuper Marius
discinxerit Afros.") Though condemned, he saved his money; and was,
as Gifford renders it, "by a juggling sentence damn'd in vain." The
ninth hour (three o'clock) was the earliest hour at which the temperate
dined. Cf. Mart., iv., Ep. 8, "Imperat exstructos frangere nona toros."
Cf. Hor., i., Od. i., 20.

[53] _Venusium_, or Venusia, the birthplace of Horace.

[54] "Vitreo daturus nomina Ponto." Hor., iv., Od. ii., 3.

[55] _Jus nullum uxori._ Cf. Suet., Dom., viii. "Probrosis fœminis
ademit jus capiendi legata hæreditatesque."

[56] The Flaminian road ran the whole length of the Campus Martius, and
was therefore the most conspicuous thoroughfare in Rome. It is now the
Corso.

[57] _Lacernatæ._ The Lacerna was a male garment: the allusion is
probably to Nero and his "eunuch-love" Sporus. Vid. Suet., Nero, 28.

[58] "Signator-falso," sc. testamento. Cf. Sat. xii., 125, and Bekker's
Charicles. "Fram'd a short will and gave himself the whole." Hodgson.

"A few short lines authentic made,
By a forged seal the inheritance convey'd." Badham.

[59] _Locusta._ Vid. Tac., Ann., xii., 66, 67. She was employed by
Agrippina to poison Claudius, and by Nero to destroy Germanicus. On the
accession of Galba she was executed. Cf. Suet., Nero, 33.

[60]

"Reckless of whispering mobs that hover near." Badham.

"Nor heed the curse of the indignant throng." Gifford.

[61] _Gyarus_, a barren island in the Ægean. Vid. Tac., Ann., iii, 68,
69. "Insulam Gyarum immitem et sine cultu hominum esse." Cf. Sat. x.,
170; vi., 563.

[62] "The raw noble in his boyish gown." Hodgson. "Stripling
debauchee." Gifford. The sons of the nobility wore the toga prætexta
till the age of seventeen.

[63] "While whelming torrents swell'd the floods below." Badham.

[64] _Arcâ._ Cf. Sat. x., 24.

[65] _Reddere._ Probably "to pay what has been _long_ due."

[66] _Secreto_, "without their clients," opposed to the "in propatulo"
of Val. Max., ii., 5. ἔῤῥ' ἐς κόρακας μονόφαγε. Alex.

[67] In former days the Romans entertained their clients, after the
day's officium was over, at supper, which was called "cœna recta." In
later times, the clients, instead of this, received their portion of
the supper, which they carried away in a small basket, "sportula," or
a kind of portable kitchen. Cf. iii., 249. This was again changed, and
an equivalent in money (centum quadrantes, about twenty pence English)
given instead. Domitian restored the "cœna recta." Cf. Suet., Dom.,
vii.; Nero, xvi.

[68] _Fenestræ._ Cf. Xen., Anab., III., i., 31. Exod., xxi., 6.

[69]

"Shall I then yield, though born perchance a slave,
To the proud beggar in his laticlave?" Hodgson.

[70] _Pallas_, the freedman of Claudius, was enormously rich. The
wealth and splendor of Licinus is again alluded to, Sat. xiv., 305.

[71] _Pedibus albis._ The feet of imported slaves were marked with
chalk. Cf. Sat. vii., 16. Plin., H. N., xxxv., 17.

[72] _Salutato crepitat._ It refers either to the chattering of the
young birds, when the old birds who have been in quest of food return
to their nests (the whole _temple_ being deserted by men, serves, as
the Schol. says, for a _nidus_ to birds); or, to the noise made by the
old birds striking their beaks to announce their return. Cf. Ov., Met.,
vi., 97.

[73] _Ordine rerum._ Cf. Mart., iv., Ep. 8. The _Forum_ is the old
Forum Romanum.

[74] _Apollo_, i. e., the Forum Augusti on the Palatine Hill. In the
court where pleas were held stood an ivory statue of Apollo. Cf. Hor.,
i., Sat. ix., 78.

[75] "And none must venture to pollute the place." Hodgson. Tantum, i.
e., tantummodo. Cf. Pers., i. Sat., 114, Sacer est locus, ite profani,
Extra meiete!

[76] To all these places the client attends his patron; then, on his
return, the rich man's door is closed, and he is at liberty to return
home, without any invitation to remain to dinner.

"The day's attendance closed, and evening come,
The uninvited client hies him home." Badham.

[77] _Nova._ "By witty spleen increased." Gifford.

[78]

"Friends, unenrich'd, shall revel o'er your bier,
Tell the sad news, nor grace it with a tear." Hodgson.

[79] _Tædâ._ Cf. viii., 235, "Ausi quod libeat tunica punire molestâ."
Tac., Ann., xv., 44, "Aut crucibus adfixi, aut flammandi, atque ubi
defecisset dies, in usum nocturni luminis urerentur." Sen., de Ira,
iii., 3, "Circumdati defixis corporibus ignes."

[80] _Qui dedit_, i. e., Tigellinus.

[81] _Committas_, a metaphor from pairing or matching gladiators in the
arena.

"Achilles may in epic verse be slain,
And none of all his myrmidons complain;
Hylas may drop his pitcher, none will cry,
Not if he drown himself for company." Dryden.

[82] _Flaminiâ._ The laws of the xii. tables forbade all burials within
the city. The road-sides, therefore, were lined with tombs. Hence the
common beginning of epitaphs, "Siste gradum viator." The peculiar
propriety of the selection of these two roads is the fact that Domitian
was buried by the Flaminian, and Paris, the mime, Juvenal's personal
enemy, by the Latin road.

SATIRE II.

I long to escape from hence beyond the Sarmatians, and the frozen
sea, whenever those fellows who pretend to be Curii and live like
Bacchanals presume to read a lecture on morality. First of all, they
are utterly unlearned, though you may find all their quarters full of
busts of Chrysippus. For the most finished scholar among them is he
that has bought an image of Aristotle or Pittacus, or bids his shelves
retain originals of Cleanthes. There is no trusting to the outside!
For what street is there that does not overflow with debauchees of
demure exterior? Dost thou reprove abominations, that art thyself the
most notorious sink among catamites who pretend to follow Socrates?
Thy rough limbs indeed, and the stiff bristles on thy arms, seem to
promise a vigorous mind within; but on thy smooth behind, the surgeon
with a smile lances the swelling piles. These fellows affect a paucity
of words, and a wonderful taciturnity, and the fashion of cutting their
hair shorter than their eyebrows. There is therefore more frankness and
sincerity in Peribomius; the man that by his very look and gait makes
no secret of his depravity, I look upon as the victim of destiny. The
plain-dealing of the latter class excites our pity; their very madness
pleads for our forgiveness. Far worse are they who in Hercules' vein
practice similar atrocities, and preaching up virtue, perpetrate the
foulest vice. "Shall I feel any dread for thee, Sextus, unnatural
thyself?" says the infamous Varillus. "How am I worse than thou? Let
the straight-limbed, if you please, mock the bandy-legged; the fair
European sneer at the Ethiop. But who could tolerate the Gracchi if
they railed at sedition? Who would not confound heaven with earth, and
sea with sky,[83] if a thief were odious to Verres, or a murderer to
Milo? If Clodius were to impeach adulterers, or Catiline Cethegus? If
Sylla's three pupils were to declaim against Sylla's proscriptions?
Such was the case of the adulterer recently[84] defiled by incest, such
as might be found in Greek tragedy, who then set himself to revive
those bitter laws which all might tremble at, ay, even Venus and Mars,
at the same time that Julia was relieving her fruitful womb by so
many abortives,[85] and gave birth to shapeless masses, the image of
her uncle! Might not then, with all reason and justice, even the very
worst of vices look with contempt on these counterfeit Scauri, and if
censured turn and bite again?"

Lauronia could not endure some fierce reformer of this class so often
exclaiming, "Where is now the Julian law? is it slumbering?" and thus
silenced him with a sneer: "Blest days indeed! that set thee up as a
censor of morals! Rome now must needs retrieve her honor! A third Cato
has dropped from the clouds. But tell me, pray, where do you buy these
perfumes that exhale from your neck, all hairy though it be! Do not be
ashamed to tell the shopman's name. But if old laws and statutes are to
be raked up,[86] before all others the Scatinian ought to be revived.
First scrutinize and look into the conduct of the men. They commit
the greater atrocities; but it is their number protects them, and
their phalanxes close serried with their shields. There is a wonderful
unanimity among these effeminates. You will not find one single
instance of such execrable conduct in our sex.[87] Tædia does not
caress Cluvia, nor Flora Catulla. Hispo acts both sex's parts, and is
pale with two-handed lust. Do _we_ ever plead causes? Do we study civil
law? or disturb your courts with any clamor of our tongues? A few of
us perhaps may wrestle, or diet themselves on the trainer's food; but
only a few. You men, you spin wool, and carry home in women's baskets
your finished tasks. You men twist the spindle big with its fine-drawn
thread more deftly than Penelope, more nimbly than Arachne; work, such
as the dirty drab does that sits crouching on her log. Every one
knows why Hister at his death made his freedman his sole heir, while,
when alive, he gave his maiden wife[88] so many presents. She will be
rich without a doubt, who will submit to lie third in the wide bed.
Get married then, and hold your tongue, and earrings[89] will be the
guerdon of your silence! And after all this, forsooth, a heavy sentence
is to be passed on us women! Censure acquits the raven, but falls foul
of the dove!"

From this rebuke so true and undeniable, the counterfeit Stoics
recoiled in confusion, For what grain of untruth was there in
Lauronia's words? Yet, what will not others do, when thou, Creticus,
adoptest muslin robes, and to the amazement of the people, inveighest
in such a dress against Procula or Pollinea?

Fabulla, thou sayest, is an adulteress. Then let her be condemned, if
you will have it so, and Carfinia also. Yet though condemned, she would
not put on such a dress as that. "But it is July, it is raging hot, I
am on fire!" Then plead stark naked![90] To be thought mad would be a
less disgrace! Is that a dress to propound laws and statutes in, in
the ears of the people when flushed with victory, with their wounds
yet green, or that noble race, fresh from their plows? What an outcry
would you make, if you saw such a dress on the person of a Judex! I
ask, would such a robe be suitable even in a witness? Creticus! the
implacable, the indomitable, the champion of liberty, is transparent!
Contagion has caused this plague-spot, and will extend it to many more,
just as a whole flock perishes, in the fields from the scab of one
sheep, or pigs from mange, and the grape contracts the taint from the
grape it comes in contact with. Ere long you will venture on something
more disgraceful even than this dress. No one ever reached the climax
of vice at one step. You will by degrees enter the band of those who
wear at home long fillets round their brows, and cover their necks with
jewels, and propitiate Bona Dea with the belly of a young sow and a
huge bowl of wine; but by an inversion of the old custom _women_, kept
far aloof, dare not cross the threshold. The altar of the goddess
is accessible to males alone. "Withdraw, profane females!" is the
cry. No minstrel here may make her cornet sound! Such were the orgies
by the secret torch-light which the Baptæ celebrated, who used to
weary out even the Athenian Cotytto.[91] One with needle held oblique
adds length to his eyebrows touched with moistened soot, and raising
the lids paints his quivering eyes. Another drains a Priapus-shaped
glass, and confines his long thick hair with a caul of gold thread,
clothed in sky-blue checks, or close-piled yellow stuffs; while his
attendant also swears by Juno, the patron deity of his master. Another
holds a mirror, the weapon wielded by the pathic Otho, "the spoil of
Auruncan Actor,"[92] in which he surveyed himself when fully armed,
before he gave the signal to engage--a thing worthy to be recorded in
the latest annals and history of the day. A mirror! fit baggage for
a civil war! O yes, forsooth! to kill old Galba shows the consummate
general, to pamper one's complexion is the consistent occupation of
the first citizen of Rome; to aspire to the empire as the prize on
Bebriacum's[93] plains, and then spread over his face a poultice
applied with his fingers! Such an act as neither the quivered Semiramis
perpetrated in the Assyrian realms, or Cleopatra flying dejected in her
Actian galley. Among this crew there is neither decency of language,
nor respect for the proprieties of the table. Here is the foul license
that Cybele enjoins, the lisping speech, the aged priest with hoary
hair, like one possessed, a prodigy of boundless appetite, open to
hire. Yet why do they delay? since long ago they ought after the
Phrygian custom to have removed with their knives the superfluous flesh.

Gracchus[94] gave four hundred sestertia as his dowry, with himself,
to a bugler, or else one that blew the straight trumpet. The marriage
deeds were duly signed, the blessing invoked, a great dinner provided,
the he-bride lay in the bridegroom's arms. O nobles! is it a censor
we need, or an aruspex? You would without doubt be horrified, and deem
it a prodigy of portentous import, if a woman gave birth to a calf, or
a cow to a lamb. The same Gracchus puts on flounces, the long robe and
flame-colored[95] veil, who, when bearing the sacred shields swinging
with mysterious thong, sweated beneath the Ancilia! Oh! father of
our city! whence came such heinous guilt to the shepherds of Latium?
Whence, O Gradivus, came this unnatural lust that has tainted thy race?
See! a man illustrious in birth and rank is made over to a man! Dost
thou neither shake thy helmet, nor smite the earth with thy lance? Dost
thou not even appeal to thy father Jove? Begone then! and quit the
acres of the Campus once so severe, which thou ceasest to care for!
"I have some duty-work to perform to-morrow at break of day in the
Quirinal valley." "What is the occasion?" "Why ask? my friend is going
to be married; only a few are invited!" If we only live to see it,
these things will be done in the broad light of day, and claim to be
registered in the public acts. Meanwhile, there is one grievous source
of pain that clings to these male-brides, that they are incapable
of bearing, and retaining their lords' affections by bringing them
children. No! better is it that nature in this case gives their minds
no power over their bodies! They must die barren! Vain, in their case,
is fat Lyde with her medicated box; vain the holding out their hands to
the nimble Luperci.

Yet even this prodigy of crime is surpassed by the trident of Gracchus
in his gladiator's tunic,[96] when in full flight he traverses the
middle of the arena. Gracchus! more nobly born than the Manlii, and
Marcelli, and Catulus' and Paulus' race, and the Fabii, and all the
spectators in the front row. Ay, even though you add to these the very
man himself, at whose expense he cast his net as Retiarius.

That there are departed spirits, and realms beneath the earth--that
Charon's pole exists, and the foul frogs in the Stygian whirlpool--and
that so many thousand souls cross its waters in a single bark, not
even boys believe, save those as yet too young to be charged for their
bath.[97] But do thou believe them true! What does Curius feel, and
the two Scipios, what Fabricius and the shades of Camillus, what the
legion cut off at Cremera, and the flower of Roman youth slaughtered
at Cannæ--so many martial spirits--what do they feel when such a shade
as this passes from us to them? They would long to be cleansed from
the pollution of the contact, could any sulphur and pine-torches be
supplied to them, or could there be a bay-tree to sprinkle them with
water.

To such a pitch of degradation are we come![98] We have, indeed,
advanced our arms beyond Juverna's shore, and the Orcades[99] recently
subdued, and the Britons content with night contracted to its briefest
span. But those abominations which are committed in the victorious
people's city are unknown to those barbarians whom we have conquered.
"Yet there _is_ a story told of one, an Armenian Zalates, who, more
effeminate than the rest of his young countrymen, is reported to have
yielded to the tribune's lust." See the result of intercourse with
Rome! He came a hostage! Here they learn to be _men_! For if a longer
tarry in the city be granted to these youths, they will never lack a
lover. Their plaids, and knives, and bits, and whips, will soon be
discarded. Thus it is the vices of our young nobles are aped even at
Artaxata.[100]

FOOTNOTES:

[83] Alluding to the comic exclamation, "O Cœlum, O Terra, O Maria
Neptuni." Vid. Ter., Adelph., v., i., 4. Cf. Sat. vi., 283.

[84] _Nuper._ The allusion is to Domitian and his niece Julia, who died
from the use of abortives (cf. Plin., iv., Epist. xi.: "Vidua abortu
periit"), cir. A.D. 91. This, therefore, fixes the date of the Satire,
which was probably one of Juvenal's earliest, and written when he was
about thirty. Cf. Sat. xiii., 17.

[85] Cf. vi., 368.

[86] _Vexantur._ E somno excitantur, alluding to "Lex Julia Dormis?"
Cf. i., 126.

[87] The whole of this ironical defense contains the bitterest satire
upon the women of Rome, as all these crimes he proves in the 6th Satire
to be of every-day occurrence.

[88] _Puellæ._ Cf. Sat. ix., 70, _seq._

[89] _Cylindros_, called, vi., 459, "Elenchos." Cf. Arist., Fr., 300,
ἑλικτῆρες.

[90] _Nudus_, i. e., in the Roman sense, without the toga.

[91] _Cotytto_ herself, the goddess of licentiousness, was wearied with
their impurities.

[92] _Actoris._ Æn., xii., 94.

[93] _Bebriacum_, between Verona and Cremona, where the deciding battle
was fought between Otho and Vitellius.

[94] _Gracchus._ In the same manner Nero was married to one Pythagoras,
"in modum solennium conjugiorum denupsisset." Tac., Ann., xv., 37. He
repeated the same act with Sporus.

[95] _Flammea._ Vid. Tac., u. s. "Inditum imperatori flammeum, visi
auspices, dos, et genialis torus et faces nuptiales: cuncta denique
spectata, quæ etiam in feminâ nox operit."

[96] _Tunicati._ Vid. Sat. vi., 256; viii., 203. Movet ecce tridentem.
Credamus tunicæ, etc.

[97] _Nondum ære lavantur._ The fee was a quadrans: vi., 447.

[98] _Traducimur._ Cf. viii., 17. Squalentes traducit avos.

[99] _Modo captas Orcadas._ A.D. 78, Clinton, F. R. "Insulas quas
Orcadas vocant, invenit domuitque." Tac., Agric., c. x.; cf. c.
xii. "Dierum spatia ultra nostri orbis mensuram: _nox_ clara, et
extremâ Britanniæ parte _brevis_, ut finem atque initium lucis exiguo
discrimine internoscas."

[100] _Referunt._ Cf. i., 41. "Multum _referens_ de Mæcenate supino."
The fashion is not only _carried_ back to Armenia, but _copied_ there.
_Prætextatus._ Cf. i., 78. _Artaxata_, the capital of Armenia, was
taken by Corbulo, A.D. 58.

SATIRE III.

Although troubled at the departure of my old friend, yet I can not but
commend his intention of fixing his abode at Cumæ, now desolate, and
giving the Sibyl one citizen at least. It is the high road to Baiæ, and
has a pleasant shore; a delightful retreat. I prefer even Prochyta[101]
to the Suburra. For what have we ever looked on so wretched or so
lonely, that you would not deem it worse to be in constant dread of
fires, the perpetual falling-in of houses, and the thousand dangers of
the cruel city,[102] and poets spouting in the month of August.[103]
But while his whole household is being stowed in a single wagon, my
friend Umbritius halted at the ancient triumphal arches[104] and the
moist Capena. Here, where Numa used to make assignations with his
nocturnal mistress, the grove of the once-hallowed fountain and the
temples are in our days let out to Jews, whose whole furniture is a
basket and bundle of hay.[105] For every single tree is bid to pay a
rent to the people, and the Camenæ having been ejected, the wood is
one mass of beggars. We descended into the valley of Egeria and the
grottoes, so altered from what nature made them. How much more should
we feel the influence of the presiding genius of the spring,[106]
if turf inclosed the waters with its margin of green, and no marble
profaned the native tufo. Here then Umbritius began:[107]

"Since at Rome there is no place for honest pursuits, no profit to be
got by honest toil--my fortune is less to-day than it was yesterday,
and to-morrow must again make that little less--we purpose emigrating
to the spot where Dædalus put off his wearied wings, while my gray
hairs are still but few, my old age green and erect; while something
yet remains for Lachesis to spin, and I can bear myself on my own legs,
without a staff to support my right hand. Let us leave our native land.
There let Arturius and Catulus live. Let those continue in it who turn
black to white; for whom it is an easy matter to get contracts for
building temples, clearing rivers, constructing harbors,[108] cleansing
the sewers, the furnishing a funeral,[109] and under the mistress-spear
set up the slave to sale."[110]

These fellows, who in former days were horn-blowers, and constant
attendants on the municipal amphitheatres, and whose puffed cheeks were
well known through all the towns, now themselves exhibit gladiatorial
shows, and when the thumbs of the rabble are turned up, let any man be
killed to court the mob. Returned from thence, they farm the public
jakes.

And why not every thing? Since these are the men whom Fortune, whenever
she is in a sportive mood, raises from the dust to the highest pinnacle
of greatness.[111]

What shall _I_ do at Rome? I can not lie; if a book is bad, I can
not praise it and beg a copy. I know not the motions of the stars. I
neither will nor can promise a man to secure his father's death. I
never inspected the entrails of a toad.[112]

Let others understand how to bear to a bride the messages and presents
of the adulterer; no one shall be a thief by my co-operation; and
therefore I go forth, a companion to no man,[113] as though I were
crippled, and a trunk useless from its right hand being disabled.[114]

Who, now-a-days, is beloved except the confidant of crime, and he whose
raging mind[115] is boiling with things concealed, and that must never
be divulged? He that has made you the partaker of an honest secret,
thinks that he owes you nothing, and nothing will he ever pay. He will
be Verres' dear friend, who can accuse Verres at any time he pleases.
Yet set not thou so high a price on all the sands of shady Tagus,[116]
and the gold rolled down to the sea, as to lose your sleep, and to your
sorrow take bribes that ought to be spurned,[117] and be always dreaded
by your powerful friend.

What class of men is now most welcome to our rich men, and whom I would
especially shun, I will soon tell you; nor shall shame prevent me.[118]
It is that the city is become Greek, Quirites, that I can not tolerate;
and yet how small the proportion even of the dregs of Greece! Syrian
Orontes has long since flowed into the Tiber, and brought with it its
language, morals, and the crooked harps with the flute-player, and its
national tambourines, and girls made to stand for hire at the Circus.
Go thither, ye who fancy a barbarian harlot with embroidered turban.
That rustic of thine, Quirinus, takes his Greek supper-cloak, and wears
Greek prizes on his neck besmeared with Ceroma.[119] One forsaking
steep Sicyon, another Amydon, a third from Andros, another from Samos,
another again from Tralles, or Alabanda,[120] swarm to Esquiliæ, and
the hill called from its osiers, destined to be the very vitals, and
future lords of great houses.[121] These have a quick wit, desperate
impudence, a ready speech, more rapidly fluent even than Isæus.[122]
Tell me what you fancy he is? He has brought with him whatever
character you wish--grammarian, rhetorician, geometer, painter,
trainer,[123] soothsayer, rope-dancer, physician, wizard--he knows
every thing. Bid the hungry Greekling go to heaven! He'll go.[124] In
short, it was neither Moor, nor Sarmatian, nor Thracian, that took
wings, but one born in the heart of Athens.[125] Shall I not shun these
men's purple robes? Shall this fellow take precedence of me in signing
his name, and recline pillowed on a more honorable couch than I, though
imported to Rome by the same wind that brought the plums and figs?[126]
Does it then go so utterly for nothing, that my infancy inhaled the
air of Aventine, nourished on the Sabine berry? Why add that this
nation, most deeply versed in flattery, praises the conversation of
an ignorant, the face of a hideously ugly friend, and compares some
weak fellow's crane-like neck to the brawny shoulders of Hercules,
holding Antæus far from his mother Earth: and is in raptures at the
squeaking voice,[127] not a whit superior in sound to that of the
cock as he bites the hen. We may, it is true, praise the same things,
if we choose. But _they_ are believed. Can he be reckoned a better
actor,[128] when he takes the part of Thais, or acts the wife in the
play, or Doris[129] without her robe. It is surely a woman in reality
that seems to speak, and not a man personifying one. You would swear
it was a woman, perfect in all respects. In their country, neither
Antiochus, nor Stratocles, or Demetrius and the effeminate Hæmus, would
call forth admiration. For there every man's an actor. Do you smile? He
is convulsed with a laugh far more hearty. If he spies a tear in his
friend's eye, he bursts into a flood of weeping; though in reality he
feels no grief. If at the winter solstice you ask for a little fire, he
calls for his thick coat. If you say, I am hot! he breaks into a sweat.
Therefore we are not fairly matched; he has the best of it, who can at
any time, either by night or day, assume a fictitious face; kiss his
hands in ecstasy, quite ready, to praise his patron's grossest acts; if
the golden cup has emitted a sound, when its bottom is inverted.

Besides, there is nothing that is held sacred by these fellows, or
that is safe from their lust. Neither the mistress of the house, nor
your virgin daughter, nor her suitor, unbearded as yet, nor your son,
heretofore chaste. If none of these are to be found, he assails his
friend's grandmother. They aim at learning the secrets of the house,
and from that knowledge be feared.

And since we have begun to make mention of the Greeks, pass on to their
schools of philosophy, and hear the foul crime of the more dignified
cloak.[130] It was a Stoic that killed Bareas--the informer, his
personal friend--the old man, his own pupil--bred on that shore[131]
on which the pinion of the Gorgonean horse lighted. There is no room
for any Roman here, where some Protogenes, or Diphilus, or Erimanthus
reigns supreme; who, with the common vice of his race, never shares
a friend, but engrosses him entirely to himself. For when he has
infused into his patron's too ready ear one little drop of the venom
of his nature and his country, I am ejected from the door; all my
long-protracted service goes for naught. Nowhere is the loss of a
client of less account. Besides (not to flatter ourselves) what service
can the _poor man_ render, what merit can _he_ plead, even though he be
zealous enough to hasten in his toga[132] before break of day, when the
very _prætor_ himself urges on his lictor, and bids him hurry on with
headlong speed, since the childless matrons have been long awake, lest
his colleague[133] be beforehand with him in paying his respects to
Albina and Modia. Here, by the side of a slave, if only rich, walks the
son of the free-born;[134] for the other gives to Calvina, or Catiena
(that he may enjoy her once or twice), as much as the tribunes in the
legion receive;[135] whereas you, when the face of a well-dressed
harlot takes your fancy, hesitate to hand Chione from her exalted seat.

Produce me at Rome a witness of as blameless integrity as the host
of the Idæan deity;[136] let Numa stand forth, or he that rescued
Minerva when in jeopardy from her temple all in flames: the question
first put would be as to his income, that about his moral character
would come last of all. "How many slaves does he keep? How many acres
of public land does he occupy?[137] With how many and what expensive
dishes is his table spread?" In exact proportion to the sum of money
a man keeps in his chest, is the credit given to his oath. Though
you were to swear by all the altars of the Samothracian and our own
gods, the poor man is believed to despise the thunderbolts and the
gods, even with the sanction of the gods themselves. Why add that this
same poor man furnishes material and grounds for ridicule to all, if
his cloak is dirty and torn, if his toga is a little soiled, and one
shoe gapes with its upper leather burst; or if more than one patch
displays the coarse fresh darning thread, where a rent has been sewn
up. Poverty, bitter though it be, has no sharper pang than this, that
it makes men ridiculous. "Let him retire, if he has any shame left,
and quit the cushions of the knights, that has not the income required
by the law, and let these seats be taken by"--the sons of pimps,
in whatever brothel born![138] Here let the son of the sleek crier
applaud among the spruce youths of the gladiator, and the scions of
the fencing-school. Such is the will of the vain Otho, who made the
distinction between us.

Who was ever allowed at Rome to become a son-in-law if his estate was
inferior, and not a match for the portion of the young lady?[139]
What _poor_ man's name appears in any will? When is he summoned to
a consultation even by an ædile? All Quirites that are poor, ought
long ago to have emigrated in a body.[140] Difficult indeed is it for
those to emerge from obscurity whose noble qualities are cramped by
narrow means at home; but at Rome, for men like these, the attempt is
still more hopeless; it is only at an exorbitant price they can get
a wretched lodging, keep for their servants, and a frugal meal.[141]
A man is ashamed here to dine off pottery ware,[142] which, were
he suddenly transported to the Marsi and a Sabine board, contented
there with a coarse bowl of blue earthenware, he would no longer
deem discreditable. There is a large portion of Italy (if we allow
the fact), where no one puts on the toga, except the dead.[143] Even
when the very majesty of festival days is celebrated in a theatre
reared of turf,[144] and the well-known farce at length returns to the
stage,[145] when the rustic infant on its mother's lap is terrified at
the wide mouth of the ghastly mask, _there_ you will see all costumes
equal and alike, both orchestra and common people. White tunics are
quite sufficient as the robe of distinction for the highest personages
there, even the very ædiles. Here, in Rome, the splendor of dress is
carried beyond men's means; here, something more than is enough, is
taken occasionally from another's chest. In this fault all participate.
Here we all live with a poverty that apes our betters. Why should I
detain you? Every thing at Rome is coupled with high price. What have
you to give, that you may occasionally pay your respects to Cossus?
that Veiento may give you a passing glance, though without deigning to
open his mouth? One shaves the beard, another deposits the hair of a
favorite; the house is full of venal cakes.[146] Now learn this fact,
and keep it to work within your breast. We clients are forced to pay
tribute and increase the private income of these pampered slaves.

Who dreads, or ever did dread, the falling of a house at cool
Præneste, or at Volsinii seated among the well-wooded hills, or simple
Gabii,[147] or the heights of sloping Tibur. We, in Rome, inhabit a
city propped in great measure on a slender shore.[148] For so the
steward props up the falling walls,[149] and when he has plastered over
the old and gaping crack, bids us sleep without sense of danger while
ruin hangs over our heads![150] I must live in a place, where there are
no fires, no nightly alarms. Already is Ucalegon shouting for water,
already is he removing his chattels: the third story in the house you
live in is already in a blaze. You are unconscious! For if the alarm
begin from the bottom of the stairs, he will be the last to be burned
whom a single tile protects from the rain, where the tame pigeons lay
their eggs. Codrus had a bed too small for his Procula, six little jugs
the ornament of his sideboard, and a little can besides beneath it, and
a Chiron reclining under the same marble; and a chest now grown old in
the service contained his Greek books, and opic[151] mice-gnawed poems
of divine inspiration. Codrus possessed nothing at all; who denies the
fact? and yet all that little nothing that he had, he lost. But the
climax that crowns his misery is the fact, that though he is stark
naked and begging for a few scraps, no one will lend a hand to help him
to bed and board. But, if the great mansion of Asturius has fallen,
the matrons appear in weeds,[152] the senators in mourning robes, the
prætor adjourns the courts. Then it is we groan for the accidents of
the city; then we loathe the very name of fire. The fire is still
raging, and already there runs up to him one who offers to present
him with marble, and contribute toward the rebuilding. Another will
present him with naked statues of Parian marble,[153] another with a
chef-d'œuvre of Euphranor or Polycletus.[154] Some lady will contribute
some ancient ornaments of gods taken in our Asiatic victories; another,
books and cases[155] and a bust of Minerva; another, a whole bushel of
silver. Persicus, the most splendid of childless men, replaces all
he has lost by things more numerous and more valuable, and might with
reason be suspected of having himself set his own house on fire.[156]

If you can tear yourself away from the games in the circus,[157] you
can buy a capital house at Sora, or Fabrateria, or Frusino, for the
price at which you are now hiring your dark hole for one year. There
you will have your little garden, a well so shallow as to require no
rope and bucket, whence with easy draught you may water your sprouting
plants. Live there, enamored of the pitchfork, and the dresser of your
trim garden,[158] from which you could supply a feast to a hundred
Pythagoreans. It is something to be able in any spot, in any retreat
whatever, to have made one's self proprietor even of a single lizard.

Here full many a patient dies from want of sleep; but that exhaustion
is produced by the undigested food that loads the fevered stomach. For
what lodging-houses allow of sleep? None but the very wealthy can sleep
at Rome.[159] Hence is the source of the disease. The passing of wagons
in the narrow curves of the streets, and the mutual revilings of the
teamdrivers[160] brought to a stand-still, would banish sleep even from
Drusus and sea-calves.[161]

If duty calls him,[162] the rich man will be borne through the yielding
crowd, and pass rapidly over their heads on the shoulders of his tall
Liburnian, and, as he goes, will read or write, or even sleep inside
his litter,[163] for his sedan with windows closed entices sleep. And
still he will arrive before us. In front of us, as we hurry on, a tide
of human beings stops the way; the mass that follows behind presses on
our loins in dense concourse; one man pokes me with his elbow, another
with a hard pole;[164] one knocks a beam against my head, another a
ten-gallon cask. My legs are coated thick with mud; then, anon, I am
trampled upon by great heels all round me, and the hob-nail of the
soldier's caliga remains imprinted on my toe.

Do you not see with what a smoke the sportula is frequented? A
hundred guests! and each followed by his portable kitchen.[165] Even
Corbulo[166] himself could scarcely carry such a number of huge
vessels, so many things piled upon his head, which, without bending his
neck, the wretched little slave supports, and keeps fanning his fire as
he runs along.[167]

Tunics that have been patched together are torn asunder again.
Presently, as the tug approaches, the long fir-tree quivers, other
wagons are conveying pine-trees; they totter from their height, and
threaten ruin to the crowd. For if that wain, that is transporting
blocks of Ligustican stone, is upset, and pours its mountain-load upon
the masses below, what is there left of their bodies? Who can find
their limbs or bones? Every single carcass of the mob is crushed to
minute atoms as impalpable as their souls. While, all this while, the
family at home, in happy ignorance of their master's fate, are washing
up the dishes, and blowing up the fire with their mouths, and making
a clatter with the well-oiled strigils, and arranging the bathing
towels with the full oilflask. Such are the various occupations of the
bustling slaves. But the master himself is at this moment seated[168]
on the banks of Styx, and, being a novice, is horrified at the grim
ferry-man, and dares not hope for the boat to cross the murky stream;
nor has he, poor wretch, the obol in his mouth to hand to Charon.

Now revert to other perils of the night distinct from these. What a
height it is from the lofty roofs, from which a potsherd tumbles on
your brains. How often cracked and chipped earthenware falls from the
windows! with what a weight they dint and damage the flint pavement
where they strike it! You may well be accounted remiss and improvident
against unforeseen accident, if you go out to supper without having
made your will. It is clear that there are just so many chances of
death, as there are open windows where the inmates are awake inside, as
you pass by. Pray, therefore, and bear about with you this miserable
wish, that they may be contented with throwing down only what the broad
basins have held. One that is drunk, and quarrelsome in his cups, if
he has chanced to give no one a beating, suffers the penalty by loss
of sleep; he passes such a night as Achilles bewailing the loss, of
his friend;[169] lies now on his face, then again on his back. Under
other circumstances, he can not sleep. In some persons, sleep is the
result of quarrels; but though daring from his years, and flushed
with unmixed wine, he cautiously avoids him whom a scarlet cloak,
and a very long train of attendants, with plenty of flambeaux and a
bronzed candelabrum, warns him to steer clear of. As for me, whose
only attendant home[170] is the moon, or the glimmering light of a
rushlight, whose wick I husband and eke out--he utterly despises me!
Mark the prelude of this wretched fray, if fray it can be called, where
he does all the beating, and I am only beaten.[171] He stands right
in front of you, and bids you stand! Obey you must. For what can you
do, when he that gives the command is mad with drink, and at the same
time stronger than you. "Where do you come from?" he thunders out:
"With whose vinegar and beans are you blown out? What cobbler has been
feasting on chopped leek[172] or boiled sheep's head with you? Don't
you answer? Speak, or be kicked! Say where do you hang out? In what
Jew's begging-stand shall I look for you?" Whether you attempt to say a
word or retire in silence, is all one; they beat you just the same, and
then, in a passion, force you to give bail to answer for the assault.
This is a poor man's liberty! When thrashed he humbly begs, and
pummeled with fisticuffs supplicates, to be allowed to quit the spot
with a few teeth left in his head. Nor is this yet all that you have to
fear, for there will not be wanting one to rob you, when all the houses
are shut up, and all the fastenings of the shops chained, are fixed and
silent.

Sometimes too a footpad does your business with his knife, whenever
the Pontine marshes and the Gallinarian wood are kept safe by an
armed guard. Consequently they all flock thence to Rome as to a great
preserve.

What forge or anvil is not weighed down with chains? The greatest
amount of iron used is employed in forging fetters; so that you may
well fear that enough may not be left for plowshares, and that mattocks
and hoes may run short. Well may you call our great-grandsires[173]
happy, and the ages blest in which they lived, which, under kings and
tribunes long ago, saw Rome contented with a single jail.[174]

To these I could subjoin other reasons for leaving Rome, and more
numerous than these; but my cattle summon me to be moving, and the
sun is getting low. I must go. For long ago the muleteer gave me
a hint by shaking his whip. Farewell then, and forget me not! and
whenever Rome shall restore you to your native Aquinum, eager to
refresh your strength, then you may tear me away too from Cumæ to
Helvine Ceres,[175] and your patron deity Diana. Then, equipped with
my caligæ,[176] I will visit your chilly regions, to help you in your
satires--unless they scorn my poor assistance.

FOOTNOTES:

[101] _Prochyta._ An island in the Bay of Naples, now called Procida.

[102] _Sævæ_, "from the ceaseless alarms it causes." "Sævus est qui
_terret_." Donat. in Ter., Adelp., v. s. iv.

[103] _Augusto._ Cf. Plin., 1, Epist. xiii. "Magnum proventum poëtarum
annus hic attulit; toto mense Aprili nullus ferè dies quo non recitaret
aliquis."

[104] Either those of Romulus, or the aqueduct; and "moist Capena,"
either from the constant dripping of the aqueduct (hence arcus
stillans), or from the springs near it, hence called Fontinalis; now
St. Sebastian's gate. It opens on the Via Appia.

[105] Cf. vi., 542.

[106]

"O how much more devoutly should we cling
To thoughts that hover round the sacred spring!" Badham.

Read præsentius: cf. Plin., Ep. viii., 8, the description of the
Clitumnus, and Ov., Met., iii., 155, _seq._

[107] Umbritius (aruspicum in nostro ævo peritissimus, Plin., x., c.
iii.) is said to have predicted Galba's death, and probably therefore,
with Juvenal, cordially hated Otho.

[108] _Portus_ may mean, "constructing" or "repairing" harbors; or
"farming the harbor-dues," portoria.

[109] Scipio's was performed by contract. Plin., H. N., xxxi., 3.

[110] The spear was set up in the forum to show that an auction was
going on there. Hence things so sold were said to be sold _sub hastâ_.
_Domina_, implies "the right of disposal" of all things and persons
there put up. This may mean, therefore, to buy a drove of slaves
on speculation, and sell them again by auction; or, when they have
squandered their all, put themselves up to sale. So Britann. Dryden,
"For gain they sell their very head." "Salable as slaves." Hodgson. So
Browne, who reads "præbere caput domino."

[111] "From abject meanness lifts to wealth and power." Badham. Cf.
vi., 608.

[112] "Though a soothsayer, I am no astrologer." "I never examined the
entrails of _a toad_."

[113] "Therefore (because I will lend myself to no peculation) no
great man will take me in his suite when he goes to his province." Cf.
Sat. viii., 127, "Si tibi sancta cohors comitum." This is better than,
"Therefore I leave Rome alone!" Markland proposes, extinctâ dextrâ.

[114]

"Like a dead member from the body rent,
Maim'd and unuseful to the government." Dryden.

"No man's confederate, here alone I stand,
Like the maim'd owner of a palsied hand." Badham.

"Lopp'd from the trunk, a dead, unuseful hand." Hodgson.

[115] Isa., lvii., 20.

[116] _Opaci_, Lubin. interprets as equivalent to turbulenti, "turbid
with gold." On this Grangæus remarks, "Apage Germani haud germanam
interpretationem! _opaci_ enim est umbris arborum obscuri." Cf.
Mart., i., Ep. 50, "Æstus serenos aureo franges Tago _obscurus umbris
arborum_."

[117]

"Grasp thou no boon with sadness on thy brow,
Spurn the base bribe that binds a guilty vow." Badham.

[118]

"Shame for Rome that harbors such a crew."

[119] The Roman hind, once so renowned for rough and manly virtues,
now wears the costume of effeminate Greeks: or all these Greek terms,
used to show the poet's supreme contempt, may refer to the games: the
Trechedipna, not the thin supper-robe, but the same as the Endromis.
The Ceroma, an ointment made of oil, wax, and clay, with which they
bedaubed themselves.

[120] Amydon in Pœonia, Tralles in Lydia, Alabanda in Caria.

[121]

"Work themselves inward, and their patrons out." Dryden.

"Deep in their patron's heart, and fix'd as fate,
The future lords of all his vast estate." Hodgson.

[122]

"Torrents of words that might Isæus drown." Badham.

[123] Aliptes, one who anoints (ἀλείφει), and therefore trains,
athletes.

[124] So Johnson.

"All sciences the hungry Monsieur knows,
And bid him go to hell--to hell he goes!"

[125] Some think there is an allusion here to a man who attempted to
repeat Icarus' experiment before Nero. Vid. Suet., Nero, 13.

[126] _Cottana_, "ficorum genus." Plin., xiii., 5.

[127] "As if squeezed in the passage by the narrowness of the throat."

[128] His powers of flattery show his ability of assuming a fictitious
character as much as his skill in acting.

[129] Or the "Dorian maid." They were scantily dressed. Hence the
φαινομηρίδες of Ibycus.

[130] _Major abolla_, seems to be a proverbial expression; it may
either be the "Stoic's cloak," which was more _ample_ than the scanty
robe of the Cynic; or "the _philosopher's_ cloak," which has therefore
more dignity and weight with it than the soldier's or civilian's. The
allusion is to P. Egnatius Celer, the Stoic, who was bribed to give the
false testimony on which Bareas Soranus was convicted. V. Tac., Ann.,
xvi., 21, seq., and 32.

[131] _Ripa._ Commentators are divided between Tarsus, Thebes, and
Corinth.

[132] _Togatus._ Gifford quotes Martial, x., Ep. 10.

"Quid faciet pauper cui non licet esse clienti?
Dimisit nostras purpura vestra togas."

[133] _Collega_; alluding to the two prætors, "Urbanus" and
"Peregrinus."

[134] _Claudit latus._ This is the order Britannicus takes. "Claudere
latus" means not only to accompany, as a mark of respect, but to give
the inner place; to become his "comes exterior." Horace, ii., Sat. v.,
18. So Gifford, "And if they walk beside him yield the wall."

[135]

"For one cold kiss a tribune's yearly pay." Hodgson.

i. e., forty-eight pieces of gold. Cf. Suet., Vesp., xxiii.

[136] P. Scipio Nasica (vid. Liv., xxix., 10) and L. Cæcilius Metellus.
Cf. Ov., Fasti, vi., 437.

[137] Possidet. Vid. Niebuhr.

[138] Cf. Mart., v., Ep. 8 and 25, who speaks of one Lectius as an
officious keeper of the seats.

[139] Sat. x., 323.

[140]

"Long, long ago, in one despairing band,
The poor, self-exiled, should have left the land." Hodgson.

[141]

"A menial board and parsimonious fare." Hodgson.

[142] "Negavit." Some commentators imagine Curius Dentatus to be here
alluded to. It seems better to take it as a _general_ remark. Read
"culullo," not "cucullo," with Browne.

[143] Cf. Mart., ix., 588.

[144] _Herboso_, the first permanent theatre even in Rome itself, was
built by Pompey. Cf. In gradibus sedit populus de cæspite factis. Ov.,
Art. Am., i., 107. Cf. Virg., Æn., v., 286.

[145]

"In the state show repeated now for years." Hodgson.

[146] _Libis._ So many of these "complimentary cakes" are sent in honor
of this event, that they are actually "sold" to get rid of them.

"Good client, quickly to the mansion send
Cakes bought by thee for rascal slaves to vend." Badham.

[147] _Gabii_, renowned for the ease with which Sex. Tarquin duped the
inhabitants.

[148] _Pronum_, i. e., supinum. Hor., iii., Od. iv., 23, on a steep
acclivity.

[149]

"And 'tis the village mason's daily calling,
To keep the world's metropolis from falling." Dryden.

[150]

"Then bid the tenant sleep secure from dread,
While the loose pile hangs trembling o'er his head." Gifford.

[151] _Opici._ Cf. vi., 455. Opicæ castigat amicæ verba; i. e.,
barbarous, rude, unlearned, "the Goths of mice;" from the Opici
or Osci, an Ausonian tribe on the Liris, from whom many barbarous
innovations were introduced into Roman manners and language. "Divina"
may either refer to Homer's poems, or to Codrus' own, which in his own
estimation were "divine." Cf. Sat. i., 2, "rauci Theseide _Codri_."

[152] _Horrida._ In all public misfortunes, the Roman matrons took
their part in the common mourning, by appearing without ornaments, in
weeds, and with disheveled hair. Cf. viii., 267. Liv., ii., 7. Luc.,
Phars., ii., 28, _seq._

[153] _Candida._ Cf. Plin., xxxiv., 5. The Parian marble was the
whitest, hence Virg., Æn., iii., 126, "Niveamque Paron."

[154] _Polycletus._ Cf. viii., 103. His master-piece was the Persian
body-guard (cf. Ælian., V. H., xiv., 8), called the "Canon." Vid.
Müller's Archæol. of Art, § 120. Euphranor the painter belonged, like
Polycletus, to the Sicyonic school.

[155] _Foruli_ or _plutei_, cases for holding MSS. Cf. ii., 7. Suet.,
Aug., xxxi.

[156] Cf. Mart., iii., Ep. 52.

[157] _Circus._ Cf. x., 81, duas tantum res anxius optat Panem et
Circenses.

[158] Cf. Milton.

"And add to these retired leisure,
That in trim gardens takes his pleasure."

[159] i. e., "Only the very rich can afford to buy 'Insulæ,' in the
quiet part of the city, where their rest will not be broken by the
noise of their neighbors, or the street."

[160] _Mandra_; properly "a pen for pigs or cattle," then "a team or
drove of cattle, mules," etc.; as Martial, v., Ep. xxii., 7, "Mulorum
vincere mandras." Here "the drovers" themselves are meant.

[161] _Drusum._ Cf. Suet., Claud., v., "super veterem segnitiæ notam."
Seals are proverbially sluggish. Cf. Plin., ix., 13. Virg., Georg.,
iv., 432.

[162] _Officium_; attendance on the levees of the great.

[163] Cf. i., 64; v., 83; vi., 477, 351. Plin., Pan., 24.

[164] i. e., of a litter. Cf. vii., 132.

[165] _Culina_, "a double-celled chafing-dish, with a fire below, to
keep the 'dole' warm." The custom is still retained in Italy.

[166] Domitius Corbulo, a man of uncommon strength, appointed by Nero
to command in Armenia. Vid. Tac., Ann., xiii., 8.

[167] "The pace creates the draught."

[168] _Sedet_; because, being unburied, he must wait a hundred years.
Cf. Virg., Æn., vi., 313-330.

[169] Hom., Il., xxiv., 12, "ἄλλοτε δ' αὖτε ὕπτιος ἄλλοτε δὲ πρηνής."

[170] _Deducere_; "the technical word for the clients' attendance on
their patrons;" so "forum attingere; in forum deduci."

[171]

"He only cudgels, and I only bear." Dryden.

[172] _Sectile_, or the inferior kind of leek; the better sort being
called "capitatum." Plin., xx., 6. Cf. Sat. xiv., 133, sectivi porri.

[173] The order is "Pater, avus, proavus, abavus, atavas, tritavus." He
means, therefore, eight generations back at least.

[174] Ancus Martius built the prison. Liv., i., 33. The dungeon was
added by Servius Tullius, and called from him Tullianum. The next was
built by Ap. Claudius the decemvir.

[175] _Ceres_ was worshiped under this epithet at Aquinum. Its origin
is variously given.

[176] _Caligatus_ may mean, "with rustic boots," so that you may not be
reminded of Rome; or "with soldier's boots," as armed for our campaign
against the vices of the city.

SATIRE IV.

Once more behold Crispinus![177] and often shall I have to call him
on the stage. A monster! without one virtue to redeem his vices--of
feeble powers, save only in his lust. It is only a widow's charms this
adulterer scorns.

What matters it then in what large porticoes he wearies out his
steeds--through what vast shady groves his rides extend[178]--how many
acres close to the forum, or what palaces he has bought? No bad man is
ever happy. Least of all he that has added incest to his adultery, and
lately seduced the filleted priestess,[179] that with her life-blood
still warm must descend into the earth.

But now we have to deal with more venial acts. Yet if any other man
had committed the same, he would have come under the sentence of our
imperial censor.[180] For what would be infamous in men of worth, a
Titius or Seius, was becoming to Crispinus. What can you do when no
crime can be so foul and loathsome as the perpetrator himself? He gave
six sestertia for a mullet.[181] A thousand sesterces, forsooth! for
every pound of weight, as they allege, who exaggerate stories already
beyond belief. I should commend the act as a master-stroke of policy,
if by so noble a present he had got himself named chief heir[182]
in the will of some childless old man. A better plea still would be
that he had sent it to some mistress of rank, that rides in her close
chair with its wide glasses. Nothing of the sort! He bought it for
himself! We see many things which even Apicius[183] (mean and thrifty
compared with him) never was guilty of. Did you do this in days of
yore, Crispinus, when girt about with your native papyrus?[184] What!
pay this price for fish-scales? Perchance you might have bought the
fisherman cheaper than the fish! You might have bought a whole estate
for the money in some of our provinces. In Apulia, a still larger
one.[185] What kind of luxuries, then, may we suppose were gorged by
the emperor himself, when so many sestertia, that furnished forth but
a small portion, a mere side-dish of a very ordinary dinner, were
devoured by this court buffoon, now clothed in purple. Chief of the
equestrian order now is he who was wont to hawk about the streets shads
from the same borough[186] with himself.

Begin, Calliope! here may we take our seats! This is no poetic fiction;
we are dealing with _facts_! Relate it, Pierian maids! and grant me
grace for having called you _maids_.

When the last of the Flavii was mangling the world, lying at its last
gasp, and Rome was enslaved by a Nero,[187] ay, and a _bald_ one too,
an Adriatic turbot of wonderful size fell into the net, and filled its
ample folds, off the temple of Venus which Doric Ancona[188] sustains.
No less in bulk was it than those which the ice of the Mæotis incloses,
and when melted at length by the sun's rays, discharges at the outlets
of the sluggish Euxine, unwieldly from their long sloth, and fattened
by the long-protracted cold.

This prodigy of a fish the owner of the boat and nets designs for the
chief pontiff. For who would dare to put up such a fish to sale, or to
buy it? Since the shores too would be crowded with informers; these
inspectors of sea-weed, prowling in every nook, would straightway
contest the point[189] with the naked fisherman, and would not scruple
to allege that the fish was a "stray," and that having made its escape
from the emperor's ponds, where it had long reveled in plenty, ought
of course to revert to its ancient lord. If we place any faith in
Palfurius or Armillatus, whatever is pre-eminently fine in the whole
sea, is the property of the exchequer, wherever it swims. So, that
it may not be utterly lost, it will be made a present of, though now
sickly autumn was giving place to winter, and sick men were already
expecting[190] their fits of ague, though the rude tempest whistled
and kept the fish fresh, yet the fisherman hurries on as though a
mild south wind were blowing. And when the lakes were near at hand,
where, though in ruins, Alba[191] still preserves the Trojan fire, and
her Lesser Vesta,[192] the wondering crowd for a short space impeded
his entrance; as they made way for him, the folding-doors flew open
on ready-turning hinge. The senators, shut out themselves, watch the
dainty admitted. He stands in the royal presence. Then he of Picenum
begins, "Deign to accept what is too great for any private kitchen: let
this day be celebrated as the festival of your genius, haste to relieve
your stomach of its burden, and devour a turbot reserved to honor your
reign.[193] It insisted on being caught." What could be more fulsome?
and yet the great man's crest rose. What flattery is there that it is
not prepared to believe, when power is praised as equal to the gods.
But there was no dish of sufficient size for the fish. Therefore the
senators are summoned to a council--men whom he hated! men on whose
faces sat the paleness engendered by the wretched friendship with the
great! At the loud summons of the Liburnian slave, "Run! the emperor
is already seated!" the first to snatch up his cloak and hurry to the
place was Pegasus, lately set as bailiff over the amazed city;[194]
for what else were the præfects of Rome in those days? of whom he was
the best and most conscientious dispenser of the laws, though in
those days of terror he thought all things ought to be administered by
justice unarmed. Crispus[195] came too, that facetious old man, with
high character equal to his eloquence and mild disposition. Who could
have been a more serviceable minister to one that ruled seas, and
lands, and peoples, if, under that bane and pest of mankind, he had
been allowed to reprobate his savage nature and give honest advice?
But what is more ticklish than a tyrant's ear, with whom the life even
of a favorite was at stake, though he might be talking of showers
or heat, or a rainy spring? He, therefore, never attempted to swim
against the stream, nor was he a citizen who dared give vent to the
free sentiments of his soul, and devote his life to the cause of truth:
and so it was that he saw many winters and eighty summers; safe, by
such weapons, even in a court like that. Next to him hurried Acilius,
a man of the same time of life; with a youth[196] that ill deserved
so cruel a death as that which awaited him, so prematurely inflicted
by the tyrant's swords; but nobility coupled with old age, has long
since been a miracle. Consequently, for myself, I should prefer being
a younger brother of the giants.[197] It was of no avail therefore to
the wretched man, that as a naked huntsman in the amphitheatre of Alba,
he fought hand to hand with Numidian bears. For who, in our days, is
not up to the artifices of the patricians? Who would now admire that
primitive cunning of thine, Brutus? It is an easy thing to impose on a
king that wears a beard![198]. Then came Rubrius not a whit less pale,
though he was no noble, one accused of an ancient and nameless crime,
and yet more lost to shame than the pathic satirist.[199] There too
is to be seen Montanus' paunch, unwieldy from its size, and Crispus
reeking with unguent though so early in the day, more than enough to
furnish forth two funerals; and Pompeius, still more ruthless even
than he at cutting men's throats by his insinuating whisper; and he
that kept his entrails only to fatten the Dacian vultures, Fuscus,
that studied the art of war in his marble palace; and the shrewd
Veiento with the deadly Catullus,[200] who raged with lust for a girl
he could not see, a monster and prodigy of guilt even in our days,
the blind flatterer, a common bridge-beggar[201] invested with this
hateful power, whose worthiest fate would be to run begging by the
carriages on the road to Aricia, and blow his fawning kisses to the
chariot as it descends the hill. No one showed more astonishment at the
turbot, for he was profuse in his wonder, turning toward the left, but
unfortunately the fish lay on the other side. This was just the way
he used to praise the combat and fencing of the Cilician gladiator,
and the stage machinery, and the boys caught up by it to the awning.
Veiento is not to be outdone by him; but, like one inspired by the
maddening influence of Bellona, begins to divine. "A mighty omen this
you have received of some great and noble triumph. Some captive king
you'll take, or Arviragus will be hurled from his British car. For the
monster is a foreign one. Do you see the sharp fins bristling on his
back like spears?" In one point only Fabricius was at fault, he could
not tell the turbot's country or age. "What then is your opinion? Is
it to be cut up?" "Heaven forefend so great dishonor to the noble
fish!" says Montanus. "Let a deep dish be provided, whose thin sides
may inclose its huge circumference. Some cunning Prometheus to act on
this sudden emergency is required. Quick with the clay and potter's
wheel! But henceforth, Cæsar, let potters always attend your armies!"
This opinion, worthy of the author, carried the day. He was well versed
in the old luxury of the imperial court, and Nero's nights,[202] and a
second appetite when the stomach was fired with the Falernian.[203] No
one in my day was a greater connoisseur in good eating; he could detect
at the first bite whether the oysters were natives from Circeii, or
the Lucrine rocks, or whether they came from the Rutupian beds, and
told the shore an Echinus came from at the first glance.

They rise; and the cabinet being dismissed, the great chief bids the
nobles depart whom he had dragged to the Alban height, amazed and
forced to hurry, as though he were about to announce some tidings of
the Catti and fierce Sicambri; as though from diverse parts of the
world some alarming express had arrived on hurried wing. And would
that he had devoted to such trifles as these those days of horror
and cruelty, in which he removed from the city those glorious and
illustrious spirits, with none to punish or avenge the deed! But he
perished as soon as he began to be an object of alarm to cobblers. This
was what proved fatal to one that was reeking with the blood of the
Lamiæ!

FOOTNOTES:

[177] _Iterum._ Cf. i., 27, "Pars Niliacæ plebis, verna Canopi,
Crispinus."

[178] Cf. vii., 179.

[179] The vestal escaped her punishment, through Crispinus' interest
with Domitian.

[180] Cf. Sat. ii., 29. Suet., Domit., c. 8. Plin., iv., Epist xi.

[181] _Sex millibus_, about £44 7_s._ 6_d._ of English money. The value
of the sestertium was reduced after the reign of Augustus. A mullet
even of three pounds' weight was esteemed a great rarity. Vid. Hor.,
Sat., II., ii., 33, "Mullum laudas trilibrem."

[182] The chief heir was named in the second line of the first table.
Cf. Horace, ii., Sat. v., 53. Suet., Cæs., 83; Nero, 17.

[183] Cf. Sat. xi., 3.

[184] _Papyrus._ Garments were made of papyrus even in Anacreon's days.
iv., Od. 4. It is still used for the same purpose.

[185] Land would be probably cheap in Apulia, from its barrenness, and
bad air, and the prevalence of the wind Atabulus. Cf. Hor., i., Sat.
v., Montes Apulia notos quos torret Atabulus.

[186] i. e., Alexandria. Of the various readings of this line, "pactâ
mercede" seems to be the best. Even the fish Crispinus sold were not
his own, he was only hired to sell them for others.

[187] _Nero_, i. e., Domitian, who was as much disgusted at his own
baldness as Cæsar.

[188] Founded by a colony of Syracusans, who fled from the tyranny of
Dionysius.

[189] _Agerunt cum_; perhaps, "be ready to go to law with."

[190] _Sperare_ sometimes means to _fear_. Cf. Virg., Æn., iv., 419.

[191] Alba was Domitian's favorite residence. Vid. Suet., Dom.,
iv., 19. Plin., iv., Ep. xi., "Non in regiam sed in Albanam villam
convocavit."

[192] The "Lesser" Vesta, compared with the splendor of her "Cultus" at
Rome, which had been established by Numa. The temples were spared at
the time of the destruction of Alba by Tullus Hostilius. Vid. Liv., i.

[193] "Sæculum" is repeatedly used in this sense by Pliny, and other
writers of this age.

[194] As though Rome had now so far lost her privileges and her
liberty, as to be no better than a country vicus, to be governed by a
bailiff.

[195] Vibius Crispus Placentinus, the author of the witticism about
"Domitian and the flies." Vid. Suet., Dom., 3.

[196] _Juvene._ Probably a son of this M. Acilius Glabrio, who was
murdered by Domitian out of envy at the applause he received when
fighting in the arena at the emperor's own command.

[197] i. e., "Terræ filius," Pers., vi., 57, one of the meanest origin.

[198] It was 444 years before barbers were introduced into the city
from Sicily.

[199] Alluding to Nero's satire on Quintianus. Vid. Tac., Ann., xv.,
49. Quintianus mollitie corporis infamis, et a Nerone probroso carmine
diffamatus.

[200] _Catullus Messalinus._ Vid. Plin., Ep., iv., 22. Fabricius
Veiento wrote some satirical pieces, for which Nero banished him,
and ordered his books to be burnt. Vid. Tac., Ann., xiv., 50. He was
probably the husband of Hippia, mentioned in the 6th Satire, l. 82.

[201] "Pons." Cf. Sat. v., 8; xiv., 134.

[202] Cf. Suet., Nero, 27.

[203] Cf. vi., 430.

SATIRE V.

If you are not yet ashamed of your course of life,[204] and your
feeling is still the same, that you consider living at another man's
table to be the chief good; if you can put up with such things as not
even Sarmentus or Galba, contemptible as he was, would have submitted
to even at the unequal[205] board of Cæsar himself; I should be afraid
to believe your evidence though you were on oath. I know nothing
more easily satisfied than the cravings of nature. Yet even suppose
this little that is needed to be wanting, is there no quay vacant?
is there no where a bridge, and a piece of mat, somewhat less than
half, to beg upon? Is the loss of a supper so great a matter? is your
craving so fierce? when, in faith, it were much more reputable[206]
to shiver there, and munch mouldy fragments of dog-biscuit. In the
first place, bear in mind, that when invited to dinner, you receive
payment in full of your long-standing account of service. The sole
result of your friendship with the great man is--a meal! This your
patron sets down to your account, and, rare though it be, still takes
it into the calculation. Therefore, if after the lapse of two months
he deigns to send for his long-neglected client, only that the third
place may not be unoccupied in one couch of his triclinium[207]--"Let
us sup together," he says; the very summit of your wishes! What more
can you desire? Trebius has that for which he ought to break his rest,
and hurry away with latchet all untied, in his alarm lest the whole
crowd at his patron's levee shall have already gone their round of
compliments, when the stars are fading, or at the hour when the chill
wain of sluggish Bootes wheels slowly round.[208]

But what sort of a supper is it after all? Wine, such as wool just
shorn would not imbibe.[209] You will see the guests become frantic
as the priests of Cybele. Wranglings are the prelude of the fray: but
soon you begin to hurl cups as well in retaliation; and wipe your
wounds with your napkin stained with blood; as often as a pitched
battle, begun with pitchers of Saguntine ware, rages between you and
the regiment of freedmen. The great man himself drinks wine racked from
the wood under some consul with long hair,[210] and sips[211] the juice
of the grape pressed in the Social war; never likely, however, to send
even a small glass to a friend, though sick at heart. To-morrow, he
will drink the produce of the mountains of Alba or Setia,[212] whose
country and date age has obliterated by the accumulated mould on the
ancient amphora; such wine as, with chaplets on their heads, Thrasea
and Helvidius used to drink on the birthdays of the Bruti and Cassius.
Virro himself holds capacious cups formed of the tears of the
Heliades[213] and phialæ incrusted with beryl. You are not trusted
with gold: or even if it is ever handed to you, a servant is set as
a guard over you at the same time, to count the gems and watch your
sharp nails. Forgive the precaution: the jasper so much admired there
is indeed a noble one: for, like many others, Virro transfers to his
cups the gems from off his fingers, which the youth, preferred to the
jealous Hiarbas,[214] used to set on the front of his scabbard. You
will drain a cup with four noses, that bears the name of the cobbler of
Beneventum,[215] already cracked, and fit to be exchanged, as broken
glass, for brimstone.[216]

If your patron's stomach is overheated with wine and food, he calls for
water cooled by being boiled and then iced in Scythian snow.[217] Did
I complain just now that the wine set before you was not the same as
Virro's? Why, the very water you drink is different. Your cups will be
handed you by a running footman from Gætulia, or the bony hand of some
Moor, so black that you would rather not meet him at midnight, while
riding through the tombs on the steep Latin way. Before Virro himself
stands the flower of Asia, purchased at a greater sum than formed the
whole revenue of the warlike Tullus, or Ancus--and, not to detain you,
the whole fortunes[218] of all the kings of Rome. And so, when you
are thirsty, look behind you for your black Ganymede that comes from
Africa. A boy that costs so many thousands deigns not to mix wine for
the poor. Nay, his very beauty and bloom of youth justify his sneer.
When does he come near you? When would he come, even if you called him,
to serve you with hot or cold water? He scorns, forsooth, the idea of
obeying an old client, and that _you_ should call for any thing from
his hand; and that you should recline at table, while he has to stand.
Every great house is proportionably full of saucy menials.

See, too, with what grumbling another of these rascals hands you bread
that can scarce be broken; the mouldy fragments of impenetrable crust,
which would make your jaws ache, and give you no chance of a bite.
But delicate bread, as white as snow, made of the finest flower, is
reserved for the great man. Mind you keep your hands off! Maintain the
respect due to the cutter of the bread![219] Imagine, however, that you
have been rather too forward; there stands over you one ready to make
you put it down. "Be so good, audacious guest, as to help yourself from
the bread-basket you have been used to, and know the color of your own
particular bread." "So then![220] it was for this, forsooth, that I so
often quitted my wife, and hurried up the steep ascent of the bleak
Esquiline, when the vernal sky rattled with the pelting of the pitiless
hail, and my great coat dripped whole showers of rain!"

See! with how vast a body the lobster which is served to your patron
fills the dish, and with what fine asparagus it is garnished all round;
with what a tail he seems to look down in scorn on the assembled
guests, when he comes in raised on high by the hands of the tall slave.
But to you is served a common crab, scantily hedged in[221] with half
an egg sliced, a meal fit only for the dead,[222] and in a dish too
small to hold it. Virro himself drowns his fish in oil from Venafrum;
but the pale cabbage set before you, poor wretch, will stink of the
lamp. For in the sauceboats you are allowed, there is served oil such
as the canoe of the Micipsæ has imported in its sharp prow; for which
reason no one at Rome would bathe in the same bath with Bocchor; which
makes the blackamoors safe even from the attacks of serpents.

Your patron will have a barbel furnished by Corsica, or the rocks of
Tauromenium, when all our own waters have been ransacked and failed;
while gluttony is raging, and the market is plying its unwearied nets
in the neighboring seas, and we do not allow the Tyrrhene fish to
reach their full growth. The provinces, therefore, have to supply our
kitchen; and thence we are furnished with what Lenas the legacy-hunter
may buy, and Aurelia sell again.[223] Virro is presented with a lamprey
of the largest size from the Sicilian whirlpool. For while Auster keeps
himself close, while he seats himself and dries his wet pinions in
prison, the nets,[224] grown venturesome, despise the dangers even of
the middle of Charybdis. An eel awaits you--first-cousin to the long
snake--or a coarse pike[225] from the Tiber, spotted from the winter's
ice, a native of the bank-side, fattened on the filth of the rushing
sewer, and used to penetrate the drain even of the middle of Suburra.

"I should like to have a word with Virro, if he would lend an attentive
ear. No one now expects from you such presents as used to be sent
by Seneca to his friends of humble station, or the munificent gifts
which the bountiful Piso or Cotta used to dispense; for in days of
old the glory of giving was esteemed a higher honor than fasces
or inscriptions. All we ask is that you would treat us at supper
like fellow-citizens. Do this, and then, if you please, be, as many
now-a-days are, luxurious when alone, parsimonious to your guests."

Before Virro himself is the liver of a huge goose; a fat capon, as big
as a goose; and a wild boar, worthy of the spear of the yellow-haired
Meleager, smokes. Then will be served up truffles, if it happen to
be spring, and the thunder, devoutly wished for by the epicure,
shall augment the supper. "Keep your corn, O Libya," says Alledius,
"unyoke your oxen; provided only you send us truffles!" Meanwhile,
that no single source of vexation may be wanting, you will see the
carver[226] capering and gesticulating with nimble knife, till he has
gone through all the directions of his instructor in the art. Nor is
it in truth a matter of trifling import with what an air a leveret or
a hen is carved. You would be dragged by the heels, like Cacus[227]
when conquered by Hercules, and turned out of doors, if you were ever
to attempt to open your mouth, as though you had three names.[228]
When does Virro pass the cup to you, or take one that your lips have
contaminated? Which of you would be so rash, so lost to all sense of
shame, as to say, "Drink, sir!" to your patron lord? There are very
many things which men with coats worn threadbare dare not say. If any
god, or godlike hero, kinder to you than the fates have been, were to
give you a knight's estate, what a great man would you, small mortal,
become all at once from nothing at all! What a dear friend of Virro's!
"Give this to Trebius![229] Set this before Trebius! My dear brother,
will you take some of this sweet-bread?"

O money! it is to thee he pays this honor! it is _thou_ and he are
the brothers! But if you wish to be my lord, and my lord's lord, let
no little Æneas sport in your hall,[230] or a daughter more endearing
than he. It is the barrenness of the wife that makes a friend really
agreeable and beloved. But even suppose your Mycale should be confined,
though she should even present you three boys at a birth, he will be
the very one to be delighted with the twittering nest; will order his
green stomacher[231] to be brought, and the filberts,[232] and the
begged-for penny, whenever the infant parasite shall come to dine with
him.

Before his friends whom he holds so vile will be set some
very questionable toadstools--before the great man himself, a
mushroom[233]--but such an one as Claudius ate, _before_ that furnished
by his wife, _after_ which he ate nothing more. Virro will order to be
served to himself and his brother Virros such noble apples, on whose
fragrance alone you are allowed to revel; such as the eternal autumn
of the Phæacians produced; or such as you might fancy purloined from
the African sisters. You feast upon some shriveled windfall, such as is
munched at the ramparts by him that is armed with buckler and helmet:
and, in dread of the lash, learns to hurl his javelin from the shaggy
goat's[234] back.

You may imagine, perhaps, that Virro does all this from stinginess. No!
his very object is to vex you. For what play, what mime is better than
disappointed gluttony? All this, therefore, is done, if you don't know
it, that you may be forced to give vent to your bile by your tears, and
gnash long your compressed teeth. You fancy yourself a freeman--the
great man's welcome guest! He looks upon you as one caught by the savor
of his kitchen. Nor does he conjecture amiss. For who is so utterly
destitute as twice to bear with his insolence, if it has been his good
fortune, when a boy, to wear the Tuscan gold,[235] or even the boss,
the badge of leather, that emblem of poverty.

The hope of a good dinner deludes you. "See! sure he'll send us now a
half-eaten hare, or a slice of that wild-boar haunch.[236] Now we shall
get that capon, as he has helped himself!" Consequently you all sit in
silent expectation, with bread in hand, untouched and ready for action.
And he that uses you thus shows his wisdom--if you _can_ submit to all
these things, then you _ought_ to bear them. Some day or other, you
will present your head with shaven crown, to be beaten: nor hesitate
to submit to the harsh lash--well worthy of such a banquet and such a
friend as this!

FOOTNOTES:

[204] _Propositi._ So ix., 20, flexisse videris propositum.

[205] _Iniquas._ From the marked difference in the treatment of the
different guests.

[206] _Quum Pol sit honestius._ Rupertis' conjecture.

[207] Trebius is put in the lowest place in the triclinium, the third
culcitra, or cushion, on the lowest (tertia) bed, and only because
there was no one else to occupy it.

[208] "What is the night? Almost at odds with morning, which is which."
Macbeth, Act iii., 4. Cf. Anacreon, iii., 1; Theocr., xxiv., 11. i. e.,
a little after midnight.

[209] "Tonsursæ tempus inter æquinoctium vernum et solstitium, quum
sudare inceperunt oves: a quo sudore recens lana tonsa sucida appellata
est. Tonsus recentes eodem die perungunt vino et oleo." Varro, R. R.,
II., xi., 6.

[210] Cf. iv., 103.

[211] "Tenet," or "keeps to himself," or "holds up to the light."

[212] _Setine_ was the favorite wine of Augustus. _Alban._ Cf. Hor.,
ii., Sat. viii., 16.

[213] Amber was fabled to be produced by the tears of the sisters of
Phaeton, the daughters of the Sun, shed for his loss, on the banks of
the Eridanus, where they were metamorphosed into poplars or alders.

[214] Cf. Virg., Æn., iv., 261.

[215] Nero, on his way to Greece, fell in at Beneventum with one
Vatinius, "Sutrinæ tabernæ alumnus," whom he took first as his buffoon,
and afterward as his confidant. Tac., Ann., xv., 34. Cf. Martial, xiv.,
Ep. 96.

[216] _Sulphura._ Cf. Mart., i., Ep. 43, Qui pallentia sulphurata
fractis permutat vitreis. Vid. x., 3, Quæ sulphurata nolit empta
ramento Vatiniorum proxeneta fractorum. Compare the "Bellarmines" of
mediæval pottery and the Flemish "Graybeards."

[217] _Pruinis._ "Neronis principis inventum est decoquere aquam,
vitroque demissam in nives refrigerare." Plin., xxxi., 3.

[218] _Frivola_; properly "goods and chattels." Cf. iii., 198.

[219] _Artocopi._ Cf. Xen., An., IV., iv., 21. Some read Artoptæ.

[220] This is the indignant exclamation of Trebius.

[221] _Constrictus_, or, "shrunk from having been so long out of the
sea."

[222] _Cœna_; the Silicernium; served on the ninth day to appease the
dead. Cf. Plaut., Pseud., III., ii., 7; Aul., II., iv., 45.

[223] _Vendat._ Cf. iii., 187. Aurelia. See Plin., ii., Ep. 20.

[224] _Lina._ Cf. Virg., Georg., i., 142.

[225] The pike (Lupus Tiberinus) was esteemed in exact proportion to
the distance it was caught from the common sewers of Rome. Hor., ii.,
Sat. ii., 31.

[226] _Structor._ Cf. xi., 136.

[227] _Cacus._ Virg., Æn., viii., 264.

[228] Free Roman citizens had three names, prænomen, nomen, and
cognomen. Slaves had no prænomen. Cf. Pers., Sat. v., 76-82. He means
to imply that, by turning parasite, Trebius had virtually forfeited the
privileges of a free Roman.

[229] _Da Trebio._ Cf. Suet., Dom., xi., "partibus de cœnâ dignatus
est." Xen., Anab., I., ix., 26.

[230] Virg., Æn., iv., 327.

[231] _Viridem thoraca._ Heinrich supposes this to be a mimic piece of
armor, to be worn by children playing at soldiers.

[232] _Nuces_, "walnuts;" minimas nuces, _nuts_.

[233] Cf. Tac., Ann., xii., 66, 7, "Infusum cibo boletorum venenum;" it
was prepared by Locusta. Cf. Sat. i., 71. Martial, Ep., I., xxi., 4,
"Boletum qualem Claudius edit, edas." Cf. Suet., Nero, 33.

[234] Probably alluding to a monkey exhibited riding on a goat, and
equipped as a soldier, to amuse the Prætorian guards at their barrack
gate; or, as some think, the "recruit" himself is intended, and then
Capella is taken as a proper name.

[235] The golden bulla, hollow, and in the shape of a heart, was
borrowed from the Etruscans, and at first confined to the children of
nobles. It was afterward borne, like the "tria nomina," by all who were
free-born, till they were fifteen. The poorer citizens had it made of
leather, or some cheap material. Cf. xiv., 5, hæres bullatus.

[236] Cf. Xen., Anab., I., ix., 26.

SATIRE VI.

I believe that while Saturn still was king, chastity lingered upon
earth, and was long seen there: when a chill cavern furnished a scanty
dwelling, and inclosed in one common shade the fire and household gods,
the cattle, and their owners. When a wife, bred on the mountains,
prepared a rustic bed with leaves and straw and the skins of the wild
beasts their neighbors; not like thee, Cynthia[237]--or thee whose
beaming eyes the death of a sparrow dimmed with tears--but bearing
breasts from which her huge infants might drink, not suck, and often
more uncivilized even than her acorn-belching husband. Since men lived
very differently then, when the world was new, and the sky but freshly
created, who, born out of the riven oak, or moulded out of clay, had no
parents.

Many traces of primæval chastity, perhaps, or some few at least, may
have existed, even under Jove; but then it was before Jove's beard was
grown; before the Greeks were yet ready to swear by another's head;
when no one feared a thief for his cabbages or apples, but lived with
garden uninclosed. Then by degrees Astræa retired to the realms above,
with chastity for her companion, and the two sisters fled together.

To violate the marriage-bed, and laugh to scorn the genius that
presides over the nuptial couch, is an ancient and a hackneyed vice,
Postumus. Every other species of iniquity the age of iron soon
produced. The silver age witnessed the first adulterers.

And yet are you preparing your marriage covenant, and the
settlement,[238] and betrothal, in our days, and are already under
the hands of the master barber, and perhaps have already given the
pledge for her finger! Well! you _used_ to be sane, at all events! You,
Postumus, going to marry! Say, what Tisiphone, what snakes are driving
you mad? Can you submit to be the slave of any woman, while so many
halters are to be had? so long as high and dizzy windows are open for
you, and the Æmilian bridge presents itself so near at hand? Or if, out
of so many ways of quitting life, none pleases you, do you not think
your present plan better, of having a stripling to sleep with you, who
lying there, reads you no curtain lectures, exacts no little presents
from you, and never complains that you are too sparing in your efforts
to please him?

But Ursidius is delighted with the Julian law[239]--he thinks of
bringing up a darling heir, nor cares to lose the fine turtledove and
bearded mullets,[240] and all the baits for legacies in the dainties of
the market. What will you believe to be impossible, if Ursidius takes a
wife? If he, of yore the most notorious of adulterers, whom the chest
of Latinus in peril of his life has so often concealed, is now going to
insert his idiot head in the nuptial halter; nay, and more than this,
is looking out for a wife possessed of the virtues of ancient days!
Haste, physicians, bore through the middle vein! What a nice man! Fall
prostrate at the threshold of Tarpeian Jove, and sacrifice to Juno a
heifer with gilded horns, if you have the rare good fortune to find a
matron with unsullied chastity. So few are there worthy to handle the
fillets of Ceres; so few, whose kisses their own fathers might not
dread. Wreathe chaplets for the door-posts, stretch thick clusters of
ivy over the threshold. Is one husband enough for Iberina? Sooner will
you prevail on her to be content with one eye. "Yet there is a great
talk of a certain damsel, living at her father's country-house!" Let
her live at Gabii as she lived in the country, or even at Fidenæ, and
I grant what you say of the influence of the paternal country-seat.
Yet who will dare assert that nothing has been achieved on mountains
or in caves? Are Jupiter and Mars grown so old. In all the public
walks can a woman be pointed out to you, that is worthy of your wish.
On all their benches do the public shows hold one that you could love
without misgivings; or one you could pick out from the rest? While
the effeminate Bathyllus is acting Leda in the ballet, Tuccia can not
contain herself, Appula whines as in the feat of love, Thymele is all
attention to the quick, the gentler, and the slow; and so Thymele,
rustic as she was before, becomes a proficient in the art. But others,
whenever the stage ornaments, packed away, get a respite, and the
courts alone are vocal (since the theatres are closed and empty, and
the Megalesian games come a long time after the plebeian), in their
melancholy handle the mask and thyrsus and drawers of Accius. Urbicus
provokes a laugh by his personification of Autonoe in the Atellan
farce. Ælia, being poor, is in love with him. For others, the fibula
of the comic actor is unbuckled for a large sum. Some women prevent
Chrysogonus from having voice to sing. Hispulla delights in a tragic
actor. Do you expect then that the worthy Quintilianus will be the
object of their love? You take a wife by whom Echion the harper, or
Glaphyrus, or Ambrosius the choral flute-player, will become a father.
Let us erect long lines of scaffolding along the narrow streets. Let
the door-posts and the gate be decorated with a huge bay, that beneath
the canopy inlaid with tortoise-shell,[241] thy infant, Lentulus,
supposed to be sprung from a noble sire, may be the counterpart of the
Mirmillo Euryalus.

Hippia, though wife to a senator, accompanied a gladiator to Pharos
and the Nile, and the infamous walls of Lagos.[242] Even Canopus
itself reprobated the immorality of the imperial city. She, forgetful
of her home, her husband, and her sister, showed no concern for her
native land, or, vile wretch as she was, her weeping children, and,
to amaze you even more, quitted the shows and Paris. But though when
a babe she had been pillowed in great luxury, in the down of her
father's mansion, and a cradle of richest workmanship, she despised
the perils of the sea. Her good name she had long before despised--the
loss of which, among the soft cushions of ladies, is very cheaply
held. Therefore with undaunted breast she faced the Tuscan waves and
wide-resounding Ionian Sea, though the sea was so often to be changed.
If the cause of the peril be reasonable and creditable, then they are
alarmed--their coward hearts are chilled with icy fear--they can not
support themselves on their trembling feet. They show a dauntless
spirit in those things which they basely dare. If it is their husband
that bids them, it is a great hardship to go on board ship. Then the
bilgewater is insufferable! the skies spin round them! She that follows
her adulterer has no qualms. The one is sick all over her husband. The
other dines among the sailors and walks the quarter-deck, and delights
in handling the hard ropes. And yet what was the beauty that inflamed,
what the prime of life that captivated Hippia? What was it she saw in
him to compensate her for being nicknamed the fencer's whore? For the
darling Sergius had now begun to shave his throat; and badly wounded
in the arm to anticipate his discharge. Besides, he had many things to
disfigure his face, as for instance--he was galled with his helmet, and
had a huge wen between his nostrils, and acrid rheum forever trickling
from his eye. But then he was a gladiator! It is this that makes them
beautiful as Hyacinthus! It was this she preferred to her children and
her native land, her sister and her husband. It is the steel they are
enamored of. This very same Sergius, if discharged from the arena,
would begin to be Veiento in her eyes.

Do you feel an interest in a private house, in a Hippia's acts? Turn
your eyes to the rivals of the gods! Hear what Claudius had to endure.
As soon as his wife perceived he was asleep, this imperial harlot, that
dared prefer a coarse mattress to the royal bed, took her hood she
wore by nights, quitted the palace with but a single attendant, but
with a yellow tire concealing her black hair; entered the brothel warm
with the old patchwork quilt, and the cell vacant and appropriated to
herself. Then took her stand with naked breasts and gilded nipples,
assuming the name of Lycisca, and displayed the person of the mother of
the princely Britannicus, received all comers with caresses and asked
her compliment, and submitted to often-repeated embraces. Then when the
owner dismissed his denizens, sadly she took her leave, and (all she
could do) lingered to the last before she closed her cell; and still
raging with unsatisfied desire, tired with the toil but yet unsated,
she retired with sullied cheeks defiled, and, foul from the smoke of
lamps, bore back the odor of the stews to the pillow of the emperor.

Shall I speak of the love-philters, the incantations, the poison
mingled with the food and given to the step-son? The acts which they
commit, to which they are impelled by the imperative suggestions of
their sex,[243] are still more atrocious: those they commit through
lust are the least of their crimes. "Then, how can it be that even
by her husband's showing Cesennia is the best of wives?" She brought
him a thousand sestertia! that is the price at which he calls her
chaste. It is not with Venus' quiver that he grows thin, or with her
torch he burns; it is from that his fires are fed; from her dowry that
the arrows emanate. She has purchased her liberty: therefore, even
in her husband's presence, she may exchange signals, and answer her
love-letters. A rich wife, with a covetous husband, has all a widow's
privileges. "Why then does Sertorius burn with passion for Bibula?"
If you sift the truth, it is not the wife he is in love with, but the
face. Let a wrinkle or two make their appearance, and the shriveled
skin grow flaccid, her teeth get black, or her eyes smaller--"Pack
up your baggage," the freedman will say, "and march. You are become
offensive. You blow your nose too frequently. March! and be quick about
it! Another is coming whose nose is not so moist." Meanwhile she is
hot and imperious, and demands of her husband shepherds and sheep from
Canusium, and elms[244] from Falernum. What a trifle is this? Then
every boy she fancies, whole droves of slaves, and whatever she has not
in her house, and her neighbor has, must be bought.

Nay, in the mid-winter month, when now the merchant Jason is shut up,
and the cottage[245] white with hoar frost detains the sailors all
equipped for their voyage, she takes huge crystalline vases,[246] and
then again myrrhine of immense size; then an adamant whose history is
well known, and whose value is enhanced by having been on Berenice's
finger. This in days of yore a barbarian king gave his incestuous
love--Agrippa to his own sister! where barefoot kings observe festal
sabbaths, and a long-established clemency grants long life to pigs.

"Is there not one, then, out of such large herds of women, that seems
to you a worthy match?" Let her be beautiful, graceful, rich, fruitful;
marshal along her porticoes her rows of ancestral statues; let her be
more chaste than any single Sabine that, with hair disheveled, brought
the war to a close; be a very phœnix upon earth, rare as a black swan;
who could tolerate a wife in whom all excellencies are concentrated! I
would rather, far rather, have a country maiden from Venusia, than you,
O Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, if along with your exalted virtues
you bring as portion of your dower a haughty and disdainful brow, and
reckon as part of your fortune the triumphs of your house! Away, I beg,
with your Hannibal and Syphax conquered in his camp, and tramp with all
your Carthage!

"Spare, I pray thee, Pæan! and thou, O goddess, lay down thine arrows!
The children are innocent. Transfix the mother herself!" So prays
Amphion. Yet Pæan bends his bow. Therefore she had to bury her herds
of children, together with their sire, while Niobe seems to herself to
be more noble than Latona's race, and moreover more fruitful even than
the white sow. What dignity of deportment, what beauty, can compensate
for your wife's always throwing her own worth in your teeth? For all
the satisfaction of this rare and chief good is destroyed, if, entirely
spoilt by haughtiness of soul, it entails more bitter than sweet. But
who is so devotedly uxorious, as not to feel a dread of her whom he
praises to the skies, and hate her seven hours out of every twelve?
There are some things, trifling indeed, and yet such as no husband can
tolerate. For what can be more sickening than the fact that no one
woman considers herself beautiful, unless instead of Tuscan she has
become a little Greek--metamorphosed from a maid of Sulmo to a "maid of
Athens." Every thing is in Greek. (While surely it is more disgraceful
for our countrywomen not to know their mother tongue.) In this language
they give vent to their fears, their anger, their joys and cares,
and all the inmost workings of their soul. Nay more, they kiss à la
Grecque! This in young girls you may excuse. But must thou, forsooth,
speak Greek, that hast had the wear and tear of six and eighty years?
In an old woman this language becomes immodest, when interspersed with
the wanton Ζωὴ καὶ ψυχή. You are employing in public, expressions one
might think you had just used under the counterpane. For whose passion
would not be excited by these enticing and wanton words? It has all
the force of actual touching. Yet though you pronounce them all in
more insinuating tones than even Hæmus or Carpophorus, your face, the
tell-tale of your years, makes all the feathers droop.

If you are _not_ likely to love her that is contracted and united to
you in lawful wedlock, there seems no single reason why you should
marry, nor why you should waste the wedding dinner and bride cakes[247]
which you must dispense, when their complimentary attendance is over,
to your bridal guests already well crammed; nor the present given for
the first nuptial night, when, in the well-stored dish, Dacicus[248]
and Germanicus glitters with its golden legend. If you are possessed
of such simplicity of character as to be enamored of your wife, and
your whole soul is devoted to her alone, then bow your head with
neck prepared to bear the yoke. You will find none that will spare a
man that loves her. Though she be enamored herself, she delights in
tormenting and fleecing her lover. Consequently a wife is far more
disastrous to him that is likely to prove a kind and eligible husband.
You will never be allowed to make a present without your wife's
consent. If she opposes it, you must not sell a single thing, or buy
one, against her will. She will give away your affections. That good
old friend of many long years will be shut out from that gate that saw
his first sprouting beard.[249] While pimps and trainers have free
liberty to make their own wills, and even gladiators enjoy the same
amount of privilege, you will have your will dictated to you, and find
more than one rival named as your heirs.

"Crucify that slave." "What is the charge, to call for such a
punishment? What witness can you produce? Who gave the information?
Listen! Where man's life is at stake no deliberation can be too long."
"Idiot! so a slave is a man then! Granted he has done nothing. I _will_
it, I _insist_ on it! Let my will stand instead of reason!"

Therefore she lords it over her husband:--but soon she quits these
realms, and seeks new empires and wears out her bridal veil. Then she
flies back, and seeks again the traces of the bed she scorned.[250] She
leaves the doors so recently adorned, the tapestry still hanging on the
house, and the branches still green upon the threshold. Thus the number
grows: thus she has her eight[251] husbands in five years. A notable
fact to record upon her tomb!

All chance of domestic happiness is hopeless while your wife's mother
is alive. She bids her exult in despoiling her husband to the utmost.
She teaches her how to write back nothing savoring of discourtesy or
inexperience to the missives of the seducer. She either balks or bribes
your spies; then, though your daughter is in rude health, calls in
Archigenes, and tosses off the bedclothes as too oppressive. Meanwhile
the adulterer, concealed apart, stands trembling with impatient
expectation. Do you expect, forsooth, that the mother will inculcate
virtuous principles, or other than she cherishes herself? It is right
profitable too for a depraved old hag to train her daughter to the same
depravity.

There is scarcely a single cause in which a woman is not engaged
in some way in fomenting the suit. If Manilia is not defendant,
she will be plaintiff. They draw up and frame bills of indictment
unassisted,[252] quite prepared to dictate even to Celsus[253] the
exordium and topics he should use.

The Tyrian Endromides[254] and the Ceroma for women who is ignorant
of? Or who has not seen the wounds of the Plastron,[255] which she
dints with unwearied foil, and attacks with her shield, and goes with
precision through her exercise? A matron most pre-eminently worthy
of the trumpet of the Floralia. Unless indeed in that breast of hers
she is plotting something deeper, and training in real earnest for
the amphitheatre.[256] What modesty can a woman show that wears a
helmet, and eschews her sex, and delights in feats of strength? And
yet, in spite of all, this virago would not wish to become a man. For
how small is our pleasure compared to theirs! Yet what a goodly array
would there be, if there were an auction of your wife's goods: belt
and gauntlets[257] and crest, and the half-armor for the left leg! Or
if she shall engage in a different way of fighting,[258] you will be
lucky indeed when your young wife sells her greaves. Yet these very
same women perspire even in their muslin; whose delicate frames even
a slip of sarcenet oppresses. See! with what a noise she makes the
home-thrusts taught her by the trainer, and what a weight of helmet
bows her down, how firmly she plants herself on her haunches, in what
a thick mass is the roll of clothes. Then smile when, laying aside
her arms, she takes her oblong vessel. Tell me, ye granddaughters of
Lepidus or blind Metellus, or Fabius Gurges, what actress ever wore a
dress like this? When would Asylus' wife cry Hah! at the Plastron?

The bed in which a wife lies is the constant scene of quarrels and
mutual recriminations. There is little chance of sleep there. Then
is she indeed bitter toward her husband, fiercer than tigress robbed
of her whelps; when, conscious of her secret guilt, she counterfeits
groans, or hates the servants, or upbraids you with some rival of her
own creation, with tears ever fruitful, ever ready at their post, and
only waiting her command in what way to flow. You believe it genuine
love. You, poor hedge-sparrow, plume yourself, and kiss off the tears!
Ah! what amorous lays, what letters would you read, if you were but to
examine the writing-case of that adulteress that counterfeits jealousy
so well!

But suppose her actually caught in the arms of a slave or knight. "Pray
suggest in this case some colorable excuse, Quintilian!" "We are at
fault! Let the lady herself speak!" "It was formerly agreed," she says,
"that you should do what you pleased, and that I also might have full
power to gratify myself. In spite of your outcry and confounding heaven
and sea, I am mortal." Nothing is more audacious than these women when
detected. They affect resentment, and borrow courage from their very
guilt itself.

Yet should you ask whence are these unnatural prodigies, or from what
source they spring; it was their humble fortune that made the Latin
women chaste in days of yore, nor did hard toil and short nights' rest,
and hands galled and hardened[259] with the Tuscan fleece, and Hannibal
close to the city, and their husbands mounting guard at the Colline
tower, suffer their lowly roofs to be contaminated by vice. Now we are
suffering all the evils of long-continued peace. Luxury, more ruthless
than war, broods over Rome, and exacts vengeance for a conquered
world. No guilt or deed of lust is wanting, since Roman poverty has
disappeared. This was the source whence Sybaris flowed to these seven
hills, and Rhodes too, and Miletus, and Tarentum crowned with garlands,
insolent and flushed with wine!

Money, the nurse of debauchery, was the first that introduced foreign
manners, and enervating riches sapped the sinews of the age with foul
luxury. For what cares Venus in her cups? All difference of head
or tail is alike to her who at very midnight devours huge oysters,
when unguents mixed with neat Falernian foam, when she drains the
conch,[260] when from her dizziness the roof seems to reel, and the
table to rise up with the lights doubled in number.[261] Go then, and
knowing all this, doubt, if you can, with what a snort of scorn Tullia
snuffs up the air when she passes the ancient altar of Chastity; or
what Collatia says to her accomplice Maura. Here they set down their
litters at night, and bedew the very image of the goddess with copious
irrigations, while the chaste moon witnesses their abominations,[262]
over which, when morn returns, you pass on your way to visit your great
friends.

The secrets of Bona Dea are well known. When the pipe excites them, and
inflamed alike with the horn and wine, these Mænads of Priapus rush
wildly round, and whirl their locks and howl! Then, as their passions
rise, how burning is their lust, how frantic their words, when all
power of restraining their desires is lost! A prize is proposed, and
Saufeia[263] challenges the vilest of her sex, and bears off the prize.
In these games nothing is counterfeit, all is acted to the life; so
that even the aged Priam, effete from years, or Nestor himself, might
be inflamed at the sight. Then their lust admits of no delay. Then the
woman appears in all her native depravity; and by all alike is the
shout re-echoed from the whole den--"Now is the proper time. Let in
the men!" But the adulterer still sleeps; so she bids the youth put on
a female hood, and speed to the spot. If none can be found, they have
recourse to slaves. If there is no hope of slaves, they will hire some
water-carrier to come. If this fails too, and no men can be found, she
would not hesitate to descend still lower in the scale of creation.
Oh, would that our ancient rites and public worship could at least be
celebrated, uncontaminated by such pollutions as these! But even the
Moors and Indians know what singing wench produced his wares equal
in bulk to Cæsar's two Anticatos, in a place whence even a mouse,
conscious of his sex, would flee, and every picture is veiled over that
represents the other sex. Yet, even in those days, what man despised
the deity? or who had dared to ridicule Numa's earthen bowl and black
dish, and the brittle vessels from Mount Vatican. But now what altars
are there that a Clodius does not assail?

I hear the advice that my good friends of ancient days would give--"Put
on a lock! keep her in confinement!" But who is to guard the guards
themselves? Your wife is as cunning as you, and begins with them. And,
in our days, the highest and the lowest are fired with the same lust.
Nor is she that wears out the black pavement with her feet, better than
she who is borne on the shoulders of her tall Syrian slaves.

Ogulnia, in order that she may go in due state to the games, hires a
dress, and attendants, and a sedan, and pillow, and female friends;
and a nurse, and yellow-haired girl[264] to whom she may issue her
commands. Yet all that remains of her family plate, and even the very
last remnants of it,[265] she gives to well-oiled Athletes. Many women
are in straitened circumstances at home; yet none of them has the
modest selfrestraint that should accompany poverty, or limits herself
within that measure which her poverty has allotted and assigned to her.
Yet _men_ do sometimes look forward to what may be to their interest
hereafter, and, with the ant for their instructress, some have at last
felt a dread of cold and hunger. Yet woman, in her prodigality,
perceives not that her fortune is fast coming to naught; and as though
money, with vegetative power, would bloom afresh[266] from the drained
chest, and the heap from which she takes would be ever full, she never
reflects how great a sum her pleasures cost her. Some women ever take
delight in unwarlike eunuchs, and soft kisses, and the loss of all hope
of beard, that precludes the necessity of abortives. Yet the summit
of their pleasure is when this operation has been performed in the
heat and prime of manhood, and the only loss sustained is that the
surgeon Heliodorus cheats the barber of his fees. Such is his mistress'
will: and, conspicuous from afar, and attracting the eyes of all, he
enters the baths, and vies even with the god that guards our vines and
gardens. Let him sleep with his mistress! But, Postumus, suffer not the
youthful Bromius to enter the lists with him.

If she takes delight in singing, the fibula of none of these fellows
that sells his voice to the prætor holds out: the instruments are
forever in her hands; the whole lyre sparkles with the jewels thickly
set. She runs over the strings with the vibrating quill,[267] with
which the soft Hedymeles performed: this she holds in her hands;
with this she consoles herself, and lavishes kisses on the plectrum,
dear for its owner's sake. One of the clan of the Lamiæ,[268] a lady
of lofty rank, inquired with meal-cake and wine of Janus and Vesta,
whether Pollio might venture to hope for the oaken crown at the
Capitoline games,[269] and promise it to his lyre. What more could
she do were her husband sick? What, if the physicians had despaired
of her infant son? She stood before the altar, and thought no shame
to veil her head for a harper: and went through in due form the words
prescribed,[270] and grew pale as the lamb was opened. Tell me now, I
pray, tell me, thou ancientest of gods, father Janus! dost thou return
answer to these? Great must be indeed the leisure[271] of heaven! There
can be no business there, as far as I see, stirring among you. One
woman consults you about comic actors; another would fain commend a
tragedian to your notice: the soothsayer will become varicose.[272]

But let her rather be musical than fly through the whole city, with
bold bearing; and encounter the assemblies of men, and in her husband's
presence herself converse with generals in their scarlet cloaks,[273]
with unabashed face and breasts exposed. She too knows all that is
going on in the whole world--what the Seres[274] or Thracians are
engaged in--the secrets of the step-mother and her son--what adulterer
is in love, or is in great request. She will tell you who made the
widow pregnant--in what month it was--in what language and manner
each act of love takes place. She is the first[275] to see the comet
that menaces the Armenian and Parthian king; and she intercepts[276]
at the gates the reports and freshest news. Some she invents as well.
That Niphates[277] has overwhelmed whole nations, and that the whole
country is there laid under water by a great deluge; that cities are
tottering, the earth sinking down--this she tells in every place of
resort to every one she meets.

And yet that vice is not more intolerable, than that, though earnestly
entreated,[278] she will seize upon her poor neighbors, and have them
cut in two with lashes. For if her sound slumbers are disturbed by
the barking of a dog, "Bring the clubs[279] here at once!" she cries:
and orders the owner first to be beaten with them, and then the dog.
Terrible to encounter, most awful in visage, she enters the baths by
night--by night she orders her bathing vessels and camp to be set in
motion. She delights in perspiring with great tumult; when her arms
have sunk down wearied with the heavy dumb-bells; and the sly anointer
has omitted to rub down no part of her body. Her poor wretches of
guests meanwhile are overcome with drowsiness and hunger. At last the
lady comes; flushed, and thirsty enough for a whole flagon,[280] which
is placed at her feet and filled from a huge pitcher: of which a second
pint is drained before she tastes food, to make her appetite[281]
quite ravenous. Then having rinsed out her stomach, the wine returns
in a cascade on the floor--rivers gush over the marble pavement,[282]
or the broad vessel reeks of Falernian--for thus, just as when a long
snake has glided into a deep cask, she drinks and vomits. Therefore her
husband turns sick; and with eyes closed smothers his rising bile.

And yet that woman is more offensive still, who, as soon as she has
taken her place at table, praises Virgil, and excuses the suicide
of Dido: matches and compares poets together: in one scale weighs
Maro in the balance, and Homer in the other. The grammarians yield;
rhetoricians are confuted; the whole company is silenced; neither
lawyer nor crier[283] can put in a word, nor even another woman. Such
a torrent of words pours forth, you would say so many basins or bells
were all being struck at once. Henceforth let no one trouble trumpets
or brazen vessels; she will be able singly to relieve the moon when
suffering[284] an eclipse. The philosopher sets a limit even to those
things which are good in themselves. For she that desires to appear
too learned and eloquent, ought to wear a tunic reaching only to the
middle of the leg, to sacrifice a pig to Sylvanus,[285] and bathe for
a quadrans. Let not the matron that shares your marriage-bed possess a
set style of eloquence, or hurl in well-rounded sentence the enthymeme
curtailed[286] of its premiss; nor be acquainted with all histories.
But let there be some things in books which she does not understand.
I hate her who is forever poring over and studying Palæmon's[287]
treatise; who never violates the rules and principles of grammar; and
skilled in antiquarian lore, quotes verses I never knew; and corrects
the phrases of her friend as old-fashioned,[288] which men would never
heed. A husband should have the privilege of committing a solecism.

There is nothing a woman will not allow herself, nothing she holds
disgraceful, when she has encircled her neck with emeralds, and
inserted earrings of great size in her ears, stretched with their
weight. Nothing is more unbearable than a rich woman!

Meanwhile her face, shocking to look at, or ridiculous from the large
poultice, is all swollen; or is redolent of rich Poppæan unguents,[289]
with which the lips of her wretched husband are glued up. She will
present herself to her adulterer with skin washed clean. When does
she choose to appear beautiful at home? It is for the adulterers her
perfumes are prepared. It is for these she purchases all that the
slender Indians send us. At length she uncases her face and removes
the first layer. She begins to be herself again; and bathes in that
milk,[290] for which she carries in her train she-asses, even if
sent an exile to Hyperborean climes. But that which is overlaid and
fomented with so many and oft-changed cosmetics, and receives poultices
of boiled and damp flour, shall we call it a face,[291] or a sore?

It is worth while to find out exactly what their occupations and
pursuits are through the livelong day. If her husband has gone to
sleep with his back toward her, the housekeeper is half killed--the
tire-women are stripped to be whipped--the Liburnian slave is accused
of having come behind his time, and is forced to pay the penalty of
another's sleep; one has rods broken[292] about him, another bleeds
from the whips, a third from the cowhide. Some women pay a regular
salary to their torturers. While he lashes she is employed in enameling
her face. She listens to her friend's chat, or examines the broad gold
of an embroidered robe. Still he lashes. She pores over the items
in her long diary.[293] Still he lashes. Until at length, when the
torturers are exhausted, "Begone!" she thunders out in awful voice, the
inquisition being now complete.

The government of her house is no more merciful than the court of a
Sicilian tyrant. For if she has made an assignation, and is anxious to
be dressed out more becomingly than usual, and is in a hurry, and has
been some time already waited for in the gardens, or rather near the
chapels of the Isiac[294] procuress; poor Psecas arranges her hair,
herself with disheveled locks and naked shoulders and naked breasts.
"Why is this curl too high?" Instantly the cowhide avenges the heinous
crime of the misplacing of a hair. What has poor Psecas done? What
crime is it of the poor girl's if your own nose has displeased you?

Another, on the left hand, draws out and combs her curls and rolls
them into a band. The aged matron assists at the council, who, having
served her due period[295] at the needle, now presides over weighing
out the tasks of wool. Her opinion will be first taken. Then those who
are her inferiors in years and skill will vote in order, as though
their mistress's good name or life were at stake. So great is the
anxiety of getting beauty! Into so many tiers she forms her curls, so
many stages high she builds[296] her head; in front you will look upon
an Andromache, behind she is a dwarf--you would imagine her another
person. Excuse her, pray, if nature has assigned her but a short back,
and if, without the aid of high-heeled buskins, she looks shorter than
a Pigmy[297] maiden; and must spring lightly up on tip-toe for a kiss.
No thought meanwhile about her husband! not a word of her ruinous
expenditure! She lives as though she were merely a neighbor[298] of her
husband's, and in this respect alone is nearer to him--that she hates
her husband's friends and slaves, and makes grievous inroads on his
purse.

But see! the chorus of the maddened Bellona and the mother of the
gods enters the house! and the huge eunuch (a face to be revered by
his obscene inferior) who long ago emasculated himself with a broken
shell; to whom his hoarse troop and the plebeian drummers give
place, and whose cheek is covered with his Phrygian tiara. With voice
grandiloquent he bids her dread the approach of September and the
autumn blasts, unless she purifies herself with a hecatomb of eggs, and
makes a present to him of her cast-off murrey-colored[299] robes: that
whatever unforeseen or mighty peril may be impending over her may pass
into the tunics, and at once expiate the whole year. She will break
the ice and plunge into the river in the depth of winter, or dip three
times in Tiber at early dawn, and bathe her timid head in its very
eddies, and thence emerging will crawl on bleeding knees, naked and
shivering, over the whole field of the haughty king.[300] If white Io
command, she will go to the extremity of Egypt, and bring back water
fetched from scorching Meroë, to sprinkle on the temple of Isis, that
rears itself hard by the ancient sheepfold.[301] For she believes that
the warning is given her by the voice of the goddess herself. And this,
forsooth, is a fit soul and mind[302] for the gods to hold converse
with by night! He therefore gains the chief and highest honor, who,
surrounded by his linen-robed flock,[303] and a bald-headed throng of
people uttering lamentations, runs to and fro personating the grinning
Anubis. He it is that supplicates for pardon whenever the wife does
not refrain from nuptial joys on days to be observed as sacred, and a
heavy penalty is incurred from the violation of the snowy sheeting.
And the silver serpent was seen to nod his head! His are the tears,
and his the studied mumblings, that prevail on Osiris not to withhold
pardon for her fault, when bribed by a fat goose and a thin cake. When
he has withdrawn, some trembling Jewess, having quitted her basket and
hay, begs in her secret ear, the interpretess of the laws of Solyma,
the potent priestess of the tree--the trusty go-between from highest
heaven![304] And she crosses her hand with money, but sparingly enough:
for Jews will sell you any dreams you please for the minutest coin. The
soothsayer of Armenia or Commagene,[305] handling the liver of the dove
still reeking, engages that her lover shall be devoted, or promises
the rich inheritance of some childless rich man; he pries into the
breasts of chickens and the entrails of a puppy; sometimes too even of
a child--he does acts of which he will himself turn informer![306]

But their confidence in Chaldæans will be greater still: whatever the
astrologer tells them, they will believe reported straight from the
fountain of Ammon; since at Delphi the oracles are dumb, and darkness
as to the future is the punishment of the human race. However, of
these he is in the highest repute who has been often banished; by whose
friendship and venal[307] tablets it came to pass that a citizen of
high rank[308] died, and one dreaded by Otho. Hence arises confidence
in his art, if both his hands have clanked with chains, and he has been
long an inmate of the camp-prison. No astrologer that has never been
condemned will have any reputation for genius; but he that has hardly
escaped with his life, and scarcely had good fortune enough to be sent
to one of the Cyclades,[309] and at length to be set free from the
confined Seriphos, he it is whom your Tanaquil[310] consults about the
death of her jaundiced mother, for which she has been long impatient;
but first, about yourself! when she may hope to follow to the grave her
sister and her uncles; whether her adulterer will survive her, for what
greater boon than this have the gods in their power to bestow?

And yet she is ignorant what the ill-omened planet of Saturn forebodes;
with what star Venus presents herself in fortunate conjunction; what is
the month for ill-luck; what seasons are assigned to profit.

Remember to shun even a casual meeting with her in whose hands you see,
like the unctuous amber,[311] their calendars well thumbed; who instead
of consulting others is now herself consulted; who when her husband is
going to join his camp or revisit his home, will refuse to accompany
him if restrained by the calculations of Thrasyllus.[312] When it is
her fancy to ride as far as the first mile-stone, the lucky hour is
taken from her book; if the corner of her eye itches when she rubs it,
she calls for ointment after a due inspection of her horoscope: though
she lies sick in bed no hour appears suited to taking food, save that
which Petosiris[313] has directed. If she be of moderate means, she
will traverse the space on both sides of the pillars of the circus, and
draw lots, and present her forehead and her hand to the fortune-teller
that asks for the frequent palming. The rich will obtain answers from
some soothsayer of Phrygia or India hired for the purpose, from some
one skilled in the stars and heavens, or one advanced in years who
expiates the public places which the lightning[314] has struck. The
destiny of the plebeians is learnt in the circus, and at Tarquin's
rampart.[315] She that has no long necklace of gold to display,
inquires in front of the obelisks and the dolphin-columns,[316] whether
she shall jilt the tapster and marry the old-clothes man.

Yet these, when circumstances so require, are ready to encounter the
perils of childbirth, and endure all the irksome toils of nursing. But
rarely does a gilded bed contain a woman lying-in: so potent are the
arts and drugs of her that can insure barrenness, and for bribes kill
men while yet unborn. Yet grieve not at this, poor wretch! and with
thine own hand give thy wife the potion, whatever it be: for did she
choose to bear her leaping children in her womb, thou wouldst perchance
become the sire of an Æthiop; a blackamoor would soon be your sole
heir, one whom you would not see of a morning.[317]

I say nothing of supposititious children, and all a husband's joys and
fond hopes baffled at the dirty pools;[318] and the Pontifices and
Salii selected thence, who are to bear in their counterfeit persons the
noble name of Scauri. Fortune, that delights in mischief, takes her
stand by night and smiles upon the naked babes. All these she cherishes
and fosters in her bosom: then proffers them to the houses of the
great, and prepares in secret a rich sport for herself. These she dotes
on:[319] on these she forces her favors; and smiling, leads them on to
advancement as her own foster-children.

One fellow offers a wife magical incantations. Another sells her love
potions from Thessaly, to give her power to disturb her husband's
intellects, and punish him with the indignity of the slipper. To these
it is owing that you are reduced to dotage: hence comes that dizziness
of brain, that strange forgetfulness of things that you have but just
now done. Yet even this is endurable, if you do not go raving mad as
well, like that uncle of Nero for whom his Cæsonia infused the whole
forehead of a foal new dropped. Who will not follow where the empress
leads? All things were wrapped in flames and with joints disruptured
were tottering to their fall, exactly as if Juno had driven her spouse
to madness. Therefore the mushroom[320] of Agrippina had far less of
guilt: since that stopped the breath but of a single old man, and bade
his trembling head descend to heaven,[321] and his lips that slavered
with dribbling saliva. Whereas this potion of Cæsonia[322] calls aloud
for fire and sword and tortures, and mangles in one bloody mass both
senators and knights. So potent is a mare's offspring! Such mighty ruin
can one sorceress work!

Women hate their husbands' spurious issue. No one would object to
or forbid that. But now it is thought allowable to kill even their
husbands' sons by a former marriage.

Take my warning, ye that are under age and have a large estate, keep
watch over your lives! trust not a single dish! The rich meats steam,
livid with poison of your mother's mixing. Let some one take a bite
before you of whatever she that bore you hands you; let your pedagogue,
in terror of his life, be taster of your cups.

All this is our invention! and Satire is borrowing the tragic buskin,
forsooth; and transgressing the limits prescribed by those who trod
the path before us, we are wildly declaiming in the deep-mouthed tones
of Sophocles[323] a strain of awful grandeur, unknown to the Rutulian
hills and Latin sky. Would that it were but fable! But Pontia[324] with
loud voice exclaims, "I did the deed. I avow it! and prepared for my
own children the aconite, which bears palpable evidence against me.
Still[325] the act was mine!" "What, cruelest of vipers! didst thou
kill two at one meal! Two, didst thou slay?" "Ay, seven, had there
haply been seven!"

Then let us believe to be true all that tragedians say of the
fierce Colchian or of Progne. I attempt not to gainsay it. Yet they
perpetrated atrocities that were monstrous even in their days--but not
for the sake of money. Less amazement is excited even by the greatest
enormities, whenever rage incites this sex to crime, and with fury
burning up their very liver, they are carried away headlong; like rocks
torn away from cliffs, from which the mountain-height is reft away, and
the side recedes from the impending mass.

I can not endure the woman that makes her calculations, and in cold
blood perpetrates a heinous crime. They sit and see Alcestis[326]
on the stage encountering death for her husband, and were a similar
exchange allowed to them, would gladly purchase a lapdog's life by the
sacrifice of their husband's! You will meet any morning with Danaides
and Eriphylæ in plenty; not a street but will possess its Clytæmnestra.
This is the only difference, that that famed daughter of Tyndarus
grasped in both hands a bungling, senseless axe.[327] But now the
business is dispatched with the insinuating venom of a toad. But yet
with the steel too; if her Atrides has been cautious enough to fortify
himself with the Pontic antidotes of the thrice-conquered[328] king.

FOOTNOTES:

[237] _Cynthia_ is Propertius' mistress; the other is Lesbia, the
mistress of Catullus. V. Catull., Carm. iii. "Lugete O Veneres," etc.

[238] _Conventum._ Three law terms. Conventum, "the first overture."
Pactum, "the contract." Sponsalia, "the betrothing." Hence virgins were
said to be speratæ; pactæ; sponsæ.

[239] _Lex Julia_, against adultery, recently revived by Domitian.

[240] _Jubis._ Mullets being a bearded fish. Plin., ix., 17.

[241] _Testudineo._ Cf. xi., 94. The allusion is to the story told
by Pliny, vii., 12, of the consuls Lentulus and Metellus, who were
observed by all present to be wonderfully like two gladiators then
exhibiting before them. Cf. Val. Max., ix., 14.

[242] _Lagi._ Alexandria, the royal city of Ptolemy, son of Lagos, and
his successors.

[243] _Imperio Sexûs._ Cf. xv., 138, Naturæ imperio.

[244] _Ulmos._ Elms, to which the vines were to be "wedded," therefore
put for the vines themselves. Cf. Virg., Georg., i., 2, "Ulmisque
adjungere vites." Cf. Sat. viii., 78, Stratus humi palmes viduas
desiderat ulmos. Hence Platanus Cælebs evincet ulmos. Cf. Hor., Epod.,
i., 9.

[245] _Casa._ There is another fanciful interpretation of this passage.
The _casa candida_ is said to mean the "white booths" so erected as to
hide the picture of the "Argonautic" expedition, at the time of the
Sigillaria, a kind of fair following the Saturnalia, when gems, etc.,
were exposed for sale. Cf. Suet., Nero, 28.

[246] _Crystallina_ are most probably vessels of _pure white glass_,
which from the ignorance of the use of metallic oxydes were very rare
among the Romans, though they possessed the art of coloring glass with
many varieties of hue.

[247] _Mustacea_ (the Greek σησαμῆ, Arist., Pax., 869), a mixture of
meal and anise, moistened with new wine.

[248] Dacicus, i. e., gold coins of Domitian--the first from his
Dacian, the second from his German wars. It was customary to present a
plate full of these to the bride on the wedding night. Domitian assumed
the title of Germanicus A.D. 84, and of Dacicus, A.D. 91.

[249]

"She tells thee where to love and where to hate,
Shuts out the ancient friend, whose beard thy gate
Knew from its downy to its hoary state." Gifford.

[250] Cf. Æsch., Ag., 411, ἰὼ λέχος καὶ στίβοι φιλάνορες.

[251] _Octo._ Eight divorces were allowed by law.

[252]

"They meet in private and prepare the bill,
Draw up the instructions with a lawyer's skill." Gifford.

"And teach the toothless lawyer how to bite." Dryden.

[253] _Celsus._ There were two famous lawyers of this name; A.
Cornelius Celsus, the well-known physician in Tiberius' reign, who
wrote seven books of Institutes, and P. Juventius Celsus, who lived
under Trajan and Hadrian, and wrote Digests and Commentaries.

[254] _Endromis._ Cf. iii., 103. "A thick shaggy coat," to prevent cold
after the violent exertions in the arena. _Ceroma._ Cf. iii., 68. The
gladiator's ointment, made of oil, wax, and clay. "Nec injecto ceromate
brachia tendis." Mart., vii., Ep. xxxii., 9.

[255] _Palus_; a wooden post or figure on which young recruits used to
practice their sword exercise, armed with shields and wooden swords
double the regulation weight.

[256] _Veræ._ Cf. ad i., 22.

[257] _Manicæ._ If the proper reading is not "_tunicæ_" (as tunicati
fuscina Gracchi, ii., 117. Cedamus tunicæ, viii., 207), the manicæ are
probably "the sleeves of the tunic." Cf. Liv., ix., 40.

[258] _Diversa._ i. e., as a Retiarius instead of a Mirmillo.

[259] _Duræ._ "Pallade placata lanam mollite puellæ!" The process of
softening the wool hardened the hands. Ov., Fast., iii., 817.

[260] _Concha_, a large drinking-cup, shaped like a shell; or, not
improbably, some large shell mounted in gold for a cup, like the
Nautilus of Middle Ages.

[261] Compare the well-known epigram on Pitt and Henry Dundas:

"I can't see the Speaker, Hal, can you?"
"Not see the Speaker? I see two!"

[262] Cf. Shaksp., Othello, Act iii., sc. iii. "In Venice they do let
heaven see the pranks they dare not show their husbands!"

[263] Cf. ix., 117.

[264] _Amicas._ Lubinus explains it, "Quas tanquam dives habeat loco
clientarum." In Greece and Italy blonde hair was as much prized
as dark hair was among northern nations. Hence Helen, Achilles,
Menelaus, Meleager, etc., are all ξανθοὶ. The ladies, therefore,
prided themselves as much as the men on the personal beauty of their
attendants. Cf. v., 56, "Flos Asiæ ante ipsum," etc. The _nutrix_ is
the intriguing confidante who manages the amours. The _flava puella_,
the messenger.

"A trim girl with golden hair to slip her billets." Gifford.

[265] _Novissima._ Cf. xi., 42, "Post cuncta novissimus exit annulus."

"She who before had mortgaged her estate,
And pawn'd the last remaining piece of plate." Dryden.

[266] _Pullulet._

"As if the source of this exhausted store
Would reproduce its everlasting ore." Hodgson.

[267] _Crispo_, actively, "Crispante chordas." The pecten was made of
ivory. Vid. Virg., Æn., vi., 646, _seq._

"Obloquitur _numeris_ septem discrimina vocum,
Jamque eadem digitis jam _pectine_ pulsat _eburno_."

"Decks it with gems, and plays the lessons o'er,
Her loved Hedymeles has play'd before." Hodgson.

[268] _Lamiarum._ Cf. iv., 154.

[269] _Capitolinum._ This festival was instituted by Domitian (Suet.,
Domit., 4), and was celebrated every fifth year in honor of Jove.

[270] _Dictata._ The repeating the exact formula of words (carmen)
after the officiating priest was a most important part of the sacrifice.

[271] _Otia._

"Is your attention to such suppliants given?
If so, there is not much to do in heaven." Gifford.

[272] _Varicosus._ His legs will swell (like Cicero's and Marius's)
from standing so long praying.

"The poor Aruspex that stands there to tell
All woman asks, must find his ankles swell." Badham.

[273] _Paludatis._ Cf. Cic., Sext., 33.

[274] _Seres._ What country these inhabited is uncertain, probably
Bocharia. It was the country from which the "Sericæ vestes" or
"multitia" (ii., 66) came.

[275] _Instantem._ Cf. Hor., iii., Od. iii., 3, "vultus instantis
tyranni." Trajan made an expedition against the Armenians and Parthians
A.D. 106; and about the same time there was an earthquake in the
neighborhood of Antioch (A.D. 115), when mountains subsided and
rivers burst forth. Dio Cass., lxviii., 24. Trajan himself narrowly
escaped perishing in it. The consul, M. Verginianus Pedo, was killed.
Trajan was passing the winter there, and set out in the spring for
Armenia.--_Cometem._ Cf. Suet., Ner., 36, "Stella crinita quæ summis
potestatibus exitium portendere vulgo putatur."

[276] _Excipit._

"Hear at the city's gate the recent tale,
Or coin a lie herself when rumors fail." Hodgson.

[277] _Niphates._ Properly a mountain in Armenia, from which Tigris
takes its rise, and which, in the earlier part of its course, may have
borne the name of Niphates. Lucan, iii., 245, and Sil. Ital., xiii.,
765, also speak of it as a river. Gifford thinks it is a sly hit at the
lady, who converts a mountain into a river.

[278] _Exorata_ implies that their prayers _were_ heard, otherwise
their punishment would have been still more cruel.

[279] _Fastes._

"Ho whips! she cries; and flay that cur accurst,
But flay the rascal there that owns him first!" Gifford.

[280] _Œnophorum._ A vessel of any size. The _Urna_ is a determinate
measure, holding 24 sextarii, or about 3 gallons, i. e., half the
amphora. Cf. xii., 45, "Urnæ cratera capacem, et dignum sitiente Pholo,
vel conjuge Fusci."

[281] _Orexim_; cf. iv., 67, 138. This draught was called the "Trope."
Mart., xii., Ep. 83. Cf. Cic. pro Deiotaro, 7, "Vomunt ut edant: edunt
ut vomant."

[282] _Marmoribus._ Cf. xi., 173, "Lacedæmonium pytismate lubricat
orbem." Hor., ii., Od. xxiv., 26, "Mero tinguet pavimentum superbum."

[283] _Præco._

"Dumfounders e'en the crier, and, most strange!
No other woman can a word exchange." Hodgson.

[284] _Laboranti._ The ancients believed that eclipses of the moon were
caused by magic, and that loud noises broke the charm.

"Strike not your brazen kettles! She alone
Can break th' enchantment of the spell-bound moon." Hodgson.

[285] "_Sylvano_ mulieres non licet sacrificare." Vet. Schol. Women
sacrificed to Ceres and Juno. Vid. Dennis' Etruria, ii., 65-68. Cf.
Hor., ii., Ep. i., 143.--_Quadrans._ Philosophers used to go to the
commonest baths, either from modesty or poverty. Seneca calls the
bath "Res Quadrantaria." Cf. Hor., i., Sat. iii., 147. Cic. pro Cœl.
"Quadrantaria permutatio."

[286] _Torqueat._ Cf. vii., 156, "Quæ venient diversæ forte sagittæ,"
Quint., vi., 3, "Jaculatio verborum." So Plato uses the term δεινὸς
ἀκοντιστής, of a Spartan orator.

[287] _Palæmon._ Cf. vii., 215," Docti Palæmonis." "Insignis
Grammaticus." Hieron. "Remmius Palæmon," Vicentinus, owed his first
acquaintance with literature to taking his mistress' son to school as
his "custos angustæ vernula capsæ" (x., 117). Manumitted afterward, he
taught at Rome in the reigns of Tiberius and Claudius, and "principem
locum inter grammaticos tenuit." Vid. Suet., Gram. Illust., 23, who
says he kept a very profitable school, and gives many curious instances
of his vanity and luxuriousness. He was Quintilian's master. Cf. Vet.
Schol., and Clinton, Fasti Rom. in anno, A.D. 48.

[288] _Opicæ._ Cf. iii., 207, "Opici mures." Opizein Græci dicunt de
iis qui imperitè loquuntur. Vet. Schol.

[289] _Poppæana._ "Cosmetics used or invented by Poppæa Sabina," of
whom Tacitus says, "Huic mulieri cuncta alia fuere præter honestum
animum," Ann., xiii., 45. She was of surpassing beauty and insatiable
ambition: married first to Rufus Crispinus, a knight whom she quitted
for Otho. Nero became enamored of her, and sent Otho into Lusitania,
where he remained ten years. (Cf. Suet., Otho, 3. Clinton, F. R., a.
58.) Four years after he put away Octavia, banished her to Pandataria,
and forced her to make away with herself, and her head was brought to
Rome to be gazed upon by Poppæa, whom he had now married, A.D. 62. Cf.
Tac., Ann., xiv., 64. Poppæa bore him a child next year, whom he called
Augusta, but she died before she was four months old, to his excessive
grief. Cf. xv., 23. Three years after, "Poppæa mortem obiit, fortuitâ
mariti iracundiâ, à quo gravida ictu calcis adflicta est." Nero, it
is remarkable, died on the same day of the month as the unfortunate
Octavia.

[290] _Lacte._ The old Schol. says _Poppæa_ was banished, and took with
her fifty she-asses to furnish milk for her bath. The story of her
exile is very problematical, as Heinrich shows, and is probably only
an ordinary hyperbole. Pliny says (xxviii., 12; xi., 41) that asses'
milk is supposed to make the face tender, and delicately white, and to
prevent wrinkles. "Unde Poppæa uxor Neronis, quocunque ire contigisset
secum sexcentas asellas ducebat." ὄνους πεντακοσίας ἀρτιτόκους. Xiph.,
lxii., 28.

[291] _Facies._

"Can it be call'd a face, so poulticed o'er?
By heavens, an ulcer it resembles more!" Hodgson.

"But tell me yet, this thing thus daub'd and oil'd,
Thus poulticed, plaster'd, baked by turns and boil'd;
Thus with pomatums, ointments, lackered o'er,
Is it a face, Ursidius, or a sore?" Gifford.

[292] _Frangit._ Cf. viii., 247, "Nodosam post hæc frangebat vertice
vitem." The climax here is not correctly observed, according to Horace.
"Ne scuticâ dignum horribili sectere flagello: Nam, ut ferula cædas
meritum majora subire Verbera non vereor." I., Sat. iii., 119. The
_scutica_ was probably like the "taurea:" the "cowskin" of the American
slave States.

[293] _Diurnum._ "The diary of the household expenses." _Relegit_ marks
the deliberate cruelty of the lady.

"Beats while she paints her face, surveys her gown,
Casts up the day's accounts, and still beats on." Dryden.

[294] _Isiacæ._ Cf. ix., 22, "Fanum Isidis.... Notior Aufidio mœchus
celebrare solebas."

[295] _Emerita._ From the soldier who has served his time and become
"emeritus."

[296] _Ædificat._

"So high she builds her head, she seems to be,
View her in front, a tall Andromache;
But walk all round her, and you'll quickly find
She's not so great a personage behind!" Hodgson.

[297] _Pygmæâ._

"Yet not a pigmy--were she, she'd be right
To wear the buskin and increase her height;
To gain from art what nature's stint denies,
Nor lightly to the kiss on tip-toes rise." Hodgson.

[298] _Vicina._

"And save that daily she insults his friends,
Provokes his servants, and his fortune spends,
As a mere neighbor she might pass through life,
And ne'er be once mistaken for his wife." Badham.

[299] _Xerampelinas._ The Schol. describes this color as "inter
coccinum et muricem medius," from ξηρὸς, siccus, ἄμπελος, vitis, "the
color of vine leaves in autumn;" the "morte feuille" of French dyers.

[300] _Superbi._ The Campus Martius, as having belonged originally to
Tarquinius Superbus.

[301] _Ovile_, more commonly _ovilia_ or _septa_, stood in the Campus
Martius, where the elections were held.

[302] _Animam_, "the moral," _mentem_, "the intellectual part" of the
soul. Cf. Virg., Æn., vi., 11, "Cui mentem animamque Delius inspirat
Vates." When opposed to _animus_, anima is simply "the principle of
vitality." "Anima, quâ vivimus; mens qua cogitamus." Lactant. So Sat.,
xv., 148, "Indulsit communis conditor illis tantum animas nobis animum
quoque."

"Doubtless such kindred minds th' immortals seek,
And such the souls with whom by night they speak." Badham.

[303] _Linigero._ Cf. Mart., xii., Ep. xxix., 19, "Linigeri fugiunt
calvi sistrataque turba." Isis is said to have been a queen of Egypt,
and to have taught her subjects the use of linen, for which reason
the inferior priests were all clothed in it. All who were about to
celebrate her sacred rites had their heads shaved. Isis married Osiris,
who was killed by his brother Typhon, and his body thrown into a well,
where Isis and her son Anubis, by the assistance of dogs, found it.
Osiris was thenceforth deified under the form of an ox, and called
Apis: Anubis, under the form of a dog. (Hence Virg., Æn., viii., 698,
"Latrator Anubis.") An ox, therefore, with particular marks (vid.
Strab., xvii.; Herod., iii., 28), was kept in great state, which Osiris
was supposed to animate; but when it had reached a certain age (non est
fas eum certos vitæ excedere annos, Plin., viii., 46), it was drowned
in a well (mersum in sacerdotum fonte enecant) with much ceremonious
sorrow, and the priests, attended by an immense concourse of people,
dispersed themselves over the country, wailing and lamenting, in quest
of another with the prescribed marks (quæsituri luctu alium quem
substituant; et donec invenerint mærent, derasis etiam capitibus.
Plin., ii., 3). When they had found one, their lamentations were
exchanged for songs of joy and shouts of εὑρήκαμεν (cf. viii., 29,
Exclamare libet populus quod clamat Osiri invento), and the ox was
led back to the shrine of his predecessor. These gloomy processions
lasted some days; and generally during these (or nine days at least)
women abstained from intercourse with their husbands. These rites were
introduced at Rome, the chief priest personating Anubis, and wearing a
dog's head. Hence _derisor_. Cf. xv., 8, "Oppida tota canem venerantur."

[304]

"Her internuntial office none deny,
Between us peccant mortals and the sky." Badham.

[305] _Commagene_ was reduced to a province A.D. 72.

[306] _Deferat._

"Or bid, at times, the human victim bleed,
And then inform against you for the deed." Hodgson.

[307] _Conducenda._

"By whose hired tablet and concurring spell,
The noble Roman, Otho's terror, fell." Hodgson.

[308] _Magnus civis._ Cf. Suet., Otho, 4, "Spem majorem cepit ex
affirmatione Seleuci _Mathematici_, qui cum eum olim superstitem Neroni
fore spopondisset, tunc ultro inopinatus advenerat, imperaturum quoque
brevi repromittens." Cf. Tac., Hist., i., 22, who says one Ptolemæus
promised Otho the same when with him in Spain. Ptolemy helped to
fulfill his own predictions, "Nec deerat Ptolemæus, jam et sceleris
instinctor, ad quod facillimè ab ejusmodi voto transitur."

[309] _Cyclada._ Cf. i., 73, "Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris et carcere
dignum." x., 170, "Ut Gyaræ clausus scopulis parvaque Seripho."

[310] _Tanaquil._ Cf. Liv., i, 34, "perita cœlestium prodigiorum
mulier."

"To him thy Tanaquil applies, in doubt
How long her jaundiced mother may hold out." Gifford.

[311] _Pinguia sucina._ The Roman women used to hold or rub amber in
their hands for its scent. Mart., iii., Ep. lxv., 5, "redolent quod
sucina trita." xi., Ep. viii., 6, "spirant, succina virgineâ quod
regelata manu." Cf. v., Ep. xxxviii., II. (Cf. ix., 50.)

"By whom a greasy almanac is borne,
With often handling, like chafed amber worn." Dryden.

[312] _Thrasyllus_ was the astrologer under whom Tiberius studied the
"Chaldean art" at Rhodes (Tac., Ann., vi., 20), and accompanied his
patron to Rome. (Cf. Suet., Aug., 98.) Cf. Suet., Tib., 14, 62, and
Calig., 19, for a curious prediction belied by Caligula.

[313] _Petosiris_, another famous astrologer and physician. Plin., ii.,
23; vii., 49.

[314] _Fulgura._ When a place was struck by lightning, a priest was
sent for to purify it, a two-year-old sheep was then sacrificed, and
the ground, hence called bidental, fenced in.

[315] _Agger._ The mound to the east of Rome, thrown up by Tarquinius
Superbus. Cf. viii., 43, "ventoso conducta sub aggere texit." Hor., i.,
Sat. viii., 15, "Aggere in aprico spatiari."

[316] _Phalas._ The Circensian games were originally consecrated to
Neptunus Equestris, or Consus. Hence the dolphins on the columns in
the Circus Maximus. The circus was divided along the middle by the
Spina, at each extremity of which stood three pillars (metæ) round
which the chariots turned: along this spine were seven movable towers
or obelisks, called from their oval form ova, or phalæ; one was taken
down at the end of each course. There were four factions in the
circus, Blue, Green (xi., 196). White, and Red, xii., 114; to which
Domitian added the Golden and the Purple. Suet., Domit., 7. The egg
was the badge of the Green faction (which was the general favorite),
the dolphin of the Blue or sea party. For the form of these, see
the Florentine gem in Milman's Horace, p. 3. Böttiger has a curious
theory, that the four colors symbolize the four elements, the green
being the earth. The circus was the resort of prostitutes (iii., 65)
and itinerant fortune-tellers. (Hence "_fallax_," Hor., i., Sat., vi.,
113.) Cf. Suet., Jul., 39, and Claud., 21.

[317] _Mane._ "The first thing seen" in the morning was a most
important omen of the good or bad luck of the whole day. This is well
turned by Hodgson:

"The sooty embryo, had he sprung to light,
Had heir'd thy will and petrified thy sight;
Each morn with horror hadst thou turn'd away,
Lest the dark omen should o'ercloud the day."

[318] _Spurcos lacus._ Infants were exposed by the Milk-pillar in
the Herb-market: the low ground on which this stood, at the base of
Aventine, Palatine, and Capitoline, was often flooded and covered with
stagnant pools. "Hoc ubi nunc fora sunt udæ tenuere paludes," Ov.,
Fast., vi., 401. The "Velabri regio" of Tibull., ii., v., 33.

"The beggars' bantlings spawn'd in open air,
And left by some pond-side to perish there;
From hence your Flamens, hence your Salii come,
Your Scauri chiefs and magistrates of Rome." Gifford.

[319] _Mimum._ Cf. iii., 40, "Quoties voluit Fortuna jocari."

[320] _Boletus._ Cf. v., 147. Nero used to call mushrooms "the food of
the gods" after this. Cf. Suet., Nero, 33. Tac., Ann., xii., 66, 7.
Mart., i., Ep. xxi.

[321]

"That only closed the driveling dotard's eyes,
And sent his godhead downward to the skies." Dryden.

[322] _Cæsonia._ Cf. Suet., Calig., 50, "Creditur potionatus a Cæsonia
uxore, amatorio quidem medicamento, sed quod in furorem verterit."

[323] _Grande Sophocleo._

"Are these then fictions? and would satire's rage
Sweep in Iambic pomp the tragic stage
With stately Sophocles, and sing of deeds
Strange to Rutulian skies and Latian meads?" Badham.

[324] _Pontia_, daughter of Titus Pontius, and wife of Drymis, poisoned
her two children, and afterward committed suicide. The fact was duly
inscribed on her tomb. Cf. Mart., vi., Ep. 75.

[325] _Tamen._ Heinrich proposes to read "tantum."

[326] _Alcestim._

"Alcestis, lo! in love's calm courage flies
To yonder tomb where, else, Admetus dies,
While those that view the scene, a lapdog's breath
Would cheaply purchase by a husband's death." Badham.

[327] _Insulsam._

"But here the difference lies--those bungling wives
With a blunt axe hack'd out their husbands' lives." Gifford.

[328] _Ter victi_, by Sylla, Lucullus, and Pompey. Cf. xiv., 452, "Eme
quod Mithridates Composuit si vis aliam decerpere ficum Atque alias
tractare rosas."

SATIRE VII.

All our hope and inducement to study[329] rests on Cæsar[330] alone.
For he alone casts a favoring eye[331] on the Muses, who in our days
are in a forlorn state. When poets, now become famous and men of
renown, would fain try and hire a little bath at Gabii, or a public
oven at Rome. While others, again, would esteem it neither shocking
nor degrading to turn public criers: since Clio herself, if starving,
would quit the vales of Aganippe, and emigrate to courts.[332] For if
not a single farthing is offered you in the Pierian shades, be content
with the name and calling of Machæra:[333] and sooner sell what the
auction duly set[334] sells to those that stand around; wine-flagons,
trivets, book-cases, chests; the "Alcyone" of Paccius, or the "Thebes"
and "Tereus" of Faustus. This is preferable to asserting before the
judge that you are a witness of what you never did see.[335] Even
though Asiatic,[336] and Cappadocian, and Bithynian knights stoop
to this: fellows whom Gallo-Græcia transports hither with chalked
feet.[337] Hereafter, however, no one will be compelled to submit
to an employment derogatory to his studies, who unites loftiness
of expression to tuneful numbers, and has chewed the bay.[338] Set
vigorously to work then, young men! The kindness[339] of the emperor is
looking all around, and stimulates your exertions, while he is seeking
worthy objects of his patronage. If you think that from any other
quarter you may look for encouragement in your pursuits, and with that
view fill the parchment of your yellow[340] tablet; call with all speed
for a fagot, and make a present of all your compositions, Telesinus, to
Venus' husband:[341] or lock them up, and let the bookworm[342] bore
them through as they lie stowed away. Destroy your pens, poor wretch!
Blot out your battles that have lost you your nights' rest, you that
write sublime poetry in your narrow garret,[343] that you may come
forth worthy of an ivy-crown and meagre image. You have nothing farther
to hope for. The stingy patron of our days has learned only to admire
and praise the eloquent as boys do Juno's peacock.[344] But your prime
of life is ebbing away; that is able to bear the fatigue of the sea,
the helmet, or the spade. Then weariness creeps over the spirits: and
an old age, that is indeed learned but in rags,[345] curses itself and
the Muses that it courted. Now learn the devices of the great man
you pay court to, to avoid laying out any money upon you: quitting
the temple of the Muses, and Apollo, he composes verses himself, and
only yields the palm to Homer himself on the score of his priority by
a thousand years. But if inflamed by the charms of fame you recite
your poetry, he kindly lends you a dirty mansion, and places at your
service one that has been long barred up, whose front gate emulates
those of a city in a state of siege. He knows how to place his freedmen
in seats at the farther end of the audience, and how to arrange his
clients who are to cheer you lustily.[346] None of these great lords
will give you as much as would pay for the benches,[347] or the seats
that rise one above another on the platform you have to hire; or your
orchestra of chairs, which must be returned when your recitation is
over. Yet still we ply our tasks, and draw furrows in the profitless
dust, and keep turning up the sea-shore with sterile plow. For even if
you try to abandon the pursuit, the long habit[348] of indulging in
this vain-glorious trifling,[349] holds you fast in its fetters. An
inveterate itch of writing, now incurable, clings to many, and grows
old in their distempered body. But the poet that is above his fellows,
whose vein is not that of the common herd; that is wont to spin out
no stale or vulgar subject, and stamps no hackneyed verse from a die
that all may use; such an one as I can not embody in words, and can
only feel in my soul, is the offspring of a mind free from solicitude,
exempt from all that can embitter life, that courts the quiet of the
woods, and loves to drink the fountains of the Aonides. Nor can it be
that poverty should sing in the Pierian cave, or handle the thyrsus,
if forced to sobriety, and lacking that vile pelf the body needs both
day and night. Well plied with food and wine is Horace when _he_ shouts
out his Evoe![350] What scope is there for fancy, save when our breasts
are harassed by no thoughts but verse alone; and are hurried along[351]
under the influence of the lords of Cirrha and Nysa, admitting of no
divided[352] solicitude. It is the privilege of an exalted soul, and
not of one bewildered how to get enough to buy a blanket, to gaze on
chariots and horses and the forms of divinities, and in what dread
shapes Erinnys[353] appalls the Rutulian. For had Virgil lacked a slave
and comfortable lodging, all the serpents would have vanished from
Alecto's hair: his trumpet, starved to silence, would have blazed no
note of terror. Is it fair to expect that Rubrenus Lappa should not
fall short of the buskin of the ancients, while his Atreus[354] forces
him to pawn his very sauceboats and his cloak?

Poor Numitor is so unfortunate as to have nothing he can afford to send
his protégé! Yet he can find something to give Quintilla--he managed
to pay for a tame lion, that must have pounds of flesh to feed him. No
doubt the huge beast is kept at far less expense; and a poet's stomach
is far more capacious! Let Lucan recline at his ease in his gardens
among his marble statues, satisfied with fame alone. But to poor
Serranus, and starving Saleius, of what avail will glory be, however
great, if it be glory only? All flock in crowds to hear his sweet
voice, and the tuneful strains of the Thebais, when Statius[355] has
gladdened the city, and fixed the day for reciting it. So great is the
charm with which he captivates their souls; such the eager delight with
which he is listened to by the multitude. But when the very benches
are broken down by the ecstasies with which his verses are applauded,
he may starve, unless he sells[356] his unpublished "Agave"[357]
to Paris. It is he that bestows on many the honors due to military
service, and encircles the fingers of poets with the ring that marks
their six months' command.[358] What nobles will not give, a player
will! And dost thou, then, still pay court to the Camerini and Bareæ,
and the spacious halls of nobles? It is "Pelopea" that makes prefects,
"Philomela" tribunes. Yet envy not the bard whom the stage maintains.
Who is your Mæcenas now, or Proculeius, or Fabius? Who will act Cotta's
part again, or be a second Lentulus? In those days talent had its meet
reward: then it was profitable to many to become pale, and abstain from
wine[359] the whole of December.

Your toil, forsooth, ye writers of histories! is more profitable, it
requires more time and more oil. For regardless of all limit, it rises
to the thousandth page; and grows in bulk, expensive from the mass
of paper used. This the vast press of matter requires, and the laws
of composition. Yet what is the crop that springs from it? what the
profit from the soil upturned? Who will give an historian as much as
he would a notary?[360] "But they are an idle race, that delight in
sofas and the cool shade." Well, tell me then, what do the services
rendered their fellow-citizens, and their briefs they carry about with
them in a big bundle, bring in to the lawyers? Even of themselves they
talk grandly enough, but especially when their creditor is one of
their hearers; or if one still more pressing nudges their side, that
comes with his great account-book to sue for a doubtful debt. Then the
hollow bellows of their lungs breathe forth amazing lies; they foam at
the mouth till their breast is covered. But if you like to calculate
the actual harvest they reap, set in one scale the estate of a hundred
lawyers, and you may balance it on the other side with the single
fortune of Lacerna, the charioteer of the Red.[361]

The chiefs have taken their seats![362] You, like Ajax, rise with
pallid cheek, and plead in behalf of liberty that has been called in
question, before a neat-herd[363] for a juryman! Burst your strained
lungs, poor wretch! that, when exhausted, the green palm-branches[364]
may be affixed to crown your staircase with honor! Yet what is the
reward of your eloquence? A rusty ham, or a dish of sprats; or some
shriveled onions, the monthly provender of the Africans;[365] or wine
brought down the Tiber. Five bottles[366] for pleading four times!
If you have been lucky enough to get a single gold piece,[367] even
from that you must deduct the stipulated shares of the attorneys.[368]
Æmilius will get as much as the law allows;[369] although we pleaded
better than he. For he has in his court-yard a chariot of bronze with
four tall horses[370] yoked to it; and he himself, seated on his fierce
charger, brandishes aloft his bending spear, and meditates battles
with his one eye closed. So it is that Pedo gets involved, Matho
fails. This is the end of Tongillus, who usually bathes with a huge
rhinoceros' horn of oil, and annoys the baths with his draggled train;
and weighs heavily in his ponderous sedan on his sturdy Median slaves,
as he presses through the forum to bid for[371] slaves, and plate,
and myrrhine vases, and villas. For it is his foreign[372] purple with
its Tyrian tissue that gets him credit. And yet this answers their
purpose. It is the purple robe that gets the lawyer custom--his violet
cloaks that attract clients. It suits their interest to live with all
the bustle and outward show of an income greater then they really have.
But prodigal Rome observes no bounds to her extravagance. If the old
orators were to come to life again, no one now would give even Cicero
himself two hundred sesterces, unless a huge ring sparkled on his
finger. This is the first point he that goes to law looks to--whether
you have eight slaves, ten attendants, a sedan to follow you, and
friends in toga to go before. Paulus, consequently, used to plead in a
sardonyx, hired for the occasion: and hence it was that Cossus' fees
were higher than those of Basilus. Eloquence is a rare quality in a
threadbare coat!

When is Basilus allowed to produce in court a weeping mother? Who could
endure Basilus, however well he were to plead? Let Gaul become your
home, or better still that foster-nurse of pleaders, Africa, if you are
determined to let your tongue for hire.

Do you teach declamation? Oh what a heart of steel must Vectius have,
when his numerous class kills cruel tyrants! For all that the boy has
just conned over at his seat, he will then stand up and spout--the
same stale theme in the same sing-song. It is the reproduction of the
cabbage[373] that wears out the master's life. What is the plea to be
urged: what the character of the cause; where the main point of the
case hinges; what shafts may issue from the opposing party;--this all
are anxious to know; but not one is anxious to pay! "_Pay_ do you
ask for? why, what do I know?" The blame, forsooth, is laid at the
teacher's door, because there is not a spark of energy in the breast
of this scion of Arcadia,[374] who dins his awful Hannibal into my
ears regularly every sixth day. Whatever the theme be that is to be
the subject of his deliberation; whether he shall march at once from
Cannæ on Rome; or whether, rendered circumspect after the storms and
thunderbolts, he shall lead his cohorts, drenched with the tempest, by
a circuitous route. Bargain[375] for any sum you please, and I will at
once place it in your hands, on condition that his father should hear
him his lesson as often as I have to do it! But six or more sophists
are all giving tongue at once; and, debating in good earnest, have
abandoned all fictitious declamations about the ravisher. No more is
heard of the poison infused, or the vile ungrateful husband,[376] or
the drugs that can restore the aged blind to youth. He therefore that
quits the shadowy conflicts of rhetoric for the arena of real debate,
will superannuate himself, if my advice has any weight with him, and
enter on a different path of life; that he may not lose even the paltry
sum that will purchase the miserable ticket[377] for corn. Since
this is the most splendid reward you can expect. Just inquire what
Chrysogonus receives, or Pollio, for teaching the sons of these fine
gentlemen, and going into all the details[378] of Theodorus' treatise.

The baths will cost six hundred sestertia, and the colonnade still
more, in which the great man rides whenever it rains. Is he to wait,
forsooth, for fair weather? or bespatter his horses with fresh mud?
Nay, far better here! for here the mule's hoof shines unsullied.[379]
On the other side must rise a spacious dining-room, supported on
stately columns of Numidian marble, and catch the cool[380] sun.
However much the house may have cost, he will have besides an artiste
who can arrange his table scientifically; another, who can season
made-dishes. Yet amid all this lavish expenditure, two poor sestertia
will be deemed an ample remuneration for Quintilian. Nothing will cost
a father less than his son's education.

"Then where did Quintilian get the money to pay for so many estates?"
Pass by the instances of good fortune that are but rare indeed. It is
good _luck_ that makes a man handsome and active; good luck that makes
him wise, and noble, and well-bred, and attaches the crescent[381] of
the senator to his black shoe. Good luck too that makes him the best of
orators and debaters, and, though he has a vile cold, sing well! For
it makes all the difference what planets welcome you when you first
begin to utter your infant cry, and are still red from your mother. If
fortune so wills it, you will become consul instead of rhetorician; or,
if she will, instead of rhetorician, consul! What was Ventidius[382]
or Tullius aught else than a lucky planet, and the strange potency
of hidden fate? Fate, that gives kingdoms to slaves, and triumphs to
captives. Yes! Quintilian was indeed lucky, but he is a greater rarity
even than a white crow. But many a man has repented of this fruitless
and barren employment, as the sad end of Thrasymachus[383] proves, and
that of Secundus Carrinas.[384] And you, too, Athens, were witness to
the poverty of him on whom you had the heart to bestow nothing save the
hemlock that chilled[385] his life-blood!

Light be the earth, ye gods![386] and void of weight, that presses
on our grandsires' shades, and round their urn bloom fragrant crocus
and eternal spring, who maintained that a tutor should hold the place
and honor of a revered parent. Achilles sang on his paternal hills,
in terror of the lash, though now grown up; and yet in whom even
then would not the tail of his master, the harper, provoke a smile?
But now Rufus[387] and others are beaten each by their own pupils;
Rufus! who so often called Cicero "the Allobrogian!" Who casts into
Enceladus'[388] lap, or that of the learned Palæmon,[389] as much as
their grammarian labors have merited! And yet even from the wretched
sum, however small (and it is smaller than the rhetorician's pay),
Acænonoëtus, his pupil's pedagogue, first takes his slice; and then the
steward who pays you deducts his fragment. Dispute it not, Palæmon!
and suffer some abatement to be made, just as the peddler does that
deals in winter rugs and snow-white sheetings.[390] Only let not all
be lost,[391] for which you have sat from the midnight hour, when no
smith would sit, nor even he that teaches how to draw out wool with
the oblique iron. Lose not your whole reward for having smelled as
many lamps as there were boys standing round you; while Horace was
altogether discolored, and the foul smut clave to the well-thumbed
Maro. Yet rare too is the pay that does not require enforcing by the
Tribune's court.[392]

But do you, parents, impose severe exactions on him that is to teach
your boys; that he be perfect in the rules of grammar for each
word--read all histories[393]--know all authors as well as his own
finger-ends; that if questioned at hazard, while on his way to the
Thermæ or the baths of Phœbus, he should be able to tell the name of
Anchises' nurse,[394] and the name and native land of the step-mother
of Anchemolus--tell off-hand how many years Acestes lived--how many
flagons of wine the Sicilian king gave to the Phrygians. Require of
him that he mould their youthful morals as one models a face in wax.
Require of him that he be the reverend father of the company, and check
every approach to immorality.

It is no light task to keep watch over so many boyish hands, so many
little twinkling eyes. "This," says the father, "be the object of your
care!"--and when the year comes round again, Receive for your pay as
much gold[395] as the people demand for the victorious Charioteer!

FOOTNOTES:

[329] _Ratio studiorum._ Cf. Tac., Ann., xi., 7, "Sublatis studiorum
pretiis etiam studia peritura."

[330] _Cæsare._ Which Cæsar is intended is a matter of discussion among
the commentators; whether Nero, Titus, Trajan, Hadrian, Nerva, or
Domitian. Probably the last is meant: as in the beginning of his reign
he affected the character of a patron of literature.

[331] _Respexit._ "To view with favor or pity," as a deity: so Virg.,
Ecl., i., 28, "Libertas, quæ sera tamen respexit inertem."

[332] _Atria._ Either "the antechambers of rich patrons," or to "the
Licinian and other courts," near the forum, where auctions were held;
the _atria auctionaria_ of Cicero: cf. pro Quint., 12, 25, i. in Rull.,
7.

[333] _Machæra_, a famous _Præco_ of his time. Lubin.

[334] _Commissa._ Either from the goods being "intrusted" to the
auctioneer by the owner or the magistrate; or from the parties that
bid being as it were "pitted," _commissi_, against each other, like
gladiators.

[335] _Vidi._ So xvi., 29, "Audeat ille Nescio quis, pugnos qui vidit,
dicere vidi."

[336] _Asiani._ "Jam equites, olim servi Asiatici." Lub. The next line
is in all probability interpolated, being only a gloss. Heinrich.

[337] _Nudo talo._ Vid. ad i., 111. Or, it may be "barefooted" simply.
Galatia in Asia Minor, so called from the colony of Gauls who settled
there, A.D. 278, at the invitation of Nicomedes. Liv., xxxviii., 16.
Cf. Paus., Phoc., xxiii. Cramer's Asia Minor, ii., 79. Clinton, Fast.
Hell. in an.

"Sent from Bithynia's realms with shoeless feet." Badham.

[338] _Laurumque momordit._ So δαφνηφάγοι. The chewing of the bay, as
being sacred to Apollo, was supposed to convey divine inspiration.
Grang. Cf. Lycoph., 6.

[339]

_Indulgentia._ "Lo! the imperial eye
Looks round attentive on each rising bard,
For worth to praise, for genius to reward." Gifford.

[340] _Croceæ._ Because parchment is always yellow on the side where
the hair grew. Others think the parchment itself was dyed yellow. Cf.
Pers., iii., 10.

[341] _Veneris marito_, a burlesque phrase for "the fire."

[342] _Tinea._ Cf. Hor., Ep., I., xx., 12, "Tineas pasces taciturnus
inertes."

[343] _Cellâ._ So Ben Jonson:

"I that spend half my nights and half my days
Here in a cell, to get a dark pale face,
To come forth worth the ivy or the bays,
And in this age can hope no other grace."

[344] _Junonis avem._

"To praise and _only_ praise the high-wrought strain.
As boys the bird of Juno's glittering train." Gifford.

[345] _Facunda et unda._

"Till gray-haired, helpless, humbled genius see
Its fault too late, and curse Terpsichore." Badham.

[346] _Comitum voces._ Cf. xiii., 32, "Vocalis sportula."

[347] _Anabathra_, the seats rising one above another in the form of a
theatre. _Subsellia_, those in the body of the room. _Orchestra_, the
hired chairs in front of all, for his knightly guests. Holyday quaintly
says no patron cared

"What the orchestra cost raised for chief friends,
And chairs recarried when the reading ends."

[348] _Laqueo._

"And would we quit at length th' ambitious ill,
The noose of habit implicates us still." Badham.

[349] _Vatem egregium._ Cf. Hor., i., Sat. iv., 43, "Ingenium cui
sit, cui mens divinior, atque os magna sonaturum, des nominis hujus
honorem." How immeasurably finer of the two is Juvenal's description of
a poet!

"But he, the bard of every age and clime,
Of genius fruitful, and of soul sublime,
Who from the glowing mint of fancy pours
No spurious metal, fused from common ores,
But gold to matchless purity refined,
And stamp'd with all the godhead in his mind:
He whom I feel, but want the power to paint,
Must boast a soul impatient of restraint,
And free from every care--a soul that loves
The Muses' haunts, clear springs and shady groves." Gifford.

Of this passage, Hodgson says, Gifford has drawn the prize in the
lottery of translation, all others must be blanks after it.

[350] _Evoe!_ Vid. Hor., ii., Od. xix., 5. Cf. Milman's Life.

[351] _Feruntur._

"Be hurried with resistless force along
By the two kindred powers of wine and song." Gifford.

[352] _Duas._

"Nor wrestlings with the world will Genius own,
Destined to strive with song, and song alone." Badham.

[353] _Erinnys._ The splendid passage in the seventh Æneid, 445,
_seq._, "Talibus Alecto dictis exarsit in iras. At juveni oranti
subitus tremor occupat artus: Deriguere oculi: tot Erinnys sibilat
hydris, Tantaque se facies aperit." Cf. Æn., ii., 602, _seq._; xii.,
326.

[354] _Atreus._ Some take Atreus to be the person who lends the money.
Grangæus interprets it, "Qui dum componit tragædiam de Atreo, ut vitam
sustentare possit pignori opponit alveolos."

"Who writes his Atreus, as his friends allege,
With half his household goods and cloak in pledge." Badham.

[355] _Statius_ employed twelve years upon his Thebais. (Cf. xii.,
811.) It was not completed till _after_ the Dacian war, but was written
_before_ the 1st book of the Silvæ, the date of the 4th book of which
is known to be A.D. 95. We may therefore assume the date of the Thebais
to be about 94.

[356] _Vendat._ Holyday quotes from Brodæus the price given to Terence
for his Eunuchus, viz., eight sestertia, about sixty-five pounds.

[357] _Agave._ Probably a pantomimic ballet on a tragic subject; for,
as Heinrich says, what had Paris, the mime, to do with a _new tragedy_?
These and the following lines are said to have been the cause of
Juvenal's banishment.

[358] _Semestri_ is said to refer to an honorary military commission,
conferred on favorites, even though not in the army, and called
"Semestris tribunatus militum." It lasted for six months only, but
conferred the privilege of wearing the equestrian ring, with perhaps
others. It is alluded to in Pliny, iv., Epist. 4, who begs of Sossius
the consul in behalf of a friend, "Hunc rogo semestri tribunatu
splendidiorem facias." There are divers other interpretations, but
this appears the simplest and most probable. To confound it with the
"æstivum aurum" (i., 28), is a palpable absurdity.

[359] _Vinum nescire._ Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 5, "At ipsis
Saturnalibus huc fugisti Sobrius." Stat., Sylv., I., vi., 4, "Saturnus
mihi compede exsolutâ, et multo gravidus mero December."

"Then all December's revelries refuse,
And give the festive moments to the Muse." Gifford.

[360] _Acta legenti._ Either the "notary public," or "keeper of the
public records," or the historian's reader, who collected facts for the
author, or "any one who read aloud the history itself."

[361] _Russati._ Cf. ad vi., 589. So the charioteer of "the white" was
called Albatus. Lacerna, or Lacerta, was a charioteer in the reign of
Domitian, some say of Domitian himself. One commentator takes Lacerna
to be "any soldier wearing a red cloak;" as Paludatus is "one wearing
the general's cloak." Cf. Mart., xiii., Ep. 78, "Prasinus Porphyrion."

[362] _Consedere._ Cf. Ov., Met., xiii., 1, "Consedere duces; et, vulgi
stante corona, Surgit ad hos clypei dominus septemplicis Ajax." Cf. ad
xi., 30.

[363] _Bubulco._" Before some clod-pate judge thy vitals strain."
Badham.

[364] _Palmæ._ Cf. ad ix., 85.

"So shall the verdant palm be duly tied
To the dark staircase where such powers reside." Badham.

[365] _Afrorum Epimenia._ Most probably alluding to the "monthly
rations of onions" allowed to African slaves, who were accustomed to
plenty of them in their own country (cf. Herod., ii., 125. Numb., xi.,
5), where they grew in great abundance. Martial, ix., Ep. xlvi., 11,
enumerates "bulbi" among the presents sent at the Saturnalia to the
causidicus Sabellus.

[366] _Lagenæ._ Mart., _u. s._ "Five jars of meagre down-the-Tiber
wine." Badham.

[367] _Aureus._ About sixteen shillings English at this time.

[368] _Pragmaticorum._ Cicero describes their occupation, de Orat., i.,
45, "Ut apud Græcos infimi homines, mercedula adducti, ministros se
præbent judiciis oratoribus ii qui apud illos πραγματικοὶ vocantur."
Cf. c. 59. Quintil., iii., 6; xii., 3. Mart., xii., Ep. 72. They appear
afterward to have been introduced at Rome, and are sometimes called
"Tabelliones."

[369] _Licet._ The Lex Cincia de Muneribus, as amended by Augustus,
forbade the receipt of any fees. A law of Nero fixed the fee at 100
aurei at most. Vid. Tac., Ann., xi., 5 (Ruperti's note). Suet., Ner.,
17. Plin., v., Ep. iv., 21.

[370] _Quadrijuges._ It appears to have been an extraordinary fancy
with lawyers of this age to be represented in this manner; cf. Mart.,
ix., Ep. lxix., 5, _seq._; but the details of the picture have puzzled
the commentators. "Curvatum" is supposed to mean that "the spear
actually seems quivering in his hand," or that it is "bent with age,"
or that the _arm_ is "bent back," as if in the act of throwing. Cf.
Xen., Anab., V., ii., 12, διηγκυλωμένους. "_Luscâ_" may imply that the
statue imitated to the life the personal defect of Æmilius; or simply
the absence of the pupil (ὀμμάτων ἀχηνία), inseparable from statuary;
or that Æmilius is represented as closing one eye to take better aim.

"Lifts his poised javelin o'er the crowd below,
And from his blinking statue threats the blow." Hodgson.

[371] Cf. Mart., ix., Ep. 60.

[372] _Stlataria._ _Stlata_ is said to be an old form of _lata_, as
_stlis_ for _lis_, _stlocus_ for _locus_. Therefore Stlataria is the
same as the "Latus Clavus," according to some commentators; or a
"broad-beamed" merchant ship; and therefore means simply "imported."
Others say it is a "piratical ship," such as the Illyrians used, and
the word is then taken to imply "deceitful." Facciolati explains, it by
"peregrina et pretiosa: longè navi advecta."

[373] _Crambe._ The old Schol. quotes a proverb--δὶς κράμβε θάνατος,
Grangæus another, which forcibly expresses a schoolmaster's
drudgery--οἰ αὐτοὶ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν τοῖς αὐτοῖς τὰ ἀυτά.

"Till, like hash'd cabbage, served for each repast,
The repetition kills the wretch at last." Gifford.

[374] Arcadia was celebrated for its breed of asses. Cf. Pers., Sat.
iii., 9, "Arcadiæ pecuaria rudere credas." Auson., Epigr. 76, "Asinos
quoque rudere dicas, cum vis Arcadium fingere, Marce, pecus."

[375] _Stipulare._

"Get me his father but to hear his task
For one short week, I'll give you all you ask." Bad.

[376] _Maritus._

"The faithless husband and abandon'd wife,
And Æson coddled to new light and life." Gifford.

[377] _Tessera._ The poorer Romans received every month tickets,
which appear to have been transferable, entitling them to a certain
quantity of corn from the public granaries. These tesseræ or symbola
were made, Lubinus says, of wood or lead, and distributed by the
"Frumentorum Curatores." In the latter days, bread thus distributed was
called "Panis Gradilis," quia gradibus distribuebatur. The Congiarium
consisted of wine, or oil only. The Donativum was only given to
soldiers. Several of these tickets of wood and lead are preserved in
the museum at Portici.

[378] _Scindens._ "Præcepta ejus artis minutatim dividens." Lubin.
On the principle, perhaps, that "Qui benè dividit benè docet."
Britannicus, whom Heinrich follows, explains it by "deridet." Theodorus
of Gadara was a professor of rhetoric in the reigns of Augustus and
Tiberius. Vid. Suet., Tib., 57. It was he who so well described
the character of the latter; calling him πήλον αἵματι πεφύρμενον.
Chrysogonus, in vi., 74, is a singer, and Pollio, vi., 387, a musician
(cf. Mart., iv., Ep. lxi., 9); but, as Lubinus says, the persons
mentioned here are professors of rhetoric, and probably therefore not
the same.

[379] _Mundæ._

"He splash his fav'rite mule in filthy roads!
With ample space at his command, to tire
The well-groom'd beast, with hoof unstain'd by mire." Badham.

[380] _Algentem._ They had dining-rooms facing different quarters,
according to the season of the year, with a southern aspect for the
winter, and an eastern for the summer. Cf. Plin., ii., Ep. 17. _Rapiat_
rather seems to imply the former case. So Badham--

"Courts the brief radiance of the winter's noon."

"Algentem" favors the other view--

"Front the cool east, when now the averted sun
Through the mid ardors of his course has run." Hodgson.

[381] _Lunam._ Senators wore _black_ shoes of tanned leather: they
were a kind of short boot reaching to the middle of the leg (hence,
"Nigris medium impediit crus pellibus," Hor., I., Sat. vi., 27), with
a crescent or the letter C in front, because the original number of
senators was a hundred.--_Aluta_, "steeped in alum," to soften the skin.

[382] _Ventidius Bassus_, son of a slave; first a carman, then a
muleteer; afterward made in one year prætor and consul. Being appointed
to command against the Parthians, he was allowed a triumph; having been
himself, in his youth, led as a captive in the triumphal procession of
Pompey's father. Cf. Val. Max., vi., 10.

[383] _Thrasymachus_ of Chalcedon, the pupil of Plato and Isocrates,
wrote a treatise on Rhetoric, and set up as a teacher of it at Athens;
but, meeting with no encouragement, shut up his school and hanged
himself.

[384] _Secundus Carrinas_ is said to have been driven by poverty from
Athens to Rome; and was banished by Caligula for a declamation against
tyrants. He is mentioned, Tac., Ann., xv., 45.

[385] _Gelidas._ "Cicutæ refrigeratoria vis: quos enecat incipiunt
algere ab extremitatibus corporis." Plin., xxv., 13. Plat., Phædo, fin.
Pers., iv., 1.

[386] _Dii Majorum_, etc.

"Shades of our sires! O sacred be your rest,
And lightly lie the turf upon your breast;
Flowers round your urns breathe sweets beyond compare,
And spring eternal bloom and flourish there!
Your honor'd tutors, now a slighted race,
And gave them all a parent's power and place!" Gifford.

[387] _Rufus_, according to the old Schol., was a native of Gaul.
Grangæus calls him Q. Curtius Rufus, and says nothing more is known of
him than that he was an eminent rhetorician. He is here represented as
charging Cicero with barbarisms or provincialisms, such as a Savoyard
would use.

[388] _Enceladus._ Nothing is known of him.

[389] _Palæmon._ Vid. ad vi., 451.

[390] _Cadurci._ Cf. vi., 537.

[391] _Non pereat._

"Yes, suffer this! while something's left to pay
Your rising, hours before the dawn of day;
When e'en the lab'ring poor their slumbers take,
And not a weaver, not a smith's awake." Gifford.

[392] _Cognitione Tribuni._ Not a tribune of the people, but one of the
Tribuni Ærarii, to whom the cognizance of such complaints belonged.

[393] _Historias._ Tiberius was exceedingly fond of propounding to
grammarians, a class of men whom he particularly affected (quod genus
hominum præcipuè appetebat), questions of this nature, to sound their
"notitia historiæ usque ad ineptias atque derisum." Cf. Suet., Tib.,
70, 57.

[394] _Nutricem._ The names of these two persons are said to have been
Casperia and Tisiphone.

[395] _Aurum._ i. e., 5 aurei, the highest reward allowed to be given.
The aureus, which varied in value, was at this time worth 25 denarii; a
little more than 16 shillings English. Cf. Mart., x., Ep. lxxiv., 5.

SATIRE VIII.

What is the use of pedigrees?[396] What boots it, Ponticus, to be
accounted of an ancient line, and to display the painted faces[397]
of your ancestors, and the Æmiliani standing in their cars, and the
Curii diminished to one half their bulk, and Corvinus deficient of a
shoulder, and Galba that has lost his ears and nose[4]--what profit
is it to vaunt in your capacious genealogy of Corvinus, and in many
a collateral line[398] to trace dictators and masters of the horse
begrimed with smoke, if before the very faces of the Lepidi you lead an
evil life! To what purpose are the images of so many warriors, if the
dice-box rattles all night long in the presence of the Numantini:[399]
if you retire to rest at the rising of that star[400] at whose dawning
those generals set their standards and camps in motion? Why does
Fabius[401] plume himself on the Allobrogici and the "Great Altar," as
one born in Hercules' own household, if he is covetous, empty-headed,
and ever so much more effeminate than the soft lamb of Euganea.[402] If
with tender limbs made sleek by the pumice[403] of Catana he shames his
rugged sires, and, a purchaser of poison, disgraces his dishonored race
by his image that ought to be broken up.[404]

Though your long line of ancient statues adorn your ample halls
on every side, the sole and only real nobility is virtue. Be a
Paulus,[405] or Cossus, or Drusus, in moral character. Set _that_
before the images of your ancestors. Let that, when you are consul,
take precedence of the fasces themselves. What I claim from you first
is the noble qualities of the mind. If you deserve indeed to be
accounted a man of blameless integrity, and stanch love of justice,
both in word and deed, then I recognize the real nobleman. All hail,
Gætulicus![406] or thou, Silanus,[407] or from whatever other blood
descended, a rare and illustrious citizen, thou fallest to the lot of
thy rejoicing country. Then we may exultingly shout out what the people
exclaim when Osiris is found.[408]

For who would call him noble that is unworthy of his race, and
distinguished only for his illustrious name? We call some one's
dwarf,[409] Atlas; a negro, swan; a diminutive and deformed wench,
Europa. Lazy curs scabbed[410] with inveterate mange, that lick the
edges of the lamp now dry, will get the name of Leopard, Tiger, Lion,
or whatever other beast there is on earth that roars with fiercer
throat. Therefore you will take care and begin to fear lest it is upon
the same principle you are a Creticus[411] or Camerinus.

Whom have I admonished in these words? To you my words are addressed,
Rubellius[412] Plautus! You are puffed up with your descent from the
Drusi, just as though you had yourself achieved something to deserve
being ennobled; and she that gave you birth should be of the brilliant
blood of Iulus, and not the drudge that weaves for hire beneath the
shelter of the windy rampart.[413] "You are the lower orders!" he says;
"the very dregs of our populace! Not a man of you could tell where
his father was born! But I am a Cecropid!" Long may you live![414]
and long revel in the joys of such a descent! Yet from the lowest of
this common herd you will find one that is indeed an eloquent Roman.
It is he that usually pleads the cause of the ignorant noble.[415]
From the toga'd crowd will come one that can solve the knotty points
of law, and the enigmas of the statutes. He it is that in his prime
carves out his fortune with his sword, and goes to Euphrates, and
the legions that keep guard over the conquered Batavi. While you are
nothing but a Cecropid, and most like the shapeless pillar crowned
with Hermes' head. Since in no other point of difference have you the
advantage save in this--that his head is of marble,[416] and your image
is endowed with life! Tell me, descendant of the Teucri, who considers
dumb animals highly bred, unless strong and courageous? Surely it is on
this score we praise the fleet horse--to grace whose speed full many
a palm glows,[417] and Victory, in the circus hoarse with shouting,
stands exulting by. He is the steed of fame, from whatever pasture he
comes, whose speed is brilliantly before the others, and whose dust
is first on the plain. But the brood of Corytha, and Hirpinus' stock,
are put up for sale if victory sit but seldom on their yoke. In their
case no regard is had to their pedigree--their dead sires win them no
favor--they are forced to change their owners for paltry prices, and
draw wagons with galled withers, if slow of foot, and only fit to turn
Nepos'[418] mill. Therefore that we may admire _you_, and not _yours_,
first achieve some noble act[419] that I may inscribe on your statue's
base, besides those honors that we pay, and ever shall pay, to those to
whom you are indebted for all.

Enough has been said to the youth whom common report represents to us
as haughty and puffed up from his relationship to Nero.[420] For in
that rank of life the courtesies[421] of good breeding are commonly
rare enough. But you, Ponticus, I would not have _you_ valued for your
ancestors' renown; so as to contribute nothing yourself to deserve the
praise of posterity. It is wretched work building on another's fame;
lest the whole pile crumble into ruins when the pillars that held it up
are withdrawn. The vine that trails along the ground,[422] sighs for
its widowed elms in vain.

Prove yourself a good soldier, a faithful guardian, an incorruptible
judge. If ever you shall be summoned as a witness in a doubtful and
uncertain cause, though Phalaris himself command you to turn liar, and
dictate the perjuries with his bull placed before your eyes, deem it to
be the summit of impiety[423] to prefer existence to honor,[424] and
for the sake of life to sacrifice life's only end! He that deserves to
die _is_ dead; though he still sup on a hundred Gauran[425] oysters,
and plunge in a whole bath of the perfumes of Cosmus.[426]

When your long-expected province shall at length receive you for its
ruler, set a bound to your passion, put a curb on your avarice. Have
pity on our allies whom we have brought to poverty. You see the very
marrow drained from the empty bones of kings. Have respect to what
the laws prescribe, the senate enjoins. Remember what great rewards
await the good, with how just a stroke ruin lighted on Capito[427] and
Numitor, those pirates of the Cilicians, when the senate fulminated its
decrees against them. But what avails their condemnation, when Pansa
plunders you of all that Natta left? Look out for an auctioneer to sell
your tattered clothes, Chærippus, and then hold your tongue! It is
sheer madness to lose, when all is gone, even Charon's fee.[428]

There were not the same lamentations of yore, nor was the wound
inflicted on our allies by pillage as great as it is now, while they
were still flourishing, and but recently conquered.[429] Then every
house was full, and a huge pile of money stood heaped up, cloaks from
Sparta, purple robes from Cos, and along with pictures by Parrhasius,
and statues by Myro, the ivory of Phidias seemed instinct with
life;[430] and many a work from Polycletus' hand in every house;
few were the tables that could not show a cup of Mentor's chasing.
Then came Dolabella,[431] and then Antony, then the sacrilegious
Verres;[432] they brought home in their tall[433] ships the spoils they
dared not show, and more[434] triumphs from peace than were ever won
from war. Now our allies have but few yokes of oxen, a small stock of
brood-mares, and the patriarch[435] of the herd will be harried from
the pasture they have already taken possession of. Then the very Lares
themselves, if there is any statue worth looking at, if any little
shrine still holds its single god. For this, since it is the best they
have, is the highest prize they can seize upon.

You may perhaps despise the Rhodians unfit for war, and essenced
Corinth: and well you may! How can a resin-smeared[436] youth, and the
depilated legs of a whole nation, retaliate upon you. You must keep
clear of rugged Spain, the Gallic car,[437] and the Illyrian coast.
Spare too those reapers[438] that overstock the city, and give it
leisure for the circus[439] and the stage. Yet what rewards to repay so
atrocious a crime could you carry off from thence, since Marius[440]
has so lately plundered the impoverished Africans even of their very
girdles?[441]

You must be especially cautious lest a deep injury be inflicted on
those who are bold as well as wretched. Though you may strip them of
all the gold and silver they possess, you will yet leave them shield
and sword, and javelin and helm. Plundered of all, they yet have _arms_
to spare!

What I have just set forth is no opinion of my own. Believe that I
am reciting to you a leaf of the sibyl, that can not lie. If your
retinue are men of spotless life, if no favorite youth[442] barters
your judgments for gold, if your wife[443] is clear from all stain of
guilt, and does not prepare to go through the district courts,[444] and
all the towns of your province, ready, like a Celæno[445] with her
crooked talons, to swoop upon the gold--then you may, if you please,
reckon your descent from Picus; and if high-sounding names are your
fancy, place the whole army of Titans among your ancestors, or even
Prometheus[446] himself. Adopt a founder of your line from any book you
please. But if ambition and lust hurry you away headlong, if you break
your rods[447] on the bloody backs of the allies, if your delight is in
axes blunted by the victor worn out with using them--then the nobility
of your sires themselves begins to rise[448] in judgment against
you, and hold forth a torch to blaze upon your shameful deeds.[449]
Every act of moral turpitude incurs more glaring reprobation in exact
proportion to the rank of him that commits it. Why vaunt your pedigree
to me? you, that are wont to put your name to forged deeds in the very
temples[450] which your grandsire built, before your very fathers'
triumphal statues! or, an adulterer that dares not face the day, you
veil your brows concealed beneath a Santon[451] cowl. The bloated
Damasippus is whirled in his rapid car past the ashes and bones of
his ancestors--and with his own hands, yes! though consul! with his
own hands locks his wheel with the frequent drag-chain.[452] It is,
indeed, at night. But still the moon sees him! The stars strain on
him their attesting eyes.[453] When the period of his magistracy is
closed, Damasippus[454] will take whip in hand in the broad glare of
day, and never dread meeting his friend now grown old, and will be the
first to give him the coachman's salute, and untie the trusses and
pour the barley[455] before his weary steeds himself. Meantime, even
while according to Numa's ancient rites he sacrifices the woolly victim
and the stalwart bull before Jove's altar, he swears by Epona[456]
alone, and the faces daubed over the stinking stalls. But when he is
pleased to repeat his visits to the taverns open all night long, the
Syrophœnician, reeking with his assiduous perfume,[457] runs to meet
him (the Syrophœnician that dwells at the Idumæan[458] gate), with
all the studied courtesy of a host, he salutes him as "lord"[459] and
"king;" and Cyane, with gown tucked up, with her bottle for sale. One
who wishes to palliate his crimes will say to me, "Well; we did so too
when we were young!" Granted. But surely you left off, and did not
indulge in your folly beyond that period. Let what you basely dare be
ever brief! There are some faults that should be shorn away with our
first beard. Make all reasonable allowance for boys. But Damasippus
frequents those debauches of the bagnios, and the painted signs,[460]
when of ripe age for war, for guarding Armenia[461] and Syria's rivers,
and the Rhine or Danube. His time of life qualifies him to guard the
emperor's person. Send then to Ostia![462] Cæsar--send! But look
for your general in some great tavern. You will find him reclining
with some common cut-throat; in a medley of sailors, and thieves,
and runaway slaves; among executioners and cheap coffin-makers,[463]
and the now silent drums of the priest of Cybele, lying drunk on his
back.[464] There there is equal liberty for all--cups in common--nor
different couch for any, or table set aloof from the herd. What
would you do, Ponticus, were it your lot to have a slave of such a
character? Why surely you would dispatch him to the Lucanian or Tuscan
bridewells.[465] But you, ye Trojugenæ! find excuses for yourselves,
and what would disgrace a cobbler[466] will be becoming in a Volesus
or Brutus!

What if we never produce examples so foul and shameful, that worse do
not yet remain behind! When all your wealth was squandered, Damasippus,
you let your voice for hire[467] to the stage,[468] to act the noisy
Phasma[469] of Catullus. Velox Lentulas acted Laureolus, and creditably
too. In my judgment he deserved crucifying in earnest. Nor yet can
you acquit the people themselves from blame. The brows of the people
are too hardened that sit[470] spectators of the buffooneries of the
patricians, listen to the Fabii with naked feet, and laugh at the
slaps on the faces of the Mamerci. What matters it at what price they
sell their lives: they sell them at no tyrant's compulsion,[471] «nor
hesitate[472] to do it even at the games of the prætor seated on
high.» Yet imagine the gladiator's sword[473] on one side, the stage
on the other. Which is the better alternative? Has any one so slavish
a dread of death as to become the jealous lover of Thymele,[474] the
colleague of the heavy Corinthus? Yet it is nothing to be wondered
at, if the emperor turn harper, that the nobleman should turn actor.
To crown all this, what is left but the amphitheatre?[475] And this
disgrace of the city you have as well--Gracchus[476] not fighting
equipped as a Mirmillo, with buckler or falchion (for he condemns--yes,
condemns and hates such an equipment). Nor does he conceal his face
beneath a helmet. See! he wields a trident. When he has cast without
effect the nets suspended from his poised right hand, he boldly lifts
his uncovered face to the spectators, and, easily to be recognized,
flees across the whole arena. We can not mistake the tunic,[477] since
the ribbon of gold reaches from his neck, and flutters in the breeze
from his high-peaked cap. Therefore the disgrace, which the Secutor
had to submit to, in being forced to fight with Gracchus, was worse
than any wound. Were the people allowed the uncontrolled exercise of
their votes, who could be found so abandoned as to hesitate to prefer
Seneca[478] to Nero? For whose punishment there should have been
prepared not a single ape[479] only, or one snake or sack.[480] "His
crime is matched by that of Orestes!"[481] But it is the motive cause
that gives the quality to the act. Since he, at the instigation of the
gods themselves, was the avenger of his father butchered in his cups.
But he neither imbrued his hands in Electra's blood, or that of his
Spartan wife; he mixed no aconite for his relations. Orestes never sang
on the stage; he never wrote "Troïcs." What, blacker crime was there
for Virginius'[482] arms to avenge, or Galba leagued with Vindex? In
all his tyranny, cruel and bloody as it was, what exploit did Nero[483]
achieve? These are the works, these the accomplishments of a high-born
prince--delighting to prostitute[484] his rank by disgraceful dancing
on a foreign stage, and earn the parsley of the Grecian crown. Array
the statues of your ancestors in the trophies of your voice. At
Domitius'[485] feet lay the long train of Thyestes, or Antigone, or
Menalippe's mask, and hang your harp[486] on the colossus of marble.

What could any one find more noble than thy birth, Catiline, or
thine, Cethegus! Yet ye prepared arms to be used by night, and flames
for our houses and temples, as though ye had been the sons of the
Braccati,[487] or descendants of the Senones. Attempting what one would
be justified in punishing by the pitched shirt.[488] But the consul is
on the watch[489] and restrains your bands. He whom you sneer at as
a novus[490] homo from Arpinum, of humble birth, and but lately made
a municipal knight at Rome, disposes every where his armed guards to
protect the terrified people, and exerts himself in every quarter.
Therefore the peaceful toga, within the walls, bestowed on him such
honors and renown as not even Octavius bore away from Leucas[491]
or the plains of Thessaly, with sword reeking with unintermitted
slaughter. But Rome owned him for a parent. Rome, when unfettered,[492]
hailed Cicero as father of his father-land.

Another native of Arpinum was wont to ask for his wages when wearied
with another's plow on the Volscian hills. After that, he had the
knotted vine-stick[493] broken about his head, if he lazily fortified
the camp with sluggard axe. Yet _he_ braved the Cimbri, and the
greatest perils of the state, and alone protected the city in her
alarm. And therefore when the ravens, that had never lighted on bigger
carcasses,[494] flocked to the slaughtered heaps of Cimbrians slain,
his nobly-born colleague is honored with a laurel inferior to his.[495]

The souls of the Decii were plebeian, their very names plebeian. Yet
these are deemed by the infernal deities and mother Earth a fair
equivalent for the whole legions, and all the forces of the allies, and
all the flower of Latium. For the Decii[496] were more highly valued by
_them_ than all they died to save!

It was one born from a slave[497] that won the robe and diadem and
fasces of Quirinus, that last of good kings! They that were for
loosening the bolts of the gates betrayed to the exiled tyrants, were
the sons of the consul himself! men from whom we might have looked for
some glorious achievement in behalf of liberty when in peril; some act
that Mucius' self, or Cocles, might admire; and the maiden that swam
across[498] the Tiber, then the limit of our empire. He that divulged
to the fathers the secret treachery was a slave,[499] afterward to
be mourned for by all the Roman matrons: while they suffer the
well-earned punishment of the scourge, and the axe,[500] then first
used by Rome since she became republican.

I had rather that Thersites[501] were your sire, provided you resembled
Æacides and could wield the arms of Vulcan, than that Achilles should
beget you to be a match to Thersites.

And yet, however far you go back, however far you trace your name, you
do but derive your descent from the infamous sanctuary.[502] That first
of your ancestors, whoever he was, was either a shepherd, or else--what
I would rather not mention!

FOOTNOTES:

[396] _Stemmata._ "The lines connecting the descents in a pedigree,"
from the garlands of flowers round the Imagines set up in the halls
(v., 19) and porticoes (vi., 163) of the nobiles; which were joined to
one another by festoons, so that the descent from father to son could
be readily traced. Cf. Pers., iii., 28. "Stemmate quod Tusco ramum
millesime ducis." Of Ponticus nothing is known.

[397] _Vultus._ Because these Imagines were simply busts made of wax,
colored.

[398] _Virgâ._

"What boots it on the lineal tree to trace
Through many a branch the founders of our race." Gifford.

[399] _Numantinos._ Scipio Africanus the Younger got the name of
Numantinus from Numantia, which he destroyed as well as Carthage.

[400] _Ortu._

"Just at the hour when those whose name you boast
Broke up the camp, and march'd th' embattled host." Hodgson.

[401] _Fabius_, the founder of the Fabian gens, was said to have been
a son of Hercules by Vinduna, daughter of Evander, and by virtue of
this descent the Fabii claimed the exclusive right of ministering at
the altar consecrated by Evander to Hercules. It stood in the Forum
Boarium, near the Circus Flaminius, and was called Ara Maxima. Cf.
Ovid, Fast., i., 581, "Constituitque sibi quæ Maxima dicitur, Aram,
Hic ubi pars urbis de bove nomen habet." Cf. Virg., Æn., viii., 271,
"Hanc aram luco statuit quæ Maxima semper dicetur nobis, et erit quæ
Maxima semper." Quintus Fabius Maximus Æmilianus, the consul in the
year B.C. 121, defeated the Allobroges at the junction of the Isère
and the Rhone, and killed 130,000: for which he received the name of
Allobrogicus. Cf. Liv., Ep. 61. Vell., ii., 16.

[402] _Euganea_, a district of Northern Italy, on the confines of the
Venetian territory.

[403] _Pumice._ The pumice found at Catana, now Catania, at the foot of
Mount Ætna, was used to rub the body with to make it smooth (cf. ix.,
95, "Inimicus pumice lævis." Plin., xxxvi., 21. Ovid, A. Am., i., 506,
"Nec tua mordaci pumice crura teras"), after the hairs had been got rid
of by the resin. Vid. inf. 114.--_Traducit._ Vid. ad xi., 31.

[404] _Frangendâ._ The busts of great criminals were broken by
the common executioner. Cf. x., 58, "Descendunt statuæ restemque
sequuntur." Tac., Ann., vi., 2, "Atroces sententiæ dicebantur in
effigies." Cf. Ruperti, ad Tac., Ann., ii., 32. Suet., Domit., 23.

"He blast his wretched kindred with a bust,
For public justice to reduce to dust." Gifford.

[405] _Paulus._ He mentions (Sat. vii., 143) two lawyers, bearing the
names of Paulus and Cossus, who were apparently no honor to their great
names. (For Cossus, cf. inf. _Gætulice_.)

[406] _Gætulice._ Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Cossus received the name of
Gætulicus from his victory over the Gætuli, "Auspice Augusto," in his
consulship with L. Calpurnius Piso Augur. B.C. 1. Vid. Clinton, F. H.,
in an. Flor., iv., 12.

[407] _Silanus._ The son-in-law of the Emperor Claudius, who, as
Tacitus says (Ann., xvi., 7), "Claritudine generis, and modestâ juventâ
præcellebat." Cf. Ann., xii. Suet., Claud., 27.

"Hail from whatever stock you draw your birth,
The son of Cossus, or the son of earth." Gifford.

[408] _Osiri invento._ Vid. ad vi., 533.

[409] _Nanum cujusdam._ There is probably an allusion here to
Domitian's fondness for these deformities. Cf. Domit., iv., "Per
omne spectaculum ante pedes ei stabat puerulus coccinatus, _parvo
portentosoque capite_, cum quo plurimum fabulabatur." Cf. Stat., Sylv.,
i.; vi., 57, _seq._

[410] _Scabie._

"That mangy larcenist of casual spoil,
From lamps extinct that licks the fetid oil." Badham.

[411] _Creticus._ Q. Metellus had this surname from his conquest of
Crete, B.C. 67. Vell. Pat., ii., 34. Flor., iii., 7. Cf. ii., 78,
"Cretice pelluces." P. Sulpicius Camerinus was one of the triumvirs
sent to Athens for Solon's laws. Cf. vii., 90. Liv., iii., 33.
Camerinus was a name of the Sulpician gens, and seems to have been
derived from the conquest of Cameria in Latium. (Cf. Facciol.) Liv.,
i., 38. The name of Creticus was actually given in derision to M.
Antonius, father of the triumvir, for his disastrous failure in Crete.
Vid. Plut. in Ant.

[412] _Rubellius_ Blandus was the father, Plautus the son. Both
readings are found here. Of the latter Tacitus says (Ann., xiv., 22),
"Omnium ore Rubellius Plautus celebrabatur, _cui nobilitas per matrem
ex Julia familiâ_." His mother Julia was daughter of Drusus, the son of
Livia, wife of Augustus. Germanicus, his mother's brother, was father
of Agrippina, mother of Nero: hence, inf. 72, "inflatum plenumque
Nerone propinquo." Cf. Virg., Æn., i., 288, "Julius a magno demissum
nomen Julo."

[413] _Aggere._ Cf. ad vi., 588.

[414] _Vivas._

"Long may'st thou taste the secret sweets that spring
In breasts affined to so remote a king." Gifford.

[415] _Nobilis indocti._

"Who help the well-born dolt in many a strait,
And plead the cause of the unletter'd great." Badham.

[416] _Marmoreum._

"For 'tis no bar to kindred, that thy block
Is form'd of flesh and blood, and theirs of rock." Gifford.

[417] _Fervet._ "Frequenter celebratur." Lubin. Some commentators
interpret it of the eager clapping of the hands of the spectators:
others, of the prize of victory.

"The palm of oft-repeated victories." Hodgson.

"Whom many a well-earned palm and trophy grace." Gifford.

"Whose easy triumph and transcendent speed,
Palm after palm proclaim." Badham.

[418] _Nepos_, the name of a noted miller at Rome.

[419] _Aliquid._ "Sometimes great." So i., 74, "Si vis esse _aliquis_."
Hall imitates this beautifully:

"Brag of thy father's faults, they are thine own;
Brag of his lands, if they are not foregone:
Brag of thine own good deeds; for they are thine,
More than his life, or lands, or golden line."

[420] _Nerone._ Cf. ad l. 39.

[421] _Sensus communis._ There are few phrases in Juvenal on which the
commentators are more divided. Some interpret it exactly in the sense
of the English words "common sense." Others, "fellow-feeling, sympathy
with mankind at large." Browne takes it to be "tact." Cf. Hor., i.,
Sat. iii., 66; Phædr., i., Fab. vii., 4. There is a long and excellent
note in Gifford, who translates it himself by "a sense of modesty,"
but allows that in Cicero it means "a polite intercourse between man
and man;" in Horace, "suavity of manners;" in Seneca, "a proper regard
for the decencies of life:" by others it is used for all these, which
together constitute what we call "courteousness, or good breeding." So
Quintilian, I., ii., 20. Hodgson turns it,

"For plain good sense, first blessing of the sky,
Is rarely met with in a state so high."

Badham,

"In that high estate
Plain common sense is far from common fate."

[422] _Stratus humi._

"Stretch'd on the ground, the vine's weak tendrils try
To clasp the elm they dropped from, fail, and die." Gifford.

[423] _Summum crede nefas._ See some beautiful remarks in Coleridge's
Introduction to the Greek Poets, p. 24, 25.

[424] _Pudori._

"At honor's cost a feverish span extend,
And sacrifice for life, life's only end!
Life! I profane the word: can those be said
To live, who merit death? No! they are dead." Gifford.

[425] _Gaurana._ Gaurus (cf. ix., 57), a mountain of Campania, near
Baiæ and the Lucrine Lake, which was famous for oysters (cf. iv., 141,
"Lucrinum ad saxum Rutupinove edita fundo Ostrea," Plin., iii., 5.
Martial, v., Ep. xxxvii., 3, "Concha Lucrini delicatior stagni"), now
called "Gierro."

[426] _Cosmus_, a celebrated perfumer, mentioned repeatedly by Martial.

[427] _Capito._ Cossutianus Capito, son-in-law of Tigellinus (cf. i.,
155. Tac., Ann., xiv., 48; xvi., 17), was accused by the Cilicians
of peculation and cruelty ("maculosum fœdumque, et idem jus audaciæ
in provincia ratum quod in urbe exercuerat"), and condemned "lege
repetundarum." Tac., Ann., xiii., 33. Thrasea Pætus was the advocate
of the Cilicians, and in revenge for this, when Capito was restored
to his honors by the influence of Tigellinus, he procured the death
of Thrasea. Ann., xvi., 21, 28, 33. Of Numitor nothing is known save
that he plundered these Cilicians, themselves once the most notorious
of pirates. Cf. Plat. in Pomp. Some read Tutor; a Julius Tutor is
mentioned repeatedly in the fourth book of Tac. Hist., but with no
allusion to his plundering propensities.

[428] _Naulum._

"Nor, though your earthly goods be sunk and lost,
Lose the poor waftage of the wandering ghost." Hodgson.

Cf. iii., 267, "Nec habet quem porrigat ore trientem." Holyday
and Ruperti interpret it, "Do not waste your little remnant in an
unprofitable journey to Rome to accuse your plunderer." Gifford says it
is merely the old proverb, and renders it, "And though you've lost the
hatchet, save the haft."

[429] _Modo victis._ Browne explains this by _tantummodo victis_, i.
e., only subdued, not plundered; and so Ruperti.

[430] _Vivebat._ "And ivory taught by Phidias' skill to live." Gifford.

[431] _Dolabella._ There were three "pirates" of this name, all accused
of extortion; of whom Cicero's son-in-law, the governor of Syria, seems
to have been the worst.

[432] _Verres_ retired from Rome and lived in luxurious and happy
retirement twenty-six years.

[433] _Altis_, or "deep-laden."

[434] _Plures._

"More treasures from our friends in peace obtain'd,
Than from our foes in war were ever gain'd." Gifford.

[435] _Pater._

"They drive the father of the herd away,
Making both stallion and his pasture prey." Dryden.

[436] _Resinata._ Resin dissolved in oil was used to clear the skin of
superfluous hairs. Cf. Plin., xiv., 20, "pudet confiteri maximum jam
honorem (resinæ) esse in evellendis ab virorum corporibus pilis."

[437] _Gallicus axis._ Cf. Cæs., B. G., i., 51. "The war chariot;"
or the "climate of Gaul," as colder than that of Rome, and breeding
fiercer men. Cf. vi., 470. "Hyperboreum axem," xiv., 42.

[438] _Messoribus._ These reapers are the _Africans_, from whom Rome
derived her principal supply of corn. Cf. v., 119. Plin., v., 4.

[439] _Circo._ Cf. x., 80, "duas tantum res anxius optat, Panem et
Circenses." Tac., Hist., i., 4, "Plebs sordida ac Circo et Theatris
sueta."

"From those thy gripes restrain,
Who with their sweat Rome's luxury maintain,
And send us plenty, while our wanton day
Is lavish'd at the circus or the play." Dryden.

[440] _Marius._ Vid. ad i., 47.

[441] _Discinxerit._ Cf. Virg., Æn., viii., 724, "Hic Nomadum genus et
discinctos Mulciber Afros." Sil. Ital., ii., 56, "Discinctos Libyas."
Money was carried in girdles (xiv., 296), and the Africans wore but
little other clothing. For the amount of his plunder, see Plin., ii.,
Ep. xi., "Cornutus, censuit septingenta millia quæ acceperat Marius
ærario inferenda."

[442] _Acersecomes._ Some "puer intonsus" with flowing locks like
Bacchus or Apollo. Φοῖβος ἀκερσεκόμης. Hom., Il., xx., 39. Pind.,
Pyth., iii., 26.

[443] _Conjuge._ Cf. the discussion in the senate recorded Tac., Ann.,
iii., 33, _seq._

[444] _Conventus._ "Loca constituta in provinciis juri dicundo." The
different towns in the provinces where the Roman governors held their
courts and heard appeals. The _courts_ as well as the _towns_ were
called by this name. They were also called Fora and Jurisdictiones.
Vid. Plin., III., i., 3; V., xxix., 29. Cic. in Verr., II., v., 11.
Cæs., B. G., i., 54; vi., 44.

[445] _Celæno._ Cf. Virg., Æn., iii., 211, "dira Celæno Harpyiæque
aliæ."

[446] _Promethea._

"E'en from Prometheus' self thy lineage trace,
And ransack history to adorn thy race." Hodgson.

[447] _Frangis virgas._

"Rods broke on our associates' bleeding backs,
And headsmen laboring till they blunt their axe." Dryden.

[448] _Incipit ipsorum._

"The lofty pride of every honor'd name
Shall rise to vindicate insulted fame,
And hold the torch to blazon forth thy shame." Hodgson.

[449] _Contra te stare._

"Will to his blood oppose your daring claim,
And fire a torch to blaze upon your shame." Gifford.

[450] _Temples._ The sealing of wills was usually performed in temples;
in the morning, and fasting, as the canon law afterward directed.

[451] _Santonico._ The Santones were a people of Aquitania, between the
Loire and Garonne. Cf. Mart., xiv., Ep. 128, "Gallia Santonico vestit
te bardocucullo."

[452] _Sufflamine._ "The introduction of the drag-chain has a local
propriety: Rome, with its seven hills, had just so many necessities for
the frequent use of the sufflamen. This necessity, from the change of
the soil, exists no longer." Badham.

[453] _Testes._ Cf. vi., 311, Lunà teste.

[454] _Damasippus_ (cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 16) was a name of the
Licinian gens. "Damasippus was sick," says Holyday, "of that disease
which the Spartans call horse-feeding."

[455] _Hordea._ Horses in Italy are fed on barley, not on oats.

[456] _Eponam_ (cf. Aristoph., Nub., 84), the patroness of grooms.
Some read "Hipponam," which Gifford prefers, from the tameness of the
epithet "solam." Cf. Blunt's Vestiges, p. 29.

"On some rank deity, whose filthy face
We suitably o'er stinking stables place." Dryden.

[457] _Amomo_, an Assyrian shrub. Cf. iv., 108.

[458] _Idumeæ._ The gate at Rome near the Arch of Titus, through which
Vespasian and Titus entered the city in triumph after their victories
in Palestine.

[459] _Dominum._ Cf. Mart., i., Ep. 113, "Cum te non nossem dominum
regemque vocabam." Cf. iv., Ep. 84, 5.

[460] _Inscripta lintea._ Perhaps "curtains, having painted on them
what was for sale within." Others say it means "embroidered with
needlework;" or "towels," according to Calderinus, who compares
Catull., xxv., 7.

[461] _Armeniæ._ The allusion is to Corbulo's exploits in Parthia and
Armenia in Nero's reign, A.D. 60. Cf. ad iii., 251. There were great
disturbances in the same quarters in Trajan's reign, which caused his
expedition, in A.D. 114, against the Armenians and Parthians. In A.D.
100, Marius Priscus was accused by Pliny and Tacitus. Vid. Plin.,
ii., Ep. xi. Probably half way between these two dates we may fix the
writing of this Satire.

[462] _Mitte Ostia._ So most of the commentators interpret it. "Send
your Legatus to take the command of the troops for foreign service,
waiting for embarkation at Ostia." But if so, "ad" should be expressed,
and either Tiberina added, or Ostia made of the 1st declension.
Britann., therefore, and Heinrich explain it, "Pass by his own doors;"
omitte quærere illic, "he is far away."

[463] _Sandapila._ The bier or open coffin, on which the poor, or those
killed in the amphitheatre, were carried to burial; hence "sandapila
popularis." Suet., Domit., 17. Stepney (in Dryden's version) thus
enumerates these worthies:

"Quacks, coffin-makers, fugitives, and sailors,
Rooks, common soldiers, hangmen, thieves, and tailors."

[464] _Resupinantis._ In Holyday's quaint version,

"Among great Cybel's silent drums, which lack
Their Phrygian priest, who lies drunk on his back."

[465] _Ergastula._ Private prisons attached to Roman farms, in which
the slaves worked in chains. The Tuscan were peculiarly severe. Vid.
Dennis's Etruria, vol. i., p. xlviii.

[466] _Turpia cerdoni._ Cf. iv., 13," Nam quod turpe bonis Titio
Seioque decebat Crispinum." Pers., iv., 51, "Tollat sua munera cerdo."

"And crimes that tinge with shame the cobbler's face,
Become the lords of Brutus' honor'd race." Hodgson.

[467] _Locasti._

"Lets out his voice (his sole remaining boast),
And rants the nonsense of a clam'rous ghost." Hodgson.

[468] _Sipario._ The curtain or drop-scene in _comedy_, as _Aulæum_ was
in _tragedy_. Donat.

[469] _Phasma._ Probably a translation from the Greek. Ter., Eun.,
pr. 9, "Idem Menandri phasma nunc nuper dedit." Catullus is not to
be confounded with C. Valerius Catullus of Verona (the old Schol.
says Q. Lutatius Catullus is meant, and quotes xiii., 11, whom
Lubinus, ad loc., calls "Urbanus Catullus") as far as the Phasma is
concerned.--_Laureolus_ was the chief character in a play or ballet by
Val. Catullus, or Laberius, or Nævius: and was crucified on the stage,
and then torn to pieces by wild beasts. Martial (de Spect., Ep. vii.)
says this was acted _to the life_ in the Roman amphitheatre, the part
of the bandit being performed by a real malefactor, who was crucified
and torn to pieces in the arena, "Non falsâ pendens in cruce Laureolus."

"And Lentulus _acts_ hanging with such art,
Were I a judge, he should not _feign_ the part." Dryden.

[470] _Sedet._

"Sit with unblushing front, and calmly see
The hired patrician's low buffoonery;
Smile at the Fabii's tricks, and grin to hear
The cuffs resound from the Mamerci's ear." Gifford.

[471] _Cogente Nerone._ Cf. Tac., Ann., xiv., 14, who abstains from
mentioning the _names_ of the nobles thus disgraced, out of respect for
their ancestors. Cf. Dio., lxi. Suetonius says (Nero, cap. xii.) that
400 senators and 600 knights were thus dishonored (but Lipsius says 40
and 60 are the true numbers).

[472] _Nec dubitant._ No doubt a spurious line.

[473] _Gladios._ This is the usual interpretation. Perhaps it would be
better to take "gladios" for the _death_ that awaits you if you refuse
to comply: as iv., 96; x., 345. So Badham:

"Place here the tyrant's sword, and there the scene;
Gods! can a Roman hesitate between!"

[474] _Thymele._ Cf. i., 36.

[475] _Ludus._ Properly, "school of gladiators."

[476] _Gracchus._ Cf. ii., 143.

[477] _Tunicæ._ Cf. ii., 143, tunicati fuscina Gracchi. Suet., Cal.,
30. The Retiarii wore a tunic only. The gold spira was the band that
tied the tall conical cap of the Salii; who wore also a gold fringe
round the tunic.

[478] _Seneca._ There is said to be an allusion here to the plot of
Subrius Flavius to murder Nero and make Seneca emperor. It was believed
that Seneca was privy to it. Tac., Ann., xv., 65.

[479] _Simia._ Cf. xiii., 155, "Et deducendum corio bovis in mare
cum quo clauditur adversis innoxia simia fatis." The punishment of
parricides was to be scourged, then sewn up in a bull's hide with a
serpent, an ape, a cock, and a dog, and to be thrown into the sea. The
first person thus punished was P. Malleolus, who murdered his mother.
Liv., Epit. lxviii.

[480] _Culeus._ Cf. Suet., Aug., 33. Nero murdered his mother
Agrippina, his aunt Domitia, both his wives, Octavia and Poppæa, his
brother Britannicus, and several other relations.

[481] _Agamemnonidæ._ Grangæus quotes the Greek verse current in Nero's
time, Νέρων, Ὀρέστης, Ἀλκμαίων μητροκτόνοι. Cf. Suet., Nero, 39.

[482] _Virginius_ Rufus, who was legatus in Lower Germany, Julius
Vindex, proprætor of Gaul, and Sergius Galba, præfect of Hispania
Tarraconensis, afterward emperor, were the chiefs of the last
conspiracy against Nero. In August, A.D. 67, Nero was playing the fool
in Greece; in March, 68, he heard with terror and dismay of the revolt
of Vindex, who proclaimed Galba. Dio., lxiii., 22.

[483] _Quid Nero._

"What but such acts did Rome indignant see
Perform'd in Nero's savage tyranny?" Hodgson.

[484] _Prostitui._

"To prostitute his voice for base renown,
And ravish from the Greeks a parsley crown." Gifford.

Nero was in Greece A.D. 67, into which year (though not an Olympiad)
he crowded all the games of Greece, "Certamina omnia et quæ
diversissimorum temporum sunt cogi in unum annum jussit." Suet.,
Ner., 23. "Romam introiit coronam capite gerens Olympiam dextrâ manu
Pythiam," c. 25.

[485] _Domitius_ was the name both of the father and grandfather of
Nero. His father was Domitius Ahenobarbus, governor of Transalpine
Gaul. Suetonius (Nero, 6) tells us that the two pædagogi to whom his
childhood _was_ intrusted _were_ a _saltator_ and a _tonsor_. To this
perhaps his subsequent tastes may be traced.

[486] _Citharam._ Cf. Suet., Ner., 12, "_Citharæ_ a judicibus ad se
delatam, adoravit ferrique ad Augusti _statuam_ jussit."

"And on the proud Colossus of your sire,
Suspend the splendid trophy of--a lyre!" Hodgson.

"Sacras coronas in cubiculis circum lectos posuit: item statuas suas
Citharædico habitu: quâ notâ etiam nummum percussit." Suet., Ner., 25.

[487] _Braccatorum._ Gallia Narbonensis was called Braccata from the
Braccæ, probably "plaid," which the inhabitants wore. Plin., iii., 4.
Diod., v., 30. The Senones were a people of Gallia Lugdunensis, who
sacked Rome under Brennus; hence _Minores_, i. e., "as though you had
been the hereditary enemies of Rome."

[488] _Tunicâ molestâ._ Cf. ad i., 155, "a dress smeared with pitch and
other combustibles," and then lighted. Cf. Mart., x., Ep. xxv., 5. In
some cases Nero buried his victims up to the waist, and then set fire
to their upper parts.

[489] _Vigilat_ refers to Cicero's own words, "Jam intelliges multo me
_vigilare_ acrius ad salutem, quam te ad pernicem reipublicæ."

[490] _Novus._ Cicero was the first of the Tullia gens that held
a curule magistracy. Arpinum, his birthplace, now Arpino, was a
small town of the Volsci. The Municipia had their three grades, of
patricians, knights, and plebeians, as Rome had; they lived under their
own laws, but their citizens were eligible to all offices at Rome.

[491] _Leucas_, i. e., "Actium." _Thessaliæ_, "Philippi." The words
following probably refer to the brutal cruelty of Augustus after the
battle.

[492] _Libera._ "When Rome could utter her free unfettered sentiments"
(as sup., "Libera si dentur populo suffragia"). Not in the spirit
of servile adulation, with which she bestowed the same title on her
emperors.

[493] _Vitem._ The centurion's baton of office as well as instrument of
punishment. Cf. xiv., 193; Mart., x., Ep. xxvi., 1. See the story of
Lucilius, nicknamed Cedo alteram, in Tac., Ann., i., 23.

[494] _Majora cadavera._ Besides their fierce gray eyes (xiii., 164),
the Germans were conspicuous for their stature and red hair. "Truces
et cærulei oculi, rutilæ comæ, magnum corpora et tantum ad impetum
valida." Tac., Germ., iv. "Cimbri præ Italis ingentes." Flor., iii.,3.

[495] _Lauro secundâ._ A double triumph was decreed to Marius; he gave
up the second to Q. Lutatius Catulus, his noble colleague, to satisfy
his soldiers, who knew, better than Juvenal, that the _nobleman's_
services did _not_ fall short of those of the plebeian. Marius
afterward barbarously murdered him.

[496] _Deciorum._ Alluding to the three immolations of the Decii,
father, son, and grandson, in the wars with the Latins, Gauls, and
Pyrrhus. All three bore the name of Publius Decius Mus. Juvenal comes
very near the formula of self-devotion given in Liv., viii., 6, _seq._
"Exercitum Diis Manibus matrique terræ deberi."

[497] _Ancilla natus._ Servius Tullius (Cf. vii., 199) was the sen of
Ocrisia, or Ocriculana, a captive from Corniculum. Liv., i., 39. The
_Trabea_ was a white robe with a border and _broad stripes_ (trabes) of
purple, worn afterward by consuls and augurs: cf. x., 35; the _diadema_
of the ancient kings was a _fillet_ or ribbon, not a crown.

"And he who graced the purple which he wore,
The last good king of Rome, a bondmaid bore." Gifford.

[498] _Natavit._

"And she who mock'd the javelins whistling round,
And swam the Tiber, then the empire's bound." Gifford.

[499] _Servus._ Livy calls him Vindicius; and derives from him the name
of the Vindicta, "the rod of manumission." Liv., ii., 7. He was mourned
for at his death by the Roman matrons publicly, as Brutus had been.

[500] _Legum prima securis._ Tarquinius Priscus introduced the axe and
fasces with the other regalia. The axe therefore had often fallen for
the _tyrants_; now it is used for the first time in defense of a legal
constitution and a _free republic_.

[501] _Thersites._ Hom., Il., ii., 212.

[502] _Asylo._ Cf. Liv., i., 8.

SATIRE IX.

I should like to know, Nævolus,[503] why you so often meet me with
clouded brow forlorn, like Marsyas after his defeat. What have you to
do with such a face as Ravola had when detected with his Rhodope?[504]
We give a slave a box on the ear, if he licks the pastry. Why!
Crepereius Pollio[505] had not a more woe-begone face than yours;
he that went about ready to pay three times the ordinary interest,
and could find none fools enough to trust him. Where do so many
wrinkles come from all of a sudden? Why, surely before, contented with
little, you used to live like a gentleman's gentleman[506]--a witty
boon-companion with your biting jest, and sharp at repartees that savor
of town-life!

Now all is the reverse; your looks are dejected; your tangled hair
bristles like a thicket;[507] there is none of that sleekness over your
whole skin, such as the Bruttian plaster of hot pitch used to give you;
but your legs are neglected and rank with a shrubbery of hair. What
means this emaciated form, like that of some old invalid parched this
many a day with quartan ague and fever that has made his limbs its
home? You may detect[508] the anguish of the mind that lurks in the
sickly body--and discover its joys also. For the face, the index of
the mind, takes its complexion from each. You seem, therefore, to have
changed your course of life, and to run counter to your former habits.
For, but lately, as I well remember, you used to haunt the temple of
Isis,[509] and the statue of Ganymede in the temple of Peace,[510]
and the secret palaces of the imported mother[511] of the gods; ay,
and Ceres too (for what temple is there in which you may not find a
woman)--a more notorious adulterer even than Aufidius, and under the
rose, not confining your attentions to the wives!

"Yes: even this way of life is profitable to many. But I never made
it worth my while: we do occasionally get greasy cloaks, that serve
to save our toga, of coarse texture and indifferent dye, the clumsy
workmanship of some French weaver's lay; or a small piece of silver of
inferior metal.[512] The Fates control the destinies of men: nay, there
is fate even in those very parts which the lap of the toga conceals
from view. For if the stars are unpropitious, your manly powers,
remaining unknown, will profit you nothing, even though the liquorish
Virro has seen you stripped, and seductive billets-doux, closely
following each other, are forever assailing you: for such a fellow as
he even entices others to sin. Yet, what monster can be worse, than
one miserly as well as effeminate?"[513] "I gave you so much, then so
much, and then soon after you had more!" He reckons up and still acts
the wanton. "Let us settle our accounts! Send for the slaves with my
account-book! Reckon up five thousand sesterces in all! Then count up
your services!" Are then my duties so light, and so little against the
grain? Far less wretched will be the poor slave that digs the great
man's land! But you, forsooth, thought yourself delicate, and young,
and beautiful! fit to be a cup-bearer in heaven!

Will you ever bestow favors on a humble dependent, or be generous to
one that pays you court, when you grudge even the money you spend on
your unnatural[514] gratifications? See the fellow! to whom you are
to send a present of a green parasol and large amber[515] bowls, as
often as his birthday comes round, or rainy spring begins; or pillowed
on his cushioned sofa, he fingers presents set apart for the female
Kalends![516]

Tell me, you sparrow, for whom it is you are keeping so many hills, so
many Apulian[517] farms, so many kites wearied in flying across your
pastures? Your Trifoline estate[518] enriches you with its fruitful
vines; and the hill that looks down[519] on Cumæ, and caverned Gaurus.
Who seals up more[520] casks of wine that will bear long keeping? How
great a matter would it be to present the loins of your client, worn
out in your service, with a few acres? Would yon rustic child, with
his mother, and her hovel,[521] and his playmate cur, more justly
become the inheritance of your cymbal-beating friend? "You are a most
importunate beggar!" he says: But _Rent_ cries out to me "Beg!" My only
slave calls on me to beg! loudly as Polyphemus[522] with his one broad
eye, by which the crafty Ulysses made his escape. I shall be compelled
to buy a second, for this one is not enough for me; both must be fed.
What shall I do in mid-winter? When the chill north wind whistles in
December,[523] what shall I say, pray, to my poor slaves' naked feet
and shoulders? "Courage,[524] my boys! and wait for the grasshoppers?"
But however you may dissemble and pass by all other matters, at how
much do you estimate it, that had I not been your devoted client your
wife would still remain a maid? At all events, you know all about those
services, how hard you begged, how much you promised! Often when your
young wife was eloping, I caught her in my embrace. She had actually
torn[525] the marriage contract, and was on the point of signing a new
one. It was with difficulty that I set this matter right by a whole
night's work, while you stood whimpering outside the door. I appeal to
the bed as my witness! nay, to yourself, who heard the noise, and the
lady's cries! In many a house, when the marriage bonds were growing
feeble and beginning to give way, and were almost severed, an adulterer
has set all matters right. However you may shift your ground, whatever
services you may reckon first or last, is it indeed no obligation,
ungrateful and perfidious man! is it none, that you have an infant son
or daughter born to you through me? For you bring them up as yours! and
plume yourself on inserting at intervals in the public registers[526]
these evidences of your virility! Hang garlands[527] on your doors!
You are now a father! I have given you what you may cast in slander's
teeth! You have a father's privileges; through me you may inherit
a legacy, yes, the whole sum[528] left to you, not to mention some
pleasant windfall![529] Besides, many other advantages will be added to
these windfalls, if I make the number complete and add a third!"

"Your ground of complaint is just indeed, Nævolus; what does he allege
in answer?"

"He casts me off, and looks out for some other two-legged ass to serve
his turn! But remember that these secrets are intrusted to you alone;
keep them to yourself, therefore, buried in the silence of your own
breast; for one of these pumice-smoothed[530] fellows is a deadly thing
if he becomes your enemy. He that intrusted his secret to me but the
other day, now is furious, and detests me just as though I had divulged
all I know. He does not hesitate to use his dagger, to break my skull
with a bludgeon, or place a firebrand at my doors:[531] and deem it
no light or contemptible matter that to men of his wealth the price
of poison is never too costly. Therefore you must keep my secrets as
religiously as the court of Mars at Athens."

"Oh! Corydon,[532] poor simple Corydon! Do you think aught that a
rich man does can be secret? Even though his slaves should hold their
tongues, his cattle will tell the tale; and his dogs, and door-posts,
and marble statues! Close the shutters, cover all the chinks with
tapestry, fasten the doors, remove every light from the chamber,[533]
let each one keep his counsel, let not a soul lie near. Yet what he
does at the second cock-crow,[534] the next tavern-keeper will know
before dawn of day; and will hear as well all the fabrications of his
steward, cooks, and carvers.[535] For what charge do they scruple to
concoct against their masters, as often as they revenge themselves for
their strappings[536] by the lies they forge? Nor will there be wanting
one to hunt you out against your will in the public thoroughfares,
and pour his drunken tale into your miserable ears. Therefore ask
them what you just now begged of me! They hold their tongues! Why
they would rather blaze abroad a secret than drink as much Falernian
(all the sweeter because stolen) as Saufeia[537] used to drink, when
sacrificing[538] for the people!

"One should lead an upright life for very many reasons; but especially
for this--that you may be able to despise your servants' tongues. For
bad as your slave may be, his tongue is the worst part about him.
Yet far worse still is he that places himself in the power of those
whose body and soul he keeps together with his own bread and his own
money.[539]

"Well, the advice you have just given me to enable me to laugh to
scorn my servants' tongues is very good, but too general. Now, what
do you advise in my particular case, after the loss of my time and
the disappointment of my hopes? For the short-lived bloom[540] and
contracted span of a brief and wretched life is fast fleeting away!
While we are drinking,[541] and calling for garlands, and perfumes, and
women, old age steals on us unperceived! Do not be alarmed! So long
as these seven hills stand fast you will never lack a pathic friend.
Those effeminates, who scratch their heads with one finger,[542] will
flock from all quarters to these hills, in carriages and ships. You
have still another and a better hope in store. All you have to do is
to chew eringo vigorously." "Tell this to luckier wights! My Clotho
and Lachesis are well content, if I can earn a subsistence by my vile
labors. Oh! ye small Lares,[543] that call me master, whom I supplicate
with a fragment of frankincense, or meal, and a poor garland, when
shall I secure[544] a sum that may insure my old age against the
beggar's mat and crutch? Twenty thousand sesterces as interest, with
good security for the principal; some small vessels of silver not
enchased, but such as Fabricius,[545] if censor, would condemn; and
two sturdy Mœsian slaves,[546] who, bearing me on their shoulders,
might bid me stand without inconvenience in the noisy circus! Let me
have besides an engraver stooping[547] over his work, and another who
may with all speed paint[548] me a row of portraits. This is quite
enough--since poor I ever shall be. A poor, wretched wish indeed! and
yet I have no hope even of this! For when dame Fortune[549] is invoked
for me, she stops her ears with wax fetched from that ship which
escaped the Sirens' songs with its deaf rower."

FOOTNOTES:

[503] _Nævolus_ is mentioned repeatedly by Martial, and seems to have
been a lawyer, i., Ep. 98; iii., Ep. 71 and 95; iv., Ep. 84: hence
perhaps the allusion to Marsyas, whose statue stood in the Forum,
opposite the Rostra, as a warning to the litigious. Cf. Hor., i., Sat.
vi., 120. Xen., Anab., I., ii., 8.

[504] _Rhodope._ Some well-known courtesan named after Æsop's
fellow-slave in the house of Iadmon the Samian, afterward so well known
in Egypt. Herod., ii., 134. Cf. Ælian., V. H., xiii., 33.

[505] _Pollio._ Cf. xi., 43, "digito mendicat Pollio nudo."

[506] _Vernam equitem._ The slaves born in the house were generally
spoiled by indulgence; and they frequently got the nickname of Equites,
out of petulant familiarity or fondness.

[507] _Sylva._

"And every limb, once smooth'd with nicest care,
Rank with neglect, a shrubbery of hair." Gifford.

[508] _Deprendas._

"Sorrow nor joy can be disguised by art,
Our foreheads blab the secrets of our heart." Dryden.

[509] _Isis._ Cf. vi., 489, "Aut apud Isiacæ potius sacraria lenæ."

[510] _Pacis._ Vespasian built the splendid temple of Peace near the
Forum, A.D. 76. Dio., lxvi., 15. Suet., Vesp. 9. In it, or near it,
stood the statue of Ganymede. Others think that Ganymedes is put for
the temple of Jupiter.

[511] _Advectæ Matris_, i. e., Cybele, called also Parens Idæa, and
Numen Idæum, because her worship was introduced into Rome from Phrygia,
A.U.C. 548, after the Sibylline books had been consulted as to the
means of averting certain prodigies. The rude and shapeless mass which
represented the goddess was lodged in the house of P. Corn. Scipio
Nasica, as the most virtuous man in Rome. Cf. Sat. iii., 137. Liv.,
xxix., 10. A temple was afterward erected for her on the Palatine Hill:
hence _palatia_. _Secreta_ alludes to the abominable orgies performed
in her honor.

[512] _Venæque secundæ._ "Silver adulterated with brass below the
standard; in short, base metal."

[513] _Mollis avarus._

"But oh! this wretch, this prodigy behold!
A slave at once to lechery and gold." Dryden.

[514] _Morbo._ Cf. Hor., i., Sat. vi., 30, "Ut si qui ægrotet quo morbo
Barrus."

[515] _Succina._ Cf. ad vi., 573. The old Schol. explains this by
"Gemmata Dextrocheria." Grangæus thinks that it means "presents of
amber," which the Roman ladies used to rub in their hands. So Badham:

"For whom the cup of amber must be found,
Oft as the birth or festal day comes round."

[516] _Fœmineis Kalendis._ On the 1st of March were celebrated the
Matronalia in honor of the women who put an end to the Sabine war
(bellum dirimente Sabina, vi., 154). Cf. Ov., Fast., iii., 229. On this
festival, as well as their birthdays, the Roman ladies sat up in state
to receive presents from their husbands, lovers, and acquaintances
(vid. Suet., Vesp., 19), in return for what they had given to the men
on the Saturnalia. Cf. Mart., v., Ep. lxxxiv., 10, "Scis certè puto
vestra jam venire Saturnalia Martias Kalendas." Hor., iii., Od. viii.,
1, "Martiis cælebs quid agam Kalendis."

[517] _Appula._ Cf. iv., 27. _Milvos._

"Regions which such a tract of land embrace,
That kites are tired within the unmeasured space." Gifford.

[518] _Trifolinus ager._ Cf. Mart., xiii., Ep. 114, "Non sum de primo
fateor, Trifolina, Lyæo; inter vina tamen septima vitis ero." Trifoline
wines were so called from being fit to drink at the third appearance of
the leaf, "quæ tertio anno ad bibendum tempestiva forent." Plin., xiv.,
6. Facc. takes it from Trifolium, a mountain in Campania, perhaps near
Capua. Plin., iv., 6.

[519] _Suspectumque jugum._ Either Mons Misenus (cf. Virg., Æn., vi.,
234), only three miles from Cumæ, or Vesuvius, which was famous for its
wines. Mart., iv., Ep. 44. Virg., Georg., ii., 224. Gaurus, now Monte
Barbaro, is full of volcanic caverns. It is also called "Gierro."

[520] _Plura._

"Though none drinks less, yet none more vessels fills!" Dryden.

[521] _Casulis._ Cf. xi., 153, "notos desiderat hædos."

"Sure yonder female with the child she bred,
The dog their playmate, and their little shed,
Had with more justice been conferr'd on me,
Than on a cymbal-beating debauchee." Gifford.

[522] _Polyphemi._ For the loudness of his roar, vid. Virg., Æn., iii.,
672. The meaning seems to be, "I am as badly off with but one slave as
Polyphemus was with only one eye: had he had _two_ Ulysses would not
have escaped him." Badham takes it of the slave calling for food.

"My hungry rascal must at home be fed,
Or else, like Polypheme, he'll roar for bread!"

[523] _Decembri_, used here adjectively.

[524] _Durate._ A parody on Virg., Æn., i., 207, "Durate, et vosmet
rebus servate secundis." Cf. Suet., Cal., 45.

"Cold! never mind! a month or two, and then
The grasshoppers, my lads, will come again!" Badham.

[525] _Ruperat._ Cf. Tac., Ann., xi., 30, "At is redderet uxorem,
rumperetque tabulas nuptiales." There was an express clause in the
marriage contract, "liberorum procreandorum gratiâ uxorem duci."

[526] _Libris actorum._ Cf. Tac., Ann., iii., 3. Sat. ii., 136,
"cupient et in acta referri." These acta were public registers, in
which parents were obliged to insert the names of their children a few
days after their birth. They contained, besides, records of marriages,
divorces, deaths, and other occurrences of the year, and were therefore
of great service to historians, who as some think employed persons to
read them up for them. (Cf. acta legenti vii., 104.) Servius Tullius
instituted this custom. The records were kept in the temple of Saturn.

[527] _Suspende coronas._ This was customary on all festive occasions,
as here, on the birth of a child; at marriages (vi., 51, "Necte coronam
postibus, et densos per limina tende corymbos"), the return of friends
(cf. xii., 91, "Longos erexit janua ramos"), or any public rejoicing
(as x., 65, on the death of Sejanus, "Pone domi lauros"). So, when
advocates gained a cause, their clients adorned the entrance of their
houses with palm branches. Cf. vii., 118, "virides scalarum gloria
palmæ." Mart., vii., Ep. xxviii., 6, "excolat et geminas plurima palma
fores."

[528] _Legatum omne._ One of the provisions of the Lex Papia Poppæa
(introduced, at the desire of Augustus, to extend the Lex Julia de
maritandis ordinibus) was, that if a married person had no child, a
tenth, and in some cases a larger proportion, of what was bequeathed
him, should fall to the exchequer. Cf. vi., 38. It conferred also
certain privileges and immunities on those who in Rome had three
children (hence jus trium liberorum) born in wedlock. Cf. Ruperti and
Lips. ad Tac., Ann., iii., 25. Cf. Ann., xv., 19. Mart., ii., Ep. xci.,
6; ix., lxvii.

[529] _Caducum_, probably a legacy contingent upon the condition of
having children.

[530] _Pumice._ Cf. viii., 16, "tenerum attritus Catanensi pumice
lumbum."

[531] _Valvis._ Cf. xiii., 145, _seq._

[532] _Corydon._ Cf. Virg., Ecl., ii., 69, "Ah, Corydon, Corydon, quæ
te dementia cepit!" and 56, "Rusticus es, Corydon!"

[533] _Claude fenestras._

"Bolt every door, stop every cranny tight,
Close every window, put out every light;
Let not a whisper reach the listening ear,
No noise, no motion--let no soul be near." Gifford.

[534] _Gallicinium_ was the technical name for the second military
watch, Vid. Facc.

[535] _Carptores_, Grangæus explains by "Escuiers trenchants." Facc. by
δαιτρός and structor.

[536] _Baltea._

"For countless scourgings will the rogues be slack
In slanderous villainies to pay thee back?" Badham.

[537] _Saufeia_, or Laufella, is supposed to be the "conjux Fusci,"
mentioned xii., 45, and Mart., iii., Ep. 72; and whose other
debaucheries are mentioned vi., 320. Cicero, knowing the propensity of
his countrywomen to wine-bibbing, would exclude them from officiating
at any sacred rites (at which wine was always used) after nightfall.
The festival of the Bona Dea is the only exception he would make.
"Nocturna mulierum sacrificia ne sunto, præter olla quæ pro populo rite
fiant."

[538] _Faciens_; so _operatur_, xii., 92. Virg., Ecl., iii., 77,
"Cum _faciam_ vitulâ pro fugibus ipse venito." So Georg., i., 339,
"Sacra refer Cereri lætis operatus in herbis." So in Greek, ῥέζειν is
constantly used absolutely.

"For more stolen wine than late Saufeia boused,
When, for the people's welfare, she caroused!" Gifford.

[539] _Liber._

"Yet worse than they, the man whose vicious deeds
Makes him still tremble at the rogues he feeds." Badham.

[540] _Flosculus._ For many exquisite parallel passages to this, see
Gifford's note.

[541] _Dum bibimus._

"And while thou call'st for garlands, girls, and wine,
Comes stealthy age, and bids thee all resign." Badham.

[542] _Digito._ Effeminate wretches, who, as Holyday says, like women,
are afraid of touching their heads with more than a finger, for fear of
discomposing their curls. Pompey had this charge brought against him by
one Calvus; and cf. Plut. in Vit., 48. Amm. Marcell., XVII., xi.

[543] _Lares_, cf. xii., 87. Hor., iii., Od. xxiii., 15, "Parvos
coronantem marino Rore Deos, fragilique myrto." Plin., xi., 2, "Numa
instituit deos fruge colere, et mola salsa supplicare et far torrere."

[544] _Figam_, a metaphor from hunting.--_Tegete_, cf. v., 8, "Nusquam
pons et tegetis pars."--_Baculo_, cf. Ter., Heaut., V., i., 58.

[545] C. Fabricius Luscinus, when censor, removed from the senate P.
Cornelius Rufinus, who had been twice consul and once dictator, for
having in his possession more than ten pounds' weight of plate. Liv.,
Epit., xiv. He was censor A.U.C. 478. Cf. xi., 90, _seq._

[546] _Duo fortes._ Persons of moderate fortune rode in their _sella
gestatoria_, a sedan borne by two persons. The rich had litters or
palanquins, called hexaphori, or octophori, according to the number of
the lecticarii. Cf. i., 64. Mœsia, now Bulgaria and Servia, is said to
have been famous for producing these brawny chairmen.

[547] _Curvus._ So Lubinus interprets it. "Cum enim laborat se incur
vat." Cf. Virg., Eccl., iii., 42, "curvus arator;" so Art. Am., ii.,
670, "Curva senectus." Or from his assiduity, "qui assiduus in opere
est." Madan says, "Curvus means crooked, that hath turnings and
windings; and this latter, in a mental sense, denotes cunning, which
is often used for _skillful_." Cf. Exod., xxxviii., 23. The old Schol.
explains it by Anaglyptarius, "a carver in low relief."

[548] _Pingit._ Others read _fingit_, and interpret it of "plaster
casts." It probably refers to the "line of painted busts" to deck his
corridor, perhaps of fictitious ancestors. Cf. viii., 2, "Pictosque
ostendere vultus majorum."

[549] _Fortuna._

"For when to Fortune I prefer my prayers,
The obdurate goddess stops at once her ears;
Stops with that wax which saved Ulysses' crew,
When by the Syrens' rocks and songs they flew." Gifford.

SATIRE X.

In all the regions which extend from Gades[550] even to the farthest
east and Ganges, there are but few that can discriminate between real
blessings and those that are widely different, all the mist[551] of
error being removed. For what is there that we either fear or wish for,
as reason would direct? What is there that you enter on under such
favorable auspices, that you do not repent of your undertaking, and the
accomplishment of your wish? The too easy gods have overthrown[552]
whole families by granting their owners' prayers. Our prayers are put
up for what will injure us in peace and injure us in war. To many the
copious fluency[553] of speech, and their very eloquence, is fatal. It
was owing to his strength[554] and wondrous muscle, in which he placed
his trust, that the Athlete met his death. But money heaped up with
overwhelming care, and a revenue surpassing all common patrimonies as
much as the whale of Britain[555] exceeds dolphins, causes more to
be strangled. Therefore it was, that in that reign of Terror, and at
Nero's bidding, a whole cohort[556] blockaded Longinus[557] and the
spacious gardens of the over-wealthy Seneca,[558] and laid siege to the
splendid[559] mansion of the Laterani.[560] It is but rarely that the
soldier pays his visit to a garret. Though you are conveying ever so
few vessels of unembossed silver, entering on your journey by night,
you will dread the bandit's knife and bludgeon, and tremble at the
shadow of a reed as it quivers in the moonshine.[561] The traveler with
empty[562] pockets will sing even in the robber's face.

The prayers that are generally the first put up and best known in all
the temples are, that riches,[563] that wealth may increase; that our
chest may be the largest in the whole forum.[564] But no aconite is
drunk from earthenware. It is time to dread it when you quaff jeweled
cups,[565] and the ruddy Setine blazes in the broad gold. And do you
not, then, now commend the fact, that of the two sages,[566] one
used to laugh[567] whenever he had advanced a single step from his
threshold; the other, with sentiments directly contrary, used to weep.
But easy enough to any one is the stern censure of a sneering laugh:
the wonder is how the other's eyes could ever have a sufficient supply
of tears.[568] Democritus used to shake his sides with perpetual
laughter, though in the cities of those regions there were no prætextæ,
no trabeæ,[569] no fasces, no litter, no tribunal! What, had he seen
the prætor[570] standing pre-eminent in his lofty car, and raised on
high in the mid dust of the circus, dressed in the tunic of Jove, and
wearing on his shoulders the Tyrian hangings of the embroidered toga;
and the circlet of a ponderous crown,[571] so heavy that no single
neck could endure the weight:[572] since the official, all in a sweat,
supports it, and, that the consul may not be too elated, the slave
rides in the same car. Then, add the bird that rises from his ivory
sceptre: on one side the trumpeters; on the other, the long train of
attendant clients, that march before him, and the Quirites, all in
white togas, walking by his horses' heads; men whose friendship he has
won by the sportula buried deep in his chest. Even in those days _he_
found subject for ridicule in every place where human beings meet,
whose wisdom proves that men of the highest intellect, men that will
furnish noble examples, may be born in the country of wether-sheep,
and in a foggy[573] atmosphere. He used to laugh at the cares and
also the joys of the common herd; sometimes even at their tears:
while he himself would bid Fortune, when she frowned, "Go hang!" and
point at her his finger[574] in scorn! Superfluous therefore, or else
destructive, are all those objects of our prayers, for which we think
it right to cover the knees of the gods with waxen tablets.[575]

Power, exposed to great envy, hurls some headlong down to ruin. The
long and splendid list of their titles and honors sinks[576] into the
dust. Down come their statues,[577] and are dragged along with ropes:
then the very wheels of the chariot are smashed by the vigorous stroke
of the axe, and the legs of the innocent[578] horses are demolished.
Now the fires roar! Now that head, once worshiped[579] by the mob,
glows with the bellows and the furnace! Great Sejanus crackles! Then
from that head, second only in the whole wide world, are made pitchers,
basins, frying-pans,[580] and platters! "Crown your doors with
bays![581] Lead to Jove's Capitol a huge and milk-white ox! Sejanus
is being dragged along by the hook! a glorious sight!" Every body is
delighted. "What lips he had! and what a face! If you believe me, I
never could endure this man!" "But what was the charge under which he
fell! Who was the accuser? what the information laid? By whose witness
did he prove it?" "Nothing of the sort! a wordy and lengthy epistle
came from Capreæ." "That's enough! I ask no farther. But how does the
mob of Remus behave!" "Why, follow Fortune,[582] as mobs always do,
and hate him that is condemned?" That self-same people, had Tuscan
Nurscia[583] smiled propitious on her countryman--had the old age of
the emperor been crushed while he thought all secure--would in that
very hour have saluted Sejanus as Augustus. Long ago they have thrown
overboard all anxiety. For that sovereign people that once gave away
military command, consulships, legions, and every thing, now bridles
its desires, and limits its anxious longings to two things only--bread,
and the games of the circus! "I hear that many are involved in his
fall." "No doubt: the little furnace[584] is a capacious one; I met
my friend Brutidius[585] at the altar of Mars looking a little pale!"
"But I greatly fear that Ajax, being baffled,[586] will wreak fearful
vengeance, as having been inadequately defended. Let us rush headlong;
and, while he still lies on the river-bank, trample on Cæsar's foe?
But take care that our slaves witness the act! lest any of them should
deny it, and drag his master to trial with a halter round his neck!"
Such were the conversations then about Sejanus; such the smothered
whispers of the populace? Would _you_ then have the same court paid to
you that Sejanus had? possess as much, bestow on one the highest curule
honors, give another the command of armies,[587] be esteemed the lawful
guardian[588] of the prince that lounged away[589] his days with his
herd of Chaldæan astrologers, in the rock of Capreæ that he made his
palace?[590] Would you have centuries and cohorts, and a picked body
of cavalry,[591] and prætorian bands at your beck? Why should you not
covet these? Even those who have not the _will_ to kill a man would
gladly have the _power_. But what brilliant or prosperous fortune is of
sufficient worth that your measure of evils should balance your good
luck? Would you rather put on the prætexta of him that is being dragged
along, or be the magistrate of Fidenæ or Gabii, and give sentence about
false weights,[592] and break up scanty measures as the ragged ædile of
the deserted Ulubræ?[593]

You acknowledge, therefore, that Sejanus did not know what ought to
have been the object of his wishes. For he that coveted excessive
honors, and prayed for excessive wealth, was but rearing up the
multiplied stories of a tower raised on high, only that the fall might
be the deeper,[594] and horrible the headlong descent of his ruin[595]
once accelerated!

What overthrew the Crassi?[596] and Pompey and his sons?[597] and
him that brought Rome's haughty citizens quailing[598] beneath his
lash? Surely it was the post of highest advancement, reached by every
possible device, and prayers for greatness heard by gods who showed
their malignity in granting them! Few kings go down without slaughter
and wounds to Ceres' son-in-law. Few tyrants die a bloodless death!

He that as yet pays court to[599] Minerva, purchased by a single
_as_, that is followed by his little slave[600] to take charge of
his diminutive satchel, begins to long, and longs through all his
quinquatrian[601] holidays, for the eloquence and the renown of
Demosthenes or Cicero. But it was through their eloquence that both of
these orators perished: the copious and overflowing fount of talent
gave over each to destruction; by talent, was his hand and head cut
off! Nor did the Rostra[602] ever reek with the blood of a contemptible
pleader.

"O fortunate Rome, whose natal day may date from me as consul!" He
might have scorned the swords of Antony,[603] had all he uttered
been such trash as this. I had rather write poems that excite only
ridicule, than thee, divine Philippic of distinguished fame! that art
unrolled next to the first! Cruel was the end that carried him off
also whom Athens used to admire as his words flowed from his lips in a
torrent[604] of eloquence, and he swayed at will the passions of the
crowded theatre. With adverse gods and inauspicious fate was he born,
whom his father, blear-eyed with the grime of the glowing mass, sent
from the coal, and pincers,[605] and the sword-forging anvil, and sooty
Vulcan,[606] to the rhetorician's school!

The spoils of war, the cuirass fastened to the truncated[607] trophy,
the cheek-piece hanging from the battered helm, the car shorn of its
pole, the streamer of the captured galley,[608] and the sad captive on
the triumphal arch-top,[609] are held to be goods exceeding all human
blessings. For these each general, Roman, or Greek, or Barbarian,
strains as his prize! Full compensation for his dangers and his toils
he sees in these! So much greater is the thirst after fame than virtue.
For who would embrace[610] virtue herself, if you took away the rewards
of virtue? And yet, ere now, the glory of a few has been the ruin of
their native land; that longing for renown, and those inscriptions that
are to live on the marble that guards their ashes; and yet to burst
asunder this, the mischievous strength of the barren fig-tree has power
enough. Since even to sepulchres[611] themselves are fates assigned.
Weigh[612] the remains of Hannibal! How many pounds will you find in
that most consummate general! This is the man whom not even Africa,
lashed by the Mauritanian ocean, and stretching even to the steaming
Nile, and then again to the races of the Æthiopes and their tall[613]
elephants, can contain! Spain is annexed to Carthage's domain. He
bounds across the Pyrenees. Nature opposed in vain the Alps with
all their snows; he cleaves the rocks and rives the mountains with
vinegar.[614] Now he is lord of Italy! Yet still he presses on. "Naught
is achieved,"[615] he says, "unless we burst through the gates of Rome
with the soldiery of Carthage, and I plant my standard in the heart
of the Suburra!" Oh what a face![616] and worthy what a picture! when
the huge Gætulian beast bore on his back the one-eyed[617] general!
What then was the issue? Oh glory! This self-made man is conquered,
and flees with headlong haste to exile, and there, a great and
much-to-be-admired client, sits at the palace of the king, until his
Bithynian majesty[618] be pleased to wake! To that soul, that once
shook the very world's base, it is not sword, nor stone, nor javelin,
that shall give the final stroke; but, that which atoned for Cannæ, and
avenged such mighty carnage,[619] a ring! Go then, madman, and hurry
over the rugged Alps, that you may be the delight of boys, and furnish
subjects for declamations![620]

One[621] world is not enough for the youth of Pella! He chafes within
the narrow limits of the universe, poor soul, as though confined in
Gyarus'[622] small rock, or scanty Seriphös. Yet when he shall have
entered the city that the brickmakers[623] fortified, he will be
content with a sarcophagus![624] Death alone discloses how very small
are the puny bodies of men! Men do believe that Athos was sailed
through of yore; and all the bold assertions that lying Greeks hazard
in history--that the sea was bridged over by the same fleets, and
formed into a solid pavement for the transit of wheels. We believe that
deep rivers failed, and streams were drunk dry[625] when the Persian
dined; and all the flights of Sostratus'[626] song, when his wings are
moistened by the god of wine. And yet, in what guise did _he_ return
after quitting Salamis, who, like a true barbarian as he was, used to
vent his rage in scourges on Corus and Eurus, that had never suffered
in this sort in Æolus' prison; and bound in gyves Ennosigæus[627]
himself. It was, in fact, an act of clemency that he did not think he
deserved branding[628] also. Would any of the gods choose to serve[629]
such a man as this? But how did he return? Why, in a single ship;
through waves dyed with blood, and with his galley retarded[630] by the
shoals of corpses. Such was the penalty that glory, for which he had so
often prayed, exacted.

"Grant length of life, great Jove, and many years!" This is your only
prayer in health and sickness. But with what unremitting and grievous
ills is old age crowded! First of all, its face is hideous, loathsome,
and altered from its former self; instead of skin a hideous hide and
flaccid cheeks; and see! such wrinkles, as, where Tabraca[631] extends
her shady dells, the antiquated ape[632] scratches on her wizened
jowl! There are many points of difference in the young: this youth is
handsomer than that; and he again than a third: one is far sturdier
than another. Old mens faces are all alike--limbs tottering and
voice feeble,[633] a smooth bald pate, and the second childhood of a
driveling nose; the poor wretch must mumble his bread with toothless
gums; so loathsome to his wife, his children, and even to himself,
that he would excite the disgust even of the legacy-hunter Cossus! His
palate[634] is grown dull; his relish for his food and wine[635] no
more the same; the joys of love are long ago forgotten; and in spite
of all efforts to reinvigorate them, all manly energies are hopelessly
extinct. Has this depraved and hoary lechery aught else to hope? Do we
not look with just suspicion on the lust that covets the sin but lacks
the power?[636]

Now turn your eyes to the loss of another sense. For what pleasure
has he in a singer, however eminent a harper it may be; nay, even
Seleucus himself; or those whose habit it is to glitter in a cloak
of gold?[637] What matters it in what part of the wide theatre he
sits, who can scarcely hear the horn-blowers, and the general clang
of trumpets? You must bawl out loud before his ear can distinguish
who it is his slave says has called, or tells him what o'clock it
is.[638] Besides, the scanty blood that flows in his chill[639] body
is warmed by fever only. Diseases of every kind dance round him in
full choir. If you were to ask their names, I could sooner tell you
how many lovers Hippia had; how many patients Themison[640] killed in
one autumn; how many allies Basilus plundered; how many wards Hirrus
defrauded; how many lovers long Maura received in the day; how many
pupils Hamillus corrupts. I could sooner run through the list of villas
owned by him now, beneath whose razor[641] my stiff beard resounded
when I was in my prime. One is weak in the shoulder; another in the
loins; another in the hip. Another has lost both eyes, and envies the
one-eyed. Another's bloodless lips receive their food from others'
fingers. He that was wont to relax his features to a smile at the sight
of his dinner, now only gapes[642] like the young swallow to whom the
parent bird, herself fasting,[643] flies with full beak. But worse
than all debility of limb is that idiocy which recollects neither the
names of his slaves nor the face of the friend with whom he supped the
evening before; not even those whom he begot and brought up! For by a
heartless will he disinherits them; and all his property is made over
to Phiale:[644]--such power has the breath of her artificial mouth,
that stood for hire so many years in the brothel's dungeon.

Even though the powers of intellect retain their vigor, yet he must
lead forth the funerals of his children; must gaze upon the pyre of
a beloved wife, and the urns filled with all that remains of his
brother and sisters. This is the penalty imposed on the long-lived,
that they must grow old with the death-blow in their house forever
falling fresh--in oft-recurring sorrow--in unremitting mourning, and
a suit of black.[645] The king of Pylos,[646] if you put any faith
in great Homer, was an instance of life inferior in duration only
to the crow's.[647] Happy, no doubt! was he who for so many years
put off his hour of death; and now begins to count his years on his
right hand,[648] and has drunk so often of the new-made wine. I pray
you, lend me your ear a little space; and hear how sadly he himself
complains of the decrees of fate, and too great powers of life, when
he watches the blazing beard of Antilochus[649] in his bloom, and
asks of every friend that stands near, why it is he lingers on to
this day; what crime he has committed to deserve so long a life!
Such, too, is Peleus' strain, when he mourns for Achilles prematurely
snatched from him: and that other, whose lot it was to grieve for the
shipwrecked[650] Ithacensian.

Priam would have joined the shade of Assaracus with Troy still
standing, with high solemnities, with Hector and his brothers
supporting his bier on their shoulders, amid the weeping Troades, so
that Cassandra would lead off the wail, and Polyxena[651] with mantle
rent, had he but died at any time but that, after that Paris had begun
to build his audacious ships. What then did length of days confer on
him? He saw his all o'erthrown: Asia laid low by flame and sword. Then
the poor tottering warrior[652] laid down his diadem and donned his
arms, and fell before the altar of supreme Jove; like some old ox[653]
that yields his attenuated and miserable neck to his owner's knife,
long ago scorned[654] by the ungrateful plow.

That was at all events the death of a human being: but his wife who
survived him barked fiercely from the jaws of a bitch.[655]

I hasten on to our own countrymen, and pass by the king of Pontus, and
Crœsus,[656] whom the eloquent voice of the right-judging Solon bade
look at the closing scene[657] of a life however long. Banishment,
and the jail, and the marshes of Minturnæ,[658] and his bread begged
in conquered Carthage, took their rise from this. What could all
nature, what could Rome, have produced more blessed in the wide world
than that citizen, had he breathed forth his soul[659] glutted with
spoils, while the captive train followed around his chariot, in all
the pomp and circumstance of war, when he was about to alight from his
Teutonic[660] car! Campania,[661] in her foresight for Pompey, had
given him a fever he should have prayed for. But the many cities and
their public prayers prevailed. Therefore his own malignant fortune
and that of Rome preserved him only that conquered he should lose
his head. Lentulus[662] escaped this torment; Cethegus paid not this
penalty, but fell unmutilated; and Catiline lay with corpse entire.
The anxious mother, when she visits Venus' temple, prays for beauty
for her boys with subdued whisper;[663] with louder voice for her
girls, carrying her fond wishes[664] even to the verge of trifling.
"But why should you chide me?" she says; "Latona[665] delights in the
beauty of Diana." But, Lucretia[666] forbids a face like hers to be the
subject of your prayers: Virginia would gladly give hers to Rutila,
and receive her wen in exchange. But, a son possessed of exquisite
person keeps his parents in a constant state of misery and alarm. So
rare is the union[667] of beauty with chastity. Though the house,
austere in virtue, and emulating the Sabines of old, may have handed
down,[668] like an inheritance, purity of morals, and bounteous Nature
with benignant hand may give, besides, a chaste mind and a face glowing
with modest blood (for what greater boon can Nature bestow on a youth?
Nature, more powerful than any guardian, or any watchful care!), still
they are not allowed to attain to manhood. For the villainy of the
corrupter, prodigal in its guilt, dares to assail with tempting offers
the parents themselves. So great is their confidence in the success of
bribes! No tyrant in his cruel palace ever castrated a youth that was
deformed; nor did even Nero carry off a stripling if club-footed, or
disfigured by wens, pot-bellied, and humpbacked! Go then, and exult in
the beauty of your darling boy! Yet for whom are there greater perils
in store? He will become the adulterer of the city, and dread all the
punishments[669] that angry husbands inflict. Nor will he be more
lucky than the star of Mars, even though he never fall like Mars into
the net.[670] But sometimes that bitter wrath exacts even more than
any law permits, to satisfy the husband's rage. One dispatches the
adulterer with the sword; another cuts him in two with bloody lashes;
some have the punishment of the mullet. But your Endymion, forsooth,
will of course become the lover of some lady of his affections! But
soon, when Servilia[671] has bribed him, he will serve her whom he
loves not, and will despoil her of all her ornaments. For what will any
woman refuse, to get her passions gratified? whether she be an Oppia,
or a Catulla. A depraved woman has all her morality[672] concentred
there. "But what harm does beauty do one that is chaste?" Nay, what
did his virtuous resolve avail Hippolytus, or what Bellerophon? Surely
she[673] fired at the rejection of her suit, as though treated with
indignity. Nor did Sthenobæa burn less fiercely than the Cretan; and
both lashed themselves into fury. A woman is then most ruthless, when
shame sets sharper spurs[674] to her hate. Choose what course you
think should be recommended him to whom Cæsar's wife[675] purposes to
marry herself. This most noble and most beautiful of the patrician
race is hurried off, poor wretched man, a sacrifice to the lewd eyes
of Messalina. She is long since seated with her bridal veil all ready:
the nuptial bed with Tyrian hangings is openly prepared in the gardens,
and, according to the antique rites, a dowry of a million sesterces
will be given; the soothsayer[676] and the witnesses to the settlement
will be there! Do you suppose these acts are kept secret; intrusted
only to a few? She will not be married otherwise than with all legal
forms. Tell me which alternative you choose. If you refuse to comply,
you must die before nightfall.[677] If you _do_ commit the crime, some
brief delay will be afforded you, until the thing, known to the city
and the people,[678] shall reach the prince's ears. He will be the last
to learn the disgrace of his house! Do you meanwhile obey her behests,
if you set so high a value on a few days' existence. Whichever you hold
the better and the safer course, that white and beauteous neck must be
presented[679] to the sword!

Is there then nothing for which men shall pray? If you will take
advice, you will allow the deities themselves to determine what may
be expedient for us, and suitable to our condition. For instead of
pleasant things, the gods will give us all that is most fitting. Man
is dearer to them than to himself. We, led on by the impulse of our
minds, by blind and headstrong passions, pray for wedlock, and issue
by our wives; but it is known to them what our children will prove;
of what character our wife will be! Still, that you may have somewhat
to pray for, and vow to their shrines the entrails and consecrated
mincemeat[680] of the white porker, your prayer must be that you may
have a sound mind in a sound body. Pray for a bold spirit, free from
all dread of death; that reckons the closing scene of life among
Nature's kindly boons;[681] that can endure labor, whatever it be; that
deems the gnawing cares of Hercules,[682] and all his cruel toils, far
preferable to the joys of Venus, rich banquets, and the downy couch of
Sardanapalus. I show thee what thou canst confer upon thyself. The only
path that surely leads to a life of peace lies through virtue. If _we_
have wise foresight, _thou_, Fortune, hast no divinity.[683] It is we
that make thee a deity, and place thy throne in heaven![684]

FOOTNOTES:

[550] _Gadibus._ Gades, now Cadiz, and Ganges were the western and
eastern boundaries of the then known world.

[551] _Nebulâ._ Cf. Plat., Alcib., ii., τῆς ψυχῆς ἀφελόντα τὴν ἀχλύν;
from which many ideas in this Satire, particularly toward the close,
are borrowed.

"As treacherous phantoms in the mist delude,
Shuns fancied ills, or chases, airy good." Johnson's imitation.

[552] _Evertere._ These are almost Cicero's own words. "Cupiditates non
modo singulos homines sed _universas familias evertunt_," de Fin., i.
Cf. Shakspeare:

"We, ignorant of ourselves,
Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers
Deny us for our good: so find we profit
By losing of our prayers."

[553] _Torrens._

"Some who the depths of eloquence have found,
In that unnavigable stream were drown'd." Dryden.

[554] _Viribus._ Roscommon, as Gifford says, tells his history in two
lines:

"Remember Milo's end,
Wedged in the timber which he strove to rend."

Cf. Ovid, Ib., 609, "Utque Milon robur diducere fissile tentes, nec
possis captas inde referre manus."

[555] _Balæna Britannica._ Cf. Hor., iv., Od. xiv., 47, "Te _belluosus_
qui remotis obstrepit Oceanus Britannis." There is probably an allusion
here to the large sums which Seneca had out at interest in Britain,
where his rigor in exacting his demands occasioned a rebellion.

[556] _Tota cohors._ "Illo propinquâ vesperâ, tribunus venit, et villam
_globus militum_ sepsit." Tac., Ann., xv., 60.

[557] _Longinum._ Cassius Longinus was charged with keeping among his
Imagines one of Cassius, Cæsar's murderer; and allowed an hour to die
in. Suet., Ner., 37.

[558] _Seneca._ Rufus and Tigellinus charged Seneca "tanquam ingentes
et privatum suprà modum evectas opes adhuc augeret--hortorum quoque
amænitate et villarum magnificentiâ quasi Principem supergrederetur;"
and Seneca himself, in his speech to Nero, says, "Tantum honorum atque
opûm in me cumulâsti, ut nihil felicitati meæ desit." Tacit., Ann.,
xiv., 52, _seq._

[559] _Puri._ Cf. ix., 141.

[560] _Lateranorum._ Vid. Tac., Ann., xv., 60, for the death of
Plautius Lateranus. His house was on the Cœlian Hill, on the site of
the modern Lateran.

[561] _Motæ ad Lunam._ Cf. Hor., i., Od. xxiii., 3, "Non sine vano
aurarum et siluæ metu." Stat., Theb., vi., 158," Impulsæque noto
frondes cassusque valeret exanimare timor." Claud., Eutrop., ii., 452,
"Ecce levis frondes a tergo concutit aura: credit tela Leo: valuit pro
vulnere terror."

[562] _Vacuus._ Cf. Ov., Nux., 43, "Sic timet insidias qui scit se
ferre viator cur timeat, tutum carpit inanis iter." Sen., Lucil.,
"Nudum Latro transmittit."

"While void of care the beggar trips along,
And, in the spoiler's presence, trolls his song." Gifford.

[563] _Divitiæ._ Vid. Cic., "Expetuntur Divitiæ ut utare; _Opes_ ut
colaris: _Honores_ ut lauderis." De Amicit., vi.

[564] _Foro._ The public treasure was in the temple of Saturn. Private
individuals had their money in strong boxes deposited in the Forum
Trajani, or Forum Augusti; in the temple of Mars "Ultor" originally;
afterward in the temple of Castor and others, probably of Pax. Cf.
xiv., 259, "Æratâ multus in arcâ fiscus, et ad vigilem ponendi Cartora
nummi." Cf. Suet., Jul., x. Pliny the Younger was once præfectus ærarii
Saturni.

[565] _Gemmata._ Cf. v., 39, 41.--_Setinum_, v., 34.

"Fear the gemm'd goblet, and suspicious hold
The ruby juice that glows in cups of gold." Badham.

[566] _De Sapientibus._ Democritus of Abdera, and Heracleitus of
Ephesus.

[567] _Ridebat._ Cf. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 194, "Si foret in terris
_rideret_ Democritus." δεῖσθαι μοι δοκεῖ Ἡρακλείτου ἤ Δημοκρίτου, τοῦ
μὲν γελασομένου τὴν ἄνοιαν αὐτῶν, τοῦ δὲ τὴν ἄγνοιαν ὀδυρομένου. Luc.,
βι. πρ., 13, τὸν γελῶντα, τὸν Ἀβδηρόθεν καὶ τὸν κλαίοντα τὸν ἐξ Ἐφέσου.

[568]

"The marvel this, since all the world can sneer,
What fountains fed the ever-needed tear." Badham.

[569] _Trabeæ._ Cf. ad viii., 259.

[570] _Prætor._ Juvenal has mixed up together the procession of the
prætor to open the Circensian games, and a triumphal procession. The
latter proceeded through the principal streets _to_ the Capitol. The
former, _from_ the Capitol to the _centre_ of the circus. The triumphal
car was in the shape of a turret, gilded, and drawn by four white
horses: it often occurs on coins. The tunica palmata, worn by generals
in their triumph, was kept in the temple of Jupiter. The toga picta was
purple, and so heavily embroidered that it may well be compared to a
brocaded curtain. Tyre was anciently called Sarra, which may be traced
in its modern name Sur.

"His robe a ponderous curtain of brocade,
Inwrought and stiff by Tyrian needles' aid." Badham.

[571] _Orbem._ Probably an allusion to Atlas.

[572] _Sufficit._

"And would have crush'd it with the massy freight,
But that a sweating slave sustain'd the weight." Dryden.

Probably the crown was _not_ worn, but merely _held_ by the slave at
his side.

"The menial destined in his car to ride,
And cool the swelling consul's feverish pride." Hodgson.

[573] _Crasso._ "Bœotum in _crasso_ jurares _ære_ natum." Hor., ii.,
Ep. i., 244. Bœotia was called the land of hogs, which so much annoyed
Pindar. Vid. Ol., vi., 152. Abdera seems to have had as bad a name. Cf.
Mart., x., Ep. xxv., 3, "Abderitanæ pectora plebis habes."

[574] _Medium unguem._ Hence called "Infamis digitus." Pers., ii., 33.
Cf. Mart., ii., Ep. xxviii., 2, "digitum porrigito medium." VI., Ep.
lxx., 5, "Ostendit digitum impudicum."

[575] _Incerare._ They used to fasten their vows, written on wax
tablets, to the knees or thighs of the gods. When their wishes were
granted, these were replaced by the offerings they had vowed. Cf. Hom.,
Il., p., 514, θεῶν ἐν γούνασι κεῖται.

[576] _Mergit._ Cf. Sil., viii., 285; or mergit may be used _actively_,
as xiii., 8. Lucr., v., 1006. Virg., Æn., vi., 512.

[577] _Statuæ._ Cf. ad viii., 18. Tac., Ann., vi., 2. Plin., Pan., 52,
"Juvabat illidere solo superbissimos vultus, instare ferro, _sævire
securibus_, ut si singulos ictus sanguis dolorque sequeretur"--"instar
ultionis videretur cernere imagines abjectas excoctasque flammis."

[578] _Immeritis._

"The driven axe destroys the conquering car,
And unoffending steeds the ruin share." Hodgson.

[579] _Adoratum._ Cf. Tac., Ann., iii., 72; iv., 2, "Coli per theatra
et fora effigies ejus sineret." Vid. Suet., Tib., lv., 48, "Solæ nullam
Sejani imaginem inter signa coluissent." 65, "Sejani imagines aureas
coli passim videret."

[580] _Sartago._

"And from the stride of those colossal legs
You buy the useful pan that fries your eggs." Badham.

Dryden reads "matellæ."

[581] _Pone domi lauros._ Cf. ad ix., 85.

[582] _Sequitur Fortunam._

"When the king's _trump_, the mob are for the king." Dryden.

[583] _Nurscia_, Nyrtia, Nortia, or Nurtia, the Etruscan goddess of
Fortune, nearly identical with Atropos, and cognate with Minerva. The
old Schol. says, "Fortuna apud Nyrtiam colitur _unde fuit Sejanus_."
But Tacitus tells us (Ann., iv., l; vi., 8) that Sejanus was a native
of Volsinii, now Bolsena. Outside the Florence gate of Bolsena stands
the ruin of a temple still called Tempio di Norzia. Cf. Liv., vii., 3;
Tertull., Apoll., 24, ad Nat., ii., 8; Müller's Etrusker, IV., vii., 6;
Dennis's Etruria, i., p. 258, 509.

[584] _Fornacula._ "A fire so fierce for one was scarcely made."
Gifford.

[585] _Brutidius._ Tacitus speaks thus of him: "Brutidium artibus
honestis copiosum et, si rectum iter pergeret, ad clarissima quæque
iturum festinatio exstimulabat, dum æquales, dein superiores, postremo
suasmet ipse spes anteire parat." Ann., iii., 66. He had been one of
the accusers of Silanus, and was involved in Sejanus' fall. "Magna est
fornacula" is well borne out by Tacitus' account. "Cunctos qui carcere
attinebantur, accusati societatis cum Sejano, necari jubet. _Jacuit
immensa strages_; omnis sexus omnis ætas: inlustres ignobiles--corpora
adsectabantur dum in Tiberim traherentur." Ann., vi., 19.

[586] _Victus._ Fierce as Ajax, when worsted in the contest for the
arms of Achilles.

[587] _Exercitibus præponere._ Vid. Tac., Ann., iv., 2, "Centuriones ac
Tribunos ipse deligere: neque senatorio ambitu abstinebat clientes suos
honoribus aut provinciis ornando, facili Tiberio atque ita prono ut
socium laborum celebraret."

[588] _Tutor._

"Arraign
Thy feeble sovereign in a guardian's strain,
Who sits amid his foul Chaldæan herd
In that august domain to Rome preferr'd." Badham.

[589] _Sedentis._ Cf. Suet., Tib., 43; Tac., Ann., vi., 1. Grangæus
supposes this word to have reference to the Sellaria there described.
It probably only refers to his luxury and indolence. Tiberius was with
Augustus when he visited Capreæ shortly before his death: "remisissimo
ad otium et ad omnem comitatem animo. Vicinam Capreis insulam
ἀπραγοπόλιν appellabat à desidiâ secedentium illuc e comitatu suo." Cf.
c. 40. Tac., Ann., iv., 67.

[590] _Augusta._ The old reading was angustâ. The alteration of a
single letter converts a forceless expletive into an epithet full of
picturesque and historic truth.

[591] _Egregios equites._ The flower of the Roman army, the prætorian
troops, of which Sejanus was præfect.

[592] _Vasa minora._

"To pound false weights and scanty measures break." Dryden.

[593] _Ulubris._ Cf. Hor., i., Ep. xi., 30, "Est Ulubris, animus si non
tibi deficit æquus." Another joke at the expense of the plebeian ædiles
(cf. iii., 162), who had the charge of inspecting weights and measures,
markets and provisions, roads, theatres, etc. These functionaries still
exist (as Gifford says), "as ragged and consequential" as ever, in the
Italian villages, retaining their old name of Podestà.

"Deal out the law, and curb with high decree
The tricks of trade at empty Ulubræ." Hodgson.

[594] _Altior._ The idea is probably borrowed from Menander, ἐπαίρεται
γὰρ μεῖζον, ἵνα μεῖζον πέσῃ. So hence Horace, ii., Od. x., 10, "Celsæ
graviore casu decidunt turres." So Claudian in Rufin., i., 22,
"Tolluntur in altum ut lapsu graviore ruant;" and Shakspeare, "Raised
up on high to be hurl'd down below."

[595] _Ruinæ._ So Milton.

"With hideous _ruin_ and combustion down." C. Badham.

[596] _Crassos._ M. Licinius Crassus and his son Publius; both killed
in the Parthian war.

[597] _Pompeios._ Cn. Pompeius Magnus, and his two sons, Cnæus and
Sextus.

[598] _Domitos._

"The stubborn pride of Roman nobles broke,
And bent their haughty necks beneath his yoke." Dryd.

[599] _Colit._ Ov., Fast., iii., 816, "Qui benè placârit Pallada doctus
erit."

[600] _Vernula._ This slave was called Capsarius. Suet., Ner., 36. Cf.
ad vi., 451.

[601] _Quinquatribus._ Cf. Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 197, "Puer ut festis
quinquatribus olim." This festival originally lasted only _one_ day;
and was celebrated xiv. Kal. April. It was so called "quia _post diem
quintum_ Idus Martias ageretur." So "post diem sextum" was called
Sexatrus; and "post diem septimum," Septimatrus. Varro, L. L., v.,
3. It was afterward _extended_ to five days; hence the "vulgus"
supposed that to have been the origin of the name; and so Ovid takes
it, "Nominaque a junctis quinque diebus habet," Fast., iii., 809; who
says it was kept in honor of Minerva's natal day, "Causa quod est
illâ nata Minerva die," l. 812. (Others say, because on that day her
temple on Mount Aventine was consecrated.) Domitian kept the festival
in great state at his Alban villa. Suet., Domit., iv. Cicero has a
punning allusion to it. Vid. Fam., xii., 25. These five days were the
schoolmasters' holidays; and on the first they received their pay, or
entrance fee, διδακτρὰ, hence called Minerval; though Horace seems to
imply they were paid every month, "Octonis referentes Idibus æra." I.,
Sat. vi., 75. The lesser Quinquatrus were on the Ides of June. Ov.,
Fast., vi., 651, "Quinquatrus jubeor narrare minores," called also
Quinquatrus Minusculæ.

[602] _Rostra._ Popilius Lenas, who cut off Cicero's head and hands,
carried them to Antony, who rewarded him with a civic crown and a large
sum of money, and ordered the head to be fixed between the hands to the
Rostra. (For the _name_, vid. Liv., viii., 14.)

[603] _Antonî gladios._ Quoting Cicero's own words, "Contempsi Catilinæ
gladios, non pertimescam tuos." Phil., ii., 46.

"For me, the sorriest rhymes I'd rather claim,
Than bear the brunt of that Philippic's fame,
The second! the divine!" Badham.

[604] _Torrentem._ So i., 9, "Torrens dicendi copia;" iii., 74, "Isæo
torrentior." At the approach of Antipater, Demosthenes fled from
Athens, and took refuge in the temple of Poseidon at Calaureia, near
Argolis; and fearing to fall into the hands of Archias, took poison,
which he carried about with him in a reed, or, as Pliny says, in a
ring, xxxiii., 1.

[605] _Forcipibus._ Cf. Virg., Æn., viii., 453, "Versantque tenaci
forcipe massam." Juvenal seems to have had the whole passage in his eye.

[606] _Vulcano._ Demosthenes' father was a μαχαιροποιός: in which
capacity he employed a large number of slaves, ἐργαστήριον ἔχων μέγα
καὶ δούλους τεχνίτας. But as he could not afford to place his son under
the costly Isocrates, he sent him to Isæus.

[607] _Truncis._ Virg., Æn., xi., 5.

Ingentem quercum decisis undique ramis
Constituit tumulo, fulgentiaque induit arma,
Mezenti ducis _exuvias_, tibi magne _tropæum_
Bellipotens: aptat rorantes sanguine cristas
Telaque _trunca_ viri.

[608] _Aplustre_, the ἄφλαστον of the Greeks was the high peak of the
galley, from which rose the ensign.

[609] _Arcu._ Cf. Suet., Domit., 13, "Janos arcusque cum quadrigis et
insignibus triumphorum per regiones urbis tantos et tot exstruxit, ut
cuidam Græcè inscriptum sit, ἀρκεῖ—." Some think there is an allusion
here to the column of Trajan, erected in honor of his Dacian victories.
This would bring down the date of this Satire to after A.D. 113.

[610] _Amplectitur._

"That none confess fair Virtue's genuine power,
Or woo her to their breast without a dower." Gifford.

[611] _Sepulchris_; from Propertius, III., ii., 19, _seq._ So Ausonius,
"Mors etiam saxis, nominibusque venit."

"For fate hath foreordain'd its day of doom,
Not to the tenant only, but the tomb." Badham.

[612] _Expende._

"How are the mighty changed to dust! how small
The urn that holds what once was Hannibal!" Hodgson.

[613] _Altos_; others read _alios_; referring to the elephants of
_Africa_ as well as _Asia_. "Elephantos fert Africa, ferunt Æthiopes et
Troglodytæ: sed maximos India." Plin., viii., 11.

[614] _Aceto._ Vid. Liv., xxi., 37. Polybius omits the story as
fabulous. There appears, now, no reason to doubt the fact.

[615] Actum. "Nil actum referens si quid superesset agendum."

"Peace courts his hand, but spreads her charms in vain;
'Think nothing gain'd,' he cries, 'till naught remain;
On Moscow's walls till Gothic standards fly,
And all be mine beneath the Polar sky.'" Johnson.

[616] _Facies._

"Oh! for some master-hand, the lines to trace!" Gifford.

[617] _Luscum._ Hannibal lost one eye, while crossing the marshes, in
making his way to Etruria: "quia medendi nec locus nec tempus erat
altero oculo capitur;" he rode, Livy tells us, on his sole surviving
elephant, xxii., 2.

[618] _Bithyno._ When accused by the Romans at Carthage, Hannibal
fled to Antiochus, king of Syria, and thence to the court of Prusias,
king of Bithynia, for whom he carried on successfully the war against
Eumenes. But when Flaminius was sent to demand his surrender, he
destroyed himself with poison, which he always carried in a ring.

[619] _Sanguinis._ Forty-five thousand dead were left on the field of
Cannæ, with the Consul Æmilius Paulus, eighty senators, and very many
others of high rank.

[620] _Declamatio._ Cf. vii., 167, "Sexta quâque die miserum dirus
caput Hannibal implet." So I. 150, and i., 15.

"Go, climb the rugged Alps, ambitious fool!
To please the boys, and be a theme at school." Dryden.

[621] _Unus._ "Heu me miserum! quod ne uno quidem adhuc potitus sum!"
is the exclamation put into Alexander's mouth by Val. Max., viii., 14.

[622] _Gyaris._ Cf. i., 73; vi., 563.

[623] _Figulis._ Cf. Herod., i., 78. Ov., Met., iv., 27, "Ubi dicitur
altam Coctilibus muris cinxisse Semiramis urbem."

[624] _Sarcophago._ A stone was found at Assos, near Troy, which was
said to possess the property of consuming the flesh of bodies inclosed
in it within the space of forty days, hence called σαρκοφάγος. Plin.,
ii., 96; xxxvi., 17. Cf. Henry's speech to Hotspur's body:

"Ill-weaved ambition, how much art thou shrunk!
When that this body did contain a spirit,
A kingdom for it was too small a bound:
But now, two paces of the vilest earth
Is room enough."

So Hall:

"Fond fool! six feet shall serve for all thy store,
And he that cares for most shall find no more."

And Shirley:

"How little room do we take up in death,
That, living, knew no bounds!"

And Webster's Duchess of Malfy:

"Much you had of land and rent;
Your length in clays's now competent."

So K. Henry VI.:

"And of all my lands
Is nothing left me but my body's length."

And Dryden's Antony:

"The place thou pressest on thy mother Earth
Is all thy empire now."

Cf. Æsch., S. Theb., 731. Soph., Œd. Col., 789. Shakspeare's Richard
II., Act iii., sc. 2.

[625] _Epota._ Herodotus mentions the Scamander, Onochnous, Apidanus,
and Echedorus.

"Rivers, whose depth no sharp beholder sees,
Drunk at an army's dinner to the lees!" Dryden.

[626] _Sostratus._ Of this poet nothing is known.--_Madidis_, probably
in the same sense as in Sat. xv., 47, "Facilis victoria de madidis."
Sil., xii., 18, "Madefacta mero."

[627] _Ennosigæum._ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐνόθειν τὴν γαῖαν. Cf. Hom., Il., vii.,
455. _Æolis_ is an allusion to Virgil, Æn., i., 51, "Vinclis ac carcere
frænat," etc.

[628] _Stigmate._ Herod., vii., 35.

"That shackles o'er th' earth-shaking Neptune threw,
And thought it lenient not to brand him too." Gifford.

[629] _Servire Deorum._ As Apollo served Admetus; Neptune, Laomedon,
etc.

"Ye gods! obeyed ye such a fool as this?" Hodgson.

[630] _Tardâ._ Perhaps alluding to Her., viii., 118.

"A single skiff to speed his flight remains,
Th' encumbered oar scarce leaves the dreaded coast
Through purple billows and a floating host!" Johnson.

[631] _Tabraca_, on the coast of Tunis, now Tabarca.

[632] _Simia._ So Ennius, in Cic., Nat. De., i., 35, "Simia, quam
similis turpissima bestia nobis!"

"A stick-fallen cheek! that hangs below the jaw,
Such wrinkles as a skillful hand would draw
For an old grandam ape, when, with a grace,
She sits at squat, and scrubs her leathern face." Dryden.

[633] _Cum voce trementia membra._ Compare Hamlet's speech to Polonius,
and As you like it, Act ii., 7:

"His big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in its sound."

"The self-same palsy both in limbs and tongue." Dryden.

[634] _Palato._ Compare Barzillai's speech to David, 2 Sam., xix., 35,
"I am this day fourscore years old; and can I discern between good or
evil? can thy servant taste what I eat and what I drink? can I hear any
more the voice of singing men and singing women?"

[635] _Vini._

"Now pall the tasteless meats, and joyless wines,
And Luxury with sighs her slave resigns." Johnson.

[636] _Viribus._ Shakspeare, King Henry IV., Part ii., Act ii.,
sc. 4, "Is it not strange that desire should so many years outlive
performance?"

[637] _Auratâ._ Cic. ad Heren., iv., 47, "Uti citharædus cum prodierit
optimè vestitus, pallâ _inauratâ_ indutus, cum chlamyde purpureâ
coloribus variis intextâ, cum coronâ aureâ, magnis _fulgentibus_
gemmis illuminatâ." Horace, A. P., 215, "Luxuriem addidi arti Tibicen,
traxitque vagus per pulpita vestem."

[638] _Nuntiet horas._ Slaves were employed to watch the dials in the
houses of those who had them, and report the hour: those who had no
dial sent to the Forum. Cf. Mart., viii., 67. Suet., Domit., xvi.,
"Sexta nuntiata est."

[639] _Gelido._ Virg., Æn., v., 395, "Sed enim _gelidus_ tardante
senectâ _Sanguis_ hebet, _frigentque_ effœtæ in corpora vires."

[640] _Themison_ of Laodicea in Syria, pupil of Asclepiades, was an
eminent physician of the time of Pompey the Great, and is said to have
been the founder of the "Methodic" school, as opposed to the "Empiric."
Vid. Cels., Præf. Plin., N. H., xxix., 15. Others say he lived in
Augustus' time, and Hodgson thinks he may have lived even to Juvenal's
days. Cicero (de Orat., i., 14) mentions an Asclepiades; and the names
of at least _three_ others are mentioned in later times.

[641] _Quo tondente._ Cf. i., 35.

[642] _Hiat._ Cf. Lucian, Tim., ἐμὲ περιμένουσι κεχηνότες ὥσπερ τὴν
χελιδόνα προσπετομένην τετριγότες οἰ νεοσσοί. P. 72, E., ed. Bened.

[643] _Jejuna_, from Hom., Il., ix., 323, ὡς δ' ὄρνις ἀπτῆσι νεοσσοῖσι
προφέρῃσι μάστακ', ἐπεί κε λάβῃσι, κακῶς δέ τέ οἱ πέλει αὐτῇ.

[644] _Phialen._

"Forgets the children he begot and bred,
And makes a strumpet heiress in their stead." Gifford.

[645] _Nigrâ._ "And liveries of black for length of years." Dryden.

[646] _Pylius._ Hom., Il., i., 250, μετὰ δὲ τριτάτοισιν ἄνασσεν. So
Odyss., iii., 245, τρὶς γὰρ δή μίν φασιν ἀνάξασθαι γένε' ἀνδρῶν.

[647] _Cornice._

"Next to the raven's age, the Pylian king
Was longest-lived of any two-legged thing." Dryden.

[648] _Dextra._ This the Greeks express by ἀναπεμπάζεσθαι. They counted
on the left hand as far as a hundred, then on the right up to two
hundred, and then again on the left for the third hundred. Holyday has
a most elaborate explanation of the method.

[649] _Antilochi._ Cf. Hor., II., Od. ix., 14.

[650] _Natantem._ Cf. Hom., Od., v., 388, 399.

"So Peleus sigh'd to join his hero lost--
Laertes his on boundless billows toss'd." Hodgson.

[651] _Polyxena_, from Eurip., Hec., 556, λαβοῦσα πέπλους ἐξ ἄκρας
ἐπωμίδος ἔῤῥηξε.

[652] _Miles tremulus._ Virg., Æn., ii., 509, "Arma diu senior desueta
trementibus ævo circumdat," etc.

"A soldier half, and half a sacrifice." Dryden.

[653] _Bos._ Virg., Æn., v., 481, "Sternitur, exanimisque tremens
procumbit humi bos."

[654] _Fastiditus._

"Disdain'd its labors, and forgotten now
All its old service at the thankless plow." Hodgson.

[655] _Canino._ See the close of Eurip., Hecuba. The Greeks fabled that
Hecuba was metamorphosed into a bitch, from her constant railing at
them. Hence κυνὸς σῆμα. Cf. Plaut., Menœchm., v. i.

[656] _Crœsus._ Cf. Herod., i., 32.

[657] _Spatia_, a metaphor from the "course." So Virgil has metæ ævi,
metæ mortis.

[658] _Minturnarum_, a town of the Aurunci near the mouth of the Liris,
now Garigliano. In the marshes in the neighborhood Marius concealed
himself from the cavalry of Sylla.

[659] _Animam._

"Had he exhaled amid the pomp of war,
A warrior's soul in that Teutonic car." Badham.

[660] _Teutonico_, i. e., after his triumph over the Cimbri and
Teutones. Cf. viii., 251.

[661] _Campania._ Cf. Cic., Tus. Qu., i., 35, "Pompeius noster
familiaris, cum graviter ægrotaret Neapoli, utrum si tum esset
extinctus, à bonis rebus, an à malis discessisset? certè a miseriis,
si mortem tum obiisset, in amplissimis fortunis occidisset." Achillas
and L. Septimius murdered Pompey and cut off his head; which ἐφύλασσον
Καίσαρι, ὡς ἐπὶ μεγίσταις ἀμοιβαῖς. Appian, B.C., ii., 86

[662] _P. Corn. Lentulus Sura_, was strangled in prison with Cethegus.
Catiline fell in battle, near Pistoria in Etruria.

[663] _Murmure._ Venus was worshiped under the name of ἀφροδίτη
Ψίθυρος, because all prayers were to be offered in whispers.

[664] _Delicias._ This is Heinrich's view. Grangæus explains it,
"Ut pro ipsis vota deliciarum plena concipiat." Britannicus, "quasi
diceret, optat ut tam formosa sit, ut eam juvenes in suos amplexus
optent."

[665] _Latona._ Hom., Od. vi., 106, γέγηθε δέ τε φρένα Λήτω. Virg.,
Æn., i., 502, Latonæ tacitum pertentant gaudia pectus.

[666] _Lucretia._

"Yet Vane could tell what ills from beauty spring,
And Sedley cursed the form that pleased a king!" Johnson.

[667] _Concordia._ Ov., Heroid, xvi., 288, "Lis est cum _forma_ magna
_pudicitiæ_."

"Chaste--is no epithet to suit with fair." Dryden.

[668] _Tradiderit._

"Though through the rugged house, from sire to son,
A Sabine sanctity of manners run." Gifford.

[669] _Pœnas metuet._ The punishment of adulterers seems to have been
left to the discretion of the injured husband rather than to have been
defined by law.

[670] _Laqueos._ Ov., Met., iv., 176, "Extemplo graciles ex ære
catenas, Retiaque et laqueos quæ lumina fallere possint, elimat." Art.
Am., ii., 561, _seq._ Hom., Odyss., viii., 266.

[671] _Servilia_; i. e., some one as rich and debauched as Servilia,
sister of Cato and mother of Brutus, with whom Cæsar intrigued, and
lavished immense wealth on her. Vid. Suet, Jul., 50. Her sister, the
wife of Lucullus, was equally depraved.

[672] _Mores._

"In all things else, immoral, stingy, mean,
But in her lusts a conscionable quean." Dryden.

[673] _Hæc_, sc. Phædra, daughter of Minos, king of Crete.

[674] _Stimulos._

"A woman scorn'd is pitiless as fate,
For then the dread of shame adds stings to hate." Gifford.

[675] _Cæsaris uxor._ The story is told in Tacitus, Ann., xi., 12, seq.
"In Silium, juventutis Romanæ _pulcherrimum_ ita exarserat, ut Juniam
Silanam nobilem fœminam, matrimonio ejus exturbaret vacuoque adultero
potiretur. Neque Silius _flagitii_ aut _periculi_ nescius erat: _sed
certo si abnueret exitio_ et nonnullâ fallendi spe, simul magnis
præmiis, opperiri futura, et præsentibus frui, pro solatio habebat."
This happened A.D. 48, in the autumn, while Claudius was at Ostia.
It was with great difficulty, after all, that Narcissus prevailed on
Claudius to order Messalina's execution, cf. xiv., 331; Tac., Ann.,
xi., 37; and she was put to death at last without his knowledge.

[676] _Auspex._ Suet., Claud. "Cum comperisset «Valeriam Messalinam»
super cætera flagitia atque dedecora, C. Silio etiam nupsisse, _dote
inter auspices consignatâ_, supplicio affecit." C. 26; cf. 36, 39.

[677] _Lucernas._ "Before the evening lamps 'tis thine to die." Badham.

[678] _Nota urbi et populo._ Juvenal uses almost the very words of
Tacitus. "An discidium inquit (Narcissus) tuum nôsti? Nam matrimonium
Silii vidit populus et senatus et miles: ac ni properè agis tenet urbem
maritus." Ann., xi., 30.

[679] _Prœbenda._ Cf. Tac., Ann., xi., 38.

"Inevitable death before thee lies,
But looks more kindly through a lady's eyes!" Dryden.

[680] _Tomacula_, "the liver and other parts cut out of the pig minced
up with the fat." Mart., i., Ep. xlii., 9, "Quod fumantia qui tomacla
raucus circumfert tepidus coquus popinis." The other savory ingredients
are given by Facciolati; the Greeks called them τεμάχη or τεμάχια.

[681] _Munera._

"A soul that can securely death defy,
And count it Nature's privilege to die." Dryden.

[682] _Hercules._ Alluding to the well-known "Choice of Hercules" from
Prodicus. Xen., Mem.

[683] _Nullum numen._ Repeated, xiv., 315.

[684] "The reasonings in this Satire," Gibbon says, "would have been
clearer, had Juvenal distinguished between wishes the accomplishment
of which could not fail to make us miserable, and those whose
accomplishment might fail to make us happy. Absolute power is of the
first kind; long life of the second."

SATIRE XI.

If Atticus[685] sups extravagantly, he is considered a splendid[686]
fellow: if Rutilus does so, he is thought mad. For what is received
with louder laughter on the part of the mob, than Apicius[687] reduced
to poverty?

Every club,[688] the baths, every knot of loungers, every theatre,[689]
is full of Rutilus. For while his sturdy and youthful limbs are fit to
bear arms,[690] and while he is hot in blood, he is driven[691] (not
indeed forced to it, but unchecked by the tribune) to copy out[692]
the instructions and imperial commands of the trainer of gladiators.
Moreover, you see many whom their creditor, often cheated of his money,
is wont to look out for at the very entrance of the market;[693] and
whose inducement to live exists in their palate alone. The greatest
wretch among these, one who must soon fail, since his ruin is already
as clear[694] as day, sups the more extravagantly and the more
splendidly. Meanwhile they ransack all the elements for dainties;[695]
the price never standing in the way of their gratification. If you
look more closely into it, those please the more which are bought for
more. Therefore they have no scruple[696] in borrowing a sum, soon
to be squandered, by pawning[697] their plate, or the broken[698]
image of their mother; and, with the 400[699] sesterces, seasoning an
earthen[700] dish to tickle their palate. Thus they are reduced to the
hotch-potch[701] of the gladiator.

It makes therefore all the difference who it is that procures these
same things. For in Rutilus it is luxurious extravagance. In Ventidius
it takes a praiseworthy name, and derives credit from his fortune.

I should with reason despise the man who knows how much more lofty
Atlas is than all the mountains in Libya, yet this very man knows
not how much a little purse differs from an iron-bound chest.[702]
"Know thyself," came down from heaven:[703] a proverb to be
implanted and cherished in the memory, whether you are about to
contract matrimony,[704] or wish to be in a part of the sacred[705]
senate:--(for not even Thersites[706] is a candidate for the
breast-plate of Achilles: in which Ulysses exhibited himself in a
doubtful character:[707])--or whether you take upon yourself to defend
a cause of great moment. Consult your own powers; tell yourself who
you are; whether you are a powerful orator, or like a Curtius, or a
Matho,[708] mere spouters.

One must know one's own measure, and keep it in view, in the greatest
and in most trifling matters; even when a fish is to be bought. Do not
long for a mullet,[709] when you have only a gudgeon in your purse.
For what end awaits you, as your purse[710] fails and your gluttony
increases: when your patrimony and whole fortune is squandered[711]
upon your belly, what can hold your money out at interest, your solid
plate, your flocks, and lands?

By such proprietors as these, last of all[712] the ring is parted with,
and Pollio[713] begs with his finger bare. It is not the premature
funeral pile, or the grave, that is luxury's horror, but old age,[714]
more to be dreaded than death itself. These are most commonly the
steps: money, borrowed at Rome, is spent before the very owners' faces;
then when some trifling residue is left, and the lender of the money is
growing pale, they give leg-bail[715] and run to Baiæ and Ostia. For
now-a-days to quit the forum[716] is not more discreditable to you than
to remove to Esquiline from hot[717] Suburra. This is the only pain
that they who flee their country feel, this their only sorrow, to have
lost the Circensian games[718] for one[719] year. Not a drop of blood
remains in their face; few attempt to detain modesty, now become an
object of ridicule and fleeing from the city.

You shall prove to-day by your own experience, Persicus, whether
all these things, which are very fine to talk about, I do not
practice in my life, in my moral conduct, and in reality: but praise
vegetables,[720] while in secret I am a glutton: in others' hearing
bid my slave bring me water-gruel,[721] but whisper "cheese-cakes" in
his ear. For since you are my promised guest, you shall find me an
Evander:[722] you shall come as the Tirynthian, or the guest, inferior
indeed to him, and yet himself akin by blood to heaven: the one sent to
the skies by water,[723] the other by fire.

Now hear your bill of fare,[724] furnished by no public market.[725]

From my farm at Tibur there shall come a little kid, the fattest and
tenderest of the whole flock, ignorant of the taste of grass, that has
never yet ventured to browse even on the low twigs of the willow-bed,
and that has more milk than blood in his veins: and asparagus[726] from
the mountains, which my bailiff's wife, having laid down her spindle,
gathered. Some huge eggs besides, and still warm in their twisted hay,
shall be served up together with the hens themselves: and grapes kept a
portion of the year, just as they were when fresh upon the vines: pears
from Signia[727] and Syria: and, from the same basket, apples rivaling
those of Picenum,[728] and smelling quite fresh; that you need not be
afraid of, since they have lost their autumnal moisture, which has
been dried up by cold, and the dangers to be feared from their juice
if crude. This would in times gone by have been a luxurious supper
for our senate. Curius[729] with his own hands used to cook over his
little fire pot-herbs which he had gathered in his little garden: such
herbs as now the foul digger in his heavy chain rejects with scorn,
who remembers the flavor of the vile dainties[730] of the reeking
cook-shop. It was the custom formerly to keep against festival days
the flitches of the smoked swine, hanging from the wide-barred rack,
and to set bacon as a birthday treat before one's relations, with the
addition of some fresh meat, if a sacrificial victim furnished any.
Some one of the kin, with the title of "Thrice consul," that had held
command in camps, and discharged the dignity of dictator, used to go
earlier[731] than his wont to such a feast as this, bearing his spade
over his shoulder from the mountain he had been digging on. But when
men trembled at the Fabii,[732] and the stern Cato, and the Scauri and
Fabricii;[733] and when, in fine, even his colleague stood in dread
of the severe character of the strict Censor; no one thought it was
a matter of anxiety or serious concern what kind of tortoise[734]
floated in the wave of ocean, destined to form a splendid and noble
couch for the Trojugenæ. But with side devoid of ornament, and sofas
of diminutive size, the brazen front displayed the mean head of an ass
wearing a chaplet,[735] at which the country lads laughed in wantonness.

The food then was in keeping with the master of the house and the
furniture. Then the soldier, uncivilized, and too ignorant[736] to
admire the arts of Greece, used to break up the drinking-cups, the
work of some renowned artists, which he found in his share of the
booty when cities were overthrown, that his horse might exult in
trappings,[737] and his embossed helmet might display to his enemy
on the point of perishing, likenesses of the Romulean wild beast
bidden to grow tame by the destiny of the empire, and the twin Quirini
beneath the rock, and the naked image of the god coming down[738] with
buckler and spear, and impending over him. Whatever silver he possessed
glittered on his arms[739] alone. In those days, then, they used to
serve all their furmety in a dish of Tuscan earthenware: which you may
envy, if you are at all that way inclined.[740]

The majesty of temples also was more evidently near[741] to men, and a
voice[742] heard about midnight and through the midst of the city, when
the Gauls were coming from the shore of ocean, and the gods discharged
the functions of a prophet, warned us of these.

This was the care which Jupiter used to show for the affairs of
Latium, when made of earthenware,[743] and as yet profaned by no
gold. Those days saw tables made of wood grown at home and from our
native trees.[744] To these uses was the timber applied, if the east
wind had chanced to lay prostrate some old walnut-tree. But now the
rich have no satisfaction in their dinner, the turbot and the venison
lose their flavor, perfumes and roses seem to lose their smell, unless
the broad circumference of the table is supported by a huge mass of
ivory, and a tall leopard with wide-gaping jaws, made of those tusks,
which the gate of Syene[745] transmits, and the active Moors, and the
Indian of duskier hue than the Moor;[746] and which the huge beast
has deposited in some Nabathæan[747] glen, as now grown too weighty
and burdensome to his head: by this their appetite[748] is whetted:
hence their stomach acquires its vigor. For a leg of a table made
only of silver is to them what an iron ring on their finger would
be: I therefore cautiously avoid a proud guest, who compares me with
himself, and looks with scorn on my paltry estate. Consequently I do
not possess a single ounce of ivory: neither my chess-board[749] nor
my men are of this material; nay, the very handles of my knives are of
bone. Yet my viands never become rank in flavor by these, nor does my
pullet cut up the worse on that account. Nor yet will you see a carver,
to whom the whole carving-school[750] ought to yield the palm, some
pupil of the professor Trypherus, at whose house the hare, with the
large sow's udders,[751] and the wild boar, and the roebuck,[752] and
pheasants,[753] and the huge flamingo,[754] and the wild goat[755] of
Gætulia, all forming a most splendid supper, though made of elm, are
carved with the blunted knife, and resounds through the whole Suburra.
My little fellow, who is a novice, and uneducated all his days, does
not know how to take dexterously off a slice of roe, or the wing of a
Guinea-hen;[756] only versed in the mysteries of carving the fragments
of a small collop.[757]

My slave, who is not gayly dressed, and only clad so as to protect him
from cold, will hand you plebeian cups[758] bought for a few pence. He
is no Phrygian or Lycian, or one purchased from the slave-dealer[759]
and at great price. When you ask for any thing, ask in Latin. They have
all the same style of dress; their hair close-cropped and straight, and
only combed to-day on account of company. One is the son of a hardy
shepherd, another of a neat-herd: he sighs after his mother, whom he
has not seen for a long time, and pines for his hovel[760] and his
playmate kids. A lad of ingenuous face, and ingenuous modesty; such as
_those_ ought to be who are clothed in brilliant purple. He shall hand
you wine[761] made on those very hills from which he himself comes, and
under whose summit he has played; for the country of the wine and the
attendant is one and the same.

Gambling is disgraceful, and so is adultery, in men of moderate means.
Yet when rich men commit all those abominations, they are called
jovial, splendid fellows. Our banquet to-day will furnish far different
amusements. The author of the Iliad[762] shall be recited, and the
verses of high-sounding Mars, that render the palm doubtful. What
matter is it with what voice such noble verses are read?[763] But now
having put off all your cares, lay aside business, and allow yourself
a pleasing respite, since you will have it in your power to be idle
all day long. Let there be no mention of money out at interest. Nor if
your wife is accustomed to go out at break of day and return at night,
let her stir up your bile,[764] though you hold your tongue. Divest
yourself at once of all that annoys you, at my threshold. Banish all
thoughts of home and servants, and all that is broken and wasted[765]
by them--especially forget ungrateful friends! Meantime, the spectacles
of the Megalesian towel[766] grace the Idæan solemnity: and, like one
in a triumph, the prey of horses, the prætor, sits: and, if I may say
so without offense to the immense and overgrown crowd, the circus
to-day incloses the whole of Rome;[767] and a din reaches my ears,
from which I infer the success of the green faction.[768] For should
it not win, you would see this city in mourning and amazement, as when
the consuls were conquered in the dust[769] of Cannæ. Let young men be
spectators of these, in whom shouting and bold betting, and sitting
by a trim damsel is becoming. Let our skin,[770] which is wrinkled
with age, imbibe the vernal sun and avoid the toga'd crowd. Even now,
though it wants a whole hour to the sixth, you may go to the bath
with unblushing brow. You could not do this for five successive days;
because even of such a life as this there would be great weariness. It
is a more moderate use[771] that enhances pleasures.

FOOTNOTES:

[685] _Atticus._ Put for any man of wealth and rank. So _Rutilus_ for
the reverse. Cf. xiv., 18.

[686] _Lautus._ Cf. Mart., xii., Ep. xlviii., 5.

[687] _Apicius_ (cf. iv., 23), having spent "millies sestertium,"
upward of eight hundred thousand pounds, in luxury, destroyed himself
through fear of want, though it appeared he had above eighty thousand
pounds left.

[688] _Convictus._ Properly, like convivium, "a dinner party." Cf. i.,
145, "It nova nec tristis per cunctas fabula cœnas." Tac., Ann., xiv.,
4; xiii., 14.

[689] _Stationes_, "locus ubi otiosi in urbe degunt, et variis
sermonibus tempus terunt." Plin., Ep. i., 13; ii, 9.

[690] _Sufficiunt galeæ._ Cf. vii., 32, "Defluit ætas et pelagi patiens
et cassidis atque ligonis."

[691] _Cogente._ Cf. viii., 167, "Quanti sua funera vendunt Quid
refert? vendunt nullo _cogente Nerone_. Nec dubitant celsi prætoris
vendere ludis."

[692] _Scripturus._ Suet., Jul., 26. Gladiators had to write out the
rules and words of command of their trainers, "dictata," in order to
learn them by heart. Lubinus gives us some of these: "attolle, declina,
percute, urge, cæde."

[693] _Macelli._ So called from μάκελλον, "an inclosure," because the
markets, before dispersed in the Forum boarium, olitorium, piscarium,
cupedinis, etc., were collected into one building; or, from one
Romanius Macellus, whose house stood there, and was "propter latrocinia
ejus publicè diruta." Vid. Donat. ad Ter., Eunuch., ii., sc. ii.,
24, where he gives a list of the cupediarii, "cetarii, lanii, coqui,
fartores, piscatores;" or á mactando; as the French "Abattoir." Cf.
Sat., v., 95. Suet., Jul., 26. Plaut., Aul., II., viii., 3. Hor., i.,
Ep. xv., 31.

[694] _Perlucente ruinâ._ Cf. x., 107, "impulsæ præceps immane ruinæ."
A metaphor from a building on the point of falling, with the daylight
streaming through its cracks and fissures.

"Then with their prize to ruin'd walls repair,
And eat the dainty scrap on earthenware." Badham.

[695] _Gustus._ III., 93, "Quando omne peractum est, et jam defecit
nostrum mare, dum gula sævit, retibus assiduis penitus scrutante
macello proxima." The idea is probably from Seneca. "Quidquid avium
volitat, quidquid piscium natat, quidquid ferarum discurrit, nostris
sepelitur ventribus." Contr. V. pr. The Cœna consisted of three parts.
1. Gustus (Gustatio), or Promulsis. 2. Fercula: different courses. 3.
Mensæ Secundæ. The gustus contained dishes designed more to excite than
to satisfy hunger: vegetables, as the lactuca (Mart., xiii., 14), shell
and other fish, with piquant sauces: mulsum (Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 24.
Plin., i., Ep. 15). Cf. Bekker's Gallus, p. 466, 493. Vide ad Sat. vi.,
428.

[696] _Difficile_, i. e., "non dubitant." Vid. Schol. Not that they
"have _no difficulty_" in raising the money, as Crepereius Pollio
found. Cf. ix., 5.

[697] _Oppositis._ "Ager oppositus est pignori ob decem minas." Ter.,
Phorm., IV., iii., 56.

[698] _Fractâ._ "Broken, that the features may not be recognized:"
alluding probably to some well-known transaction of the time.

[699] _Quadringentis._ Cf. Suet., Vit., 13, "Nec cuiquam minus singuli
apparatus quadringentis millibus nummûm constiterunt."

[700] _Fictile._ III., 168, "Fictilibus cœnare pudet."

[701] _Miscellanea._ "A special diet-bread to advantage the combatants
at once in breath and strength." _Holyday._ It is said to have been a
mixture of cheese and flour; probably a kind of macaroni. "Gladiatoria
sagina." Tac., Hist., ii., 88. Prop., IV., viii., 25.

[702] _Ferratû._ XIV., 259, "Æratâ multus in arcâ fiscus." X., 25.
Hor., i., Sat. i., 67.

[703] _E cœlo._ This precept has been assigned to Socrates, Chilo,
Thales, Cleobulus, Bias, Pythagoras. It was inscribed in gold letters
over the portico of the temple of Delphi. Hence, perhaps, the notion
afterward, that it was derived immediately from heaven.

[704] _Conjugium._ Cf. Æsch., Pr. V., 890. Ov., Her., ix., 32, "Si qua
voles aptè nuberè nube pari."

[705] _Sacri._ "The undaunted spirit," says Gifford, "which could thus
designate the senate in those days of tyranny and suspicion, deserves
at least to be pointed out."

[706] _Thersites._ Cf. vii., 115: x., 84; viii., 269. Juvenal is very
fond of referring to this contest.

[707] _Traducebat._ II., 159, "Illuc heu miseri traducimur." VIII., 17,
"Squalentes traducit avos." It means literally "to expose to public
derision," a metaphor taken from leading malefactors through the forum
with their name and offense suspended from their neck. Cf. Suet., Tit.,
8. Mart., i., Ep. liv., 3, "Quæ tua traducit manifesto carmina furto."
VI., lxxvii., 5, "Rideris multoque magis traduceris afer Quam nudus
medio si spatiere foro." Grang. explains it "se risui exponebat: nec
enim arma Achillis Ulyssem decebant." Browne, "in which Ulysses cut a
doubtful figure." Others refer ancipitem to _loricam_; or place the
stop after _Ulysses_, and take ancip. with _causam_. Gifford omits the
passage altogether, as a tasteless interpolation of some Scholiast.
Dryden turns it,

"When scarce Ulysses had a good pretense,
With all th' advantage of his eloquence."

Badham:

"Which, at the peril of a soldier's fame,
The brave Ulysses scarcely dared to claim."

Hodgson:

"Thersites never could that armor bear,
Which e'en Ulysses hesitates to wear."

Britann. suggests that it may mean "his enemies doubted if he were
really Achilles or no." Facciol.: "in a doubtful frame of mind as to
whether they would become him or not."

[708] _Matho._ Cf. i., 39; vii., 129. Mart., iv., Ep. 80, 81. For
Curtius Montanus, see Tac., Ann., xvi., 48. Hist., iv., 42.

[709] _Mullum._ Gifford always renders this by "sur-mullet" «"mugilis"
being properly the mullet, of which Holyday gives a drawing, ad x.,
317»; Mr. Metcalfe, by "the sea-barbel." Cf. ad iv., 15.

"Nor doubt thy throat of mullets to amerce,
While scarce a gudgeon lingers in thy purse." Badham.

[710] _Crumenâ._ Properly "a bag or reticule to hang on the arm;" a
satchel to be hung over a boy's shoulder: then a purse suspended from
the girdle, like the "gypciére" of the Middle Ages:

"If thy throat widen as thy pockets shrink." Gifford.

[711] _Mersis._

"That deep abyss which every kind can hold,
Land, cattle, contract, houses, silver, gold." Badham.

[712] _Novissimus._ VI., 356, "Levibus athletis vasa novissima donat."

[713] _Pollio._ Probably the Crepereius Pollio mentioned Sat. ix.,
6, who could get no one to lend him money, though "triplicem usuram
præstare paratus."

[714] _Senectus_; exemplified in the story of Apicius above.

"Decrepit age far more than death they fear;
Nor thirst nor hunger haunt the silent bier." Hodgson.

[715] _Qui vertere solum._ Cic. pro Cæc., 34, "Qui volunt pœnam aliquam
subterfugere aut calamitatem, _solum vertunt_, hoc est sedem ac locum
mutant." Browne conjectures the meaning to be, "They who have parted
with their property by mortgage, and so _changed_ its owner."

[716] _Cedere foro_ is evidently explained, "to give one's creditors
the slip"--"to run away from justice"--"to abscond from 'Change"--"to
become bankrupt."

[717] _Ferventi._

"Lest Rome should grow too _warm_, from Rome they run." Dryden.

[718] _Circensibus._ Cf. iii., 223, "Si potes avelli Circensibus." vi.,
87, "utque magis stupeas ludos Paridemque reliquit." viii., 118, "Circo
scenæque vacantem." x., 80, "duas tantum res anxius optat Panem et
Circenses." All these passages show the infatuation of the Romans for
these games. Cf. Plin., Ep. ix., 6. Tac., Hist., i., 4; Ann., i., 2.

[719] _Uno._ It is not implied that they had the privilege of returning
at the end of a year, by a sort of statute of limitations, but only
that the loss of the games even for that short period was a greater
affliction than the forfeiture of all other privileges.

[720] _Siliquas_, from Hor. ii., Ep. i., 123, "Vivit siliquis et pane
secundo."

[721] _Pultes._ A mixture of coarse meal and water, seasoned with salt
and cheese; sometimes with an egg or honey added. It was long the food
of the primitive Romans, according to Pliny, xviii., 8, _seq._ It
probably resembled the macaroni, or "polenta," of the poor Italians
of the present day. Cf. Pers., iii., 55, "Juventus siliquis et grandi
pasta polentâ."

[722] _Evandrum._ The allusion is to Virg., Æn., viii., 100, _seq._;
228, 359, _seq._

"Come; and while fancy brings past times to view,
I'll think myself the king--the hero, you!" Gifford.

[723] _Alter aquis._ Æneas, drowned in the Numicius. Hercules, burned
on Mount Œta.

[724] _Fercula._ Cf. ad 14.

[725] _Macellis._ Virg., Georg., iv., 133, "Dapibus mensas onerabat
inemptis." Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. ii., 150, _seq._ The next 16 lines are
imitated from Mart., x., Ep. 48. Gifford says, "Martial has imitated
this bill of fare in Lib. x., 48." But his 10th Book was written
A.D. 99; and from line 203, it is evident this Satire was written in
Juvenal's old age, and therefore, in all probability, twenty years
later.

[726] _Asparagi_, called "corruda," Cato, de R. R., 6. The wild
asparagus is still very common on the Italian hills. Cf. Mart., Ep.
xiii., 21, "Inculti asparagi." See Sir William Hooker's note on
Badham's version.

[727] _Signia_, now "Segni" in Latium. Cf. Plin., xv., 15.--_Syrium._
The "Bergamot" pears are said to have been imported from Syria. Cf.
Mart., v., Ep. lxxviii., 13, "Et nomen pyra quæ ferunt Syrorum." Virg.,
Georg., ii., 88, "Crustumiis Syriisque pyris." Columella (lib. v., c.
10) calls them "Tarentina," because brought from Syria to Tarentum.
Others say they are the same as the Falernian.

[728] _Picenis._ Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 70, "Picenis cedunt pomis
Tiburtia succo, Nam facie præstant." And iii., 272, "Picenis excerpens
semina pomis." These apples were to be also from his Tiburtine farm:
the banks of the Anio being famous for its orchards. Hor., i., Od.
vii., 14, "Præceps Anio ac Tiburni lucus et uda mobilibus pomaria
vivis." Propert., IV., vii., 81, "Pomosis Anio quà spumifer incubat
arvis." Apples formed a very prominent part of the mensæ secundæ: hence
the proverb, "Ab ovo usque ad mala." Cf. Mart., x., 48, fin., "Saturis
mitia poma dabo." Cf. Sat. v., 150, _seq._, where apples "qualia
perpetuus Phæacum Autumnus habebat" form the conclusion of Virro's
dinner. Cf. Mart., iii., Ep. 50.

[729] _Curius_ was found by the Samnite embassadors preparing his dish
of turnips over the fire with his own hands. Cic., de Sen., xvi.

"Senates more rich than Rome's first senates were,
In days of yore desired no better fare." Badham.

[730] _Vulvâ._ "Nul vulvâ pulchrius amplâ." Hor., i., Ep. xv., 41. For
a description of this loathsome dainty, vid. Plin., xi., 37, 84. Cf.
Mart., Ep. xiii., 56.

[731] _Maturius._

"For feasts like these would quit the mountain's soil,
And snatch an hour from customary toil." Badham.

[732] _Fabios._ Q. Fabius Maximus Rullianus, censor A.U.C. 449, obliged
his colleague, P. Decius, to allow him to administer his office with
all its pristine severity.

[733] _Fabricios._ Cf. ad ix., 142.

[734] _Testudo._ Cf. vi., 80, "Testudineo conopeo;" xiv., 308, "ebore
et lata testudine."

"Which future times were destined to employ,
To build rare couches for the sons of Troy." Badham.

[735] _Vile coronati._ Henninius suggests _vite_. The ass, by browsing
on the vine, and thereby rendering it more luxuriant, is said to have
first given men the idea of pruning the tendrils. Cf. Paus., ii., 38.
Hyg., F., 274. The ass is always found, too, in connection with Silenus.

[736] _Nescius._

"Till at the soldier's foot her treasures lay,
Who knew not half the riches of his prey." Hodgson.

[737] _Phaleris_: xvi., 60. Florus says Phaleræ were introduced from
Etruria together with curule chairs, trabeæ, prætextæ, etc. Vid. Liv.,
xxxix., 31. Plin., vii., 28, 9, says Siccius Dentatus had 25 phaleræ
and 83 torques. Sil., xv., 254. Cf. Virg., Æn., ix., 359. Suet., Aug.,
25; Ner., 33.

[738] _Venientis._ Supposed to be a representation of Mars hovering in
the air, and just about to alight by the sleeping Rhea Sylvia. The god
is _armed_, because the conventional manner of representing him was by
the distinction of his "framea" and "clypeus." See Addison's note in
Gifford.

[739] _In armis._

"Then all their wealth was on their armor spent,
And war engross'd the pride of ornament." Hodgson.

[740] _Lividulus._

"Yet justly worth your envy, were your breast
But with one spark of noble spleen possess'd." Gifford.

[741] _Præsentior._ Cf. iii., 18, "Quanto _præsentius_ esset Numen
aquæ." Virg., Ec., i., 42, "Nec tam præsentes alibi cognoscere Divos."
Georg., i., 10, "Præsentia Numina Fauni." Hor., iii., Od. v., 2,
"Præsens Divus habebitur Augustus."

[742] _Vox._ "M. Cædicius de plebe nunciavit tribunis, se in Novâ Viâ,
ubi nunc sacellum est, suprà sedem Vestæ vocem noctis silentio audîsse
clariorem humanâ quæ magistratibus dici juberet 'Gallos adventare.'"
"Invisitato atque inaudito hoste ab oceano terrarumque ultimis oris
bellum ciente." Liv., v., 32, 3, 7, 50. Cic., de Div., ii., "At
paullo post audita _vox est monentis_ ut providerent ne a Gallis Roma
caperetur: ex eo Aio loquenti aram in novâ viâ consecratam." Cf. Plut.
in Vit. Camill.

[743] _Fictilis._ Cf. Sen., Ep. 31, "Cogita illos quum propitii essent
fictiles fuisse."

[744] _Arbore._ Cf. Mart., xiv., Ep. xc., "Non sum crispa quidem nec
sylvæ filia Mauræ, sed nôrunt lautas et mea ligna dapes." Cf. Sat.
i., 75, 137; iv., 132. The extravagance of the Romans on their tables
is almost incredible. Pliny says that Cicero himself, who accuses
Verres of stealing a Citrea mensa from Diodorus (in Verr., iv., 17),
gave a million of sesterces for one which was in existence in his
time. A "Senatoris Census" was a price given. These tables were not
provided with several feet, but rested on an ivory column (sometimes
carved into the figure of animals), hence called monopodia. They were
called "Orbes," not from being _round_, but because they were massive
plates of wood cut off the stem in its whole diameter. The wood of the
_citrus_ was most preferred. This is not the _citron_-tree, which never
attains to this bulk, but a tree found in Mauritania, called the thyæ
cypressides. Plin., xiii., 16. Those cut near the root were most valued
from the wood being variegated: hence "Tigrinæ, pantherinæ, pavonum
caudæ oculos imitantes." The mensæ were formerly square, but were
afterward round to suit the new fashion of the Sigma couch. The Romans
also understood the art of veneering tables and other furniture with
the citrus wood and tortoise-shell.

[745] _Porta Syenes._ Syene, now "Assouan," is situated near the
rapids, just on the confines of Ethiopia. It was a station for a Roman
garrison, and the place to which Juvenal is said to have been banished.
Some think the island Elephantine is here meant. Cf. ad x., 150,
"aliosque Elephantos."

[746] _Mauro._ Ab ἀμαυρός, vel μαυρός, "obscurus." Cf. Lucan., iv.,
678, "Concolor Indo Maurus."

[747] _Nabathæo._ The Nabathæi, in Arabia Petræa, took their name from
"Nebaioth, first-born of Ishmael," Gen., xxv., 13. Elephants are said
to shed their tusks every two years.

[748] _Orexis._ VI., 428. _Vires._ Henninius' suggestion. Cf. ad l. 14.

[749] _Tessellæ._ Holyday explains this by "chess-board," from the
resemblance of the squares to the tesselated pavements. But it is a
die, properly; of which shape the separate tesseræ were. Mart., xiv.,
17, "Hic mihi bis seno numeratur tessera puncto: Calculus hic gemino
discolor hoste perit." Cf. Ep. 14. Cicero considers this game to be one
of the legitimate amusements of old age. "Nobis senibus, ex lusionibus
multis, talos relinquant et _tesseras_," de Sen., xvi. "Old Mucius
Scævola, the lawyer, was a great proficient at it. It was called Ludus
duodecim scriptorum, from the lines dividing the alveolus. On these
the two armies, white and black, each consisting of fifteen men, or
calculi, were placed; and alternately moved, according to the chances
of the dice, _tesseræ_." Vid. Gibbon, chap. xxxi.

[750] _Pergula._ Literally "the stall outside a shop where articles are
displayed for sale." Here used for the teachers of the art of carving
who exhibited at these stalls. Suet., Aug., 94, speaks of a "pergula
Mathematici." Pergula, "à perga, quia extrà parietem pergit." Facc.

[751] _Sumine._ Cf. Mart., Ep. xiii., 44, "vivo lacte papilla tumet."

[752] _Pygargus._ "Capræ sylvestris genus, ab albis clunium pilis."
Facc. Cf. Plin., viii., 53, 79, "Damæ et pygargi et Strepsicerotes."
The "spring-bok" of the Cape.

[753] _Scythicæ._ The pheasant (ὄρνις φασιανὸς or φασιανικός, Arist.,
Av., 68) takes its name from the Phasis, a river in Colchis, on the
confines of Scythia, at the mouth of which these birds congregate in
large flocks. Vid. Athen., ix., 37, _seq._

[754] _Phœnicopterus._ Arist., Av., 273. Cf. Mart., xiii., 71, "Dat
mihi penna rubens nomen." Cf. iii., Ep. lviii., 14. Suetonius mentions
"linguas phœnicopterûm" among the delicacies of the "Cœna adventicia"
given by his brother to Vitellius, in Vit., c. 13.

[755] _Capreæ._ Cf. Mart., Ep. xiii., 99.

[756] _Afra avis._ Hor., Epod., ii., 53, "Non Afra avis descendat in
ventrem meum non attagen Ionicus." The μελεαγρίς of the Greeks. Varro,
R. R., III., ix., 18.

[757] _Offelæ_, the diminutive of Offa. "A cutlet or chop," generally
applied to the coarser kind of meat. Cf. Mart., xii., 48, "Me meus
ad subitas invitet amicus ofellas: Hæc mihi quam possum reddere cœna
placet." Some read _furtis_ for _frustis_: which imputation against the
character of the little slave Gifford indignantly rejects.

[758] _Plebeios calices_, cf. ad vi., 155; v., 46, made of glass,
which was now very common at Rome. Vid. Mart., Ep. xii., 74; xiv., 94,
_seq._, and especially the Epigram on Mamurra, ix., 60. Strabo speaks
of them as sold commonly in Rome in his own time for a χαλκοῦς each
(not quite a farthing), lib. xvi., p. 368, T. Cf. Bekker's Gallus, p.
303.

[759] _Mango_, cf. Pers., vi., 76, _seq._, from _manu ago_, because
they made up their goods for sale, or from μάγγανον, "a trick." Cf.
Aristoph., Plut., 310. Bekker's Gallus, the Excursus on "the Slaves."

[760] _Casulam._ Cf. ix., 59, "Rusticus infans, cum matre et casulis et
conlusore catello."

"Sighs for his little cottage, and would fain
Meet his old playfellows the goats again." Gifford.

[761] _Vina._ Cf. vii., 96, "Vinum Tiberi devectum." Mart., x., 48, 19,
"De Nomentana vinum sine fæce lagenâ."

[762] _Iliados._

"The tale of Ilium, or that rival lay
Which holds in deep suspense the dubious bay." Bad.

[763] _Legantur._ Cf. Corn. Nep., vit. Attici, "Nemo in convivio ejus
aliud acroama audivit quam Anagnosten: quod nos quidem jucundissimum
arbitramur. Neque unquam sine aliquâ lectione apud eum cœnatum est, ut
non minus animo quam ventre convivæ delectarentur," c. xvi. Cf. Mart.,
iii., Ep. 50, who complains of Ligurinus inviting him to have his own
productions read to him.

[764] _Bilem._

"Let no dire images to-day be brought
To wake the hell of matrimonial thought." Hodgson.

[765] _Perit._ Cf. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 121, "Detrimenta, fugas servorum,
incendia ridet."

[766] _Mappæ._ Holyday gives the following account of the origin of
this custom. "Nero on a time, sitting alone at dinner, when the shows
were eagerly expected, caused his towel with which he had wiped his
hands to be presently cast out at the window, for a sign of his speedy
coming. Whereupon it was in after times the usual sign at the beginning
of these shows." For the mappa see Bekker's Gallus, p. 476.--_Præda_,
because "ruined by the expense;" or _Prædo_, from his "unjust
decisions;" or _Perda_, from the "number of horses damaged."

[767] _Totam Romam._ See Gibbon, chap. xxxi., for the eagerness with
which all ranks flocked to these games.

[768] _Viridis panni._ Cf. ad vi., 590. Plin., Ep. ix., 6, "Si aut
velocitate equorum, aut hominum arte traherentur, esset ratio nonnulla.
Nunc favent _panno_: _pannum_ amant," _et seq._ Mart., x., Ep. xlviii.,
23, "De Prasino conviva meus, venetoque loquatur." XIV., 131, "Si
veneto Prasinove faves quid coccina sumis?"

[769] _Pulvere_ is not without its force. Hannibal is said to have
plowed up the land near Cannæ, that the wind which daily rose and blew
in that direction might carry the dust into the eyes of the Romans.
"Ventus (_Vulturnum_ incolæ regionis vocant) adversus Romanis coortus,
_multo pulvere_ in ipsa ora volvendo, prospectum ademit." Liv., xxii.,
46 and 43. Cf. Sat, ii., 155; x., 165.

[770] _Cuticula._ Pers., iv., 18, "Assiduo curata cuticula sole." 33,
"Et figas in cute solem." V., 179, "Aprici meminisse senes." Mart.,
x., Ep. xii., 7, "Totos avidâ cute combibe soles." I., Ep. 78, "Sole
utitur Charinus." Plin., Ep. iii., 1, "Ubi hora balinei nuntiata est
(cf. ad Sat. x., 216), est autem hieme nona, æstate octava, in sole, si
caret vento, ambulat nudus." Cicero mentions "apricatio" as one of the
solaces of old age. De Sen., c. xvi.

"While we, my friend, whose skin grows old and dry,
Court the warm sunbeam of an April sky." Badham.

[771] _Rarior usus._

"Our very sports by repetition tire,
But rare delight breeds ever new desire." Hodgson.

SATIRE XII.

This day, Corvinus, is a more joyful one to me than even my own
birthday;[772] in which the festal altar of turf[773] awaits the
animals promised to the gods.

To the queen of the gods we sacrifice a snow-white[774] lamb: a
similar fleece shall be given to her that combated the Mauritanian
Gorgon.[775] But the victim reserved for Tarpeian Jupiter, shakes,
in his wantonness, his long-stretched[776] rope, and brandishes his
forehead. Since he is a sturdy calf; ripe for the temple and the altar,
and ready to be sprinkled with wine; ashamed any longer to drain his
mother's[777] teats, and butts the oaks with his sprouting horn.[778]
Had I an ample fortune, and equal to my wishes, a bull fatter than
Hispulla,[779] and slow-paced from his very bulk, should be led to
sacrifice, and one not fed in a neighboring pasture; but his blood
should flow, giving evidence of the rich pastures of Clitumnus,[780]
and with a neck that must be struck by a ministering priest of
great strength, to do honor to the return of my friend who is still
trembling, and has recently endured great horrors, and wonders to find
himself safe.

For besides the dangers of the sea, and the stroke of the lightning
which he escaped, thick darkness obscured the sky in one huge cloud,
and a sudden thunder-bolt struck the yard-arms, while every one fancied
he was struck by it, and at once, amazed, thought that no shipwreck
could be compared in horror with a ship on fire.[781] For all things
happen so, and with such horrors accompanying, when a storm arises in
poetry.[782]

Now here follows another sort of danger. Hear, and pity him a second
time; although the rest is all of the same description. Yet it is
a very dreadful part, and one well known to many, as full many a
temple testifies with its votive picture. (Who does not know that
painters[783] are maintained by Isis?) A similar fortune befell our
friend Catullus also: when the hold was half full of water, and when
the waves heaved up each side alternately of the laboring ship, and
the skill of the hoary pilot could render no service, he began to
compound with the winds by throwing overboard, imitating the beaver
who makes a eunuch[784] of himself, hoping to get off by the sacrifice
of his testicles; so well does he know their medicinal properties.
"Throw overboard all that belongs to me, the whole of it!" cried
Catullus, eager to throw over even his most beautiful things--a robe
of purple fit even for luxurious Mæcenases, and others whose very
fleece the quality of the generous pasture has tinged, moreover the
exquisite water with its hidden properties, and the atmosphere of
Bætica[785] contributes to enhance its beauty. He did not hesitate to
cast overboard even his plate, salvers the workmanship of Parthenius,
a bowl[786] that would hold three gallons, and worthy of Pholus when
thirsty, or even the wife of Fuscus.[787] Add to these bascaudæ,[788]
and a thousand chargers, a quantity of embletic work, out of which the
cunning purchaser of Olynthus[789] had drunk. But what other man in
these days, or in what quarter of the globe, has the courage to prefer
his life to his money, and his safety to his property? Some men do not
make fortunes for the sake of living, but, blinded by avarice, live
for the sake of money-getting. The greatest part even of necessaries
is thrown overboard: but not even do these sacrifices relieve the
ship--then, in the urgency of the peril, it came to such a pitch that
he yielded his mast to the hatchet, and rights himself at last, though
in a crippled state. Since this is the last resource in danger we
apply, to make the ship lighter.

Go now, and commit your life to the mercy of the winds; trusting to a
hewn plank, with but four digits[790] between you and death, or seven
at most, if the deal is of the thickest. And then together with your
provision-baskets and bread and wide-bellied flagon,[791] look well
that you lay in hatchets,[792] to be brought into use in storms.

But when the sea subsided into calm, and the state of affairs was more
propitious to the mariner, and his destiny prevailed over Eurus and the
sea, when now the cheerful Parcæ draw kindlier tasks with benign hand,
and spin white wool,[793] and what wind there is, is not much stronger
than a moderate breeze, the wretched bark, with a poor make-shift, ran
before it, with the sailors' clothes spread out, and with its only sail
that remained: when now the south wind subsided, together with the
sun hope of life returned. Then the tall peak beloved by Iulus, and
preferred as a home by him to Lavinium,[794] his stepmother's seat,
comes in sight; to which the white sow[795] gave its name--(an udder
that excited the astonishment of the gladdened Phrygians)--illustrious
from what had never been seen before, thirty paps. At length he enters
the moles,[796] built through the waters inclosed within them, and
the Pharos of Tuscany, and the arms extending back, which jut out
into the middle of the sea, and leave Italy far behind. You would not
bestow such admiration on the harbor which nature formed: but with
damaged bark, the master steers for the inner smooth waters of the safe
haven, which even a pinnace of Baiæ could cross; and there with shaven
crowns[797] the sailors, now relieved from anxiety, delight to recount
their perils that form the subject of their prating.

Go then, boys, favoring with tongues and minds,[798] and place garlands
in the temples, and meal on the sacrificial knives, and decorate the
soft hearths and green turf-altar. I will follow shortly, and the
sacrifice which is most important[799] having been duly performed, I
will then return home, where my little images, shining in frail wax,
shall receive their slender chaplets. Here I will propitiate[800] my
own Jove, and offer incense to my hereditary Lares,[801] and will
display all colors of the violet. All things are gay; my gateway has
set up long branches,[802] and celebrates the festivities[803] with
lamps lighted in the morning.

Nor let these things be suspected by you, Corvinus. Catullus, for
whose safe return I erect so many altars, has three little heirs. You
may wait long enough for a man that would expend even a sick hen at
the point of death for so unprofitable a friend. But even this is too
great an outlay. Not even a quail will ever be sacrificed in behalf
of one who is a father. If rich Gallita[804] and Paccius, who have no
children, begin to feel the approach of fever, every temple-porch is
covered with votive tablets,[805] affixed according to due custom.
There are some who would even promise a hecatomb[806] of oxen. Since
elephants are not to be bought here or in Latium, nor is there any
where in our climate such a large beast generated; but, fetched from
the dusky nation, they are fed in the Rutulian forests, and the
field of Turnus, as the herd of Cæsar, prepared to serve no private
individual, since their ancestors used to obey Tyrian Hannibal, and our
own generals,[807] and the Molossian king, and to bear on their backs
cohorts--no mean portion of the war--and a tower that went into battle.
It is no fault, consequently, of Novius, or of Ister Pacuvius,[808]
that that ivory is not led to the altars, and falls a sacred victim
before the Lares of Gallita, worthy of such great gods, and those that
court their favor! One of these two fellows, if you would give him
license to perform the sacrifice, would vow the tallest or all the
most beautiful persons among his flock of slaves, or place sacrificial
fillets on his boys and the brows of his female slaves. And if he has
any Iphigenia[809] at home of marriageable age, he will offer her at
the altars, though he can not hope for the furtive substitution of
the hind of the tragic poets. I commend my fellow-citizen, and do not
compare a thousand[810] ships to a will; for if the sick man shall
escape Libitina,[811] he will cancel his former will, entangled in the
meshes of the act,[812] after a service so truly wonderful: and perhaps
in one short line will give his all to Pacuvius as sole[813] heir.
Proudly will he strut over his defeated rivals. You see, therefore,
what a great recompense the slaughtered Mycenian maid earns.

Long live Pacuvius, I pray, even to the full age of Nestor.[814] Let
him own as much as ever Nero plundered,[815] let him pile his gold
mountains high, and let him love no one,[816] and be loved by none.

FOOTNOTES:

[772] _Natali._ The birthday was sacred to the "Genius" to whom
they offered wine, incense, and flowers: abstaining from "bloody"
sacrifices, "ne die quâ ipsi lucem accepissent aliis demerent," Hor.,
ii., Ep. 144. "Floribus et vino Genium memorem brevis avi," Pers.,
ii., 3. "Funde merum Genio," Censorin., de D. N., 3. Virg., Ecl. iii.,
76. Compare Hor., Od., IV., xi., where he celebrates the birthday of
Mæcenas as "sanctior pœne _natali proprio_." Cf. Dennis's Etruria, vol.
ii., p. 65.

[773] _Cæspes._ Hor., Od., III., viii., 3, "Positusque carbo in cæspite
vivo." Tac., Ann., i. 18.

[774] _Niveam._ A white victim was offered to the Dii Superi: a black
one to the Inferi. Cf. Virg., Æn., iv., 60," _Junoni_ ante omnes, Ipsa
tenens dextrâ pateram pulcherrima Dido _Candentis_ vaccæ media inter
cornua fundit." Tibull., I., ii., 61, "Concidit ad magicos hostia
_pulla_ deos." Hor., i., Sat. viii., 27," Pullam divellere mordicus
agnam."

[775] _Gorgone._ Cf. Vir., Æn., viii., 435, _seq._; ii., 616.

[776] _Extensum._ It was esteemed a very bad omen if the victim did not
go willingly to the sacrifice. It was always led, therefore, with a
long slack rope.

[777] _Matris._ Cf. Hor., iv., Od. ii., 54, "Me tener solvet vitulus,
relicta matre."

[778] _Nascenti._ Hor., iii., Od. xiii., 4, "Cui frons turgida cornibus
Primis et Venerem, et prælia destinat."

"He flies his mother's teat with playful scorn,
And butts the oak-trees with his growing horn." Hodgson.

[779] _Hispulla._ Cf. vi., 74, "Hispulla tragædo gaudet." (This was the
name of the aunt of Pliny the Younger's wife, iv., Ep. 19; viii., 11.)

"Huge as Hispulla: scarcely to be slain
But by the stoutest servant of the train." Badham.

[780] _Clitumnus_ was a small river in Umbria flowing into the Tinia,
now "Topino," near Mevania, now "Timia." The Tinia discharges itself
into the Tiber near Perusia. Pliny (viii., Ep. 8) gives a beautiful
description of its source, now called "La Vene," in a letter which
is, as Gifford says, a model of elegance and taste. Its waters were
supposed to give a milk-white color to the cattle who drank of them.
Virg., Georg., ii., 146, "Hinc albi, Clitumne, greges, et maxima taurus
victima." Propert., II., xix., 25, "Quà formosa suo Clitumnus flumina
luco Integit et niveos abluit unda boves." Sil., iv., 547, "Clitumnus
in arvis Candentes gelido perfundit flumine tauros." Claudian., vi.,
Cons. Hon., 506.

[781] _Ignis._ Grangæus interprets this of the meteoric fires seen in
the Mediterranean, which, when seen single, were supposed to be fatal.
Plin., ii., 37, "Graves cum solitarii venerunt mergentesque navigia, et
si in carinæ ima deciderint, exurentes." These fires, when _double_,
were hailed as a happy omen, as the stars of Castor and Pollux.
"Fratres Helenæ lucida sidera," Hor., I., Od. iii., 2; cf. xii., 27.
The French call it "Le feu St. Elme," said to be a corruption of
"Helena." The Italian sailors call them "St. Peter and St. Nicholas."
But these only appear at the _close_ of a storm. Cf. Hor., ii., _seq._,
and Blunt's Vestiges, p. 37.

[782] _Poetica tempestas._

"So loud the thunder, such the whirlwind's sweep,
As when the poet lashes up the deep." Hodgson.

[783] _Pictores._ So Hor., i., Od. v., 13, "Me tabulâ sacer votivâ
paries indicat noida suspendisse potenti vestimenta maris Deo." It
seems to have been the custom for persons in peril of shipwreck not
only to vow pictures of their perilous condition to some deity in
case they escaped, but also to have a painting of it made to carry
about with them to excite commiseration as they begged. Cf. xiv., 302,
"Naufragus assem dum rogat et pictâ se tempestate tuetur." Pers.,
i., 89, "Quum fractâ te in trabe pictum ex humero portes." VI., 32,
"Largire inopi, ne pictus oberret cæruleâ in tabulâ." Hor., A. P., 20,
"Fractis enatat exspes navibus, ære dato qui pingitur." Phæd., IV.,
xxi., 24. Some think that _this_ picture was _afterward_ dedicated, but
this is an error.

[784] _Castora._ Ov., Nux., 165, "Sic ubi detracta est a te tibi causa
pericli Quod superest tutum, Pontice Castor, habes!" This story of
the beaver is told Plin., viii., 30; xxxvii., 6, and is repeated by
Silius, in a passage copied from Ovid and Juvenal. "Fluminei veluti
deprensus gurgitis undis, Avulsâ parte _inguinibus causâque pericli_,
Enatat intento prædæ fiber avius hoste," xv., 485. But it is an error.
The sebaceous matter called castoreum (Pers., v., 135), is secreted by
two glands near the root of the tail. (Vid. Martyn's Georgics, i., 59,
"Virosaque Pontus Castorea," and Browne's Vulgar Errors, lib. iii., 4.)
Pliny, viii., 3, tells a similar story of the elephant, "Circumventi a
venantibus dentes impactos arbori frangunt, _prædâque se redimunt_."

[785] _Bæticus._ The province of Bætica (Andalusia) takes its name from
the Bætis, or "Guadalquivir," the waters of which were said to give a
ruddy golden tinge to the fleeces of the sheep that drank it. Martial
alludes to it repeatedly. "Non est lana mihi mendax, nec mutor aëno. Si
placeant Tyriæ me mea tinxit ovis," xiv., Ep. 133. Cf. v., 37; viii.,
28. "Vellera nativo pallent ubi flava metallo," ix., 62. "Aurea qui
nitidis vellera tingis aquis," xii., 99.

"Away went garments of that innate stain
That wool imbibes on Guadalquiver's plain,
From native herbs and babbling fountains nigh,
To aid the powers of Andalusia's sky." Badham.

[786] _Urnæ._ Vid. ad vi., 426. Pholus was one of the Centaurs. Virg.,
Georg., ii., 455. Cf. Stat., Thebaid., ii., 564, _seq._, "Qualis in
adversos Lapithas erexit inanem Magnanimus cratera Pholus," etc.

[787] _Conjuge Fusci._ Vid. ad ix., 117.

[788] _Bascaudas._ The Celtic word "Basgawd" is said to be the root of
the English word "basket." Vid. Latham's English language, p. 98. These
were probably vessels surrounded with basket or rush work. Mart., xiv.,
Ep. 99. "Barbara de pictis veni bascauda Britannis; sed me jam mavolt
dicere Roma suam."

[789] _Olynthi._ Philip of Macedon bribed Lasthenes and Eurycrates to
betray Olynthus to him. Pliny (xxxiii., 5) says he used to sleep with a
gold cup under his pillow. Once, when told that the route to a castle
he was going to attack was impracticable, he asked whether "an ass
laden with gold could not possibly reach it." Plut., Apophth., ii., p.
178.

"A store
Of precious cups, high chased in golden ore;
Cups that adorn'd the crafty Philip's state,
And bought his entrance at th' Olynthian gate." Hodgson.

[790] _Digitis._ Cf. xiv, 289, "Tabulâ distinguitur undâ." Ovid. Amor.
ii. xi. 25, "Navita sollicitus qua ventos horret iniquos; Et prope tam
letum quam prope cernit aquam."

"Trust to a little plank 'twixt death and thee,
And by four inches 'scape eternity." Hodgson.

[791] _Ventre-lagenæ._ "A gorbellied flagon." Shakspeare.

[792] _Secures._

"His biscuit and his bread the sailor brings
On board: 'tis well. But hatchets are the things." Badh.

[793] _Staminis albi._ The "white" or "black" threads of the Parcæ
were supposed to symbolize the good or bad fortune of the mortal whose
yarn Clotho was spinning. Mart. iv. Ep. 73, "Ultima volventes oraba
pensa sorores, Ut traherent parva stamina pulla morâ." VI. Ep. 58, "Si
mihi lanificæ ducunt non pulla sorores Stamina." Hor. ii. Od. iii. 16,
"Sororum fila trium patiuntur atra."

[794] _Prælata Lavino._ Virg. Æn. i. 267, seq. Liv. i. 1, 3. Tibull.
II. v. 49.

[795] _Scrofa._ Virg. Æn. iii. 390, "Littoreis ingens inventa sub
ilicibus sus, Triginta capitum fœtus enixa jacebit, Alba solo recubans,
albi circum ubera nati. Is locus urbis erit, requies ea certa
laborum,"--and viii., 43.

[796] _Moles._ This massive work was designed and begun by Julius
Cæsar, executed by Claudius, and repaired by Trajan. It is said to have
employed thirty thousand men for eleven years. Suetonius thus describes
it (Claud., c. 20): "Portum Ostiæ exstruxit circumducto dextrâ
sinistrâque brachis, et ad introitum profundo jam solo mole objectâ,
quam quò stabilius fundaret, navem ante demersit, quâ magnus obeliscus,
ex Ægypto fuerat advectus; congestisque pilis superposuit altissimam
turrim in exemplum Alexandrini Phari, ut ad nocturnos ignes cursum
navigia dirigerent." (Cf. vi., 83. The Pharos of Alexandria was built
by Sostratus, and accounted one of the seven wonders of the world.)

"Enter the moles, that running out so wide
Clasp in their giant arms the billowy tide,
That leave afar diminishing the land,
More wondrous than the works of nature's hand." Hodgson.

[797] _Vertice raso._ It was the custom in storms at sea to vow the
hair to some god, generally Neptune: and hence slaves, when manumitted,
shaved their heads, "quod tempestatem servitutis videbantur effugere,
ut naufragis liberati solent." Cf. Pers., iii., 106, "Hesterni capite
inducto subiere Quirites." Hodgson has an excellent note on the
"mystical attributes" of hair.

[798] _Linguis animisque faventes._ Cic., de Div., i., 102, "Omnibus
rebus agendis, Quod bonum, faustum, felix, fortunatumque esset,
præfabantur: rebusque divinis, quæ publicè fierent, ut faverent
linguis imperabant: inque feriis imperandis ut litibus et jurgiis se
abstinerent." Cf. Hor., iii., Od. i., 2, "Favete linguis." Virg., Æn.,
v., 71, "Ore favete omnes." Hor., Od., III., xiv., 11; Tibull., II.,
ii., 2, "Quisquis ades linguâ, vir, mulierque fave." So εὐφημεῖν; cf.
Eurip., Hec., 528, _seq._

[799] _Sacro quod præstat_; i. e., the sacrifices mentioned in the
beginning of the Satire, viz., to Juno, Pallas, and Tarpeian Jove, and
therefore more important than those to the Lares.

[800] _Placabo._ Cf. Hor., i., Od. 36, 1. Orell.

[801] _Nostrum_, i. e., his own Lar familiaris. Cf. ix., 137, "O Parvi
nostrique Lares." For the worship of these Lares, Junones, and Genius,
see Dennis's Etruria, vol. i., p. lv.

[802] _Erexit janua ramos._ Cf. ad ix., 85.

[803] _Operatur festa._ Perhaps read with Lipsius, "operitur festa,"
"in festive-guise is covered with." Virgil, however, uses "operatus"
similarly. Georg., i., 339, "Sacra refer Cereri lætis operatus in
herbis." Cf. ad ix., 117.

"All savors here of joy: luxuriant bay
O'ershades my portal, while the taper's ray
Anticipates the feast and chides the tardy day." Gifford.

[804] _Gallita._ Tacitus (Hist., i., 73) speaks of a Gallita
Crispilina, or, as some read, Calvia Crispinilla, as a "magistra
libidinum Neronis," and as "potens _pecuniâ et orbitate_, quæ bonis
malisque temporibus juxtà valent." Paccius Africanus is mentioned also
Hist., iv., 41.

[805] _Tabellis._ Cf. ad x., 55, "Propter quæ fas est genua incerare
deorum."

[806] _Hecatomben._ The hecatomb properly consisted of oxen, 100
being sacrificed simultaneously on 100 different altars. But sheep
or other victims were also offered. The poor sometimes vowed an ὠῶν
ἑκατόμβη. Emperors are said to have sacrificed 100 lions or eagles.
Suetonius says, that above 160,000 victims were slaughtered in honor of
Caligula's entering the city. Calig., c. 14.

[807] _Nostris ducibus._ Curius Dentatus was the first to lead
elephants in triumph. Metellus, after his victory over Asdrubal,
exhibited two hundred and four. Plin., viii., 6. L. Scipio,
father-in-law to Pompey, employed thirty in battle against Cæsar. The
Romans first saw elephants in the Tarentine war, against Pyrrhus; and
as they were first encountered in Lucania, they gave the elephant the
name of "Bos Lucas." So Hannibal. See x., 158, "Gætula ducem portaret
bellua luscum."

[808] _Ister Pacuvius._ Cf. ii., 58.

[809] _Iphigenia._ Cf. Æsch., Ag., 39, seq., and the exquisite lines
in Lucretius, i., 85-102; but Juvenal seems to have had Ovid's lines
in his head, Met., xii., 28, _seq._, "Postquam pietatem publica causa,
Rexque patrem vicit, castumque datura cruorem Flentibus ante aram
stetit Iphigenia ministris: Victa dea est, nubemque oculis objecit, et
inter Officium turbamque sacri, vocesque precantum, Supposita fertur
mutâsse _Mycenida cervâ_."

[810] _Mille._ στόλον Ἀργείων χιλιοναύτην. Æsch., Ag., 44.

[811] _Libitinam._ Properly an epithet of Venus (the goddess who
presides over _deaths_ as well as births), in whose temple all things
belonging to funerals were sold. Cf. Plut., Qu. Rom., 23. Servius
Tullius enacted that a sestertius should be deposited in the temple
of Venus Libitina for every person that died, in order to ascertain
the number of deaths. Dion. Halic., iv., 79. Cf. Liv., xl., 19; xli.,
21. Suet., Ner., 39, "triginta funerum millia in rationem Libitinæ
venerunt." Hor., iii., Od. xxx., 6; ii., Sat. vi., 19.

[812] _Nassa_ is properly an "osier weel," κύρτη for catching fish.
Plin., xxi., 18, 59.

[813] _Solo._ Cf. i., 68, "Exiguis tabulis;" ii., 58, "Solo tabulas
impleverit Hister Liberto;" vi., 601, "Impleret tabulas."

"What are a thousand vessels to a will!
Yes! every blank Pacuvius' name shall fill." Hodgson.

[814] _Nestora._ Cf. Hom., Il., i., 250; Od., iii., 245. Mart., vi.,
Ep. lxx., 12, "Ætatem Priami Nestorisque." X., xxiv., 11. Cf. ad x.,
246.

[815] _Rapuit Nero._ Vid. Tac., Ann., xv., 42, Brotier's note.
Suetonius (Nero, c. 32), after many instances of his rapacity, subjoins
the following: "Nulli delegavit officium ut non adjiceret Scis quid
mihi opus sit:" et "Hoc agamus ne quis quidquam habeat." "Ultimot
emplis compluribus dona detraxit."

[816] _Nec amet._

"Nor ever be, nor ever find, a friend!" Dryden.

SATIRE XIII.

Every act that is perpetrated, that will furnish a precedent for crime,
is loathsome[817] even to the author himself. This is the punishment
that first lights upon him, that by the verdict[818] of his own breast
no guilty man is acquitted; though the corrupt influence of the prætor
may have made his cause prevail, by the urn[819] being tampered with.
What think you, Calvinus,[820] is the opinion of all men touching the
recent villainy, and the charge you bring of breach of trust? But it is
your good fortune not to have so slender an income, that the weight of
a trifling loss can plunge you into ruin; nor is what you are suffering
from an unfrequent occurrence. This is a case well known to many--worn
threadbare--drawn from the middle of fortune's heap.[821]

Let us, then, lay aside all excessive complaints. A _man's_ grief
ought not to blaze forth beyond the proper bounds, nor exceed the
loss sustained. Whereas _you_ can scarcely bear even the very least
diminutive particle of misfortune, however trifling, boiling with rage
in your very bowels because your friend does not restore to you the
deposit he swore to return. Can _he_ be amazed at this, that has left
threescore years behind him, born when Fonteius was consul?[822] Have
you gained[823] nothing by such long experience of the world? Noble
indeed are the precepts which philosophy, that triumphs over fortune,
lays down in her books of sacred wisdom. Yet we deem those happy too
who, with daily life[824] for their instructress, have learned to
endure with patience the inconveniences of life, and not shake off the
yoke.[825]

What day is there so holy that is not profaned by bringing to light
theft, treachery, fraud--filthy lucre got by crime of every dye, and
money won by stabbing or by poison?[826] Since rare indeed are the
good! their number is scarce so many as the gates of Thebes,[827] or
the mouths of fertilizing Nile. We are now passing through the ninth
age of the world: an era far worse than the days of Iron; for whose
villainy not even Nature herself can find a name, and has no metal[828]
base enough to call it by. Yet we call heaven and earth to witness,
with a shout as loud as that with which the Sportula,[829] that gives
them tongues, makes his clients applaud Fæsidius as he pleads. Tell
me, thou man of many years, and yet more fit to bear the boss[830]
of childhood, dost thou not know the charms that belong to another's
money? Knowest thou not what a laugh thy simplicity would raise in the
common herd, for expecting that no man should forswear himself, but
should believe some deity is[831] really present in the temples and
at the altars red with blood? In days of old the aborigines perhaps
used to live after this fashion: before Saturn in his flight laid
down his diadem, and adopted the rustic sickle: in the days when Juno
was a little maid; and Jupiter as yet in a private[832] station in
the caves of Ida: no banquetings of the celestials above the clouds,
no Trojan boy or beauteous wife of Hercules as cup-bearer; or Vulcan
(but not till he had drained the nectar) wiping[833] his arms begrimed
with his forge in Lipara. Then each godship dined alone; nor was the
crowd of deities so great[834] as it is now-a-days: and the heavens,
content with a few divinities, pressed on the wretched Atlas with less
grievous weight. No one had as yet received as his share the gloomy
empire of the deep: nor was there the grim[835] Pluto with his Sicilian
bride, nor Ixion's wheel, nor the Furies, nor Sisyphus' stone, nor the
punishment of the black vulture,[836] but the shades passed jocund days
with no infernal king.

In that age villainy was a prodigy! They used to hold it as a heinous
sin, that naught but death could expiate, if a young man had not risen
up to pay honor to an old one,[837] or a boy to one whose beard was
grown; even though he himself gloated over more strawberries at home,
or a bigger pile of acorns.[838]

So just a claim to deference had even four years' priority; so much
on a par with venerated old age was the first dawn of youth! Now, if
a friend should not deny the deposit[839] intrusted to him, if he
should give back the old leathern purse with all its rusty[840] coin
untouched, it is a prodigy of honesty, equivalent to a miracle,[841]
fit to be entered among the marvels in the Tuscan records,[842] and
that ought to be expiated by a lamb crowned for sacrifice.[843] If I
see a man above the common herd, of real probity, I look upon him as
a prodigy equal to a child born half man, half brute;[844] or a shoal
of fish turned up by the astonished[845] plow; or a mule[846] with
foal! in trepidation as great as though the storm-cloud had rained
stones;[847] or a swarm of bees[848] had settled in long cluster from
some temple's top; as though a river had flowed into the ocean with
unnatural eddies,[849] and rushing impetuous with a stream of milk.

Do you complain of being defrauded of _ten_ sestertia by impious
fraud? What if another has lost in the same way two hundred, deposited
without a witness![850] and a third a still larger sum than that, such
as the corner of his capacious strong-box could hardly contain! So
easy and so natural is it to despise the gods above,[851] that witness
all, if no mortal man attest the same! See with how bold a voice he
denies it! What unshaken firmness in the face he puts on! He swears by
the sun's rays, by the thunderbolts of Tarpeian Jove, the glaive of
Mars, the darts of the prophet-god of Cirrha,[852] by the arrows and
quiver of the Virgin Huntress, and by thy trident, O Neptune, father
of the Ægæan! He adds the bow of Hercules, Minerva's spear, and all
the weapons that the arsenals of heaven hold.[853] But if he be a
father also, he says, "I am ready to eat my wretched son's head boiled,
swimming in vinegar from Pharos."[854]

There are some who refer all things to the accidents of fortune,[855]
and believe the universe moves on with none to guide its course;
while nature brings round the revolutions of days and years. And
therefore, without a tremor, are ready to lay their hands[856] on any
altar. Another does indeed dread that punishment will follow crime;
he thinks the gods _do_ exist. Still he perjures himself, and reasons
thus with himself: "Let Isis[857] pass whatever sentence she pleases
upon my body, and strike my eyes with her angry Sistrum, provided only
that when blind I may retain the money I disown. Are consumption,
or ulcerous sores, or a leg shriveled to half its bulk, such mighty
matters? If Ladas[858] be poor, let him not hesitate to wish for gout
that waits on wealth, if he is not mad enough to require Anticyra[859]
or Archigenes.[860] For what avails the honor of his nimble feet, or
the hungry branch of Pisa's olive? All-powerful though it be, that
anger of the gods, yet surely it is slow-paced! If, therefore, they
set themselves to punish all the guilty, when will they come to me?
Besides, I may perchance discover that the deity may be appeased by
prayers! "It is not unusual with him to pardon[861] such perjuries as
these. Many commit the same crimes with results widely different. One
man receives crucifixion[862] as the reward of his villainy; another, a
regal crown!"

Thus they harden their minds, agitated by terror inspired by some
heinous crime. Then, when you summon him to swear on the sacred
shrine, he will go first![863] Nay, he is quite ready to drag you
there himself, and worry you to put him to this test. For when a
wicked cause is backed by impudence, it is believed by many to be the
confidence[864] of innocence. He acts as good a farce as the runaway
slave, the buffoon in Catullus'[865] Vision! You, poor wretch, cry out
so as to exceed Stentor,[866] or, rather, as loudly as Gradivus[867]
in Homer: "Hearest thou[868] this, great Jove, and openest not thy
lips, when thou oughtest surely to give vent to some word, even though
formed of marble or of brass? Or, why then do we place on thy glowing
altar the pious[869] frankincense from the wrapper undone, and the
liver of a calf cut up, and the white caul of a hog?[870] As far as
I see, there is no difference to be made between your image and the
statue of Vagellius!"[871]

Now listen to what consolation on the other hand he can offer, who
has neither studied the Cynics, nor the doctrines of the Stoics, that
differ from the Cynics only by a tunic,[872] and pays no veneration to
Epicurus,[873] that delighted in the plants of his diminutive garden.
Let patients whose cases are desperate be tended by more skillful
physicians; you may trust _your_ vein even to Philippus' apprentice.
If you can show me no act so heinous in the whole wide world, then, I
hold my tongue; nor forbid you to beat your breast with your fists, nor
thump your face with open palm. For, since you really _have_ sustained
loss, your doors must be closed; and money is bewailed with louder
lamentations from the household, and with greater tumult,[874] than
deaths. No one, in such a case, counterfeits sorrow; or is content with
merely stripping[875] down the top of his garment, and vexing his eyes
for forced rheum.[876] The loss of money is deplored with genuine tears.

But if you see all the courts filled with similar complaints, if, after
the deeds have been read ten times over, and each time in a different
quarter,[877] though their own handwriting,[878] and their principal
signet-ring,[879] that is kept so carefully in its ivory casket,
convicts them, they call the signature a forgery and the deed not
valid; do you think that you, my fine fellow, are to be placed without
the common pale? What makes _you_ the chick of a white hen, while we
are a worthless brood, hatched from unlucky eggs? What you suffer is
a trifle; a thing to be endured with moderate choler, if you but turn
your eyes to crimes of blacker dye. Compare with it the hired assassin,
fires that originate from the sulphur of incendiaries,[880] when
your _outer_ gate is the first part that catches fire. Compare those
who carry off the ancient temple's massive cups,[881] incrusted with
venerable rust--the gifts of nations; or, crowns[882] deposited there
by some king of ancient days. If these are not to be had, there comes
some sacrilegious wretch that strikes at meaner prey; who will scrape
the thigh of Hercules incased in gold, and Neptune's face itself, and
strip off from Castor his leaf-gold. Will he, forsooth, hesitate, that
is wont to melt down whole the Thunderer[883] himself? Compare, too,
the compounders and venders of poisons;[884] or him that ought to be
launched into the sea in an ox's hide,[885] with whom the ape,[886]
herself innocent, is shut up, through her unlucky stars. How small a
portion is this of the crimes which Gallicus,[887] the city's guardian,
listens to from break of day to the setting of the sun! Would you study
the morals of the human race, one house is quite enough. Spend but a
few days there, and when you come out thence, call yourself, if you
dare, a miserable man!

Who is astonished at a goitred throat[888] on the Alps? or who, in
Meroë,[889] at the mother's breast bigger than her chubby infant? Who
is amazed at the German's[890] fierce gray eyes, or his flaxen hair
with moistened ringlets twisted into horns? Simply because, in these
cases, one and all are alike by nature.

The pigmy[891] warrior in his puny panoply charges the swooping birds
of Thrace, and the cloud that resounds with the clang of cranes. Soon,
no match for his foe, he is snatched away by the curved talons, and
borne off through the sky by the fierce crane. If you were to see this
in our country, you would be convulsed with laughter: but there, though
battles of this kind are sights of every day, no one even smiles, where
the whole regiment is not more than a foot high.

"And is there, then, to be no punishment at all for this perjured
wretch and his atrocious villainy?"

Well, suppose him hurried away at once, loaded with double irons, and
put to death in any way our wrath dictates (and what could revenge wish
for more?) still your loss remains the same, your deposit will not be
refunded! "But the least drop of blood from his mangled body will give
me a consolation that might well be envied. Revenge is a blessing,
sweeter than life itself!" Yes! so fools think, whose breasts you may
see burning with anger for trivial causes, sometimes for none at all.
How small soever the occasion be, it is matter enough for their wrath.
Chrysippus[892] will not hold the same language, nor the gentle spirit
of Thales, or that old man that lived by sweet Hymettus'[893] hill,
who, even amid those cruel bonds, would not have given his accuser one
drop of the hemlock[894] he received at his hands!

Philosophy, blessed[895] power! strips us by degrees of full many a
vice and every error! She is the first to teach us what is right.
Since revenge is ever the pleasure of a paltry spirit, a weak and
abject mind! Draw this conclusion _at once_ from the fact, that no one
delights in revenge more than a woman!

Yet, why should you deem those to have escaped scot-free whom their
mind,[896] laden with a sense of guilt, keeps in constant terror,
and lashes with a viewless thong! Conscience, as their tormentor,
brandishing a scourge unseen by human eyes! Nay! awful indeed is their
punishment, and far more terrible even than those which the sanguinary
Cæditius[897] invents, or Rhadamanthus! in bearing night and day in
one's own breast a witness against one's self.

The Pythian priestess gave answer to a certain Spartan,[898] that
in time to come he should not go unpunished, because he hesitated as
to retaining a deposit, and supporting his villainy by an oath. For
he inquired what was the opinion of the deity, and whether Apollo
counseled him to the act.

He did restore it therefore; but through fear,[899] not from
principle. And yet he proved that every word that issued from the
shrine was worthy of the temple, and but too true: being exterminated
together with all his progeny and house, and, though derived from a
wide-spreading clan, with all his kin! Such is the penalty which the
mere wish to sin incurs. For he that meditates within his breast a
crime that finds not even vent in words,[900] has all the guilt of the
act!

What then if he has achieved his purpose? A respiteless anxiety is his:
that ceases not, even at his hours of meals: while his jaws are parched
as though with fever, and the food he loathes swells[901] between
his teeth. All wines[902] the miserable wretch spits out; old Alban
wine,[903] of high-prized antiquity, disgusts him. Set better before
him! and thickly-crowding wrinkles furrow his brow, as though called
forth by sour[904] Falernian. At night, if anxious care has granted
him perchance a slumber however brief, and his limbs, that have been
tossing[905] over the whole bed, at length are at rest, immediately he
sees in dreams the temple and the altar of the deity he has insulted;
and, what weighs upon his soul with especial terrors,[906] he sees
thee! Thy awful[907] form, of more[908] than human bulk, confounds the
trembling wretch, and wrings confession[909] from him.

These are the men that tremble and grow pale at every lightning-flash;
and, when it thunders,[910] are half dead with terror at the very first
rumbling[911] of heaven; as though not by mere chance, or by the raging
violence of winds, but in wrath and vengeance the fire-bolt lights[912]
upon the earth![913] That last storm wrought no ill! Therefore the next
is feared with heavier presage, as though but deferred by the brief
respite of this calm.

Moreover, if they begin to suffer pain in the side, with wakeful
fever, they believe the disease is sent to their bodies from the deity,
in vengeance. These they hold to be the stones and javelins of the gods!

They dare not vow the bleating sheep to the shrine, or promise even
a cock's[914] comb to their Lares. For what hope is vouchsafed to
the guilty sick?[915] or what victim is not more worthy of life? The
character of bad men is for the most part fickle and variable.[916]
While they are engaged in the guilty act they have resolution enough,
and to spare. When their foul deeds are perpetrated, then at length
they begin to feel what is right and wrong.

Yet Nature[917] ever reverts to her depraved courses, fixed and
immutable. For who ever prescribed to himself a limit to his sins? or
ever recovered the blush[918] of ingenuous shame once banished from his
brow now hardened? What mortal man is there whom you ever saw contented
with a single crime? This false friend of ours will get his foot
entangled in the noose, and endure the hook of the gloomy dungeon; or
some crag[919] in the Ægean Sea, or the rocks that swarm with exiles of
rank. You will exult in the bitter punishment of the hated name; and at
length with joy confess[920] that no one of the gods is either deaf or
a Tiresias.[921]

FOOTNOTES:

[817] _Displicet._

"To none their crime the wished-for pleasure yields:
'Tis the first scourge that angry justice wields." Badham.

[818] _Ultio._

"Avenging conscience first the sword shall draw,
And self-conviction baffle quibbling law." Hodgson.

[819] _Urna._ From the "Judices Selecti" (a kind of jurymen chosen
annually for the purpose), the Prætor Urbanus, who sat as chief judge,
chose by lot about fifty to act as his assessors. To each of these were
given three tablets: one inscribed with the letter A. for "absolvo,"
one with the letter C. for "condemno," and the third with the letters
N. L. for "non liquet," i. e., "not proven." After the case had been
heard and the judices had consulted together privately, they returned
into court, and each judex dropped one of these tablets into an urn
provided for the purpose, which was afterward brought to the prætor,
who counted the number and gave sentence according to the majority of
votes. In all these various steps, there was plenty of opportunity for
the "gratia" of a corrupt prætor to influence the "fallax urna."

[820] _Calvinus._ Martial mentions an indifferent poet of the name of
Calvinus Umber, vii., Ep. 90.

[821] _Acervo._

"One that from casual heaps without design
Fortune drew forth, and bade the lot be thine." Badh.

[822] _Fonteio consule._ Clinton (F. R., A.D. 118) considers that the
consulship meant is that of L. Fonteius Capito, A.D. 59, which would
bring the reference in this Satire to A.D. 119, the third year of
Hadrian. There was also a Fonteius Capito consul with Junius Rufus,
A.D. 67, and another, A.D. 11. «The Fonteius Capito mentioned Hor., i.,
Sat. v., 32, is of course far too early.»

[823] _Proficis._

"Say, hast thou naught imbibed, no maxims sage,
From the long use of profitable age?" Hodgson.

[824] _Vitæ._ So Milton.

"To know
That which before us lies _in daily life_,
Is the prime wisdom."

[825] _Jactare jugum._ A metaphor from restive oxen. Cf. vi., 208,
"Summitte caput cervice paratâ Ferre jugum." Æsch., Persæ, 190, _seq._

"And happy those whom life itself can train
To bear with dignity life's various pain." Badham.

[826] _Pyxide._ Properly a coffer or casket of "box-wood," πυξίς.
Cf. Sat. ii., 141, "Conditâ pyxide Lyde." Suet., Ner., 47, "Veneno a
Locustâ sumpto, et in auream pyxidem condito."

[827] _Thebarum._ Egyptian Thebes had one hundred gates; hence
ἑκατόμπυλοι. Cadmeian Thebes had seven. Vid. Hom., Il., Δ., 406. Æsch.,
S. Th., ἑπτάπυλος Θήβη. The latter is meant. The mouths of the Nile
being also seven, viz., Canopic, Bolbitine, Sebennytic, Phatnitic,
Mendesian, Tanitic, and Pelusiac. Hence Virg., Æn., vi., 801, "Septem
gemini trepida ostia Nili." Ov., Met., v., 187, "Septemplice Nilo."
xv., 753, "Perque papyriferi septemflua flumina Nili."

[828] _Metallo._

"That baffled Nature knows not how to frame
A metal base enough to give the age a name." Dryden.

[829] _Sportula._ Vid. ad i., 118. Cf. x., 46, "Defossa in loculis quos
sportula fecit amicos." Mart., vi., Ep. 48. Hor., i., Epist. xix., 37.
Plin., ii., Ep. 14, "Laudicæni sequuntur: In media Basilicâ sportulæ
dantur palam ut in triclinio: tanti constat ut sis disertissimus: hoc
pretio subsellia implentur, hoc infiniti clamores commoventur."

[830] _Bullâ._ Cf. v., 165, seq.; xiv., 5. Pers., v., 31, "Bullaque
succinctis Laribus donata pependit." Plut. in Quæst. Rom., γέρων τις
ἐπὶ χλευασμῷ προάγεται παιδικὸν ἐναψάμενος περιδέραιον ὃ καλοῦσι
βοῦλλαν.

"O man of many years, that still should'st wear
The trinket round the neck thy childhood bare!" Badham.

[831] _Esse._ Cf. ii., 149, seq., "Esse aliquos Manes et subterranea
regna, ... Nec pueri credunt nisi qui nondum ære lavantur." Cf. Ov.,
Amor., III., iii., 1.

[832] _Privatus._ This is commonly rendered by "concealed,
sequestered," alluding to Jupiter's being hidden by his mother Rhea to
save him from "Saturn's maw." But it surely means before he succeeded
his father as king, and this is the invariable sense of "privatus" in
Juvenal. Cf. i., 16, "Privatus ut altum dormiret." iv., 65, "Accipe
Privatis majora focis." vi., 114, "Quid privata domus, quid fecerit
Hippia, curas." xii., 107, "Cæsaris armentum, nulli servire paratum
Privato."

[833] _Tergens._ This appears to be the best and simplest
interpretation of this "much-vexed" passage, and is the sense in which
Lucian (frequently the best commentator on Juvenal) takes it. Vid.
Deor., Dial. v., 4.

[834] _Talis._ More properly, "composed of _such_ divinities." The
allusion being in all probability to the now frequent apotheosis of the
most worthless and despicable of the emperors.

[835] _Torvus._ The Homeric ἀμείλιχος. Cf. Hom., Il., i., 158, Ἀΐδης
ἀμείλιχος, ἠδ' ἀδάμαστος Τοὔνεκα καὶ τε βροτοῖσι θεῶν ἔχθιστος ἁπάντων.

[836] _Vulturis atri._ Cf. Æschylus, Pr. V., 1020. Virg., Æn., vi.,
595, "Rostroque immanis vultur obunco, Immortale jecur tondens,
fœcundaque pœnis viscera, rimaturque epulis habitatque sub alto
pectore, nec fibris requies datur ulla renatis."

"Wheels, furies, vultures, quite unheard of things,
And the gay ghosts were strangers yet to kings!" Badham.

[837] _Vetulo._ Cf. Ov., Fast., v., 57, _seq._, which passage Juvenal
seems to have had in his mind.

[838] _Glandis._ Cf. Sat. vi., init.

[839] _Depositum._ Terent., Phorm., I., ii., 5, "Præsertim ut nunc sunt
mores: adeo res redit; Si quis quid reddit, magna habenda 'st gratia."

[840] _Ærugo_, the rust of _brass_; robigo, of _iron_; but, l. 148,
used for the oxydizing of gold or silver. _Follis_, cf. xiv., 281.

[841] _Prodigiosa_, ii., 103.

[842] _Tuscis libellis._ Vid. Dennis' Etruria, vol. i., p. lvii.
The marvelous events of the year were registered by the Etruscan
soothsayers in their records, that, if they portended the displeasure
of the gods, they might be duly expiated. Various names are given by
ancient writers to these sacred or ritual books: Libri Etrusci; Chartæ
Etruscæ; Scripta Etrusca; Etruscæ disciplinæ libri; libri fatales,
rituales, haruspicini, fulgurales; libri Tagetici; sacra Tagetica;
sacra Acherontica; libri Acherontici. The author of these works on
Etruscan discipline was supposed to be Tages; and the names of some
writers on the same subject are given, probably commentators on Tages,
e. g., Tarquitius, Cæcina, Aquila, Labeo, Begoë. _Umbricius._ Cf. Cic.,
de Div., i., 12, 13, 44; ii., 23. Liv., v., 15. Macrob., Saturn., iii.,
7; v., 19. Serv. ad Virg., Æn., i., 42; iii., 537; viii., 398. Plin.,
ii., 85. Festus, _s. v._ Rituales.

[843] _Sanctum._ Cf. iii., 137; viii., 24.

[844] _Bimembri_, or "with double limbs." All these prodigies are
common enough in Livy.

[845] _Miranti_ is quite Juvenalian, and better than the common reading
"Mirandis," or the suggestion "liranti."

[846] _Mulæ._ Cf. Cic., de Div., ii., 28, "Si quod rarò fit, id
portentum putandum est sapientem esse portentum est; sæpius enim _mulam
peperisse_ arbitror, quam sapientem fuisse."

[847] _Lapides._ Cf. Liv., xxxix., 37. This prodigy was one of the
causes of consulting the sacred books, which led to the introduction
of the worship of Bona Dea to Rome. Cf. ad ix., 37. Liv., xxii., 1,
"Præneste ardentes lapides cœlo cecidisse."

[848] _Apium._ Cf. Liv., xxiv., 10. Tac., Ann., xii., 64, "Fastigio
Capitolii examen apium insedit: biformes hominem partus." Plin., xi.,
17.

[849] _Gurgitibus._ Liv., xix., 44, "Flumen Amiterni cruentum
fluxisse." Virg., Georg., i., 485, "Aut puteis manare cruor cessavit."

[850] _Arcana._ "Fidei alterius tacitè commissa sine ullis testibus."
Lubin. Another interpretation is, "that, having lost it, he held his
tongue, and complained to no one."

[851] _Superos._

"Those conscious powers we can with ease contemn,
If, hid from men, we trust our crimes with them." Dryden.

[852] _Cirrhæi_, from Cirrha in Phocis, near the foot of Mount
Parnassus, the port of Delphi. Cf. vii., 64, "Dominis Cirrhæ Nysæque
feruntur Pectora."

[853] _Spicula_; probably from Tibull., I., iv., 21.

"Nec jurare time. Veneris perjuria venti
Irrita per terras et freta summa ferunt.
Perque suas impune sinit Dictynna sagittas
Affirmes, crines perque Minerva suos."

[854] _Phario._ The vinegar of Egypt was more celebrated than its wine.
Cf. Mart., xiii., Ep. 122. Ath., ii., 26.

[855] _Fortunæ._ See this idea beautifully carried out in Claudian's
invective against Rufinus, lib. i., 1-24. Such was Horace's religion.
"Credat Judæus Apella, Non ego: namque deos didici securum agere ævum;
nec si quid miri faciat Natura deos id tristes ex alto cœli demittere
tecto." I., Sat. v., 100. Not so Cicero. "Intelligamus _nihil_ horum
_esse fortuitum_." De Nat. Deor., ii., 128.

[856] _Tangunt._ Cf. xiv., 218, "Vendet perjuria summâ exiguâ et
Cereris tangens aramq. pedemq."

[857] _Isis._ Cf. vi., 526. Lucan., viii., 831, "Nos in templa tuam
Romana accepimus Isim Semideosque canes, et sistra jubentia luctus et
quem tu plangens hominem testaris Osirin." Blindness, the most common
of Egyptian diseases, was supposed to be the peculiar infliction of
Isis. Cf. Ovid, ex Pont., i., 51, "Vidi ego linigeræ numen violasse
fatentem Isidis Isiacos ante sedere focos. Alter ob huic similem
privatus lumine culpam, clamabat mediâ se meruisse viâ." Pers., v.,
186, "Tunc grandes Galli et cum sistro lusca sacerdos." Sistrum a σείω.

[858] _Ladas._ A famous runner at Olympia, in the days of Alexander
the Great. Cf. Mart., x., Ep. 100, "Habeas licebit alterum pedem Ladæ,
Inepte, frustrà crure ligneo curres;" and ii., 86. Catull., iv., 24,
"Non si Pegaseo ferar volatu, Non Ladas si ego, pennipesve Perseus."

[859] _Anticyrcâ_, in Phocis, famous for hellebore, supposed to be
of great efficacy in cases of insanity: hence Hor., ii., Sat. iii.,
83, "Nescio an Anticyram ratio illis destinet omnem." 166, "naviget
Anticyram." Pers., iv., 16, "Anticyras melior sorbere meracas." Its
Greek name is Ἀντίκιῤῥα. Strabo, ix., 3. The quantity therefore in
Latin follows the Greek accent. The Phocian Anticyra produced the best
hellebore; but it was also found at Anticyra on the Maliac Gulf, near
Œta. Some think there was a third town of the same name. Hence "Tribus
Anticyris caput insanabile," Hor., A. P., 300.

[860] _Archigene._ Cf. vi., 236; xiv., 252.

[861] _Ignoscere._ "Contemnere pauper creditur atque deos diis
ignoscentibus ipsis," iii., 145. So Plautus:

"Atque hoc scelesti illi in animum inducunt suum.
Jovem se placare posse donis hostiis,
Et operam et sumptum perdunt: ideo fit, quia
Nihil ei acceptum est a perjuris supplicii."

[862] _Crucem._ Badham quotes an Italian epigram, which says that "the
successful adventurer gets _crosses hung on him_, the unsuccessful gets
_hung on the cross_."

"Some made by villainy, and some undone,
And this ascend a scaffold, that a throne." Gifford.

[863] _Præcedit._

"Dare him to swear, he with a cheerful face
Flies to the shrine, and bids thee mend thy pace:
He urges, goes before thee, shows the way,
Nay, pulls thee on, and chides thy dull delay." Dryden.

[864] _Fiducia._

"For desperate boldness is the rogue's defense,
And sways the court like honest confidence." Hodgson.

[865] _Catulli._ Cf. ad viii., 186. Urbani some take as a proper name.
Others in the same sense as Sat. vii., 11. Catull., xxii., 2, 9.

[866] _Stentora._ Hom., Il., v., 785, Στέντορα χαλκεόφωνον, ὃς τόσον
αὐδήσασχ' ὅσον ἄλλοι πεντήκοντα.

[867] _Gradivus._ ii., 128. Hom., Il., v., 859, ὅσσον τ' ἐννεάχιλοι
ἐπίαχον ἢ δεκάχιλοι ἀνέρες--ἔβραχε.

[868] _Audis._ Cf. ii., 130, "Nec galeam quassas nec terram cuspide
pulsas, nec quereris patri?" Virg., Æn., iv., 206, "Jupiter Omnipotens!
Adspicis hæc? an te, genitor, quum fulmina torques, nequicquam
horremus? cæcique in nubibus ignes terrificant animos et inania murmura
miscent?" Both passages are ludicrously parodied in the beginning of
Lucian's Timon.

[869] _Thura._ So Mart., iii., Ep. ii., 5, "Thuris piperisque
cucullus." Ovid, Heroid., xi., 4. Virgil applies the epithet _pia_ to
the "Vitta," Æn., iv., 637, and to "Far," v., 745.

[870] _Porci._ Cf. x., 355, "Exta, et candiduli divina tomacula porci."

[871] _Vagellius._ Perhaps the "desperate ass" mentioned xvi., 23. Some
read Bathylli.

[872] _Tunicâ._ The Stoics wore tunics under their gowns, the Cynics
waistcoats only, or a kind of pallium, doubled when necessary. Hor.,
i., Ep. xvii., 25, "Contra, quem duplici panno patientia ve at."
Diogenes pro pallio et tunicâ contentus erat unâ abollâ ex vili panno
confectâ, quâ dupliciter amiciebatur. Cynicorum hunc habitum ideo
vocabant διπλοΐδα. Hi igitur ἀχίτωνες quidem sed διπλοείματοι. Orell.,
ad loc. Cf. Diog. Laert, VI., ii., iii., 22, τρίβωνα διπλώσας πρῶτος.

[873] _Epicurum._ Cf. xiv., 319, "Quantum Epicure tibi parvis suffecit
in hostis." Pliny says, xix., 4, he was the first who introduced the
custom of having a garden to his town house. Prop., III., xxi., 26,
"Hortis docte Epicure, tuis." Stat. Sylv., I., iii., 94. "The garden
of Epicurus," says Gifford, "was a school of temperance; and would
have afforded little gratification, and still less sanction, to those
sensualists of our day, who, in turning hogs, flatter themselves that
they are becoming Epicureans."

[874] _Tumultu._

"And louder sobs and hoarser tumults spread
For ravish'd pence, than friends or kinsmen dead." Hodgson.

[875] _Deducere._ Ov., Met., vi., 403, "Dicitur unus flesse Pelops
humerumque suas ad pectora postquam _deduxit vestes_, ostendisse."

[876] _Humore coacto._ Ter., Eun., I., i., 21, "Hæc verba una mehercle
falsa lacrymula Quam oculos terendo miserè vix vi expresserit
Restinguet." Virg., Æn., ii., 196, "captique dolis lacrymisque coactis."

[877] _Diversâ parte._ Others interpret it as being "read by the
opposite party;" as vii., 156, "quæ veniant diversa parte sagittæ."

[878] _Vana supervacui_, repeated xvi., 41.

[879] _Sardonychus._ Pliny says the sardonyx was the principal gem
employed for seals, "quoniam sola prope gemmarum scalpta ceram non
aufert." xxxvii., 6.

"If rogues deny their bend (though ten times o'er
Perused by careful witnesses before),
Whose well-known hand proclaims the glaring lie,
Whose master-signet proves the perjury." Hodgson.

[880] _Incendia._ Cf. ix., 98, "Sumere ferrum, Fuste aperire caput,
candelam apponere valvis, non dubitat."

[881] _Grandia pocula._ Alluding perhaps to some of Nero's sacrilegious
spoliations. Suet., Ner., 32, 38. It was customary for kings and
nations allied with Rome to send crowns and other valuable offerings to
the temple of Capitoline Jove and others.

[882] _Coronas._

"Gifts of great nations, crowns of pious kings!
Goblets, to which undated tarnish clings!" Badham.

[883] _Touantem._ Vid. Dennis's Etruria, vol. i., p. li. Cf. Suet.,
Nero, 32, fin. Milman's Horace, p. 66.

"Is much respect for Castor to be felt
By those whose crucibles whole Thunderers melt?" Badh.

[884] _Mercatoremque veneni._ Shakspeare, Rom. and Jul.,

"And if a man did need a poison now,
Whose sale is present death in Mantua,
Here lives a caitiff wretch would sell it him."

[885] _Corio._ Browne seems to understand this of "a leathern canoe or
coracle," but?

[886] _Simia._ Cf. ad viii., 214, "Cujus supplicio non debeat una
parari simia nec serpens unus nec culeus unus."

[887] _Gallicus._ Statius has a poem (Sylv., I., iv.), "Soteria pro
Rutilio Gallico." "Quem penes intrepidæ mitis custodia Romæ." This
book was probably written, cir. A.D. 94, after the Thebaïs. This Rut.
Gallicus Valens was præfectus urbis and chief magistrate of police for
Domitian; probably succeeding Pegasus (Sat. iv., 77), who was appointed
by Vespasian. For the _office_, see Tac., Ann., vi., 10, _seq._ It was
in existence even under Romulus, and continued through the republic.
Augustus, by Mæcenas' advice, greatly increased its authority and
importance. Its jurisdiction was now extended to a circuit of one
hundred miles outside the city walls. The præfectus decided in all
causes between masters and slaves, patrons and clients, guardians and
wards; had the inspection of the mint, the regulation of the markets,
and the superintendence of public amusements.

[888] _Guttur._ This affection has been attributed, ever since the days
of Vitruvius, to the drinking the mountain water. "Æquicolis in Alpibus
est genus aquæ quam qui bibunt afficiuntur _tumidis gutturibus_,"
viii., 3.

[889] _Meroë_, vi., 528, in Ethiopia, is the largest island formed by
the Nile, with a city of the same name, which was the capital of a
kingdom. Strab., i., 75. Herod., ii., 29. It is now "Atbar," and forms
part of Sennaar and Abyssinia.

[890] _Germani._ Cf. ad viii., 252.--_Flavam._ Galen says the Germans
should be called πυῤῥοὶ rather than ξανθοί. So Mart., xiv., Ep. 176,
Sil. iii. 608, "Auricomus Batavus."--_Torquentem._ Cf. Tac. Germ.
38, "Insigne gentis obliquare crinem nodoque substringere: horrentem
capillum retro sequuntur ac sæpe in solo vertice religant: in
altitudinem quandam et terrorem adituri bella compti, ut hostium oculis
ornantur." Mart. Spe. iii., "Crinibus in nodum tortis venere Sigambri."
They moistened their hair with a kind of soft soap. Plin. xxviii. 12.
Mart. xiv. 26, "Caustica Teutonicos accendit spuma capillos." VIII.
xxxiii. 20, "Fortior et tortos servat vesica capillos, et mutat Latias
spuma Batava comas."

[891] _Pygmæus._ Cf. Stat. Sylv. I. vi., 57, from which it appears that
Domitian exhibited a spectacle of pigmy gladiators. "Hic audax subit
ordo pumilonum--edunt vulnera conseruntque dextras et mortem sibi (qua
manu!) minantur. Ridet Mars pater et cruenta virtus. Casuræque vagis
grues rapinis mirantur pumilos ferociores."

"When clouds of Thracian birds obscure the sky,
To arms! To arms! the desperate Pigmies cry:
But soon defeated in th' unequal fray,
Disordered flee: while pouncing on their prey
The victor cranes descend, and clamoring, bear
The wriggling mannikins aloft in air." Gifford.

[892] _Chrysippus_ the Stoic, disciple of Cleanthes and Zeno, a native
of Tarsus or Soli, ἀνὴρ εὐφυὴς ἐν παντὶ μέρει. Vid. Diog. Laert. in
Vit., who says he "was so renowned a logician, that had the gods used
logic they would have used that of Chrysippus." VII., vii., 2.

[893] _Hymetto._ As though the hill sympathized with the sweetness
of Socrates' mind. Cf. Plato in Phæd. and Apol. Hor., ii., Od. vi.,
14, "Ubi non Hymetto mella decedunt," "And still its honey'd fruits
Hymettus yields." Byron.

[894] _Cicutæ._ Cf. vii., 206. Pers., iv., 2.

[895] _Felix._

"Divine Philosophy! by whose pure light
We first distinguish, then pursue the right,
Thy power the breast from every error frees,
And weeds out all its vices by degrees:
Illumined by thy beam, Revenge we find
The abject pleasure of an abject mind,
And hence so dear to poor, weak womankind!" Gifford.

[896] _Conscia mens._ Cf. Sen., Ep. 97, "Prima et maxima peccantium
pœna est peccâsse; Secundæ vero pœnæ sunt timere semper et expavescere
et securitati diffidere et fatendum est mala facinora conscientia
flagellari et plurimum illic tormentorum esse," etc. Cf. Æsch., Eumen.,
150, ὑπὸ φρένας, ὐπὸ λοβὸν πάρεστι μαστίκτορος δαΐου δαμίου βαρύ, κ. τ.
λ.

[897] _Cæditius._ An agent of Nero's cruelty, according to some; a
sanguinary judge of Vitellius' days, according to Lubinus. Probably a
different person from the Cæditius mentioned xvi., 46. _Rhadamanthus._
Cf. Virg., Æn., vi., 566, "Gnossius hæc Rhadamanthus habet durissima
regna, castigatque auditque dolos, subigitque fateri," etc.

[898] _Spartano._ The story is told Herod., vi., 86. A Milesian
intrusted a sum of money to Glaucus a Spartan, who, when the Milesian's
sons claimed it, denied all knowledge of it, and went to Delphi to
learn whether he could safely retain it; but, terrified at the answer
of the oracle, he sent for the Milesians and restored the money.
Leotychides relates the story to the Athenians, and leaves them to draw
the inference from the fact he subjoins: Γλαύκου νῦν οὔτε τι ἀπόγονόν
ἐστιν οὐδὲν, οὔτ' ἱστίη οὐδεμίη νομιζομένη εἶναι Γλαύκου· ἐκτέτριπταί
τε πρόῤῥιζος ἐκ Σπάρτης.

[899] _Metu._

"Scared at this warning, he who sought to try
If haply heaven might wink at perjury,
Alive to fear, though still to virtue dead,
Gave back the treasure to preserve his head." Hodgson.

[900] _Tacitum._ Cf. King John, Act iv.,

"The deed which both our tongues held vile to name!"

Cf. i., 167, "_tacitâ_ sudant præcordia culpâ."

"Thus, but intended mischief, stay'd in time,
Had all the moral guilt of finished crime." Badham.

[901] _Crescente._ Ov., Heroid., xvi., 226, "_Crescit_ et invito lentus
in ore _cibus_."

[902] _Sed vina._ Read perhaps "Setina," as v., 33.

[903] _Albani._ Cf. v., 33, "Cras bibet Albanis aliquid de montibus."
Hor., iv., Od. xi., 1, "Est mihi nonum superantis annum plenus Albani
cadus." Mart., xiii., 109, "Hoc de Cæsareis Mitis Vindemia cellis misit
Iuleo quæ sibi monte placet."

[904] _Velut acri._ Or perhaps, "as though the rich Falernian were
_sour_ instead of _mellow_."

"The rich Falernian changes into gall." Hodgson.

[905] _Versata._ Cf. iii., 279. Hom., Il., xxiv., 10, _seq._ Sen.,
de Tranq. An., 2, "versant se et hoc atque illo modo componunt donec
quietem lassitudine inveniant." "Propert.," I., xiv., 21, "Et miserum
toto juvenem versare cubili."

[906] _Sudoribus._ Cf. i., 167, "_Sudant_ præcordia culpâ." Cf. Ov.,
Her., vii., 65.

[907] _Major._ Virg., Æn., ii., 773, "Notâ major imago." Suet., Claud.,
i., species mulieris _humanâ_ amplior.

[908] _Amplior._ Tac., Ann., xi., 21, "oblata ei species muliebris
ultra modum humanum." Suet., Aug., 94.

[909] _Cogitque fateri._ The idea is probably from Lucret., v., 1157,
"Quippe ubi se multei per somnia sæpe loquenteis, Aut morbo deliranteis
protraxe ferantur Et celata diu in medium peccata dedisse."

[910] _Quum tonat._ Suet., Calig., 51, "Nam qui deos tantopere
contemneret, ad minima tonitrua et fulgura connivere, caput obvolvere;
ad vero majora proripere se e strato, sub lectumque condere, solebat."

[911] _Murmure._ Lucret., v., 1218, "Cui non conrepunt membra pavore
Fulminis horribili cum plaga torrida tellus Contremit et magnum
percurrunt murmura cœlum? Non populei gentesque tremunt."

[912] _Cadai._ "Quæque cadent in te fulmina missa putes." Ov., Her.,
vii., 72. Pind., Nem., vi., 90, ζάκοτον ἔγχος. Hor., i., Od. iii., 40,
"Iracunda Jovem ponere fulmina."

"Where'er the lightning strikes, the flash is thought
Judicial fire, with heaven's high vengeance fraught." Badham.

[913] _Vindicet._

"Oh! 'tis not chance, they cry; this hideous crash
Is not the war of winds, nor this dread flash
The encounter of dark clouds, but blasting fire,
Charged with the wrath of heaven's insulted sire!" Gifford.

[914] _Galli._ Cf. xii., 89, 96. Plin., x., 21, 56. Plat., Phæd., 66.

[915] _Ægris._

"Can pardoning heaven on guilty sickness smile?
Or is there victim than itself more vile?" Badham.

[916] _Mobilis._ Sen., Ep. 47, "Hoc habent inter cætera boni mores,
placent sibi ac permanent: levis est malitia, sæpe mutatur, non in
melius, sed in aliud."

[917] _Natura._ Hor., i., Ep. x., 24, "Naturam expellas furca tamen
usque recurret."

[918] _Ruborem._ Mart., xi., Ep. xxvii., 7, "Aut cum perfricuit frontem
posuitque pudorem."

"Vice once indulged, what rogue could e'er restrain?
Or what bronzed cheek has learn'd to blush again?" Hodgson.

[919] _Rupem._ Cf. i., 73, "aliquid brevibus Gyaris et carcere dignum."
vi., 563.

"Or hurried off to join the wretched train
Of exiled great ones in the Ægean main." Gifford.

[920] _Fatebere._ Cf. Psalm lviii., 9, 10.

[921] _Tiresiam._ Soph., Œd. T. Ovid, Met., iii., 322, _seq._

SATIRE XIV.

There are very many things, Fuscinus,[922] that both deserve a bad
name, and fix a lasting spot on a fortune otherwise splendid, which
parents themselves point the way to, and inculcate upon their children.
If destructive gambling[923] delights the sire, the heir while yet
a child plays[924] too; and shakes the selfsame weapons in his own
little dice-box. Nor will that youth allow any of his kin to form
better hopes of him who has learned to peel truffles,[925] to season a
mushroom,[926] and drown beccaficas[927] swimming in the same sauce,
his gourmand sire with his hoary gluttony[928] showing him the way.
When his seventh[929] year has past over the boy's head, and all his
second teeth are not yet come, though you range a thousand bearded[930]
philosophers on one side of him, and as many on the other, still he
will be ever longing to dine in sumptuous style, and not degenerate
from his sire's luxurious kitchen.

Does Rutilus[931] inculcate a merciful disposition and a character
indulgent to venial faults? does he hold that the souls and bodies
of our slaves[932] are formed of matter like our own and of similar
elements? or does he not teach cruelty, that Rutilus, who delights
in the harsh clang of stripes, and thinks no Siren's[933] song can
equal the sound of whips; the Antiphates[934] and Polyphemus of his
trembling household? Then is he happy indeed whenever the torturer[935]
is summoned, and some poor wretch is branded with the glowing iron
for stealing a couple of towels! What doctrine does he preach to his
son that revels in the clank of chains, that feels a strange delight
in branded slaves,[936] and the country jail? Do you expect that
Larga's[937] daughter will not turn out an adulteress, who could not
possibly repeat her mother's lovers so quickly, or string them together
with such rapidity, as not to take breath thirty times at least?
While yet a little maid she was her mother's confidante; now, at that
mother's dictation[938] she fills her own little tablets, and gives
them to her mother's agents to bear to lovers of her own.

Such is Nature's law.[939] The examples of vice that we witness at
home[940] more surely and quickly corrupt us, when they insinuate
themselves into our minds, under the sanction of those we revere.
Perhaps just one or two young men may spurn these practices, whose
hearts the Titan has formed with kindlier art, and moulded out of
better clay.[941]

But their sire's footsteps, that they ought to shun, lead on all the
rest, and the routine[942] of inveterate depravity, that has been long
before their eyes, attracts them on.

Therefore refrain[943] from all that merits reprobation. _One_ powerful
motive, at least, there is to this--lest our children copy our crimes.
For we are all of us too quick at learning to imitate base and depraved
examples; and you may find a Catiline in every people and under every
sky; but nowhere a Brutus,[944] or Brutus' uncle!

Let nothing shocking to eyes or ears approach those doors that close
upon your child. Away! far, far away,[945] the pander's wenches, and
the songs of the parasite[946] that riots the livelong night! The
greatest reverence[947] is due to a child! If you are contemplating a
disgraceful act, despise not your child's tender years, but let your
infant son act as a check upon your purpose of sinning. For if, at some
future time, he shall have done any thing to deserve the censor's[948]
wrath, and show himself like you, not in person only and in face,
but also the true son of your morals, and one who, by following your
footsteps, adds deeper guilt to your crimes--then, forsooth! you will
reprove and chastise him with clamorous bitterness, and then set about
altering your will. Yet how dare you assume the front severe,[949] and
license of a parent's speech; you, who yourself, though old, do worse
than this; and the exhausted cupping-glass[950] is long ago looking out
for your brainless head?

If a friend is coming to pay you a visit, your whole household is in a
bustle. "Sweep the floor, display the pillars in all their brilliancy,
let the dry spider come down with all her web; let one clean[951] the
silver, another polish the embossed[952] plate--" the master's voice
thunders out, as he stands over the work, and brandishes his whip.

You are alarmed then, wretched man, lest your entrance-hall, befouled
by dogs, should offend the eye of your friend who is coming, or your
corridor be spattered with mud; and yet one little slave could clean
all this with half a bushel of saw-dust. And yet, will you not bestir
yourself that your own son may see your house immaculate and free from
foul spot or crime? It deserves our gratitude that you have presented a
citizen to your country and people,[953] if you take care that he prove
useful to the state--of service to her lands; useful in transacting the
affairs both of war and peace. For it will be a matter of the highest
moment in what pursuits and moral discipline you train him.

The stork feeds her young on snakes[954] and lizards which she has
discovered in the trackless fields. They too, when fledged, go in quest
of the same animals. The vulture, quitting the cattle, and dogs, and
gibbets, hastens to her callow brood, and bears to them a portion of
the carcass. Therefore this is the food of the vulture too when grown
up, and able to feed itself and build a nest in a tree of its own.

Whereas the ministers of Jove,[955] and birds of noble blood, hunt in
the forest for the hare[956] or kid. Hence is derived the quarry for
their nest: hence too, when their progeny, now matured, have poised
themselves on their own wings, when hunger pinches they swoop to that
booty, which first they tasted when they broke the shell.

Centronius had a passion for building; and now on the embayed
shore of Caieta,[957] now on the highest peak of Tibur,[958] or
on Præneste's[959] hills, he reared the tall roofs of his villas,
of Grecian[960] and far-fetched marbles; surpassing the temple of
Fortune[961] and of Hercules as much as Posides[962] the eunuch
outvied our Capitol. While, therefore, he is thus magnificently lodged,
Centronius lessened his estate and impaired his wealth. And yet the sum
of the portion that he left was no mean one: but all this his senseless
son ran through by raising new mansions of marble more costly than his
sire's.

Some whose lot it is to have a father that reveres sabbaths, worship
nothing save clouds and the divinity of heaven; and think that flesh
of swine, from which their sire abstained, differs in naught from
that of man. Soon, too, they submit to circumcision. But, trained to
look with scorn upon the laws of Rome, they study and observe and
reverence all those Jewish statutes that Moses in his mystic volume
handed down: never to show the road except to one that worships the
same sacred rites--to conduct to the spring they are in quest of, the
circumcised[963] alone. But their father is to blame for this; to whom
each seventh[964] day was a day of sloth, and kept aloof from all share
of life's daily duties.

All other vices, however, young men copy of their own free choice.
Avarice is the only one that even against their will they are
constrained to put in practice. For this vice deceives men under
the guise and semblance[965] of virtue. Since it is grave in
bearing--austere in look and dress. And without doubt, the miser is
praised "a frugal[966] character," "a sparing man," and one that
knows how to guard his own,[967] more securely than if the serpent of
the Hesperides[968] or of Pontus had the keeping of them. Besides,
the multitude considers the man of whom we are speaking, a splendid
carver[969] of his own fortune. Since it is by such artificers as
these that estates are increased. But still, increase they do by all
means, fair or foul, and swell in bulk from the ceaseless anvil and
ever-glowing forge.

The father, therefore, considers misers as men of happy minds,[970]
since he admires wealth, and thinks no instance can be found of a
_poor_ man that is also _happy_; and therefore exhorts his sons to
follow the same track, and apply themselves earnestly to the doctrines
of the same sect. There are certain first elements[971] of all vices.
These he instills into them in regular order, and constrains them to
become adepts in the most paltry lucre. Presently he inculcates an
insatiable thirst for gain. While he is famishing himself, he pinches
his servants'[972] stomachs with the scantiest allowance.[973] For
he never endures to consume the whole of the blue fragments of
mouldy[974] bread, but saves, even in the middle of September,[975]
the mince[976] of yesterday;[977] and puts by till to-morrow's dinner
the summer bean,[978] with a piece of stockfish and half a stinking
shad:[979] and, after he has counted them, locks up the shreds of
chopped leek.[980] A beggar from a bridge[981] would decline an
invitation to such a meal as this! But to what end is money scraped
together at the expense of such self-torture? Since it is undoubted
madness,[982] palpable insanity, to _live_ a beggar's life, simply that
you may _die_ rich.

Meanwhile, though the sack swells, full to the very brim, the love of
money grows[983] as fast as the money itself grows. And he that has the
less, the less he covets. Therefore you are looking out for a second
villa, since one estate is not enough for you, and it is your fancy to
extend[984] your territories; and your neighbor's corn-land seems to
you more spacious and fertile than your own; therefore you treat for
the purchase of this too, with all its woods and its hill that whitens
with its dense olive-grove. But if their owner will not be prevailed
upon to part with them at any price, then at night, your lean oxen
and cattle with weary necks, half-starved, will be turned into his
corn-fields while still green, and not quit it for their own homes
before the whole crop[985] has found its way into their ruthless[986]
stomachs--so closely cropped that you would fancy it had been mown. You
could hardly tell how many have to complain of similar treatment, and
how many estates wrongs like this have brought to the hammer. "But what
says the world? What the trumpet of slanderous fame?--"

"What harm does this do me?"[987] he says; "I had rather have a lupin's
pod, than that the whole village neighborhood[988] should praise me, if
I am at the same time to reap the scanty crops of a diminutive estate."

You will then, forsooth, be free from all disease[989] and all
infirmity, and escape sorrow and care; and a lengthened span of life
will hereafter be your lot with happier destiny, if you individually
own as much arable land as the whole Roman people used to plow under
king Tatius. And after that, to men broken down with years, that had
seen the hard service of the Punic wars, and faced the fierce Pyrrhus
and the Molossian swords, scarce two acres[990] a man were bestowed at
length as compensation for countless wounds. Yet that reward for all
their blood and toil never appeared to any less than their deserts--or
did their country's faith appear scant or thankless. Such a little
glebe as this used to satisfy the father himself and all his cottage
troop: where lay his pregnant wife, and four children played--one a
little slave,[991] the other three free-born. But for their grown-up
brothers[992] when they returned from the trench or furrow, there was
another and more copious supper prepared, and the big pots smoked with
vegetables. Such a plot of ground in our days is not enough for a
garden.

It is from this source commonly arise the motives to crime. Nor has any
vice of the mind of man mingled more poisons or oftener dealt[993] the
assassin's knife, than the fierce lust for wealth unlimited. For he
that covets to grow rich,[994] would also grow rich speedily. But what
respect for laws, what fear or shame is ever found in the breast of
the miser hasting to be rich? "Live contented with these cottages, my
lads, and these hills of ours!" So said, in days of yore, the Marsian
and Hernican and Vestine sire--"Let us earn our bread, sufficient for
our tables, with the plow. Of this the rustic deities[995] approve; by
whose aid and intervention, since the boon of the kindly corn-blade, it
is man's fortune to loathe the oaks he fed upon before. Naught that is
forbidden will he desire to do who is not ashamed of wearing the high
country boots[996] in frosty weather, and keeps off the east winds by
inverted skins. The foreign purple, unknown to us before, leads on to
crime and impiety of every kind."

Such were the precepts that these fine old fellows gave to their
children! But now, after the close of autumn, even at midnight[997] the
father with loud voice rouses his drowsy son:

"Come, boy, get your tablets and write! Come, wake up! Draw
indictments! get up the rubricated statutes[998] of our fathers--or
else draw up a petition for a centurion's post. But be sure Lælius
observe your hair untouched by a comb, and your nostrils well covered
with hair,[999] and your good brawny shoulders. Sack the Numidian's
hovels,[1000] and the forts of the Brigantes,[1001] that your sixtieth
year may bestow on you the eagle that will make you rich. Or, if you
shrink from enduring the long-protracted labors of the camp, and
the sound of bugles and trumpets makes your heart faint, then buy
something that you may dispose of for more than half as much again as
it cost you; and never let disgust at any trade that must be banished
beyond the other bank of Tiber, enter your head, nor think that any
difference can be drawn between perfumes or leather. The smell of gain
is good[1002] from any thing whatever! Let this sentiment of the
poet[1003] be forever on your tongue--worthy of the gods, and even
great Jove himself!--'No one asks how you _get_ it, but _have_ it you
must.' This maxim old crones impress on boys before they can run alone.
This all girls learn before their A B C."

Any parent whatever inculcating such lessons as these I would thus
address: Tell me, most empty-headed of men! who bids you be in such
a hurry? I engage your pupil shall better your instruction. Don't be
alarmed! You will be outdone; just as Ajax outstripped Telamon, and
Achilles excelled Peleus.[1004] Spare their tender years![1005] The
bane of vice matured has not yet filled the marrow of their bones! As
soon as he begins to trim a beard, and apply the long razor's edge,
he will be a false witness--will sell his perjuries at a trifling
sum, laying his hand[1006] on Ceres' altar and foot. Look upon your
daughter-in-law as already buried, if she has entered your family with
a dowry that must entail death on her.[1007] With what a gripe will
she be strangled in her sleep! For all that you suppose must be gotten
by sea and land, a shorter road[1008] will bestow on him! Atrocious
crime involves no labor! "I never recommended this," you will hereafter
say, "nor counseled such an act." Yet the cause and source of this
depravity of heart rests at your doors; for he that inculcated a love
for great wealth, and by his sinister lessons trained up his sons to
avarice,[1009] _does_ give full license, and gives the free rein[1010]
to the chariot's course; then if you try to check it, it can not be
restrained, but, laughing you to scorn, is hurried on, and leaves even
the goal far behind. No one holds it enough to sin just so much as you
allow him, but men grant themselves a more enlarged indulgence.

When you say to your son, "The man is a fool that gives any thing
to his friend,[1011] or relieves the burden[1012] of his neighbor's
poverty," you are, in fact, teaching him to rob and cheat, and get
riches by any crime, of which as great a love exists in you as was that
of their country in the breast of the Decii;[1013] as much, if Greece
speaks truth, as Menæceus[1014] loved Thebes! in whose furrows[1015]
legions with their bucklers spring from the serpent's teeth, and at
once engage in horrid war, as though a trumpeter had arisen along with
them. Therefore you will see that fire[1016] of which you yourself
supplied the sparks, raging far and wide, and spreading universal
destruction. Nor will you yourself escape, poor wretch! but with loud
roar the lion-pupil[1017] in his den will mangle his trembling master.

Your horoscope is well known to the astrologers.[1018] Yes! but it is
a tedious business to wait for the slow-spinning[1019] distaffs. You
will be cut off long before your thread[1020] is spun out. You are long
ago standing in his way, and are a drag upon his wishes. Long since
your slow and stag-like[1021] age is irksome to the youth. Send for
Archigenes[1022] at once! and buy what Mithridates[1023] compounded,
if you would pluck another fig, or handle this year's roses. You must
possess yourself of that drug which every father, and every king,
should swallow before every meal.

I now present to you an especial gratification, to which you can find
no match on any stage, or on the platform of the sumptuous prætor.
If you only become spectator at what risk to life the additions to
fortune are procured, the ample store in the brass-bound[1024] chest,
the gold to be deposited in watchful Castor's[1025] temple; since Mars
the avenger has lost helmet and all, and could not even protect his
own property. You may give up, therefore, the games of Flora,[1026] of
Ceres,[1027] and of Cybele,[1028] such far superior sport is the real
business of life!

Do bodies projected from the petaurum,[1029] or they that come down
the tight-rope, furnish better entertainment than you, who take up
your constant abode in your Corycian[1030] bark, ever to be tossed up
and down by Corus and by Auster? the desperate merchant of vile and
stinking wares! You, who delight in importing the rich[1031] raisin
from the shores of ancient Crete, and wine-flasks[1032]--Jove's own
fellow-countrymen! Yet he that plants his foot with hazardous tread
by that perilous barter earns his bread, and makes the rope ward off
both cold and hunger. _You_ run _your_ desperate risk, for a thousand
talents and a hundred villas. Behold the harbor! the sea swarming
with tall ships! more than one half the world is now at sea. Wherever
the hope of gain invites, a fleet will come; nor only bound over the
Carpathian and Gætulian seas, but leaving Calpe[1033] far behind, hear
Phœbus hissing in the Herculean main. A noble recompense indeed for
all this toil! that you return home thence with well-stretched purse;
and exulting in your swelled money-bags,[1034] brag of having seen
Ocean's monsters,[1035] and young mermen!

A different madness distracts different minds. One, while in his
sister's arms, is terrified at the features and torches of the
Eumenides.[1036] Another, when he lashes the bull[1037], believes
it is Agamemnon or Ulysses roars. What though he spare his tunic or
his cloak, that man requires a keeper,[1038] who loads his ship with
a cargo up to the very bulwarks, and has but a plank[1039] between
himself and the wave. While the motive cause to all this hardship and
this fearful risk, is silver cut up into petty legends and minute
portraits. Clouds and lightning oppose his voyage. "All hands unmoor!"
exclaims the owner of the corn and pepper he has bought up. "This
lowering sky, that bank of sable clouds portends no ill! It is but
summer lightning!"

Unhappy wretch! perchance that selfsame night he will be borne down,
overwhelmed with shivering timbers and the surge, and clutch his
purse with his left hand and his teeth. And he, to whose covetous
desires[1040] but lately not all the gold sufficed which Tagus[1041] or
Pactolus[1042] rolls down in its ruddy sand, must now be content with a
few rags to cover his nakedness, and a scanty morsel, while as a "poor
shipwrecked mariner" he begs for pence, and maintains himself by his
painting of the storm.[1043]

Yet, what is earned by hardships great as these, involves still greater
care and fear to keep. Wretched, indeed, is the guardianship[1044] of a
large fortune.

Licinus,[1045] rolling in wealth, bids his whole regiment of slaves
mount guard with leathern buckets[1046] all in rows; in dread alarm
for his amber, and his statues, and his Phrygian marble,[1047] and his
ivory, and massive tortoise-shell.

The tub of the naked Cynic[1048] does not catch fire! If you smash it,
another home will be built by to-morrow, or else the same will stand,
if soldered with a little lead. Alexander felt, when he saw in that tub
its great inhabitant, how much more really happy was he who coveted
nothing, than he who aimed at gaining to himself the whole world;
doomed to suffer perils equivalent to the exploits he achieved.

Had we but foresight, thou, Fortune, wouldst have no divinity.[1049]
It is _we_ that make thee a goddess! Yet if any one were to consult me
what proportion of income is sufficient, I will tell you. Just as much
as thirst and hunger[1050] and cold require; as much as satisfied you,
Epicurus,[1051] in your little garden! as much as the home of Socrates
contained before. Nature never gives one lesson, and philosophy
another. Do I seem to bind you down to too strict examples? Then throw
in something to suit our present manners. Make up the sum[1052] which
Otho's law thinks worthy of the Fourteen Rows.

If this make you contract your brows, and put out your lip, then take
two knights' estate, make it the three Four-hundred![1053] If I have
not yet filled your lap, but still it gapes for more, then neither
Crœsus' wealth nor the realms of Persia will ever satisfy you. No! nor
even Narcissus'[1054] wealth! on whom Claudius Cæsar lavished all, and
whose behest he obeyed, when bidden even to kill his wife.

FOOTNOTES:

[922] _Fuscinus._ Nothing is known of him.

"Fuscinus, those ill deeds that sully fame,
And lay such blots upon an honest name,
In blood once tainted, like a current run
From the lewd father to the lewder son." Dryden.

[923] _Alea_, i., 89. Cf. Propert., IV., viii., 45, "Me quoque per
talos Venerem quærente secundos, Semper _damnosi_ subsiluere Canes."
The Romans used four dice in throwing, which were thrown on a table
with a rim (alveolus or abacus), out of a dice-box made of horn,
box-wood, or ivory. This fritillus was a kind of _cup_, narrower at
the top than below. When made in the form of a tower, with graduated
intervals, it was called pyrgus, turricula, or phimus.

[924] _Ludit._

"Repeats in miniature the darling vice;
Shakes the low box, and cogs the little dice." Gifford.

[925] _Tubera._ Cf. v., 116, _seq._ Mart., Ep. xiii., 50.

[926] _Boletum._ Cf. v., 147. Mart., Ep. xiii., 48.

[927] _Ficedulas._ Mr. Metcalfe translates "snipes." Cf. Mart., Ep.
xiii., 49, "Cum me ficus alat, cum pascar dulcibus uvis, Cur potius
nomen non dedit uva mihi?"

[928] _Gula_, i., 140.

[929] _Septimus._ Plin., vii., 16, "Editis infantibus primores
dentes septimo gignuntur mense: iidem anno septimo decidunt, aliique
sufficiuntur."

[930] _Barbatos._ Pers., iv., 1, "Barbatum hoc crede magistrum dicere
sorbitio tollit quem dira cicutæ." Cic., Fin., iv., "Barba sylvosa et
pulchre alita, quamvis res ipsa sit exterior et fortuita, inter hominis
eruditi insignia recensetur."

[931] _Rutilus._ Used probably indefinitely, as in Sat. xi., 2, "Si
Rutilus, demens." Rutilus was a surname of the Marcian, Virginian, and
Nantian clans.

[932] _Servorum._ Gifford quotes an apposite passage from Macrobius,
i., 2, "Tibi autem unde in servos tantum et tam immane fastidium? Quasi
non ex iisdem tibi constent et alantur elementis, eumdemque spiritum ab
eodem principe carpant!"

[933] _Sirena._ Cf. ix., 150.

[934] _Antiphates_, king of the cannibal Læstrygones. Hom., Odys., x.,
114, _seq._ Ovid, Met., xiv., 233, _seq._

[935] _Tortore._ vi., 480, "Sunt quæ tortoribus annua præstent."

"Knows no delight, save when the torturer's hand
Stamps for low theft the agonizing brand." Gifford.

[936] _Ergastula._ Cf. ad viii., 180. Put here, as in vi., 151, for the
slaves themselves. As 15 freemen were said to constitute a _state_, and
15 slaves a _familia_, so "_quindecim vincti_" form one Ergastulum. It
properly means the Bridewell, where they were set to "travaux forcis."
Liv., ii., 23; vii., 4. The country prisons were generally under-ground
dungeons. Branding on the forehead was a common punishment. Thieves
had the word "Fur" burnt in; hence called "literati homines," "homines
trium literarum." Plaut., Aul., II., iv., 46. Cicero calls one
"compunctum notis, stigmatiam," Off., ii., 7. So "Inscripti vultus,"
Plin., xviii., 3. "Inscripti," Martial, Ep. viii, 79. Cf. Plin.,
Paneg., 35. Sat. x., 183. Plaut., Cas., II., vi., 49.

[937] _Largæ._ Cf. vi., 239, "Scilicet expectas ut tradat mater
honestos atque alios mores quam quos habet?" x., 220, "Promptius
expediam quot amaverit Hippia mæchos."

[938] _Dictante._ vi., 223, "Illa docet missis a corruptore tabellis,
nil rude, nil simplex rescribere."

[939] _Exempla._ From Cic, Ep., iv., 3, "Quod exemplo fit, id etiam
jure fieri putant."

[940] _Exempla domestica._

"Thus Nature bids our home's examples win
The passive mind to imitative sin,
And vice, unquestion'd, makes its easy way,
Sanction'd by those our earliest thoughts obey." Badham.

[941] _Luto._ Callim., fr. 133, εἴ σε Προμηθεὺς ἔπλασε καὶ πηλοῦ μὴ 'ξ
ἑτέρου γέγονας. Ovid, Met, i., 80, "Sive recens tellus seductaque nuper
ab alto æthere cognati retinebat semina cœli; Quam satus Iapeto mixtam
fluvialibus undis finxit in effigiem moderantûm cuncta Deorum." Cf.
Sat. vi., 13, "Compositive luto nullos habuere parentes."

[942] _Orbita_, from orbis; "the track of a wheel." So by the same
metaphor the "_routine_," or course of life.

[943] _Abstineas._

"O cease from sin! should other reasons fail
Lest our own frailties make our children frail." Badham.

[944] _Brutus_ was the son of Servilia, the sister of Cato of Utica
(cf. x., 319). So Sen., Ep. 97, "Omne tempus Clodios, non omne Catones
fert."

[945] _Procul hinc._ The formula at religious solemnities. Cf. ii.,
89. Ov., Met., vii., 255, "Hinc procul Æsonidem, procul hinc jubet ire
ministros, et monet arcanis oculos removere profanos."

[946] _Parasiti._ Cf. i., 139.

[947] _Reverentia._

"His child's unsullied purity demands
The deepest reverence at a parent's hands." Badham.

[948] _Censoris._ Henninius' reading and punctuation is followed here.

"Oh yet reflect! For should he e'er provoke,
In riper age, the Law's avenging stroke
(Since not alone in person and in face,
But morals, he will prove your son, and trace,
Nay pass your vicious footsteps), you will rail,
And name another heir, should threatening fail!" Gifford.

[949] _Cerebro._ Plin., ix., 37, "Cerebrum est velut arx sensuum: hic
mentis est regimen."

[950] _Cucurbita._ Properly a kind of gourd, κολοκύνθη thence from its
shape, and perhaps too from its _use_, applied to a cupping-glass.
These were made of horn, brass, and afterward of glass. The Greeks,
from the same cause, called it σικύα, or κύαθος (cf. Schol. ad Arist.,
Lys., 444). It is called _ventosa_ from the rarefication of the air in
the operation, and was applied to relieve the head. Hence _cucurbitæ
caput_ is used for a fool. Cf. Appul., Met., I, "Nos cucurbitæ caput
non habemus, ut pro te moriamur!"

[951] _Lavet._ Browne says, "Who washes silver plate?" and prefers the
reading "leve." "But might not his _patellæ_ be of silver?" iii., 261,
"Domus intereà secura _patellas_ jam _lavat_."

[952] _Aspera._ Cf. i., 76, "Argentum vetus et stantem extrà pocula
caprum." v., 38, "Inæquales beryllo phialas." Virg., Æn., ix., 266,
"Argento perfecta atque _aspera_ signis pocula." Ovid., Met., v.,
81, "Altis exstantem signis cratera." xii., 235, "Signis exstantibus
_asper_ Antiquus crater." xiii., 700, "Hactenus antiquo signis
fulgentibus ære, Summus inaurato crater erat asper acantho."

"'Sweep the dry cobwebs down!' the master cries,
Whips in his hand, and fury in his eyes:
'Let not a spot the clouded columns stain,
Scour you the figured silver; you the plain!'" Gifford.

[953] _Patriæ populoque_, an ancient formula. Cf. Liv., v., 41. So
Horace joins them, "Hoc fonte derivata clades in patriam populumque
fluxit," iii., Od. vi., 20 (vid. Orell. in loc.). Ovid, Met., xv., 572,
"Seu lætum est, patriæ lætum, populoque Quirini."

"Thy grateful land shall say 'tis nobly done,
If thou bring'st up to public use thy son;
Fit for the various tasks allotted men,
A warlike chief, a prudent citizen." Hodgson.

[954] _Serpente._ Pliny (H. N., x., 23) alludes to the same
circumstance with regard to storks. "Illis in Thessaliâ tantus honos
serpentum exitio habitus est, ut ciconiam occidere capitale sit, eadem
legibus pœna, quâ in homicidas."

"Her progeny the stork with serpents feeds,
And finds them lizards in the devious meads:
The little storklings, when their wings are grown,
Look out for snakes and lizards of their own." Badham.

[955] _Famulæ Jovis._ Æsch., Prom. V., 1057, Διὸς πτηνὸς κύων, δαφοινὸς
ἀετός. Hor., iv., Od. iv., 1, "Qualem ministrum fulminis alitem," etc.

[956] _Leporem._ Virg., Æn., ix., 563, _seq._, "Qualis ubi aut leporem
aut candenti corpora cycnum Sustulit alta petens pedibus Jovis armiger
uncis."

"While Jove's own eagle, bird of noble blood,
Scours the wide champaign for untainted food,
Bears the swift hare, or swifter fawn away,
And feeds her nestlings with the generous prey." Gifford.

[957] _Caietæ_, now "Mola di Gaeta," called from Æneas's nurse. Virg.,
Æn., vii., 1, "Tu quoque littoribus nostris, Æneia nutrix, Æternam
moriens famam Caieta dedisti. Et nunc servat honos sedem tuus."

[958] _Tibur_, now "Tivoli," on the Anio, built on a steep acclivity.
Hence "supinum," Hor., iii., Od. iv., 23. Cf. iii., 192, "aut proni
Tiburis arce."

[959] _Præneste_, now "Palestrina," said to have been founded by
Cæculus, son of Vulcan. Vid. Virg., Æn., vii., 678.

[960] _Græcis._ Cf. Stat. Sylv., III., i., 5, "Sed nitidos postes
Graiisque effulta metallis culmina." The _green_ marble of Tænarus was
very highly prized. Vid. Plin., H. N. xxxvi., 7. Prop., III., ii.,
9, "Quod non Tænariis domus est mihi fulta columnis." Tibull., III.,
iii., 13, "Quidve domus prodest Phrygiis innixa columnis, Tænare sive
tuis, sive Caryste tuis." Among other foreign marbles, Pliny mentions
the Egyptian, Naxian, Armenian, Parian, Chian, Sicyonian, Synnadic,
Numidian. Augustus introduced the use of marble in public buildings,
and many edifices of his time were constructed of solid marble. All
the columns of the temple of Mars Ultor are of marble. (Vid. Niebuhr's
Lectures, vol. iii., p. 299. Sat. xi., 182, "Longis Numidarum fulta
columnis." Hor., ii., Od. xviii., 4, "Columnas ultimâ recisas Africâ."
Lucian, Hipp., p. 507, ed. Bened.) But the more general use of it
did not begin till the reign of Nero, when Greek architecture became
prevalent.

[961] _Fortunæ._ The temple of Fortune at Præneste was erected by
Augustus. Hence she was called Dea Prænestina, and the oracles
delivered there "Sortes Prænestinæ." Suet., Tib., 63. Propert., II.,
xxxii., 3. Cf. Ov., Fast., vi., 62. (From Stat. Sylv., I., iii., 80,
"Quod ni templa darent alias Tirynthia sortes, et Prænestinæ poterant
migrare Sorores," it appears that at Præneste, as at Antium, there were
two Fortunes worshiped as sister-goddesses. Cf. Suet., Calig., 57.
Mart., v., Ep. i., 3. Orell. ad Hor., i., Od. xxxv., 1.) The temple
of Hercules at Tibur was built by Marcius Philippus, step-father of
Augustus. Cf. Suet., Aug., 29. Prop., II., xxxii., 5.

[962] _Posides._ Vid. Suet., Claud., 28, "Libertorum præcipuè suspexit
Posiden spadonem quem etiam, Britannico triumpho, inter militares viros
hastâ purâ donavit." Like Claudius' other freedmen, he amassed immense
wealth.

[963] _Verpos._ Some of the commentators waste a great amount of zeal,
and no little knowledge, to show us that these lines prove Juvenal to
have been in utter ignorance of the Mosaic law. I presume Juvenal means
to tell us _what the Jews did_, not what the Jewish law _taught_; which
had they followed, they would not have been in Rome for Juvenal to
write about. These lines, in fact, instead of contradicting Josephus,
_confirm_ his account of the state of his countrymen, and are another
valuable testimony to prove that they "_had_ made the word of God of
none effect through their traditions." What should we say of Messrs.
Johnson, Malone, and Steevens, were they to gravely demonstrate that
Shakspeare wrote in _ignorance of the tenets of Judaism_ when he
introduces Shylock coveting Signor Antonio's "pound of flesh?"

[964] _Septima._ Cf. Tac., His., v., 4, "Septimo die otium placuisse
ferunt; quia is finem laborum tulerit; dein blandiente inertiâ,
septimum quoque annum ignaviæ datum."

[965] _Specie._ Hor., A. P., 25, "Decipimur specie recti." Pers., v.,
105, "Et veri speciem dignoscere calles."

"For this grave vice, assuming Virtue's guise,
Seems Virtue's self to superficial eyes." Gifford.

[966] _Frugi._ Hor., i., Sat. iii., 49, "Parcius hic vivit, frugi
dicatur."

[967] _Tutela._ Hor., A. P., 169, "Vel quod Quærit, et inventis miser
abstinet ac timet uti," and l. 325-333.

[968] _Hesperidum._ Vid. Ov., Met., iv., 627, _seq._ Virg., Æn., iv.,
480, _seq._ Athen., iii., p. 82, ed. Dindorf.

[969] _Artificem._

"And reasoning from the fortune he has made,
Hail him a perfect master of his trade." Gifford.

[970] _Animi._ Hor., i., Ep. xv., 45, "Vos sapere et solos aio bene
vivere quorum Conspicitur nitidis fundata pecunia villis."

[971] _Elementa._

"Vice boasts its elements, like other arts:
These he inculcates first; anon imparts
The petty tricks of saving: last inspires
Of endless wealth th' insatiable desires." Gifford.

[972] _Servorum._ Juvenal had evidently Theophrastus' αἰσχροκερδὴς
in his eye: τὰ δὲ καταλειπόμενα ἀπὸ τῆς τραπέζης ἡμίση τῶν ῥαφανίδων
ἀπογράφεσθαι, ἵνα οἱ διακονοῦντες παῖδες μὴ λάβωσι.

[973] _Modio iniquo._ Cf. Theophr., Char., 80 (π. αίσχροκερδ.),
φειδωνίῳ μέτρῳ τὸν πύνδακα ἐγκεκρουσμένῳ μετρεῖν αὐτὸς τοῖς ἔνδον τὰ
ἐπιτήδεια σφόδρα ἀποψῶν.

[974] _Mucida._ v., 68, "Solidæ jam mucida frusta farinæ."

[975] _Septembri._ The hottest and most unhealthy month in Rome. Cf.
vi., 517. Hor., i., Ep. xvi., 16.

[976] _Minutal._ The μυττωτὸς and περίκομμα of Aristophanes. Martial
describes one, lib. xi., Ep. xxxi. Cf. Apic, iv., 3.

[977] _Hesternum._ So Θοίνην ἕωλον. Athen., vii., 2. Mart., i., Ep.
civ., 7, "Deque decem plures semper servantur olivæ, explicat et cœnas
unica mensa duas."

[978] _Conchem._ iii., 293, "Cujus conche tumes."

[979] _Lacerti._ Mart., x., Ep. 48, "Secta coronabunt rutatos ova
lacertos." xii., Ep. 19. Celsus, ii., 18, mentions the Lacertus among
the fish "ex quibus salsamenta fiunt, et quorum cibus gravissimus est."
The _Silurus_ was a common and coarse Egyptian fish, sent over salted
to Rome. Cf. iv., 33.

[980] _Porri._ iii., 294, "Quis tecum sectile porrum." Cf. Plin., H.N.,
xix., 6.

[981] _Ponte._ Cf. iv., 116, "Cæcus adulator dirusque a ponte
satelles." v., 8, "Nulla crepido vacat? nusquam pons et tegetis pars
dimidia brevior?" Mart., x., Ep. v., 3, "Erret per urbem pontis exsul
et clivi, interque raucos ultimus rogatores oret caninas panis improbi
buccas." Ovid, Ibis, 420, "Quique tenent pontem."

[982] _Phrenesis._ Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 82, "Danda est Hellebori multo
pars maxima avaris: Nescio an Anticyram ratio illis destinet omnem."
So Cicero, de Senec., 65, "Avaritia vero senilis quid sibi velit, non
intelligo: potest enim esse quidquam absurdius, quam quo minus viæ
restat eò plus viatici quærere?"

[983] _Crescit._ So Ovid, Fast., i., 211, "Creverunt et opes, et opum
furiosa cupido et cum possideant plurima plura volunt. Quærere ut
absumant, absumta requirere certant: atque ipsæ vitiis sunt alimenta
vices."

[984] _Proferre._ Liv., i., 33. Virg., Æn., vi., 796. Hor., ii., Od.
xviii., 17. ii., Sat. vi., 8, "O si angulus ille proximus accedat qui
nunc denormat agellum."

[985] _Novalia._ Put here for the crops on any good land. Plin., H.
N., xviii., 19, "Novale est quod alternis annis seritur." Cf. Virg.,
Georg., i., 71, "Alternis idem tonsas cessare novales et segnem patiere
situ durescere campum," with Martyn's note. Varro, de L. L., iv., 4,
"Ager restibilis, qui restituitur ac reseritur quotquot annis; Contrà
qui intermittitur, à novando novalis est ager." It means properly land
recently cleared. "Ager novus cui nunc primum immissum est aratrum
(_virgin soil_), cum antea aut sylva esset, aut terra nunquam proscissa
et culta in segetem." Facc. Then it is used for any cultivated land.
Virg., Ecl., i., 71. Stat., Theb., iii., 644, 5.

[986] _Sævos._ So Hor., ii., Sat. vii., 5, "Quæ prima _iratum ventrem_
placaverit esca."

"Turn in by night thy cattle, starved and lean,
Amid his growing crops of waving green;
Nor lead them forth till all the field be bare,
As if a thousand sickles had been there." Badham.

[987] _Quid nocet hoc?_ Cf. i., 48, "Quid enim salvis infamia nummis!"
Hor., i., Sat. i., 63, "Ut quidam memoratur Athenis, Sordidus ac dives
populi contemnere voces sic solitus: Populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo
Ipse domi, simul ac nummos contemplor in arcâ."

[988] _Vicinia._ Hor., ii., Sat. v., 106, "Egregiè factum laudet
vicinia."

[989] _Morbis._ Cf. Hor., i., Sat. i., 80, "At si condoluit tentatum
frigore corpus, aut alius casus lecto te affixit; habes qui assideat,
fomenta paret, medicum roget ut te suscitet ac reddat natis carisque
propinquis."

"What! canst thou thus bid mortal sickness cease?
Thus from life's lightest cares compel release?
Though twenty plowshares turn thy vast domain,
Shalt thou live longer unchastised by pain?" Badham.

[990] _Jugera bina._ Liv., vi., 16, "Satricum coloniam deduci jussit;
bina jugera et semisses agri assignati." c., 36, "Auderentne postulare,
ut quum bina jugera agri plebi dividerentur, ipsis plus quingenta
jugera habere liceret?" The colonists sent to occupy the conquered
country received, as their allotment of the land taken from the enemy,
two acres apiece. The jugerum was nearly five eighths of an English
acre, i. e., 2 roods, 19 perches, and a fraction. The semissis is the
same as the actus quadratus. Cf. Varro, R. R., i., 10. Plin., H. N.,
xviii., 2.

[991] _Vernula._ Cf. x., 117, "Quem sequitur custos angustæ vernula
capsæ." The verna (οἰκοτραφὴς) was so called, "qui in villis _vere
natus_, quod tempus duce natura feturæ est." Fest. Others say that it
became a term of reproach from having been first given to those who
were born in the Ver Sacrum. Cf. Fest, _s. v._ Mamertini. Strabo, v.,
p. 404. Liv., xxxiv., 44. Just., xxiv., 4. These home-born slaves,
though more despised from having been born in a state of servitude,
were treated with great fondness and indulgence. Sen., Prov., i., f.,
"Cogita filiorum nos modestia delèctari, vernularum licentia: illos
tristiori disciplinâ contineri; horum ali audaciam."

[992] _Domini._ Cf. Plaut., Capt. Pr., 18, "Licet non hæredes sint,
domini sunt."

[993] _Grassatur._ iii., 305, "Interdum et ferro subitus grassator agit
rem."

[994] _Cito vult fieri._ Cf. Menand., οὐδεὶς ἐπλούτησε ταχέως δίκαιος
ὤν. Prov., xxviii., 20, "He that maketh haste to be rich, shall not be
innocent."

"What law restrains, what scruples shall prevent
The desperate man on swift possessions bent?" Badham.

[995] _Numina ruris._ Cf. Virg., Georg., i., 7, "Liber et alma Ceres
vestro si munere tellus Chaoniam pingui glandem mutavit aristâ." So
Fast., i., 671, "Placentur matres frugum Tellusque Ceresque Farre
suo gravidæ, visceribusque suis. Consortes operum, per quas correcta
vetustas, Quernaque glans victa est utiliore cibo." iv., 399, "Postmodo
glans nata est bene erat jam glande reperta, duraque magnificas quercus
habebat opes. Prima Ceres homini ad meliora alimenta vocato mutavit
glandes utiliore cibo." So Sat., vi., 10, "Et sæpe horridior glandem
ructante marito." Sulp., 16, "Non aliter primo quàm cum surreximus ævo,
Glandibus et puræ rursus procumbere lymphæ."

[996] _Perone._ Virg., Æn., vii., 690, "Crudus tegit altera pero." The
pero was a rustic boot, reaching to the middle of the leg, made of
untanned leather. Cf. Pers., v., 102, "Navem si poscat sibi peronatus
arator Luciferi rudis."

"No guilty wish the simple plowman knows,
High-booted tramping through his country snows;
Clad in his shaggy cloak against the wind,
Rough his attire and undebauch'd his mind:
The foreign purple, better still unknown,
Makes all the sins of all the world our own." Hodgson.

[997] _Media de nocte._ Cf. Arist., Nub., 8, _seq._

[998] _Rubras._ Cf. Pers., v., 90, "Excepto si quid Masuri rubrica
vetavit." Ov., Trist., I., i., 7, "Nec titulus minio nec cedro charta
notetur." Mart., iii., Ep. ii., "Et te purpura delicata velet, et cocco
rubeat superbus index." In ordinary books, the titles and headings of
the chapters were written in red letters. But in law-books the text was
in _red_ letter, and the commentaries and glosses in _black_.

[999] _Pilosas._ ii., 11, "Hispida membra quidem et duræ per brachia
setæ promittunt atrocem animum." Combs were usually made of box-wood.
Ov., Fast., vi., 229, "Non mihi detonsos crines depectere buxo."
Mart., xiv., Ep. xxv., 2, "Quid faciet nullos hic inventura capillos,
multifido buxus quæ tibi dente datur."

[1000] _Attegias_, a word of Arabic origin. The Magalia of Virgil, Æn.,
i., 425; iv., 259, and Mapalia of Silius Italicus, ii., 437, _seq._,
xvii., 88. Virg., Georg., iii., 340. Low round hovels, sometimes on
wheels like the huts of the Scythian nomadæ, called from their shape
"Cohortes rotundæ," "hen-coops." Cat. ap. Fest. They are described by
Sallust (Bell. Jug., 20) as "Ædificia Numidarum agrestium, oblonga,
incurvis lateribus tecta, quasi navium carinæ;" and by Hieron. as
"furnorum similes." Probably when _fixed_ they were called Magalia;
whence the name of the ancient part of Carthage, from the Punic
"Mager." When _locomotive_, Mapalia. Livy says that when Masinissa
fled before Syphax to Mount Balbus, "familiæ aliquot cum mapalibus
pecoribusque suis persecuti sunt regem."

[1001] The _Brigantes_ were the most ancient and most powerful of the
British nations, extending from sea to sea over the counties of York,
Durham, Lancaster, Westmoreland, and Cumberland. Tac., Agric., 17. The
famous Cartismandua was their queen, with whom Caractacus took refuge.
Tac., Ann., xii., 32, 6. Hist., iii., 45. Hadrian was in Britain, A.D.
121, when his Foss was constructed.

[1002] _Lucri bonus est odor._ Alluding to Vespasian's answer to Titus.
Vid. Suet., Vesp., 23, "Reprehendenti filio Tito, quod etiam urinæ
vectigal commentus esset, pecuniam ex primâ pensione admovit ad nares,
sciscitans, num odore offenderetur; et illo negante, atqui, inquit
ex lotio est." Martial alludes to the fact of offensive trades being
banished to the other side of the Tiber. VI., xciii., 4, "Non detracta
cani Transtiberina cutis." I., Ep. xlii., 3; cix., 2.

[1003] _Poetæ._ Ennius is said to have taken this sentiment from the
Bellerophon of Euripides. Horace has also imitated it; i., Ep. i.,
65, "Rem facias; rem si possis rectè, si non quôcumque modo rem." Cf.
Seneca, Epist. 115, "Non quare et unde; quid habeas tantum rogant." (No
sentiment of the kind is to be found in the fragments of either.)

"No! though compell'd beyond the Tiber's flood
To move your tan-yard, swear the smell is good,
Myrrh, cassia, frankincense; and wisely think
That what is lucrative can never stink." Hodgson.

[1004] _Peleus._ Thetis was given in marriage to Peleus, because it had
been foretold that she should give birth to a son who should be greater
than his father; and therefore Jupiter was obliged to forego his
passion for her. Vid. Æsch., Prom. Vinct., 886, _seq._ Pind., Isthm.,
viii., 67. Nonnus, Dionys., xxxiii., 356.

[1005] _Parcendum teneris._ Parodied from Virg., Georg., ii., 363, "Ac
dum prima novis adolescit frondibus ætas, parcendum teneris."

[1006] _Tangens._ In swearing, the Romans laid their hands on the
altars consecrated to the gods to whose deity they appealed. Vid.
Virg., Æn., pass. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 16. Cf. Sat. xiii., 89, "Atque
ideo intrepide quæcunque altaria tangunt." Sil, iii., 82, "Tangat
Elissæas palmas puerilibus aras." Liv., xxi., 1, "Annibalem annorum
ferme novem, altaribus admotum tactis sacris jurejurando adactum, se
quum primum posset, hostem fore populo Romano."

[1007] _Mortiferâ._ Cf. Pers., ii., 13, "Acri bile tumet. Nerio jam
tertia conditur uxor."

"If Fate should help him to a dowried wife,
Her doom is fix'd, and brief her span of life:
Sound in her sleep, while murderous fingers grasp
Her slender throat, hark to the victim's gasp!" Badham.

[1008] _Brevior via._ So Tacitus (Ann., iii., 66), speaking of
Brutidius (cf. Sat. x., 83), says, "Festinatio exstimulabat, dum
æquales, dein superiores, postremò suasmet ipse spes anteire parat:
quod multos etiam bonos pessum dedit qui, _spretis quæ tarda cum
securitate_, præmatura vel cum exitio _properarent_."

[1009] The line "Et qui per fraudes patrimonia conduplicare" is now
generally allowed to be an interpolation.

[1010] _Effundit habenas._ So Virg., Georg., i., 512, "Ut cum
carceribus sese effudere quadrigæ addunt in spatia, et frustra
retinacula tendens Fertur equis auriga, neque audit currus habenas."
Æn., v., 818; xii., 499. Ov., Am., III., iv., 15. Cf. Shaksp., King
Henry V., Act iii., sc. 3, "What rein can hold licentious wickedness,
when down the hill he holds his fierce career?"

"With base advice to poison youthful hearts,
And teach them sordid, money-getting arts,
Is to release the horses from the rein,
And let them whirl the chariot o'er the plain:
Forward they gallop from the lessening goal,
Deaf to the voice of impotent control." Hodgson.

[1011] _Donet amico._ Hor., i., Sat. ii., 4, "Contra hic, ne prodigus
esse Dicatur metuens, inopi dare nolit amico."

[1012] _Levet._ Cf. Isa., lviii., 6, "To loose the bands of wickedness,
to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that
ye break every yoke." Gal., vi., 2.

[1013] _Deciorum._ Cf. ad viii., 254. _Græcia vera._ Cf. x., 174,
"Quidquid Græcia mendax audet."

[1014] _Menæceus._ So called because he chose rather to "remain
at home," and save his country from the Argive besiegers by
self-sacrifice, than to escape, as his father urged, to Dodona. See the
end of the Phœnissæ of Euripides, and the story of the pomegranates
that grew on his grave, in Pausanias, ix., cap. xxv., 1. Cf. Cic., T.
Qu., i., 48, and the end of the tenth book of Statius' Thebais.

[1015] _Sulcis._ Ov., Met., iii., 1-130. Virg., Georg., ii., 141,
"Satis immanis dentibus hydri, nec galeis densisque virum seges horruit
hastis."

[1016] _Ignem._ Pind., Pyth., iii., 66, πολλὰν τ' ὄρει πῦρ ἐξ ἑνὸς
σπέρματος ἐνθορὸν ἀΐστωσεν ὕλαν.

[1017] _Leo alumnus._ There is said to be an allusion to a real
incident which occurred under Domitian. Cf. Mart., Ep., de Spect., x.,
"Læserat ingrato leo perfidus ore magistrum ausus tam notas contemerare
manus: sed dignas tanto persolvit crimine pœnas; et qui non tulerat
verbera tela tulit." Æsch., Ag., 717, 34.

[1018] _Mathematicis._ Suet., Calig., 57; Otho, 4. Cf. Sat. iii., 43;
vi., 553, 562. Among these famous astrologers the names of Thrasyllus,
Sulla, Theogenes, Scribonius, and Seleucus are preserved. The
calculations necessary for casting these nativities are called "numeri
Thrasylli," "Chaldaicæ rationes," "numeri Babylonii." Hor., i., Od.
xi., 2. Cic., de Div., ii., 47. Ov., Ibis, 209, _seq._

[1019] _Grave._ Cf. Strat., Ep. lxxii., 4, φεῦ μοίρης τε κακῆς καὶ
πατρὸς ἀθανάτου.

[1020] _Stamine._ Cf. iii., 27, "Dum superest Lachesi quod torqueat."
x., 251, "De legibus ipse queratur Fatorum et nimio de stamine."

[1021] _Cervina._ Cf. x., 247, "Exemplum vitæ fuit a cornice secundæ."
The crow is said to live for nine generations of men. The old Scholiast
says the stag lives for nine hundred years. Vid. Anthol. Gr., ii., 9,
ἡ φάος ἀθρήσασ' ἐλάφου πλέον ἡ χερὶ λαιᾷ γῆρας ἀριθμεῖσθαι δεύτερον
ἀρξαμένη. In the caldron prepared by Medea to renovate Æson, we find,
"vivacisque jecur cervi quibus insuper addit ora caputque novem
cornicis sæcula passæ." Auson., Idyll., xviii., 3, "Hos novies superat
vivendo garrula cornix, et quater egreditur cornicis sæcula cervus."

[1022] _Archigenem._ vi., 236; xiii., 98.

[1023] _Mithridates._ vi., 660, "Sed tamen et ferro si prægustarit
Atrides Pontica ter victi cautus medicamina regis." x., 273, "Regem
transeo Ponti." Cf. Plin., xxiii., 24; xxv., 11. Mart., v., Ep. 76,
"Profecit poto Mithridates sæpe veneno, Toxica ne possent sæva nocere
sibi." This composition (Synthesis) is described by Serenus Sammonicus,
the physician, and consists of ludicrously simple ingredients. xxx.,
578. Cf. Plin., xxiii., 8.

[1024] _Ærata._ Cf. xi., 26, "Quantum ferratâ distet ab arcâ Sacculus."

[1025] _Vigilem Castora._ So called, Grangæus says, "quod ante Castoris
templum erant militum excubiæ." The temple of Mars Ultor, with its
columns of marble, was built by Augustus. Suet., Aug., 29. To which
Ovid alludes, Fast., v., 549, "Fallor an arma sonant? non fallimur,
arma sonabant: Mars venit, et veniens bellica signa dedit. Ultor ad
ipse suos cœlo descendit honores, Templaque in Augusto conspicienda
foro."

[1026] _Floræ._ Cf. vi., 250. Ov., Fast., v., 183-330. The Floralia
were first sanctioned by the government A.U.C. 514, in the consulship
of Centho and Tuditanus, the year Livius began to exhibit. They were
celebrated on the last day of April and the first and second of May.
The lowest courtesans appeared on the stage and performed obscene
dances. Cf. Lactant., i., 20. Pers., v., 178.

[1027] _Cereris._ The Ludi Circenses in honor of Ceres (vid. Tac.,
Ann., xv., 53, 74, Ruperti's note) consisted of horse-racing, and were
celebrated the day before the ides of April. Ov., Fast., iv., 389,
_seq._ They were instituted by C. Memmius when Curule Ædile, and were a
patrician festival. Gell., ii., 24.

[1028] _Cybeles._ Cf. vi., 69; xi., 191.

[1029] _Petauro._ The exact nature of this feat of agility is not
determined by the commentators. The word is derived from αὖρα and
πέτομαι, and therefore seems to imply some machine for propelling
persons through the air, which a line in Lucilius seems to confirm,
"Sicuti mechanici cum alto exsiluere petauro." Fr. incert. xli. So
Manilius, v., 434, "Corpora quæ valido saliunt excussa petauro,
alternosque cient motus: elatus et ille nunc jacet atque hujus casu
suspenditur ille, membraque per flammas orbesque emissa flagrantes."
Mart., ii., Ep. 86, "Quid si per graciles vias petauri Invitum jubeas
subire Ladam." XI., xxi., 3, "Quam rota transmisso toties intacta
petauro." Holiday gives a drawing in which it resembles an oscillum or
swing. Facciolati describes it as "genus ludi, quo homines per aërem
rotarum pulsu jactantur."

[1030] _Corycus_ was the northwestern headland of Crete, with an island
of the same name lying off it. «There were two other towns of the same
name, in Lydia and Cilicia, both infested with pirates; the latter gave
its name to the famous Corycian cave. Pind., Pyth., i. Æsch., P. V.,
350.»

[1031] _Municipes._ The Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται boasted, says Callimachus,
that Crete was not only the birthplace, but also the burial-place of
Jove. Cf. iv., 33, "Jam princeps equitum magnâ qui voce solebat vendere
municipes pacta mercede siluros." So Martial calls Cumæan pottery-ware,
"testa municeps Sibyllæ," xiv., Ep. cxiv., and Tyrian cloaks, "Cadmi
municipes lacernas." Cf. Aristoph., Ach., 333, where Dicæopolis
producing his coal-basket says, ὁ λάρκος δημότης ὁδ' ἐστ' ἐμός. Crete
was famous for this "passum," a kind of rich raisin wine, which it
appears from Athenæus the Roman ladies were allowed to drink. Lib. x.,
p. 440, e. Grangæus calls it "Malvoisie."

[1032] _Lagenas._ Cf. vii., 121.

[1033] _Calpe_, now Gibraltar. It is said to have been Epicurus'
notion, that the sun, when setting in the ocean, hissed like red-hot
iron plunged in water. Cf. Stat. Sylv., II., vii., 27, "Felix hen nimis
et beata tellus, quæ pronos Hyperionis meatus summis oceani vides in
undis stridoremque rotæ cadentis audis."

[1034] _Aluta._ Cf. vii., 192, "Appositam nigræ lunam subtexit alutæ,"
where it is used for the shoe-leather, as Mart., xii., Ep. 25, and ii.,
29. Ov., A. A., iii., 271. It is a leathern _apron_ in Mart., vii.,
Ep. 25, and a leathern sail in Cæs., B. Gall., III., xiii. Here it is
a leathern money-bag. It takes its name from the alumen used in the
process of tanning.

[1035] _Oceani monstra._ So Tacitus, Ann., ii., 24, "Ut quis ex
longinquo revenerat, miracula narrabant, vim turbinum et inauditas
volucres, monstra maris, ambiguas hominum et belluarum formas; visa
sive ex metu credita."

[1036] _Eumenidum._ Eurip., Orest., 254, _seq._ Æsch., Eumen. Hor.,
ii., Sat. iii., 132, _seq._

[1037] _Bove percusso._ Soph., Aj. Cf. ad vii., 115; x., 84.

[1038] _Curatoris._ The Laws of the xii. tables directed that "Si
furiosus essit, agnatorum gentiliumque in eo pecuniâque ejus potestas
esto." Tab., v., 7. Cf. Hor., i., Ep. i., 102, "Nec medici credis nec
_curatoris egere_ à prætore dati." ii., Sat. iii., 217, "Interdicto
huic omne adimat jus prætor."

[1039] _Tabulâ._ Cf. xii., 57, "Dolato confisus ligno, digitis a morte
remotus quatuor aut septem, si sit latissima tæda."

"Who loads his bark till it can scarcely swim,
And leaves thin planks betwixt the waves and him!
A little legend and a figure small
Stamp'd on a scrap of gold, the cause of all!" Badham.

[1040] _Cujus votis._

"Lo! where that wretched man half naked stands,
To whom of rich Pactolus all the sands
Were naught but yesterday! his nature fed
On painted storms that earn compassion's bread." Badham.

[1041] _Tagus._ Cf. iii., 55, "Omnis arena Tagi quodque in mare
volvitur aurum." Mart., i., Ep. l., 15; x., Ep. xcvi., "Auriferumque
Tagum sitiam." Ov., Met., ii., 251, "Quodque suo Tagus amne vehit fluit
ignibus aurum."

[1042] The _Pactolus_ flows into the Hermus a little above Magnesia ad
Sepylum. Its sands were said to have been changed into gold by Midas'
bathing in its waters, hence called εὔχρυσος by Sophocles. Philoct.,
391. It flows under the walls of Sardis, and is closely connected by
the poets with the name and wealth of Crœsus. The real fact being, that
the gold ore was washed down from Mount Tmolus; which Strabo says had
ceased to be the case in his time: lib. xiii., c. 4. Cf. Virg., Æn.,
x., 141, "Ubi pinguia culta exercentque vivi Pactolusque irrigat auro."
Senec., Phœn., 604, "Et quà trahens opulenta Pactolus vada inundat auro
rura." Athen., v. It is still called Bagouli.

[1043] _Picta tempestate._ Cf. ad xii., 27.

"Poor shipwreck'd sailor! tell thy tale and show
The sign-post daubing of thy watery woe." Hodgson.

[1044] _Custodia._

"First got with guile, and then preserved with dread." Spenser.

[1045] _Licinus._ Cf. ad i., 109, "Ego possideo plus Pallante et
Licinis."

[1046] _Hamis._ Hama, "a leathern bucket," from the ἅμη of Plutarch.
Augustus instituted seven Cohortes Vigilum, who paraded the city at
night under the command of their Præfectus, equipped with "hamæ" and
"dolabræ" to prevent fires. Cf. Plin., x., Ep. 42, who, giving Trajan
an account of a great fire at Nicomedia in his province, says, "Nullus
in publico sipho, nulla hama, nullum denique instrumentum ad incendia
compescenda." Tac., Ann., xv., 43, "Jam aqua privatorum licentia
intercepta, quo largior, et pluribus locis in publicum flueret,
custodes, et subsidia reprimendis ignibus in propatulo quisque haberet:
nec communione parietum, sed propriis quæque muris ambirentur." (Ubi
vid. Ruperti's note.) These custodes were called "Castellarii." Gruter.
Cf. Sat. iii., 197, _seq._

[1047] _Phrygiaque columnâ._ Cf. ad lin. 89.

[1048] _Dolia nudi Cynici._ Cf. ad xiii., 122. The story is told by
Plutarch, Vit. Alex. Cf. Diog. Laert., VI., ii., 6. It is said that
Diogenes died at Corinth, the same day Alexander died at Babylon. Cf.
x., 171.

"The naked cynic mocks such anxious cares,
His earthen tub no conflagration fears:
If crack'd or broken, he procures a new;
Or, coarsely soldering, makes the old one do." Gifford.

[1049] _Nullum numen._ Cf. x., 365.

"Where prudence dwells, there Fortune is unknown,
By man a goddess made, by man alone." Badham.

[1050] _Sitis atque fames._ Hor., i., Sat. i., 73, "Nescis quo valeat
nummus quem præbeat usum? Panis ematur, olus, vini Sextarius; adde
Queis humana sibi doleat natura negatis."

[1051] _Epicure._ Cf. xiii., 122, "Non Epicurum suspicit exigui lætum
plantaribus horti."

"As much as made wise Epicurus blest,
Who in small gardens spacious realms possess'd:
This is what nature's wants may well suffice;
He that would more is covetous, not wise." Dryden.

[1052] _Summam._ Cf. iii., 154, "De pulvino surgat equestri Cujus res
legi non sufficit." Plin., xxxii., 2, "Tiberio imperante constitutem
ne quis in equestri ordine censeretur, nisi cui ingenuo ipsi, patri,
avoque paterno sestertia quadringenta census fuisset." Cf. i., 105;
iii., 159, "Sic libitum vano qui nos distinxit Othoni."

[1053] _Tertia Quadringenta._ Suet., Aug., 41, "Senatorum Censum
ampliavit, ac pro Octingentorum millium summâ, duodecies sestertio
taxavit, supplevitque non habentibus."

[1054] _Narcissi._ Of his wealth Dio says (lx., p. 688), μέγιστον τῶν
τότε ἀνθρώπων ἐδυνήθη μυριάδας τε γὰρ πλείους μυρίων εἷχε. Narcissus
and his other freedmen, Posides, Felix, Polybius, etc., exercised
unlimited control over the idiotic Claudius, but Pallas and Narcissus
were his chief favorites, "Quos decreto quoque senatus, non præmiis
modo ingentibus, sed et quæstoriis prætoriisque ornamentis ornari
libenter passus est:" and so much did they abuse his kindness, that
when he was once complaining of the low state of his exchequer, it was
said, "abundaturum si à duobus libertis in consortium reciperetur."
Claudius would have certainly pardoned Messalina, had it not been
for Narcissus. "Nec enim Claudius Messalinam interfecisset, nisi
properâsset index, delator adulterii, et quodammodo imperator cædis
Narcissus." See the whole account, Tac., Ann., xi., 26-38. Suet.,
Claud., 26, _seq._ On the accession of Nero, Narcissus was compelled by
Agrippina to commit suicide. Cf. ad x., 330.

"No! nor his heaps, whom doting Claudius gave
Power over all, and made himself a slave;
From whom the dictates of command he drew,
And, urged to slay his wife, obedient slew." Hodgson.

SATIRE XV.

Who knows not, O Volusius[1055] of Bithynia, the sort of monsters
Egypt,[1056] in her infatuation, worships? One part venerates the
crocodile:[1057] another trembles before an Ibis gorged with serpents.
The image of a sacred monkey glitters in gold, where the magic chords
sound from Memnon[1058] broken in half, and ancient Thebes lies buried
in ruins, with her hundred gates. In one place they venerate sea-fish,
in another river-fish; there, whole towns worship a dog;[1059] no one
Diana. It is an impious act to violate or break with the teeth a leek
or an onion.[1060] O holy nations! whose gods grow for them in their
gardens![1061] Every table abstains from animals that have wool: it is
a crime there to kill a kid. But human flesh is lawful food.

Were Ulysses[1062] to relate at supper such a deed as this to the
amazed Alcinous, he would perhaps have excited the ridicule or anger
of some, as a lying babbler.[1063] "Does no one hurl this fellow into
the sea, that deserves indeed a savage Charybdis and a real one[1064]
too, for inventing[1065] his huge Læstrygones[1066] and Cyclops. For
I would far more readily believe in Scylla, or the Cyanean rocks
that clash together,[1067] and the skins filled with stormy winds; or
that Elpenor, struck with the light touch of Circe's wand, grunted in
company with his messmates turned to hogs. Does he suppose the heads of
the Phæacians so void[1068] of brains?"

So might any one with reason have argued, who was not yet drunk,[1069]
and had taken but a scanty draught[1070] of the potent wine from the
Corcyræan[1071] bowl; for the Ithacan[1072] told his adventures alone,
with none to attest his veracity. We are about to relate events,
wondrous indeed, but achieved only lately, while Junius[1073] was
consul, above the walls of sultry Coptos.[1074] We shall recount the
crime of a whole people, deeds more atrocious than any tragedy could
furnish. For from the days of Pyrrha,[1075] though you turn over
every tragic theme,[1076] in none is a whole people[1077] made the
perpetrators of the guilt. Here, then, an instance which even in our
own days ruthless barbarism[1078] produced. There is an inveterate and
long-standing grudge,[1079] a deathless hatred and a rankling wound
that knows no cure, burning fiercely still between Ombos[1080] and
Tentyra, two neighboring peoples. On both sides the principal rancor
arises from the fact that each place hates its neighbor's gods,[1081]
and believes those only ought to be held as deities which itself
worships. But at a festive period of one of those peoples, the chiefs
and leaders of their enemies determined that the opportunity must be
seized, to prevent their enjoying their day of mirth and cheerfulness,
and the delights of a grand dinner, when their tables were spread near
the temples and cross-ways, and the couch that knows not sleep, since
occasionally even the seventh day's sun finds it still there, spread
without intermission of either night or day.[1082] Savage,[1083] in
truth, is Egypt! But in luxury, so far as I myself remarked, even the
barbarous mob does not fall short of the infamous Canopus.[1084]

Besides, victory is easily gained over men reeking[1085] with wine,
stammering[1086] and reeling. On one side there was a crew of fellows
dancing to a black piper; perfumes, such as they were; and flowers,
and garlands in plenty round their brows. On the other side was ranged
fasting hate. But, with minds inflamed, they begin first of all to
give vent to railings[1087] in words.

This was the signal-blast[1088] of the fray. Then with shouts from both
sides, the conflict begins; and in lieu of weapons,[1089] the unarmed
hand rages.

Few cheeks were without a wound. Scarcely one, if any, had a whole nose
out of the whole line of combatants. Now you might see, through all the
hosts engaged, mutilated faces,[1090] features not to be recognized,
bones showing ghastly beneath the lacerated cheek, fists dripping with
blood from their enemies' eyes. But still the combatants themselves
consider they are only in sport, and engaged in a childish[1091]
encounter, because they do not trample any corpses under foot. What,
forsooth, is the object of so many thousands mixing in the fray, if no
life is to be sacrificed? The attack, therefore, is more vigorous; and
now with arms inclined along the ground they begin to hurl stones[1092]
they have picked up--Sedition's[1093] own peculiar weapons.

Yet not such stones as Ajax[1094] or as Turnus[1095] hurled; nor of
the weight of that with which Tydides[1096] hit Æneas' thigh; but such
as right hands far different to theirs, and produced in our age, have
power to project. For even in Homer's[1097] lifetime men were beginning
to degenerate. Earth now gives birth to weak and puny mortals.[1098]
Therefore every god that looks down on them sneers and hates them!

After this digression[1099] let us resume our story. When they had
been re-enforced by subsidies, one of the parties is emboldened to
draw the sword, and renew the battle with deadly-aiming[1100] arrows.
Then they who inhabit Tentyra,[1101] bordering on the shady palms,
press upon their foes, who all in rapid flight leave their backs
exposed. Here one of them, in excess of terror urging his headlong
course, falls[1102] and is caught. Forthwith the victorious crowd
having cut him up into numberless bits and fragments, in order that
one dead man might furnish a morsel for many, eat him completely up,
having gnawed his very bones. They neither cooked him in a seething
caldron, nor on a spit. So wearisome[1103] and tedious did they think
it to wait for a fire, that they were even content with the carcass
raw. Yet at this we should rejoice, that they profaned not the deity
of fire which Prometheus[1104] stole from highest heaven and gave to
earth. I congratulate[1105] the element! and you too, I ween, are
glad.[1106] But he that could bear to chew a human corpse, never tasted
a sweeter[1107] morsel than this flesh. For in a deed of such horrid
atrocity, pause not to inquire or doubt whether it was the first maw
alone that felt the horrid delight! Nay! he that came up last,[1108]
when the whole body was now devoured, by drawing his fingers along the
ground, got a taste of the blood!

The Vascones,[1109] as report says, protracted their lives by the use
of such nutriment as this. But the case is very different. There we
have the bitter hate of fortune! the last extremity of war, the very
climax of despair, the awful destitution[1110] of a long-protracted
siege. For the instance of such food of which we are now speaking,
ought to call forth our pity.[1111] Since it was only after they had
exhausted herbs of all kinds,[1112] and every animal to which the
gnawings of an empty stomach drove them, and while their enemies
themselves commiserated their pale and emaciated features and wasted
limbs, they in their ravenous famine tore in pieces others' limbs,
ready to devour even their own! What man, or what god even, would
refuse his pardon to brave men[1113] suffering such fierce extremities?
men, whom the very spirits of those whose bodies they fed on, could
have forgiven! The precepts of Zeno teach us a better lesson. For he
thinks that _some_ things only, and not _all_, ought to be done to
preserve life.[1114] But whence could a Cantabrian learn the Stoics'
doctrines? especially in the days of old Metellus. Now the whole world
has the Grecian and our Athens.

Eloquent Gaul[1115] has taught the Britons[1116] to become pleaders;
and even Thule[1117] talks of hiring a rhetorician.

Yet that noble people whom we have mentioned, and their equal
in courage and fidelity, their more than equal in calamity,
Saguntum,[1118] _has_ some excuse to plead for such a deed as this!
Whereas Egypt is more barbarous even than the altar of Mæotis. Since
that Tauric[1119] inventress of the impious rite (if you hold as worthy
of credit all that poets sing) only sacrifices men; the victim has
nothing further or worse to fear than the sacrificial knife. But what
calamity was it drove _these_ to crime? What extremity of hunger, or
hostile arms that bristled round their ramparts, that forced these
to dare a prodigy of guilt so execrable? What greater enormity[1120]
than this could they commit, when the land of Memphis was parched with
drought to provoke the wrath[1121] of Nile when unwilling to rise?

Neither the formidable Cimbri, nor Britons, nor fierce Sarmatians
or savage Agathyrsi, ever raged with such frantic brutality, as did
this weak and worthless rabble, that wont to spread their puny sails
in pinnaces of earthenware,[1122] and ply the scanty paddles of their
painted pottery-canoe. You could not invent a punishment adequate
to the guilt, or a torture bad enough for a people in whose breasts
"anger" and "hunger" are convertible terms.

Nature confesses that she has bestowed on the human race hearts of
softest mould, in that she has given us tears.[1123] Of all our feeling
this is the noblest part. She bids us therefore bewail the misfortunes
of a friend in distress, and the squalid appearance of one accused, or
an orphan[1124] summoning to justice the guardian who has defrauded
him. Whose girl-like hair throws doubt[1125] upon the sex of those
cheeks bedewed with tears!

It is at nature's dictate that we mourn when we meet the funeral of
a virgin of marriageable years, or see an infant[1126] laid in the
ground, too young for the funeral pyre. For what good man, who that is
worthy of the mystic torch,[1127] such an one as Ceres' priest would
have him be, ever deems the ills of others[1128] matter that concerns
not himself?

This it is that distinguishes us from the brute herd. And therefore
we alone, endued with that venerable distinction of reason[1129]
and a capacity for divine things, with an aptitude for the practice
as well as the reception of all arts and sciences, have received,
transmitted to us from heaven's high citadel,[1130] a moral sense,
which brutes prone[1131] and stooping toward earth, are lacking in. In
the beginning of the world, the common Creator of all vouchsafed to
them only the principle of vitality; to us he gave souls[1132] also,
that an instinct of affection reciprocally shared, might urge us to
seek for, and to give, assistance; to unite in one people, those before
widely-scattered;[1133] to emerge from the ancient wood, and abandon
the forests[1134] where our fathers dwelt; to build houses, to join
another's dwelling to our own homes, that the confidence mutually
engendered by a neighbor's threshold might add security[1135] to our
slumbers; to cover with our arms a fellow-citizen[1136] when fallen
or staggering from a ghastly wound; to sound the battle-signal from a
common clarion; to be defended by the same ramparts, and closed in by
the key of a common portal.

But now the unanimity[1137] of serpents is greater than ours. The
wild beast of similar genus spares his kindred[1138] spots. When did
ever lion, though stronger, deprive his fellow-lion of life? In what
wood did ever boar perish by the tusks of a boar[1139] larger than
himself? The tigress of India[1140] maintains unbroken harmony with
each tigress that ravens. Bears, savage to others, are yet at peace
among themselves. But for man![1141] he is not content with forging
on the ruthless anvil the death-dealing steel! While his progenitors,
those primæval smiths, that wont to hammer out naught save rakes and
hoes, and wearied out with mattocks and plowshares, knew not the art
of manufacturing swords.[1142] Here we behold a people whose brutal
passion is not glutted with simple murder, but deem[1143] their
fellows' breasts and arms and faces a kind of natural food.

What then would Pythagoras[1144] exclaim; whither would he not flee,
could he be witness in our days to such atrocities as these! He that
abstained from all that was endued with life as from man himself; and
did not even indulge his appetite with every kind of pulse.

FOOTNOTES:

[1055] _Volusius_ is unknown. Some suppose him to be the same person as
the Bithynicus to whom Plutarch wrote a treatise on Friendship.

[1056] _Ægyptus._ So Cicero, "Ægyptiorum morem quis ignorat? Quorum
imbutæ mentes pravitatis erroribus, quamvis carnificinam prius
subierint quam ibin aut aspidem aut felem aut canem aut crocodilum
violent; quorum etiam imprudentes si quidquam fecerint, pœnam nullam
recusent." Tusc. Qu., v., 27. Cf. Athen., vol. ii., p. 650, Dind.

[1057] _Crocodilon._ Vid. Herod., ii., 69.--_Ibin._ Cic., de Nat.
Deor., i., 36.

[1058] _Memnone._ His statue stood in the temple of Serapis at Thebes.
Plin., xxvi., 7. Strabo, xvii., c. 1, τὰ ἄνω μέρη τὰ ἀπο τῆς καθέδρας
πέπτωκε σεισμοῦ γεννηθέντος. He says the ψόφος comes from "the lower
part remaining on the base." Cf. 1. 56, "Vultus dimidios." Sat. viii.,
4, "Et Curios jam dimidios." iii., 219, "Mediamque Minervam." Cf.
Clinton, Fasti Romani, in A.D. 130.

[1059] _Canem._ Cf. Lucan, viii., 832, "Semideosque canes." The
allusion is to the worship of Anubis, cf. vi., 533.

[1060] _Porrum._

"And it is dangerous here to violate an onion, or to stain
The sanctity of leeks with teeth profane." Gifford.

[1061] _Hortis._

"Ye pious nations, in whose gardens rise
A constant crop of earth-sprung deities!" Badham.

[1062] _Ulyxes._ Vid. Hom., Odyss., ix., 106, _seq._; x., 80, _seq._

[1063] _Aretalogus._ "Parasitus, et circulator philosophus." A
discourser on _virtue_ who frequented feasts; hence, one who tells
pleasing tales, a romancer. The philosopher at last degenerated into
the buffoon. Cicero uses "Ethologus" in nearly the same sense, cf.
de Orat., ii., 59, cum not. Harles. Suet., Aug., 74, "Acroamata et
histriones, aut etiam triviales ex Circo ludios, interponebat, ac
frequentius aretalogos." Salmas., ad Flav. Vopisc., 42. Lucian, de Ver.
Hist., i., 709, B. Shaksp., Othello, Act i., sc. 3.

[1064] _Verâ._ Cf. viii., 188, "Judice me dignus _verâ_ cruce."

[1065] _Fingentem_, i. e., "that they fed on _human_ victims."

[1066] _Læstrygones._ Their fabulous seat was Formiæ, now "Mola,"
whither they were led from Sicily by Lamus, their leader. Hor., iii.,
Od. xvii., 1; xvi., 34. Horn., Odyss., x., 81.

[1067] _Concurrentia saxa._ These rocks were at the northern entrance
of the Thracian Bosphorus, now the Channel of Constantinople; and were
fabled to have floated and crushed all vessels that passed the straits,
till Minerva guided the ship Argo through in safety and fixed them
forever. They were hence called συμπληγάδες, συνδρομάδες, πλαγκταὶ, and
κυάνεαι, from the deep blue of the surrounding water. Homer places them
near Sicily. Odyss., xii., 61; xxiii., 327. Pind., Pyth., iv., 370. Cf.
Herod., iv., 85. Eur., Med., 2; Androm., 794. Theoc., Idyll., xiii.,
22. Ov., Her., xii., 121. "Compressos utinam Symplegades elisissent,"
Trist., I., x., 34. They are now called "Pavorane."

[1068] _Vacui._ Cf. xiv., 57, "Vacuumque cerebro jampridem caput." Cf.
Virg., Æn., i., 567, "Non obtusa adeo gestamus pectora Pœni."

"But men to eat men human faith surpasses,
This traveler takes us islanders for asses." Dryden.

[1069] _Nondum ebrius._

"So might some sober hearer well have said,
Ere Corcyræan stingo turned his head." Hodgson.

[1070] _Temetum_, an old word of doubtful etymology: from it is derived
"temulentus" and "abstemius" (cf. Hor., ii., Ep. 163), and the phrase
"Temeti timor" for a parasite.

[1071] _Corcyræâ._ The Phæacians were luxurious fellows, as Horace
implies: "Pinguis ut inde domum possim Phæaxque reverti." i., Ep., xv.,
24.

[1072] _Ithacus._ So x., 257; xiv., 287.

[1073] _Junio._ Salmasius supposes this Junius to be Q. Junius
Rusticus, or Rusticius, consul with Hadrian, A.U.C. 872, A.D. 119.
(Plin., Exerc., p. 320.) Others refer it to an Appius Junius Sabinus,
consul with Domitian, A.U.C. 835, A.D. 82. But the name of Domitian's
colleague was _Titus Flavius_; and no person of the name of Junius
appears in the lists of consuls till Rusticus. Some read Junco, or
Vinco, to avoid the synizesis; but neither of these names occur. See
Life.

[1074] _Copti_, now Kypt or Koft, about twelve miles from Tentyra,
thirty from Thebes, and one hundred and twenty from Syene, where
Juvenal was stationed. Ptolemy Philadelphus connected it by a road with
Berenice.

[1075] _Pyrrha._ Cf. i., 84.

[1076] _Syrmata._ Properly the "long sweeping train of tragedy."
Vid. Hor., A. P., 278, "Personæ pallæque repertor honestæ." Sat.,
viii., 229, "Longum tu pone Thyestæ Syrma vel Antigones vel personam
Menalippes." So Milton, Il Pens., "Sometimes let gorgeous tragedy in
sceptred pall come sweeping by." Cf. Mart., xii., Ep. xcv., 3, 4; iv.,
Ep. xlix., 8.

[1077] _Populus._ i. e., "Tragedy only relates the atrocious crimes of
_individuals_: from the days of the Deluge, you can find no instance of
wickedness extending to _a whole nation_."

[1078] _Feritas._ Aristotle enumerates as one of the characteristics of
θηριότης, τὸ χαίρειν κρέασιν ἀνθρώπων.

[1079] _Simultas_ is properly "the jealousy or rivalry of two persons
candidates for the same office," from _simulo_, synom. with æmulari; or
from _simul_. Vid. Doederlein, iii., 72.

[1080] _Ombos_, now "Koum-Ombou," lies on the right bank of the Nile,
not far from Syene, and consequently a hundred miles at least from
Tentyra. To avoid the difficulty, therefore, in the word "finitimos,"
Salmasius would read "Coptos," this place being only twelve miles
distant; but all the best editions have Ombos. Tentyra, now "Denderah,"
lies on the left bank of the river, and is well known from the famous
discoveries in its Temple by Napoleon's savans. The Tentyrites, as
Strabo tells us (xvii., p. 460; cf. Plin., H. N., viii., 25), differed
from the rest of their countrymen in their hatred and persecution of
the crocodile, πάντα τρόπον ἀνιχνεύουσι καὶ διαφθείρουσιν αὐτούς,
being the only Egyptians who dared attack or face them; and hence when
some crocodiles were conveyed to Rome for exhibition, some Tentyrite
keepers accompanied them, and displayed some curious feats of courage
and dexterity. Aphrodite was their patron deity. The men of Coptos,
Ombos, and Arsinoë, on the other hand, paid the crocodile the highest
reverence; considering it an honor to have their children devoured by
them; and crucified kites out of spite to the Tentyrites, who adored
them. These religious differences are said by Diodorus (ii., 4) to
have been fostered by the policy of the ancient kings, to prevent the
conspiracies which might have resulted from the cordial union and
coalition of the various nomes.

[1081] _Alterius populi_, i. e., the Tentyrites. Cf. l. 73, _seq._

[1082] _Pervigili._ Cf. viii., 158, "Sed quum pervigiles placet
instaurare popinas."

"The board, where oft their wakeful revels last
Till seven returning days and nights are past." Hodgson.

[1083] _Horrida._ So viii., 116, "Horrida vitanda est Hispania." ix.,
12, "Horrida siccæ sylva comæ." vi., 10, "Et sæpe horridior glandem
ructante marito."

"For savage as the country is, it vies
In luxury, if I may trust my eyes,
With dissolute Canopus." Gifford.

[1084] _Canopus._ Cf. i., 26. Said to have been built by Menelaus, and
named after his pilot. It lies on the Bay of Aboukir, not far from
Alexandria, and was notorious for its luxury and debauchery, carried on
principally in the temple of Serapis. Cf. vi., 84, "Prodigia et mores
Urbis damnante Canopo." Sen., Epist. 51. Propert., iii., El. xi., 39.
These lines prove that Juvenal was, _at some time of his life_, in
Egypt; but whether he traveled thither in early life to gratify his
curiosity, or, as the common story goes, was banished there in his old
age to appease the wrath of Paris, is doubtful. The latter story is
inconsistent with chronology, history, and probability.

[1085] _Madidis._ So vi., 207, "Atque coronatum et petulans madidumque
Tarentum." βεβρεγμένος, ὑπομεθύων. Hesych., Sil., xii., 18, "Molli luxu
madefacta meroque Illecebris somni torpentia membra fluebant." Cf.
Plaut., Truc., IV., iv., 2, "Si alia membra vino madeant." Most., I.,
iv., 7, "Ecquid tibi videor madere?" Tibull., II., i., 29, "Non festâ
luce madere est rubor, errantes et male ferre pedes:" and II., ii., 8.

[1086] _Blæsis._ Cf. Mart., x., Ep. 65. So Virgil (Georg., ii., 94)
speaks of the vine as "Tentatura pedes olim vincturaque linguam."
Propert., II., xxxiv., 22. Sen., Epist., 83.

[1087] _Jurgia._ So v., 26, "Jurgia proludunt." iii., 288, "Miseræ
cognosce proœmia rixæ." Tac., Hist., i., 64, "Jurgia primum: mox rixa
inter Batavos et legionarios."

[1088] _Tuba._ Cf. i., 169, and Virg., Æn., xi., 424. The whole of the
following passage may be compared with Virg., Æn., vii., 505-527.

[1089] _Vice teli._ Ov., Met., xii., 381, "Sævique _vicem_ præstantia
_teli_."

[1090] _Vultus dimidios._ viii., 4, "Curios jam dimidios, humeroque
minorem Corvinum et Galbam auriculis nasoque carentem."

"Then might you see, amid the desperate fray,
Features disfigured, noses torn away;
Hands, where the gore of mangled eyes yet reeks,
And jaw-bones starting through the cloven cheeks." Gifford.

[1091] _Pueriles._ Virg., Æn., v., 584-602.

"But hitherto both parties think the fray
But mockery of war, mere children's play!
And scandal think it t' have none slain outright,
Between two hosts that for religion fight." Dryden.

[1092] _Saxa._

"Stones, the base rabble's home-artillery." Hodgson.

[1093] _Seditioni._ Henninius' correction for _seditione_. For
"domestica" in this sense, cf. Sat. ix., 17. So Virg., Æn., i., 150,
"Jamque faces et saxa volant, furor arma ministrat." vii., 507, "Quod
cuique repertum rimanti telum ira facit."

[1094] _Ajax._ Hom., Il., vii., 268, δεύτερος αὖτ' Αἴας πολὺ μείζονα
λᾶαν ἀείρας ἦκ' ἐπιδινήσας ἐπέρεισε δὲ ἶν' ἀπέλεθρον.

[1095] _Turnus._ Virg., Æn., xii., 896, "Saxum circumspicit ingens:
saxum antiquum ingens, campo quod forte jacebat Limes agro positus,
litem ut discerneret arvis. Vix illud lecti bis sex cervice subirent,
Qualia nunc hominûm producit corpora tellus." Cf. Hom., Il., xxi., 405.

[1096] _Tydides._ Il., v., 802, ὁ δὲ χερμάδιον λάβε χειρὶ Τυδείδης μέγα
ἔργον ὃ οὐ δύο γ' ἄνδρε φέροιεν οἷοι νῦν βροτοί εἰσ' ὁ δέ μιν ῥέα πάλλε
καὶ οἶος.

[1097] _Homero._ Il., i., 271, κείνοισι δ' ἂν οὔτις τῶν οἵ νῦν βροτοί
εἰσιν ἐπιχθόνιοι μαχέοιτο.

[1098] _Malos homines._ Cf. Herod., i., 68. Plin., vii., 16. Lucretius,
ii., 1149, "Jamque adeo fracta est ætas, effœtaque tellus Vix animalia
parva creat, quæ cuncta creavit sæcla." Sen., de Ben., I., c. x.,
"Hoc majores nostri questi sunt, hoc nos querimur, hoc posteri nostri
querentur, eversos esse mores, regnare nequitiam, in deterius res
humanas labi." Hor., iii., Od. vi., 46, "Ætas parentum, pejor avis,
tulit nos nequiores, mox daturos Progeniem vitiosiorem."

[1099] _Diverticulo._ Properly "a cross-road," then "a place to which
we turn aside from the high road; halting or refreshing place." Cf.
Liv., ix., 17.

[1100] _Infestis._ So Virg., Æn., v., 582, "Convertêre vias,
_infesta_que tela tulere." 691, "Vel tu quod superest _infesto_ fulmine
morti, Si mereor dimitte." x., 877, "_Infestâ_ subit obvius hastâ."
Liv., ii., 19, "Tarquinius Superbus quanquam jam ætate et viribus
gravior, equum _infestus_ admisit."

[1101] _Tentyra._ Cf. ad l. 35. Salmasius proposes to read here "Pampæ"
(the name of a small town) for _Palmæ_ on account of the difficulty
stated above; and supposes this to be Juvenal's way of distinguishing
Tentyra: but Pampa is a much _smaller_ place than Tentyra; and no one
would describe London, as Browne observes, as "London near Chelsea."
He imagines also that Juvenal is describing an affray that took place
between the people of Cynopolis and Oxyrynchis about this time,
mentioned by Plutarch (de Isid. et Osirid.), and that he has changed
the names for the sake of the metre. Heinrich leaves the difficulty
unsolved. Browne supposes _two_ places of the name of Tentyra.

[1102] _Labitur._ Gifford compares Hesiod., Herc. Scut., 251, Δῆριν
ἔχον περὶ πιπτόντων· πᾶσαι δ' ἄρ ἵεντο αἷμα μέλαν πιέειν· ὃν δὲ πρῶτον
μεμάποιεν κείμενον ἢ πίπτοντα νεούτατον, ἀμφὶ μὲν αὐτῷ βάλλ' ὄνυχας
μεγάλους.

[1103] _Longum._

"'T had been lost time to dress him; keen desire
Supplies the want of kettle, spit, and fire." Dryden.

[1104] _Prometheus._ Vid. Hesiod., Op. et Di., 49, _seq._ Theog., 564.
Æsch., P. Vinct., 109. Hor., i., Od. iii., 27. Cic., Tusc. Qu., II.,
x., 23. Mart., xiv., Ep. 80.

[1105] _Gratulor._ So Ov., Met., x., 305, "Gentibus Ismariis et nostro
gratulor orbi, gratulor huic terræ, quod abest regionibus illis, Quæ
tantum genuere nefas."

[1106] _Te exsultare._ Juvenal's friend Volusius is supposed to have
had a leaning toward the doctrine of the fire-worshipers. At least this
is the puerile way in which most of the commentators endeavor to escape
the difficulty.

[1107] _Libentius._

"But he who tasted first the human food,
Swore never flesh was so divinely good." Hodgson.

[1108] _Ultimus._

"And the last comer, of his dues bereft,
Sucks from the bloodstain'd soil some flavor left." Badham.

[1109] _Vascones._ Sil. Ital., x., 15. The Vascones lived in the
northeast of Spain, near the Pyrenees, in parts of Navarre, Aragon,
and old Castile. They and the Cantabri were the most warlike people
of Hispania Tarrocensis. Their southern boundary was the Iberus
(Ebro). Their chief cities were Calagurris Nassica (now Calahorra
in New Castile), on the right bank of the Iberus; and Pompelon (now
Pampeluna), at the foot of the Pyrenees, said to have been founded by
Cn. Pompeius Magnus, vid. Plin., III., iii., 4. It is doubtful which
of these two cities held out in the manner alluded to in the text.
Sertorius was assasinated B.C. 72, and the Vascones, whose faith was
pledged to him, sooner than submit to Pompey and Metellus, suffered the
most horrible extremities, even devouring their wives and children. Cf.
Liv., Epit. xciii. Flor., III., xxxii. Val. Max., VII., vi. Plut. in v.
Sert. The Vascones afterward crossed the Pyrenees into Aquitania, and
their name is still preserved in the province of Gascogne.

[1110] _Egestas._

"When frowning war against them stood array'd
With the dire famine of a long blockade." Hodgson.

[1111] _Miserabile._ ii., 18, "Horum simplicitas _miserabilis_."

[1112] _Post omnes herbas._

"For after every root and herb were gone,
And every aliment to hunger known;
When their lean frames and cheeks of sallow hue
Struck e'en the foe with pity at the view;
And all were ready their own flesh to tear,
They first adventured on this horrid fare." Gifford.

[1113] _Viribus._ The abstract used for the concrete. Another reading
is, _Urbibus_, referring to Calagurris and Saguntus. Valesius proposed
to read "Ventribus," which Orellius receives.

[1114] _Quædam pro vita._ Cf. Arist., Eth., iii., 1, Ἔνια δ' ἴσως οὐκ
ἔστιν ἀναγκασθῆναι ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἀποθνητέον, παθόντα τὰ δεινότατα. Plin.,
xxviii., 1, "Vitam quidem non adeo expetendam censemus ut quoquo modo
protrahenda sit." Sen., Ep. 72, "Non omni pretio vita emenda est."

[1115] _Gallia._ Cf. ad i., 44. Suet., Cal., xx., "Caligula instituit
in Gallia, Lugduni, certamen Græcæ Latinæque facundiæ." Quintil.,
x., 1. Sat., vii., 148, "Accipiat te Gallia, vel potius nutricula
causidicorum Africa, si placuit mercedem ponere linguæ."

[1116] _Britannos._ Tac., Agric., xxi, "Ingenia Britannorum studiis
Gallorum anteferre: ut qui modo linguam Romanam abnuebant, eloquentiam
concupiscerent."

[1117] _Thule._ Used generally for the northernmost region of the
earth. Its position shifted with the advance of their geographical
knowledge; hence it is used for Sweden, Norway, Shetland, or Iceland.
Virg., Georg., i., 30, "Tibi serviat ultima Thule."

[1118] _Saguntus_, now "Mur Viedro" in Valencia, is memorable for
its obstinate resistance to Hannibal, during a siege of eight months
(described Liv., xxi., 5-15). Their fidelity to Rome was as famous as
that of the Vascones to Sertorius; but their fate was more disastrous;
as Hannibal took Saguntus and razed it to the ground, after they had
endured the most horrible extremities, whereas the siege of Calagurris
was raised. Cf. ad v., 29.

[1119] _Taurica._ The Tauri, who lived in the peninsula called from
them Taurica Chersonesus (now Crimea), on the Palus Mæotis, used
to sacrifice shipwrecked strangers on the altar of Diana; of which
barbarous custom Thoas their king is said to have been the inventor.
Ov., Trist., IV., iv., 93; Ib., 386, "Thoanteæ Taurica sacra Deæ."
Pont., I., ii., 80: III., ii., 59. Plin., H. N., IV., xii., 26. On
this story is founded the Iphigenia in Tauris of Euripides, and from
this was derived the custom of scourging boys at the altar of Artemis
Orthias in Sparta.

[1120] _Gravius cultro._

"There the pale victim only fears the knife,
But thy fell zeal asks something more than life." Hodgson.

[1121] _Invidiam facerent._ Cf. Ov., Art. Am., i., 647, "Dicitur
Ægyptos caruisse juvantibus arva Imbribus, atque annos sicca fuisse
novem. Cum Thracius Busirin adit, monstratque piari Hospitis effuso
sanguine posse Jovem. Illi Busiris, Fies Jovis hostia primus, Inquit
et Ægypto tu dabis hospes opem." It is to this story Juvenal probably
alludes. But _invidiam facere_ means also "to bring into odium and
unpopularity" (cf. Ov., Met., iv., 547), and so Gifford understands
it. "What more effectual means could these cannibals devise to incense
the god and provoke him to withhold his fertilizing waters, thereby
bringing him into unpopularity." Cf. Lucan, ii., 36, "Nullis defuit
aris Invidiam factura parens," with the note of Cortius.

[1122] _Fictilibus phaselis._ Evidently taken from Virg., Georg., iv.,
287, "Nam quâ Pellæi gens fortunata Canopi Accolit effuso stagnantem
flumine Nilum Et circum _pictis_ vehitur sua rura _phaselis_." The
deficiency of timber in Egypt forced the inhabitants to adopt any
expedient as a substitute. Strabo (lib. xvii.) mentions these vessels
of pottery-ware, varnished over to make them water-tight. Phaselus is
properly the long Egyptian kidney bean, from which the boats derived
their name, from their long and narrow form. From their speed they were
much used by pirates, and seem to have been of the same build as the
Myoparones mentioned by Cicero in Verrem, ii., 3. Cf. Catull., iv., 1,
"Phaselus ille quem videtis hospites Ait fuisse navium celerrimus."
Mart., x., Ep. xxx., 12, "Viva sed quies Ponti Pictam phaselon
adjuvante fert aurâ." Cf. Lucan, v., 518. Hor., iii., Od. ii., 29.
Virg., Georg., i., 277. Arist., Pax, 1144.

"Or through the tranquil water's easy swell,
Work the short paddles of their painted shell." Hodgson.

[1123] _Lacrymas._ So the Greek proverb, ἀγαθοὶ δ' ἀριδάκρυες ἄνδρες.

[1124] _Pupillum._ Cf. i., 45, "Quum populum gregibus comitum premit
hic spoliator Pupilli prostantis," x., 222, "Quot Basilus socios, quot
circumscripserit Hirrus pupillos."

[1125] _Incerta._ Hor., ii., Od. v., "Quem si puellarum insereres choro
Miré sagaces falleret hospites Discrimen obscurum solutis Crinibus
ambiguoque vultu."

"So soft his tresses, filled with trickling pearl,
You'd doubt his sex, and take him for a girl." Dryden.

[1126] _Minor igne rogi._ Infants under forty days old were not burned,
but buried; and the place was called "Suggrundarium." Vid. Facc. in
voc. Cf. Plin., H. N., vii., 16.

[1127] _Arcana._ Hor., iii., Od. ii., 26, "Vetabo qui _Cereris_ sacrum
vulgârit _arcanæ_, sub îsdem sit trabibus fragilemve mecum solvat
phaselon." Cf. Sat. vi., 50, "Paucæ adeo Cereris vittas contingere
dignæ." None were admitted to initiation in the greater mysteries
without a strict inquiry into their moral character; as none but the
chastest matrons were allowed to be priestesses of Ceres. For the
origin of the use of the torch in the sacred processions of Ceres, see
Ovid, Fast., iv., 493, _seq._

[1128] _Aliena._ From Ter., Heaut., I., i., 25, "Homo sum; humani nihil
à me alienum puto." Cf. Cic., Off., i., 9.

[1129] _Sortiti ingenium._ Cf. Cic., Nat. Deor., ii., 56, "Sunt
enim homines non ut incolæ atque habitatores, sed quasi spectatores
superarum rerum atque cœlestium, quarum spectaculum ad nullum aliud
genus animantium pertinet."

[1130] _Cœlesti._ Virg., Æn., vi., 730, "Igneus est ollis vigor et
cœlestis origo." Hor., ii., Sat. ii., 79, "Divinæ particulam auræ."

[1131] _Prona._ Ov., Met., i., 84, "Pronaque cum spectent animalia
cætera terram, Os homini sublime dedit, cœlumque tueri jussit et
erectos ad sidera tollere vultus." Sall., Bell. Cat., init., "Omnes
homines qui sese student præstare cæteris animalibus quæ Natura prona
et ventri obedientia finxit."

[1132] _Animam._ i., 83. Cf. ad vi., 531.

"To brutes our Maker, when the globe was new,
Lent only life: to men, a spirit too.
That mutual kindness in our hearts might burn,
The good which others did us, to return:
That scattered thousands might together come,
Leave their old woods, and seek a general home." Hodgson.

[1133] _Dispersos._ Cic., Tusc. Qu., v., 2, "Tu dissipatos homines in
societatem vitæ convocâsti; tu eos inter se primo domiciliis, deinde
conjugiis, tum literarum et vocum communione junxisti." Hor., i., Sat.
iii., 104, "Dehinc absistere bello: oppida cœperunt munire et ponere
leges." Ar. Poet., 391, "Sylvestres homines sacer interpresque deorum
Cædibus et victu fœdo deterruit Orpheus."

[1134] _Sylvas._ Ov., Met., i., 121, "Tum primum subiere domos. Domus
antra fuerunt, et densi frutices, et vinctæ cortice virgæ." Lucr., v.,
953, "Sed nemora atque cavos montes sylvasque colebant, Et frutices
inter condebant squalida membra."

[1135] _Collata fiducia._

"Thus more securely through the night to rest,
And add new courage to our neighbor's breast." Hodgson.

[1136] _Civem._ Hence the proud inscription on the civic crown, OB.
CIVES. SERVATOS.

[1137] _Concordia._ Plin., H. N., vii., in., "Cætera animantia in suo
genere probè degunt; congregari videmus, et stare contra dissimilia:
Leonum feritas inter se non dimicat: serpentum morsus non petit
serpentes; nec maris quidem belluæ nisi in diversa genera sæviunt. At
Hercule, homini plurima ex homine sunt mala." Hor., Epod., vii., 11,
"Neque hic lupis mos nec fuit leonibus, nunquam nisi in dispar feris."
"Homo homini lupus." Prov. Rom.

[1138] _Cognatis._

"His kindred spots the very pard will spare." Badham.

[1139] _Dentibus apri._

"Nor from his larger tusks the forest boar
Commission takes his brother swine to gore." Dryd.

[1140] _Indica tigris._ Plin., H. N., vin., 18, "Tigris Indica fera
velocitatis tremendæ est, quæ vacuum reperiens cubile fertur præceps
odore vestigans," _et seq._

"In league of Friendship tigers roam the plain,
And bears with bears perpetual peace maintain." Gifford.

[1141] _Ast homini._

"But man, fell man, is not content to make
The deadly sword for murder's impious sake,
Though ancient smiths knew only to produce
Spades, rakes, and mattocks for the rustic's use;
And guiltless anvils in those ancient times
Were not subservient to the soldier's crimes." Hodgson.

[1142] _Gladios._ Virg., Georg., ii., 538.

"Aureus hanc vitam in terris Saturnus agebat.
Necdum etiam audierant inflari classica, necdum
Impositos duris crepitare incudibus enses."

[1143]

"Ev'n this is trifling. We have seen a rage
Too fierce for murder only to assuage;
Seen a whole state their victim piecemeal tear,
And count each quivering limb delicious fare!" Gifford.

[1144] _Pythagoras._ iii., 228, "Culti villicus horti unde epulum
possis centum dare Pythagoreis." Holding the doctrine of the
Metempsychosis, Pythagoras was averse to shedding the blood of any
animal. Various reasons are assigned for his abstaining from beans;
from their shape--from their turning to blood if exposed to moonshine,
etc. Diog. Laert. says (lib. viii. cap. i.), τῶν δὲ κυάμων ἀπηγόρευεν
ἔχεσθαι διὰ τὸ πνευματώδεις ὄντας μᾶλλον μετέχειν τοῦ ψυχικοῦ--καὶ τὰς
καθύπνους φαντασίας λείας καὶ ἀταράχους ἀποτελεῖν. In which view Cicero
seems to concur: De Div., ii., 119, "Pythagoras et Plato, quo in somnis
certiora videamus, præparatos quodam cultu atque victu proficisci ad
dormiendum jubent: Faba quidem Pythagorei utique abstinuere, quasi
vero eo cibo mens non venter infletur." Cf. Ov., Met., xv., 60, _seq._
See Browne's Vulgar Errors, book i., chap. iv. (Bohn's Antiquarian
Library): "When (Pythagoras) enjoined his disciples an abstinence
from _beans_, ... he had no other intention than to dissuade men from
magistracy, or undertaking the public offices of the state; for by
beans was the magistrate elected in some parts of Greece; and after his
days, we read in Thucydides of the Council of the Bean in Athens. It
hath been thought by some an injunction only of continency."

SATIRE XVI.

Who could possibly enumerate, Gallus,[1145] all the advantages that
attend military service when fortunate? For if I could but enter the
camp with lucky omen, then may its gate welcome me, a timid and raw
recruit, under the influence of some auspicious planet. For one hour of
benignant Fate is of more avail than even if Venus'[1146] self should
give me a letter of recommendation to Mars, or his mother Juno, that
delights in Samos' sandy shore.[1147]

Let us treat, in the first place, of advantages in which all share; of
which not the least important is this, that no civilian[1148] must dare
to strike you. Nay, even though he be himself the party beaten,[1149]
he must dissemble his wrath, and not dare to show the prætor[1150]
the teeth he has had knocked out, and the black bruises on his face
with its livid swellings, and all that is left of his eye, which the
physician can give him no hopes of saving. If he wish to get redress
for this, a Bardiac[1151] judge is assigned him--the soldier's boot,
and stalwart calves that throng the capacious benches of the camp, the
old martial law and the precedent of Camillus[1152] being strictly
observed, "that no soldier shall be sued outside the trenches, or at a
distance from the standards."

Of course, where a _soldier_ is concerned, the decision of the
centurion will needs be most equitable;[1153] nor shall I lack my just
revenge, provided only the ground of the complaint I lay be just and
fair.

Yet the whole cohort is your sworn enemy; and all the maniples, with
wonderful unanimity, obstruct the course of justice. Full well will
they take care that the redress you get shall be more grievous than
the injury itself. It will be an act, therefore, worthy of even the
long-tongued Vagellius' mulish heart,[1154] while you have still a
pair of legs to provoke the ire of so many buskins, so many thousand
hob-nails![1155]

For who can go so far from Rome? Besides, who will be such a
Pylades[1156] as to venture beyond the rampart of the camp? So let us
dry up our tears forthwith, and not trouble our friends, who will be
sure to excuse themselves. When the judge calls on you, "Produce your
witness,"[1157] let the man, whoever he may be, that saw the cuffs,
have the courage to stand forth and say, "I saw[1158] the act," and I
will hold him worthy of the beard,[1159] and worthy of the long hair
of our ancestors. You could with greater ease suborn a _false_ witness
against a civilian,[1160] than one who would speak the truth against
the fortune and the dignity of the man-at-arms.

Now let us observe other prizes and other solid advantages of the
military life. If some rascally neighbor has defrauded me of a portion
of the valley of my paternal fields, or encroached on my land, and
removed the consecrated stone from the boundary that separates our
estates, that stone which my pulse has yearly[1161] honored with
the meal-cake derived from ancient days, or if my debtor persists in
refusing repayment of the sum I lent him, asserting that the deed is
invalid and the signature a forgery: I shall have to wait a whole year
occupied with the causes of the whole nation, before my case comes on.
But even then I must put up with a thousand tedious delays, a thousand
difficulties. So many times the benches only are prepared; then, when
the eloquent Cæditius[1162] is laying aside his cloak, and Fuscus
must retire for a little, though all prepared, we must break up; and
battle in the tediously-protracted arena of the court. But in the case
of those who wear armor, and buckle on the belt, whatever time suits
_them_ is fixed for the hearing of their cause, nor is their fortune
frittered away by the slow drag-chain[1163] of the law.

Besides, it is only to soldiers that the privilege is granted, of
making their wills while their fathers are still alive.[1164] For it
has been determined that all that has been earned by the hard toil of
military service should not be incorporated with that sum of which the
father holds the entire disposal. And so it is, that while Coranus
follows the standards and earns his daily pay, his father, though
tottering on the edge of the grave, pays court to his son that he may
make him his heir.

His duties regularly discharged procure the soldier advancement; and
yield to every honest exertion[1165] its justly merited guerdon.[1166]
For doubtless it appears to be the interest of the general himself,
that he that proves himself _brave_ should also be most distinguished
for good fortune, that all may glory in their trappings,[1167] all in
their golden chains.

FOOTNOTES:

[1145] _Gallus._ Of this friend of Juvenal, as of Volusius in the last
Satire, nothing is known. He is perhaps the same person whose name
occurs so frequently in Martial.

[1146] _Veneris._ For her influence over Mars, vid. Lucret., i., 32.

[1147] _Samia arenâ._ Cf. Virg., Æn., i., 15, "Quam Juno fertur terris
magis omnibus unam Posthabitâ coluisse Samo." Herod., ii., 148; iii.,
60. Paus., VII., iv., 4. Athen., xiv., 655; xv., 672. The famous
temple of Juno was said to have been built by the Leleges, the first
inhabitants of the island: her statue, which was of wood, was the
workmanship of Smilis, a contemporary of Dædalus. Juno is said to have
here given birth to Mars, alone. Ov., Fast., v., 229. Samos was the
native country of the peacock, hence sacred to Juno. Cf. vii., 32.

[1148] _Togatus._ The toga, the robe of peace, as the Sagum is that of
war. (So 33, "paganum.") Cf. Juv., viii., 240; x., 8, "Nocitura toga
nocitura petuntur Militia." So "Cedant arma togæ."

[1149] _Pulsetur._ Cf. iii., 300.

[1150] _Prætori._

"Tremble before the Prætor's seat to show
His livid features, swoll'n with many a blow:
His eyes closed up, no sight remaining there,
Left by the honest doctor in despair." Hodgson.

[1151] _Bardiacus._ On the _sense_ of this passage all the commentators
are agreed, though they arrive at it by different routes--"Your judge
will be some coarse, brutal, uncivilized soldier; who cares nothing for
the feelings of the toga'd citizen, or for the principles of justice."
Marius is said to have had a body-guard of slaves, who flocked to
him, chiefly Illyrian; whom he called his "Bardiæi." Pliny calls
them "Vardæi," and Strabo ἀρδιαῖοι. (Cf. Plut., in vit. Mar. Plin.,
iii., 32. Strabo, vii., 5.) Bardiacus (or Bardaicus) may therefore
be taken absolutely, or with judex, or with calceus. If taken alone,
then _cucullus_ is said to be understood, as Mart., xiv., 128, "Gallia
Santonico vestit te Bardocucullo." i., Ep. liv., 5; xiv., 139; IV.,
iv., 5. This "cowl" was made of goats' hair. If taken with calceus, it
would imply some such kind of shoe as the "Udo" in Ep. xiv., 140.

[1152] _Camillo._ This law was passed by Camillus, while dictator,
during the siege of Veii; to prevent his soldiers absenting themselves
from the camp, on the plea of civil business. It led, of course, in
time to the grossest abuses.

[1153] _Justissima._

"Oh! righteous court, where generals preside,
And regimental rogues are justly tried!" Hodgson.

[1154] _Mulino._ Perhaps Stapylton's is the best translation of this
epithet of the declaimer in a hopeless cause. He calls him "a desperate
ass." Others read "Mutinensi."

[1155] _Caligas._ iii., 247, "Plantâ mox undique magnâ calcor, et in
digito clavus mihi militis hæret" (and 322, "Adjutor gelidos veniam
caligatus in agros"). This was one of the _tender_ recollections
Umbritius had when leaving Rome. The caliga, being a thick sole with no
upper leather, bound to the foot with thongs, and studded underneath
with iron nails, would be a fearful thing to encounter on one's shins
or toes. (Justin says, "Antiochus' soldiers were shod with gold;
treading that under foot for which men fight with iron.")

[1156] _Pylades._

"And where's the Pylades, the faithful friend,
That shall thy journey to the camp attend?
Be wise in time! See those tremendous shoes!
Nor ask a service which e'en fools refuse." Badham.

[1157] _Da testem._ Cf. iii., 137.

[1158] _Vidi._ Cf. vii., 13, "Quam si dicas sub judice Vidi, quod non
vidisti."

[1159] _Barba._ Cf. ad iv., 103. Barbers were introduced from Sicily to
Rome by P. Ticinius Mæna, A.U.C. 454. Scipio Africanus is said to have
been the first Roman who shaved daily. Cf. Plin., vii., 95. Hor., i.,
Od. xii., 41, "Incomptis Curium capillis." ii., Od. xv., 11, "Intonsi
Catonis," Tib., II., i., 84, "Intonsis avis."

[1160] _Paganum._ Cf. ad I., 8. It appears that under the emperors
husbandmen were exempt from military service, in order that the land
might not fall out of cultivation. The "paganus," therefore, is opposed
to the "armatus" here, and by Pliny, Epist. x., 18, "Et milites et
pagani." Epist. vii., 25, "Ut in castris, sic etiam in literis nostris
(sunt), plures culto pagano quos cinctos et armatos, diligentius
scrutatus invenies." Pagus is derived from the Doric παγά, because
villages were originally formed round springs of water. Cf. Hooker's
Eccl. Pol., lib. v., c. 80.

"With much more ease false witnesses you'll find
To swear away the life of some poor hind,
Than get the true ones all they know to own
Against a soldier's fortune and renown." Hodgson.

[1161] _Puls annua._ Cf. Dionys. Hal., ii., 9, θεούς τε γὰρ ἡγοῦνται
τοὺς τέρμονας, καὶ θύουσιν αὐτοῖς ἔτι τῶν μὲν ἐμψύχων οὐδὲν· οὐ γὰρ
ὅσιον αἰμάττειν τοὺς λίθους· πελάνους δὲ Δήμητρος, καὶ ἄλλας τινὰς
καρπῶν ἀπαρχάς. "For they hold the boundary stones to be gods; and
sacrifice to them nothing that has life, because it would be impious
to stain the stones with blood; but they offer wheaten cakes, and
other first-fruits of their crops." The divisions of land were
maintained by investing the stones which served as landmarks with a
religious character: the removal of these, therefore, added the crime
of sacrilege to that of dishonesty, and brought down on the heathen
the curse invoked in the purer system of theology, "Cursed be he that
removeth his neighbor's landmark." Deut., xxvii., 17. To these rude
stones, afterward sculptured (like the Hermæ) into the form of the
god Terminus above, the rustics went in solemn procession annually,
and offered the produce of the soil; flowers and fruits, and the
never-failing wine, and "mola salsa." Numa is said by Plutarch to have
introduced the custom into Italy, and one of his anathemas is still
preserved: "Qui terminum exarasit, ipsus et boves sacrei sunto." Cf.
Blunt's Vestiges, p. 204. Hom., Il., xxi., 405. Virg., Æn., xii., 896.

[1162] _Cæditio._ xiii., 197, "Pœna sævior illis quas et Cæditius
gravis invenit et Rhadamanthus." But it is very doubtful whether the
same person is intended here, as also whether Fuscus is the same whose
wife's drinking propensities are hinted at, xii., 45, "dignum sitiente
Pholo, vel conjuge Fusci." (Pliny has an Epistle to Corn. Fuscus, vii.,
9.) He is probably the Aurelius Fuscus to whom Martial wrote, vii., Ep.
28.

[1163] _Sufflamine._

"Nor are their wealth and patience worn away
By the slow drag-chain of the law's delay." Gifford.

[1164] _Testandi vivo patre._ Under ordinary circumstances the power
of a father over his son was absolute, extending even to life and
death, and terminating only at the decease of one of the parties. Hence
"peculium" is put for the sum of money that a father allows a son, or a
master a slave, to have at his own disposal. But even this permission
was revocable. A soldier, who was sui juris, was allowed to name an
heir in the presence of three or four witnesses, and if he fell, this
"nuda voluntas testatoris" was valid. This privilege was extended by
Julius Cæsar to those who were "in potestate patris." "Liberam testandi
factionem concessit, D. Julius Cæsar: sed ea concessio temporalis
erat: postea vero D. Titus dedit: post hoc Domitianus: postea Divis
Nerva plenissimam indulgentiam in milites contulit: eamque et Trajanus
secutus est." "Julius Cæsar granted them the free power of making a
will; but this was only a temporary privilege. It was renewed by Titus
and Domitian. Nerva afterward bestowed on them full powers, which were
continued to them by Trajan." Vid. Ulpian, 23, § 10. The old Schol.,
however, says this privilege was confined to the "peculium Castrense;"
but he is probably mistaken.

[1165] _Labor._ Ruperti suggests "favor," to avoid the harshness of the
phrase "_labor_ reddit sua dona _labori_." Browne reads _reddi_.

[1166] _Dona._ Cf. Sil., xv., 254, "Tum merita æquantur _donis_ et
præmia Virtus sanguine parta capit: Phaleris hic pectora fulget: Hic
torque aurato circumdat bellica colla."

[1167] _Phaleris._ Cf. ad xi., 103, "Ut phaleris gauderet equus."
Siccius Dentatus is said to have had 25 phaleræ, 83 torques, 18 hastæ
puræ, 160 bracelets, 14 civic, 8 golden, 3 mural, and 1 obsidional
crown. Plin., VII., xxviii., 9; xxxiii., 2.

Here the Satire terminates abruptly. The conclusion is too tame to
be such as Juvenal would have left it, even were the whole subject
thoroughly worked up. It is probably an unfinished draught. The
commentators are nearly equally balanced as to its being the work of
Juvenal or not; but one or two of the touches are too masterly to be by
any other hand.

PERSIUS.

PROLOGUE.

I have neither steeped[1168] my lips in the fountain of
the Horse;[1169] nor do I remember to have dreamt on the
double-peaked[1170] Parnassus, that so I might on a sudden come forth a
poet. The nymphs of Helicon, and pale Pirene,[1171] I resign to those
around whose statues[1172] the clinging ivy twines.[1173] I myself,
half a clown,[1174] bring[1175] my verses as a contribution to the
inspired effusions of the poets.

Who made[1176] the parrot[1177] so ready with his salutation, and
taught magpies to emulate our words?--That which is the master of all
art,[1178] the bounteous giver of genius--the belly: that artist that
trains them to copy sounds that nature has denied[1179] them. But if
the hope of deceitful money shall have shone forth, you may believe
that ravens turned poets, and magpies poetesses, give vent to strains
of Pegaseian nectar.[1180]

FOOTNOTES:

[1168] _Prolui._ Proluere, "to dip the lips," properly applied to
cattle. So "procumbere," Sulp., 17. Cf. Stat. Sylv., V., iii., 121,
"Risere sorores Aonides, pueroque chelyn submisit et ora imbuit amne
sacro jam tum tibi blandus Apollo."

[1169] _Fonte Caballino._ Caballus is a term of contempt for a horse,
implying "a gelding, drudge, or beast of burden," nearly equivalent
to Cantherius. Cf. Lucil., ii., fr. xi. (x.), "Succussatoris tetri
tardique Caballi." Hor., i., Sat. vi., 59, "Me Satureiano vectari rura
caballo." Sen., Ep., 87, "Catonem uno caballo esse contentum." So Juv.,
x., 60, "Immeritis franguntur crura caballis." Juvenal also applies
the term to Pegasus: "Ad quam Gorgonei delapsa est pinna caballi,"
iii., 118. Pegasus sprang from the blood of Medusa when beheaded by
Perseus. Ov., Met, iv., 785, "Eripuisse caput collo: pennisque fugacem
Pegason et fratrem matris de sanguine natos." The fountain Hippocrene,
ἱππουκρήνη, sprang up from the stroke of his hoof when he lighted on
Mount Helicon. Ov., Fast., iii., 456, "Cum levis Aonias ungula fodit
aquas." Hes., Theog., 2-6. Hesych., v. ἱππουκρήνη. Paus., Bœot., 31.
Near it was the fountain of Aganippe, and these two springs supplied
the rivers Olmius and Permissus, the favorite haunts of the Muses.
Hesiod, _u. s._ Hence those who drank of these were fabled to become
poets forthwith. Mosch., Id., iii., 77, ἀμφότεροι παγαῖς πεφιλαμένοι· ὃς
μεν ἔπινε Παγασίδος κράνας ὁ δὲ πῶμ' ἔχε τᾶς Ἀρεθοίσας.

[1170] _Bicipiti._ Parnassus is connected toward the southeast with
Helicon and the Bœotian ridges. It is the highest mountain in Central
Greece, and is covered with snow during the greater portion of the
year. The Castalian spring is fed by these perpetual snows, and pours
down the chasm between the two summits. These are two lofty rocks
rising perpendicularly from Delphi, and obtained for the mountain the
epithet δικόρυφον. Eur., Phœn., 234. They were anciently known by the
names of Hyampeia and Naupleia, Herod., viii., 39, but sometimes the
name Phædriades was applied to them in common. The name of Tithorea
was also applied to one of them, as well as to the town of Neon in its
neighborhood. Herod., viii., 32. These heights were sacred to Bacchus
and the Muses, and those who slept in their neighborhood were supposed
to receive inspiration from them. Cf. Propert., III., ii., 1, "Visus
eram molli recubans Heliconis in umbrâ, Bellerophontei quà fluit humor
equi; Reges, Alba, tuos et regum facta tuorum tantum operis nervis
hiscere posse meis." Cf. Virg., Æn., vii., 86. Ov., Heroid., xv., 156,
_seq._

[1171] _Pirenen._ The fountain of Pirene was in the middle of the forum
of Corinth. Ov., Met., ii., 240, "Ephyre Pirenidas undas." It took its
name from the nymph so called, who dissolved into tears at the death of
her daughter Cenchrea, accidentally killed by Diana. The water was said
to have the property of tempering the Corinthian brass, when plunged
red-hot into the stream. Paus., ii., 3. Near the source Bellerophon
is said to have seized Pegasus, hence called the Pirenæan steed by
Euripides. Electr., 475. Cf. Pind., Olymp., xiii., 85, 120. Stat.
Theb., iv., 60, "Cenchreæque manus, vatûm qui conscius amnis Gorgoneo
percussus equo." Ov., Pont., I., iii., 75. The _Latin_ poets alone make
this spring sacred to the Muses. "Pallidam" may refer either to the
legend of its origin, or to the wan faces of the votaries of the Muses.

[1172] _Imagines._ Cf. Juv., vii., 29, "Qui facis in parvâ sublimia
carmina cellâ ut dignus venias hederis et imagine macrâ." Poets were
crowned with _ivy_ as well as _bay_. "Doctarum hederæ præmia frontium."
Hor., i., Od. i., 29. The Muses being the companions of Bacchus as
well as of Apollo. Ov., A. Am., iii., 411. Mart., viii., Ep. 82. The
busts of poets and other eminent literary men were used to adorn public
libraries, especially the one in the temple of Palatine Apollo.

[1173] _Lambunt_, properly said of a dog's tongue, then of flame. Cf.
Virg., Æn., ii., 684, "Tractuque innoxia molli Lambere flamma comas, et
circum tempora pasci." So the ivy, climbing and clinging, seems to lick
with its forked tongue the objects whose form it closely follows.

[1174] _Semipaganus._ Paganus is opposed to miles. Juv., xvi., 33.
Plin., x., Ep. xviii. Here it means, "not wholly undisciplined in the
warfare of letters." So Plin., vii., Ep. 25, "Sunt enim ut in castris,
sic etiam in litteris nostris plures cultu pagano, quos cinctos et
armatos, et quidem, ardentissimo ingenio, diligentius scrutatus
invenies."

[1175] _Affero._ εἰς μέσον φέρω. Casaubon.

[1176] _Quis expedivit._ To preserve his incognito, Persius in this 2d
part of the Prologue represents himself as driven by poverty, though
but unprepared, to write for his bread. So Horace, ii., Ep. xi., 50,
"Decisis humilem pennis inopemque paterni et Laris et fundi paupertas
impulit audax ut versus facerem."

[1177] _Psittaco._ Cf. Stat. Sylv., II., iv., 1, 2, "Psittace, dux
volucrûm, domini facunda voluptas, Humanæ solers imitator, Psittace
linguæ!" Mart., xiv., Ep. lxxiii., 76. χαῖρε was one of the common
words taught to parrots. So εὗ πράττε, Ζεὺς ἵλεως, Cæsar ave. Vid.
Mart., _u. s._

[1178] _Magister artis._ So the Greek proverb, Λιμὸς δὲ πολλῶν γίγνεται
διδάσκαλος. Theoc., xxi., Id. 1, Ἁ Πενιὰ, Διοφαντε, μόνα τὰς τέχνας
ἐγείρει. Plaut. Stich., "Paupertas fecit ridiculus forem. Nam illa
omnes artes perdocet." Cf. Arist., Plut., 467-594. So Ben Jonson, in
the Poetaster, "And between whiles spit out a better poem than e'er the
master of arts, or giver of wit, their belly, made."

[1179] _Negatas._ So Manilius, lib. v., "Quinetiam linguas hominum
sensusque docebit Aerias volucres, novaque in commercia ducet, Verbaque
præcipiet naturæ sorte negatas."

[1180] _Nectar_ is found in two MSS.; all the others have "melos,"
which has been rejected as not making a scazontic line. But Homer, in
his Hymn to Mercury, makes the first syllable long; and also Antipater,
in an Epigram on Anacreon, ἀκμὴν οἳ λυρόεν μελίζεται ἀμφι βαθύλλῳ. Cf.
Theoc., Id., vii., 82, οὕνεκά οι γλυκὺ Μοῖσα στόματος χέε νέκταρ.

SATIRE I.

ARGUMENT.

Under the color of declaring his purpose of writing Satire and
the plan he intends to adopt, and of defending himself against
the idle criticism of an imaginary and nameless adversary,
Persius lashes the miserable poets of his own day, and in no
very obscure terms, their Coryphæus himself, Nero. The subject
of the Satire is not very unlike the first of the second book
of Horace's Satires, and comes very near in some points to the
first Satire of Juvenal. But the manner of treatment is distinct
in each, and quite characteristic of the three great Satirists.
Horace's is more full of personality, one might say, of egotism,
and his own dislike and contempt of the authors of his time,
more lively and brilliant, more pungent and witty, than either
of the others; more pregnant with jokes, and yet rising to a
higher tone than the Satire of Persius. That of Juvenal is in a
more majestic strain, as befits the stern censor of the depraved
morals of his day; full of commanding dignity and grave rebuke,
of fiery indignation and fierce invective; and is therefore more
declamatory and oratorical in its style, more elevated in its
sentiment, more refined in its diction. While in that of Persius
we trace the workings of a young and ardent mind, devoted to
literature and intellectual pleasures, of a philosophical turn,
and a chastened though somewhat fastidious taste. We see the
student and devotee of literature quite as much as the censor of
morals, and can see that he grieves over the corruption of the
public _taste_ almost as deeply as over the general depravity of
public _morals_. Still there breathes through the whole a tone of
high and right feeling, of just and stringent criticism, of keen
and pungent sarcasm, which deservedly places this Satire very
high in the rank of intellectual productions.

The Satire opens with a dialogue between the poet himself and some
one who breaks in upon his meditations. This person is usually
described as his "Monitor;" some well-meaning acquaintance,
who endeavors to dissuade the poet from his purpose of
writing Satire. But D'Achaintre's notion, that he is rather
an ill-natured critic than a good-natured adviser, seems the
more tenable one, and the divisions of the first few lines have
been ingeniously made to support that view. After expressing
supreme contempt for the poet's opening line, he advises him,
if he must needs give vent to verse, to write something more
suited to the taste and spirit of the age he lives in. Persius
acknowledges that this would be the more likely way to gain
applause, but maintains that such approbation is not the end at
which a true poet ought to aim. And this leads him to expose
the miserable and corrupt taste of the poetasters of his day,
and to express supreme contempt for the mania for recitation
then prevalent, which had already provoked the sneers of Horace,
and afterward drew down the more majestic condemnation of
Juvenal. He draws a vivid picture of these depraved poets, who
pander to the gross lusts of their hearers by their lascivious
strains. Their affectation of speech and manner, their costly
and effeminate dress, the vanity of their exalted seat, and
the degraded character of their compositions; and on the other
hand, the excessive and counterfeited applause of their hearers,
expressed by extravagance of language and lasciviousness of
gesture corresponding to the nature of the compositions, are
touched with a masterly hand. He then ridicules the pretensions
of these courtly votaries of the Muses, whose vanity is fostered
by the interested praise of dependents and sycophants, who are
the first to ridicule them behind their backs. He then makes a
digression to the bar; and shows that the manly and vigorous
eloquence of Cicero and Hortensius and Cato, as well as the
masculine energy and dignity of Virgil, is frittered away, and
diluted by the introduction of redundant and misplaced metaphor,
labored antitheses, trifling conceits, accumulated epithets, and
bombastic and obsolete words, and a substitution of rhetorical
subtleties for that energetic simplicity which speaks _from_ and
_to_ the heart. Returning to the poets, he brings in a passage
of Nero's own composition as a most glaring example of these
defects. This excites his friend's alarm, and elicits some
cautious advice respecting the risk he encounters; which serves
to draw forth a more daring avowal of his bold purpose, and an
animated description of the persons whom he would wish to have
for his readers.

PERSIUS. "Oh the cares of men![1181] Oh how much vanity is there in
human affairs!"--

ADVERSARIUS.[1182] Who will read this?[1183]

P. Is it to me you say this?

A. Nobody, by Hercules!

P. Nobody! Say two perhaps, or--

A. Nobody. It is mean and pitiful stuff!

P. Wherefore? No doubt "Polydamas[1184] and Trojan dames" will prefer
Labeo to me--

A. It is all stuff!

P. Whatever turbid Rome[1185] may disparage, do not thou join their
number; nor by that scale of theirs seek to correct thy own false
balance, nor seek[1186] thyself out of thyself. For who is there
at Rome that is not[1187]--Ah! if I might but speak![1188] But I
may,[1189] when I look at our gray hairs,[1190] and our severe way
of life, and all that we commit since we abandoned our childhood's
nuts.[1191] When we savor of uncles,[1192] then--then forgive!

A. I will not!

P. What must I do?[1193] For I am a hearty laugher with a saucy spleen.

We write, having shut ourselves in,[1194] one man verses, another free
from the trammels of metre, something grandiloquent, which the lungs
widely distended with breath may give vent to.

And this, of course, some day, with your hair combed and a new
toga,[1195] all in white with your birthday Sardonyx,[1196] you
will read out from your lofty seat,[1197] to the people, when you
have rinsed[1198] your throat, made flexible by the liquid gargle;
languidly leering with lascivious eye! Here you may see the tall
Titi[1199] in trembling excitement, with lewdness of manner and
agitation of voice, when the verses enter their loins,[1200] and their
inmost parts are titillated with the lascivious strain.

P. And dost thou, in thy old age,[1201] collect dainty bits for the
ears of others? Ears to which even thou, bursting[1202] with vanity,
wouldst say, "Hold, enough!"

A. To what purpose is your learning, unless this leaven, and this wild
fig-tree[1203] which has once taken life within, shall burst through
your liver and shoot forth?

P. See that pallor and premature old age![1204] Oh Morals![1205] Is
then your knowledge so absolutely naught, unless another know you have
that knowledge?[1206]

A. But it is a fine thing to be pointed at with the finger,[1207]
and that it should be said, "That's he!" Do you value it at
nothing, that your works should form the studies[1208] of a hundred
curly-headed[1209] youths?

P. See![1210] over their cups,[1211] the well-filled Romans[1212]
inquire of what the divine poems tell. Here some one, who has
a hyacinthine robe round his shoulders, snuffling through his
nose[1213] some stale ditty, distills and from his dainty palate
lisps trippingly[1214] his Phyllises,[1215] Hypsipyles, and all the
deplorable strains of the poets. The heroes hum assent![1216] Now are
not the ashes[1217] of the poet blest? Does not a tomb-stone press
with lighter weight[1218] upon his bones? The guests applaud. Now
from those Manes of his, now from his tomb and favored ashes, will not
violets spring?[1219]

A. You are mocking and indulging in too scornful a sneer.[1220] Lives
there the man who would disown the wish to deserve the people's
praise,[1221] and having uttered words worthy of the cedar,[1222]
to leave behind him verses that dread neither herrings[1223] nor
frankincense?

P. Whoever thou art that hast just spoken, and that hast a fair
right[1224] to plead on the opposite side, I, for my part, when I
write, if any thing perchance comes forth[1225] aptly expressed (though
this is, I own, a rare bird[1226]), yet if any thing does come forth,
I would not shrink from being praised: for indeed my heart is not of
horn. But I deny that that "excellently!" and "beautifully!"[1227] of
yours is the end and object of what is right. For sift thoroughly
all this "beautifully!" and what does it not comprise within it! Is
there not to be found in it the Iliad of Accius,[1228] intoxicated
with hellebore? are there not all the paltry sonnets our crude[1229]
nobles have dictated? in fine, is there not all that is composed on
couches of citron?[1230] You know how to set before your guests the hot
paunch;[1231] and how to make a present of your threadbare cloak to
your companion shivering with cold,[1232] and then you say, "I do love
the truth![1233] tell me the truth about myself!" How is that possible?
Would you like me to tell it you? Thou drivelest,[1234] Bald-pate,
while thy bloated paunch projects a good foot and a half hanging in
front! O Janus! whom no stork[1235] pecks at from behind, no hand that
with rapid motion imitates the white ass's ears, no tongue mocks,
projecting as far as that of the thirsting hound of Apulia! Ye, O
patrician blood![1236] whose privilege[1237] it is to live with no eyes
at the back of your head, prevent[1238] the scoffs[1239] that are made
behind your back!

What is the people's verdict? What should it be, but that now at length
verses flow in harmonious numbers, and the skillful joining[1240]
allows the critical nails to glide over its polished surface: he
knows how to carry on his verse as if he were drawing a ruddle line
with one eye[1241] closed. Whether he has occasion to write against
public morals, against luxury, or the banquets of the great, the Muses
vouchsafe to our Poet[1242] the saying brilliant things. And see! now
we see those introducing heroic[1243] sentiments, that were wont to
trifle in Greek: that have not even skill enough to describe a grove.
Nor praise the bountiful country, where are baskets,[1244] and the
hearth, and porkers, and the smoky palilia with the hay: whence Remus
sprung, and thou, O Quintius,[1245] wearing away the plow-boards in
the furrow, when thy wife with trembling haste invested thee with
the dictatorship in front of thy team, and the lictor bore thy plow
home--Bravo, poet!

Some even now delight in the turgid book of Brisæan Accius,[1246] and
in Pacuvius, and warty[1247] Antiopa, "her dolorific heart propped up
with woe." When you see purblind sires instilling these precepts into
their sons, do you inquire whence came this gallimaufry[1248] of speech
into our language? Whence that disgrace,[1249] in which the effeminate
Trossulus[1250] leaps up in ecstasy at you, from his bench.

Are you not ashamed[1251] that you can not ward off danger from a
hoary head, without longing to hear the lukewarm "Decently[1252] said!"
"You are a thief!" says the accuser to Pedius. What says Pedius?[1253]
He balances the charge in polished antitheses. He gets the praise of
introducing learned figures. "That is fine!" Fine, is it?[1254] O
Romulus, dost thou wag thy tail?[1255] Were the shipwrecked man to
sing, would he move my pity, forsooth, or should I bring forth my
penny? Do you sing, while you are carrying about a picture[1256] of
yourself on a fragment of wood, hanging from your shoulders. He that
aims at bowing me down by his piteous complaint, must whine out what is
real,[1257] and not studied and got up of a night.

A. But the numbers have grace, and crude as you call them, there is a
judicious combination.

P. He has learned thus to close his line. "Berecynthean Atys;"[1258]
and, "The Dolphin that clave the azure Nereus." So again, "We filched
away a chine from long-extending Apennine."

A. "Arms and the man."[1259] Is not this frothy, with a pithless rind?

P. Like a huge branch, well seasoned, with gigantic bark!

A. What then is a tender strain, and that should be read with neck
relaxed?[1260]

P. "With Mimallonean[1261] hums they filled their savage horns; and
Bassaris, from the proud steer about to rive the ravished head, and
Mænas, that would guide the lynx with ivy-clusters, re-echoes Evion;
and reproductive Echo reverberates the sound!" Could such verses be
written, did one spark of our fathers' vigor still exist in us? This
nerveless stuff dribbles on the lips, on the topmost spittle. In drivel
vests this Mænas and Attis. It neither beats the desk,[1262] nor savors
of bitten nails.

A. But what need is there to grate on delicate ears with biting truth?
Take care, I pray, lest haply the thresholds of the great[1263] grow
cold to you. Here the dog's letter[1264] sounds from the nostril. For
me[1265] then, henceforth, let all be white. I'll not oppose it. Bravo!
For you shall all be very wonderful productions! Does that please you?
"Here, you say, I forbid any one's committing a nuisance." Then paint
up two snakes. Boys, go farther away: the place is sacred! I go away.

P. Yet Lucilius lashed[1266] the city, and thee, O Lupus,[1267]
and thee too, Mucius,[1268] and broke his jaw-bone[1269] on them.
Sly Flaccus touches every failing of his smiling friend, and, once
admitted, sports around his heart; well skilled in sneering[1270] at
the people with well-dissembled[1271] sarcasm. And is it then a crime
for me to mutter, secretly, or in a hole?

A. You must do it nowhere.

P. Yet here I will bury it! I saw, I saw with my own[1272] eyes, my
little book! Who has not asses' ears?[1273] This my buried secret, this
my sneer, so valueless, I would not sell you for any Iliad.[1274]

Whoever thou art, that art inspired[1275] by the bold Cratinus, and
growest pale over the wrathful Eupolis and the old man sublime, turn
thine eyes on these verses also, if haply thou hearest any thing more
refined.[1276] Let my reader glow with ears warmed by their strains.
Not he that delights, like a mean fellow as he is, in ridiculing the
sandals of the Greeks, and can say to a blind man, Ho! you blind
fellow! Fancying himself to be somebody, because vain[1277] of his
rustic honors, as Ædile[1278] of Arretium,[1279] he breaks up the
false measures[1280] there. Nor again, one who has just wit enough to
sneer at the arithmetic boards,[1281] and the lines in the divided
dust; quite ready to be highly delighted, if a saucy wench[1282]
plucks[1283] a Cynic's[1284] beard. To such as these I recommend[1285]
the prætor's edict[1286] in the morning, and after dinner--Callirhoe.

FOOTNOTES:

[1181] _Oh curas!_ These are the opening lines of his Satire, which
Persius is reading aloud, and is interrupted by his "Adversarius." He
represents himself as having meditated on all mundane things, and,
like Solomon, having discovered their emptiness, "Vanitas vanitatum!"
Cf. Juv., Sat. i., 85, "Quidquid agunt homines, votum, timor, ira,
voluptas, Gaudia, discursus; nostri est farrago libelli." It is an
adaptation of the old Greek proverb, ὅσον τὸ κένον.

[1182] _Adversarius._ "Interpretes plerique hunc Persii amicum seu
monitorem volunt: ego vero et morosum adversarium, et ridiculum senem
intelligo." D'Achaintre.

[1183] _Quis legit hæc?_ The old Gloss. says this line is taken from
the first book of Lucilius.

[1184] _Næ mihi Polydamas._ Taken from Hector's speech, where he dreads
the reproaches of his brother-in-law Polydamas, and the Trojan men
and women, if he were to retire within the walls of Troy. Il., x.,
105, 108, Πουλυδάμας μοι πρῶτος ἐλεγχείην ἀναθήσει--αἰδέομαι Τρῶας καὶ
Τρωάδας ἑλκεσιπέπλους. Cicero has introduced the same lines in his
Epistle to Atticus: "Aliter sensero? αἰδέομαι non Pompeium modo, sed
Τρῶας καὶ Τρωάδας· Πουλυδάμας μοι πρῶτος ἐλεγχείην ἀναθήσει: Quis? Tu
ipse scilicet; laudator et scriptorum et factorum meorum," vii., 1. By
Polydamas, he intends Nero; by Troïades, the effeminate Romans, who
prided themselves on their Trojan descent. Cf. Juv., i., 100, "Jubet a
præcone vocari ipsos Trojugenas." viii., 181, "At vos Trojugenæ vobis
ignoscitis, et quæ turpia cerdoni Volesos Brutosque decebunt." Attius
Labeo was a miserable court-poet, a favorite of Nero, who applied
himself to translate Homer word for word. Casaubon gives the following
specimen of his poetry: "Crudum manduces Priamum, Priamique pisinnos."

[1185] _Turbida Roma._ "Muddy, not clear in its judgment." A metaphor
from thick, troubled waters. Persius now addresses himself, and uses
the second person. "Though Rome in its perverted judgment should
disparage my writings, I will not subscribe to its verdict, or seek
beyond my own breast for rules to guide my course of action." _Elevet_,
_examen_, _trutina_, are all metaphors from a steelyard or balance.
Trutina is the aperture in the iron that supports the balance, in which
the examen, i. e., the tongue (hasta, lingula), plays. Elevare is
said of that which causes the lanx of the balance to "kick the beam."
Castigare is to set the balance in motion with the finger, until,
perfect equilibrium being obtained, it settles down to a state of rest.
Public taste being distorted, to attempt to correct it would be as
idle as to try to rectify a false balance by merely setting the beam
vibrating.

[1186] _Quæsiveris._ Alluding to the Stoic notion of αὐταρκεῖα: "Each
man's own taste and judgment is to him the best test of right and
wrong."

[1187] _Quis non?_ An ἀποσιώπησις: Whom can you find at Rome that is
not laboring under this perversion of taste and want of self-dependence?

[1188] _Ah, si fas dicere._ Cf. Juv., Sat i., 153, "Unde illa priorum
Scribendi quodcunque animo flagrante liberet Simplicitas, cujus non
audeo dicere nomen." Lucil., Fr. incert. 165.

[1189] _Sed fas._ "When I look at all the childish follies, the empty
pursuits, the ill-directed ambition that, in spite of an affectation
of outward gravity and severity of manners, disgraces even men of
advanced years; the senseless pursuits of men who ought to have given
up all the trifling amusements of childhood, and who yet assume the
grave privilege of censuring younger men; it is difficult not to write
satire."

[1190] _Canities._ See the old proverb, πολιὰ χρόνου μήνυσις οὐ
φρονήσεως. "Hoary hairs are the evidence of time, not of wisdom."

[1191] _Nuces._ Put generally for the playthings of children. Cf.
Suet., Aug., 83. Phædr., Fab. xiv., 2. Mart., v., 84, "Jam tristis
nucibus puer relictis Clamoso revocatur à magistro."

[1192] _Sapimus patruos._ Cf. Hor., iii., Od. xii., 3, "Exanimari
metuentes patruæ verbera linguæ." ii., Sat. iii., 87, "Sive ego pravè
seu rectè hoc volui, ne sis patruus mihi." Parents, being themselves
too indulgent, frequently intrusted their children to the guardianship
of uncles, whose reproofs were more sharp, and their correction more
severe, as they possessed all the authority without the tenderness and
affection of a parent.

[1193] _Quid faciam?_ "How shall I check the outburst of natural
feeling? For my character, implanted by nature, is that of a hearty
laugher." Cachinno is a word used only by Persius. Cf. Juv., iii., 100,
"Rides? majore cachinno concutitur." The ancients held the spleen to
be the seat of laughter, as the gall of anger, the liver of love, the
forehead of bashfulness.

[1194] _Scribimus inclusi._ So Hor., ii., Ep. i., 117, "Scribimus
indocti doctique poemata passim." Inclusi, "avoiding all noise and
interruption, we shut ourselves in our studies." Hor., Ep., II., ii.,
77," Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus et fugit urbes." Juv., Sat.
vii., 58.

[1195] _Togâ._ The indignation of Persius is excited by the declaimer
assuming all the paraphernalia and ornament of the day kept most sacred
by the Romans, viz., their birthday (cf. ad Juv., Sat. xii., 1),
simply for the purpose of reciting his own verses. For this custom of
reciting, cf. ad Juv., vii., 38.

[1196] _Sardonyche._ Cf. Juv., vii., 144, "Ideo conductâ Paulus agebat
Sardonyche." It was the custom for friends and clients to send valuable
presents to their patrons on their birthdays. Cf. ad Juv., iii., 187.
Plaut., Curcul., V., ii., 56, "Hic est annulus quem ego tibi misi
natali die." Juv., Sat. xi., 84.

[1197] _Sede._ The Romans always stood while pleading, and sat down
while reciting. Vid. Plin., vi., Ep. vi., "Dicenti mihi solicitè
assistit; assidet recitanti." These seats were called cathedræ and
pulpita. Vid. Juv., vii., 47, 93. An attendant stood by the person who
was reciting, with some emollient liquid to rinse the throat with.
This preparation of the throat was called πλάσις, and a harsh, dry,
unflexible voice was termed ἀπλαστός.

[1198] _Collueris._ D'Achaintre's reading is preferred here, "Sede
leges celsâ liquido com plasmate guttur Collueris:" for _legens_ and
_colluerit_. _Patranti ocello_ seems to convey the same idea as the
"oculi putres" of Hor., i., Od. xxxvi., 17, and the "oculos in fine
trementes" of Juv., Sat. vii., 241 (cf. ii., 94), "oculos udos et
marcidos," of Apul., Met., iii. Cf. Pers., v., 51, and the epithet
ὑγρὸς, as applied to the eyes of Aphrodite.

[1199] _Titi_, are put here (as Romulidæ in v. 31) for the Romans
generally, among whom, especially the higher orders, Titus was a
favorite prænomen; or Titi may be put for Titienses, as Rhamnes for
Rhamnenses; in either case the meaning is the same. But the other
parts may be differently interpreted. _Hic_ may be equivalent to "cum
operibus tuis;" _trepidare_ mean "the eager applause of the hearers;"
_more probo_ "the approved and usual mode of showing it by simultaneous
shouts" _voce serena_. Cf. Hor., A. P., 430.

[1200] _Lumbum._ Cf. iv., 35. Juv., Sat. vi., 314, "Quum tibia lumbos
incitat."

[1201] _Vetule._ Cf. Juv., xiii., 33, "Die Senior bullâ dignissime."

[1202] _Cute perditus._ "Bloated, swollen, as with dropsy." So
Lucilius, xxviii., Frag. 37, "Quasi aquam in animo habere intercutem."
"Pandering to the lusts of these itching ears, you receive such
overwhelming applause, that though swelling with vanity, even you
yourself are nauseated at the fulsome repetition."--_Ohe._ Cf. Hor.,
ii., Sat. v., 96, "Importunus amat laudari? donec ohe jam ad cœlum
manibus sublatis dixerit urge et crescentem tumidis infla sermonibus
utrem." So i., Sat. v., 12, "Ohe! jam satis est." There may be, as
Madan says, an allusion to the fable of the proud frog who swelled till
she burst. Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 314.

[1203] _Caprificus._ Cf. Juv., x., 143, "Laudis titulique cupido hæsuri
saxis cinerum custodibus, ad quæ discutienda valent sterilis mala
robora ficus. Quandoquidem data sunt ipsis quoque fata sepulcris."
Mart., Ep., X., ii., 9, "Marmora Messalæ findit caprificus."

[1204] _En pallor seniumque!_ "Is then the fruit of all thy study, that
has caused all thy pallor and premature debility, no better than this?
that thou canst imagine no higher and nobler use of learning than for
the purpose of vain display!" Lucilius uses senium for the tedium and
weariness produced by long application.

[1205] _Oh Mores!_ So Cicero in his Oration against Catiline (in Cat.,
i., 1), "O Tempora, O Mores!" Cf. Mart., vi., Ep. ii., 6.

[1206] _Scire tuum._ So l. 9, "Nostrum istud _vivere_ triste." So
Lucilius, "Id me nolo scire mihi cujus sum conscius solus: ne damnum
faciam, scire est nescire nisi id me scire alius scierit."

[1207] _Digito monstrariar._ So Hor., iv., Od. iii., 22, "Quod monstror
digito prætereuntium Romanæ fidicen lyræ." Plin., ix., Epist. xxiii.,
"Et ille 'Plinius est' inquit. Verum fatebor, capio magnum laboris mei
fructum. An, si Demosthenes jure lætatus est quod ilium anus Attica ita
noscitavit οὗτος ἐστι Δημοσθένης ego celebritate nominis mei gaudere
non debeo?" Cic., Tus. Qu., v., 36.

[1208] _Dictata._ The allusion is to Nero, who ordered that his verses
should be taught to the boys in the schools of Rome. The works of
eminent contemporary poets were sometimes the subjects of study in
schools, as well as the standard writings of Virgil and Horace. Cf.
Juv., vii., 226, "Totidem olfecisse lucernas Quot stabant pueri quum
totus decolor esset Flaccus et hæreret nigro fuligo Maroni."

[1209] _Cirratorum._ "Boys of high rank with well-curled hair." Cf.
Mart., i., Ep. xxxv., "Cirrata caterva magistri."

[1210] _Ecce!_ "See," answers Persius, "the noblest result, after all
you can hope to attain, is only to have your poems lisped through by
men surcharged with food and wine!"

[1211] _Inter pocula._ Cf. Juv., vi., 434; xi., 178.

[1212] _Romulidæ_, the degenerate self-styled descendants of Romulus.
With equal bitterness Juvenal calls them "Quirites," iii., 60;
"Trojugenæ," viii., 181; xi., 95; "Turba Remi," x., 73.

[1213] _Balba de nare._ Balbutire is properly a defect of the _tongue_,
not of the nose.

[1214] _Eliquare_ is properly used of the melting down of metals. It is
here put for effeminate affectation of speech.

[1215] _Phyllidas._ Not alluding probably to the Heroics of Ovid on
these two subjects, but to some wretched trash of his own day.

[1216] _Assensere._ From Ov., Met., ix., 259, "Assensere Dei." So xiv.,
592.

[1217] _Cinis._ Cf. Ov., Trist., III., iii., 76. Amor., III., ix., 67,
"Ossa quieta precor tuta requiescite in urnâ, Et sit humus cineri non
onerosa tuo." Propert., I., xvii., 24, "Ut mihi non ullo pondere terra
foret." Juv., vii., 207, "Dii Majorum umbris tenuem et sine pondere
terram Spirantesque crocos et in urnâ. perpetuum ver."

[1218] _Levior cippus._ Virg., Ecl., x., 33, "Oh mihi tum quam molliter
ossa quiescant." Alluding to the usual inscription on the sepulchral
cippi, "Sit tibi terra levis." It is strange, says D'Achaintre, that
the Romans should wish the earth to press lightly on the bones of their
friends, whom they honored with ponderous grave-stones and pillars;
while they prayed that "earth would lie heavy" on their enemies, to
whom they accorded no such honors.

[1219] _Nascentur violæ._ Cf. Hamlet, Act v., sc. 1, "And from her fair
and unpolluted flesh shall violets spring."

[1220] _Uncis naribus._ Hor., i., Sat. vi., 5, "Ut plerique solent naso
suspendis adunco Ignotos." ii., Sat. viii., 64, "Balatro suspendens
omnia naso." Mart., i., Ep. iv., 6, "Nasum Rhinocerotis habent." The
Greek μυκτηρίζειν.

[1221] _Os populi_, as the Greeks say, τὸ διὰ τοῦ στόματος εἶναι: and
Ennius, "Volito vivus' per ora virûm."

[1222] _Cedro._ From the antiseptic properties of this wood, it was
used for presses for books, which were also dressed with the oil
expressed from the tree. Plin., H. N., xiii., 5; xvi., 88. Cf. Hor., A.
P., 331, "Speramus carmina fingi posse linenda cedro et levi servanda
cupresso." Mart., v., Ep. vi., 14, "Quæ cedro decorata purpurâque
nigris pagina crevit umbilicis." Dioscorides calls the cedar τῶν νεκρῶν
ζωήν. i., 89.

[1223] _Scombros._ Hor., ii., Ep. i., 266, "Cum scriptore meo capsâ
porrectus apertâ deferar in vicum vendentem thus et odores et piper
et quidquid chartis amicitur ineptis." Mart., vi., Ep. lx., 7, "Quam
multi tineas pascunt blattasque diserti, Et redimunt soli carmina docta
coci," i. e., verses so bad as to be only fit for wrapping up cheap
fish and spices.

[1224] _Fas est._ D'Achaintre's reading and interpretation is adopted,
instead of the old and meaningless _feci_.

[1225] _Exit._ A metaphor from the potter's wheel. Hor., A. P., 21,
"Amphora cœpit institui currente rotâ cur urceus _exit_?"

[1226] _Rara avis._ "An event as rare as the appearance of the Phœnix."
Cf. Juv., Sat. vi., 165, "Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima
cygno." vii., 202, "Corvo quoque rarior albo." Hor., ii., Sat. ii., 26.

[1227] _Euge! Belle!_ The exclamations of one praising the recitations.
"Though a Stoic, and therefore holding that virtue is its own reward, I
am not so stony-hearted as to shrink from all praise. Yet I deny that
this idle, worthless praise can form the legitimate end and object of a
wise man's aim."

[1228] _Ilias Acci._ Cf. ad v., 4. The effusion not of true genius,
but of the besotting influence of drugs. "The poet," as Casaubon says,
"has not reached the inspiring heights of Hippocrene, but muddled
himself with the hellebore that grows on the way thither." The ancients
were not unacquainted with the use of this artificial stimulant to
genius. Cf. Plin., xxv., 5, "Quondam terribile, postea tam promiscuum,
ut plerique studiorum gratia ad providenda acrius quæ commentabantur
sumpsitaverint."

[1229] _Crudi_; i. e., "over their banquets." «Literally "undigested,"
as Juv., Sat. i., 143, "Crudum pavonem in balnea portas." Hor., i., Ep.
vi., 6, "Crudi tumidique lavemur."» ii., Ep. i., 109, "Pueri patresque
severi fronde comas vincti cœnant et carmina dictant." Cf. Pers., iii.,
98.

[1230] _Citreis._ Cf. ad Juv., xi., 95.

[1231] _Sumen._ Juv., xi., 81; xii., 73. Lucil., v., fr. 5. "You
purchase their applause by the good dinners you give them." Cf. Hor.,
i., Epist. xix., 37, "Non ego ventosæ plebis suffragia venor Impensis
cœnarum et tritæ munere vestis."

[1232] _Horridulum._ Juv., i., Sat. 93, "Horrenti tunicam non reddere
servo." Ov., A. Am., ii., 213.

[1233] _Verum amo._ Plaut., Mostill., I., iii., 24, "Ego verum amo:
verum volo mihi dici: mendacem odi." Hor., A. P., 424, "Mirabor si
sciet internoscere mendacem verumque beatus amicum. Tu seu donaris
seu quid donare voles cui, nolito ad versus tibi factos ducere plenum
lætitiæ; clamabit enim pulchre! bene! recte!"

[1234] _Nugaris._

"Dotard! this thriftless trade no more pursue.
Your lines are bald, and dropsical like you!" Gifford.

[1235] _Ciconia: manus: lingua._ These are three methods employed even
to the present day in Italy of ridiculing a person behind his back.
Placing the fingers so as to imitate a stork pecking; moving the hands
up and down by the side of the temples like an ass's ears flapping; and
thrusting the tongue out of the mouth or into the side of the cheek.

[1236] _Patricius sanguis._ Hor., A. P., 291, "Vos O Pompilius sanguis!"

[1237] _Jus est._ "Ye, whose position places you above the necessity of
writing verses for gain, by refraining from writing your paltry trash,
avoid the ridicule that you are unconsciously exciting."

[1238] _Occurrite._ So iii., 64, "Venienti occurrite morbo."

[1239] _Sannæ._ Juv., vi., 306, "Quâ sorbeat aera sannâ."

[1240] _Junctura._ A metaphor from statuaries or furniture-makers,
who passed the nail over the marble or polished wood, to detect any
flaw or unevenness. So Lucilius compares the artificial arrangement of
words to the putting together a tesselated pavement. Frag. incert. 4,
"Quam lepide lexeis compostæ? ut tesserulæ omnes Arte pavimento atque
emblemate vermiculato." Cf. Hor., A. P., 292, "Carmen reprehendite quod
non multa dies et multa litura coercuit atque perfectum decies non
castigavit ad unguem." i., Sat. v., 32," Ad unguem factus homo." ii.,
Sat. vii., 87. Appul., Fl., 23, "Lapis ad unguem coæquatus." Sidon.
Apoll., ix., Ep. 7, "Veluti cum crystallinas crustas aut onychitinas
non impacto digitus ungue perlabitur: quippe si nihil eum rimosis
obicibus exceptum tenax fractura remoretur." This operation the Greeks
expressed by ἐξονυχίζειν. Polycletus used to say, χαλεπώτατον εἶναι τὸ
ἔργον ὅταν ἐν ὄνυχι ὁ πηλὸς γίγνηται. "The most difficult part of the
work is when the nail comes to be applied to the clay."

[1241] _Oculo uno._ From carpenters or masons, who shut one eye to
draw a straight line. θατέρῳ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἄμεινον πρὸς τοὺς κανόνας
ἀπευθύνοντας τὰ ξύλα. Luc., Icarom., ii.

[1242] _Poetæ._ Probably another hit at Nero.

[1243] _Heroas._ Those who till lately have confined themselves to
trifling effusions in Greek, now aspire to the dignity of Tragic poets.

[1244] _Corbes, etc._ The usual common-places of poets singing in
praise of a country life. The Palilia was a festival in honor of the
goddess Pales, celebrated on the 21st of April, the anniversary of the
foundation of Rome. During this festival the rustics lighted fires of
hay and stubble, over which they leaped by way of purifying themselves.
Cf. Varro, L. L., v., 3, "Palilia tam privata quam publica sunt apud
rusticos: ut congestis cum fæno stipulis, ignem magnum transsiliant,
his Palilibus se expiari credentes." Prop. iv., El. i., 19, "Annuaque
accenso celebrare Palilia fæna."

[1245] _Quintius._ Cincinnatus. Cf. Liv., iii., 26.

[1246] _Accius_ is here called Brisæus, an epithet of Bacchus, because
he wrote a tragedy on the same subject as the Bacchæ of Euripides.

[1247] _Venosus_ is probably applied to the hard knotted veins that
stand out on the faces and brows of old men. The allusion, therefore,
is to the taste of the Romans of Persius' days, for the rugged,
uncouth, and antiquated writing of their earlier poets. Nearly the
same idea is expressed by the word _verrucosa_, "full of warts, hard,
knotty, horny." Cicero mentions this play: "Quis Ennii Medeam, et
Pacuvii Antiopam contemnat et rejiciat," de Fin., i., 2. The remainder
of the line is a quotation from Pacuvius. The word _ærumna_ was
obsolete when Quintilian wrote.

[1248] _Sartago._ Juv., x., 64. Properly "a frying-pan," then used for
the miscellaneous ingredients put into it; or, as others think, for
the sputtering noise made in frying, to which Persius compared these
"sesquipedalia verba." Casaubon quotes a fragment of the comic poet
Eubulus, speaking of the same thing, Λοπὰς παφλάζει βαρβάρῳ λαλήματι,
Πηδῶσι δ' ἰχθῦς ἐν μέσοισι τηγάνοις. "The dish splutters, with
barbarous prattle, and the fish leap in the middle of the frying-pan."
The word is said to be of Syriac origin.

[1249] _Dedecus._ The disgrace of corrupting the purity and simplicity
of the Latin language, by the mixture of this jargon of obsolete words
and phrases.

[1250] _Trossulus_ was a name applied to the Roman knights, from the
fact of their having taken the town of Trossulum in Etruria without the
assistance of the infantry. It was afterward used as a term of reproach
to effeminate and dissolute persons. The _Subsellia_ are the benches on
which these persons sit to hear the recitations. _Exultat_ expresses
the rapturous applause of the hearers. Hor., A. P., 430, "Tundet pede
terram."

[1251] _Nilne pudet?_ He now attacks those who, even while pleading in
defense of a friend whose life is at stake, would aim at the applause
won by pretty conceits and nicely-balanced sentences. Niebuhr, Lect.,
vol. iii., p. 191, _seq._

[1252] _Decenter_ is a more lukewarm expression of approbation than
euge or belle, pulchre or benè.

[1253] _Pedius_ Blæsus was accused of sacrilege and peculation by the
Cyrenians: he undertook his own defense, and the result was, he was
found guilty and expelled from the senate. Tac., Ann., xiv., 18.

[1254] _Bellum hoc_ is the indignant repetition by Persius of the words
of applause.

[1255] _Ceves._ "Does the descendant of the vigorous and warlike
Romulus stoop to winning favor by such fawning as this?" _Cevere_ is
said of a dog. Shakspeare, K. Henry VIII., act v., sc. 2, "You play the
spaniel, and think with wagging of your tongue to win me."

[1256] _Pictum._ Cf. ad Juv., xiv., 301, "Mersâ rate naufragus assem
dum rogat et pictâ se tempestate tuetur."

[1257] _Verum._ His tale must not smack of previous preparation, but
must bear evidence of being genuine, natural, and spontaneous. So Hor.,
A. P., 102, "Si vis me flere dolendum est primum ipsi tibi: tunc tua me
infortunia lædent."

[1258] _Atyn._ These are probably quotations from Nero, as Dio says
(lxi., 21), ἐκιθαρώδησεν Ἀττῖνα. The critics are divided as to the
defects in these lines; whether Persius intends to ridicule their
bombastic affectation, or the unartificial and unnecessary introduction
of the Dispondæus, and the rhyming of the terminations, like the
Leonine or monkish verses.

[1259] _Arma virum._ The first words are put for the whole Æneid. The
critic objects, "Are not Virgil's lines inflated and frothy equally
with those you ridicule." Persius answers in the objector's metaphor,
"They resemble a noble old tree with well-seasoned bark, not the crude
and sapless pith I have just quoted."

[1260] _Laxa cervice._ Alluding to the affected position of the head on
one side, of those who recited these effeminate strains.

[1261] _Mimalloneis._ The four lines following are said to be Nero's,
taken from a poem called Bacchæ: the subject of which was the same as
the play of Euripides of that name, and many of the ideas evidently
borrowed from it. Its affected and turgid style is very clear from
this fragment. The epithets are all far-fetched, and the images
preposterous. The Bacchantes were called Mimallones from Mimas, a
mountain in Ionia. Bassareus was an epithet of Bacchus, from the
fox's skin in which he was represented: and the feminine form is here
applied to Agave: by the _vitulus_, Pentheus is intended: the Mænad
guides the car of Bacchus, drawn by spotted lynxes, not with reins, but
with clusters of ivy. "Could such verses be tolerated," Persius asks
indignantly, "did one spark of the homely, manly, vigorous spirit of
our sires still thrill in our veins? Verses which show no evidence of
anxious thought and careful labor, but flow as lightly from the lips as
the spittle that drivels from them."

[1262] _Pluteum._ Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 7, "Culpantur frustra
calami, immeritusque laborat Iratis natus paries Diis atque poëtis."
i., Sat. x., 70, "Et in versu faciendo sæpe caput scaberet vivos et
roderet ungues."

[1263] _Majorum._ Hor., ii., Sat. i., 60, "O puer ut sis Vitalis metuo,
et majorum ne quis amicus frigore te feriat."

[1264] _Canina litera._ All the commentators are agreed that this
is the letter R, because the "burr" of the tongue in pronouncing it
resembles the snarl of a dog (cf. Lucil., lib. i., fr. 22, "Irritata
canis quod homo quam planius dicat"), but to _whom_ the growl refers is
a great question. It may be the surly answer of the great man's porter
who has orders not to admit you, or the growl of the dog chained at his
master's gate, who shares his master's antipathy to you; or again it
may be taken, as by Gifford,

"This currish humor you extend too far,
While every word growls with that hateful gnarr.

Lubinus explains it, "Great men are always irritable; and therefore in
their houses this sound is often heard."

[1265] _Per me._ "I will take your advice then: but let me know whose
verses I am to spare: just as sacred places have inscriptions warning
us to avoid all defilement of them."

[1266] _Secuit Lucilius._ So Juv., i., 165, "Ense velut stricto quoties
Lucilius ardens infremuit."

[1267] _Lupe._ Lucilius in his first book introduces the gods sitting
in council and deliberating what punishment shall be inflicted on the
perjured and impious Lupus. This Lupus is generally considered to be P.
Rutilius Lupus, consul A.U.C. 664. But Orellius shows that it is more
probably L. Corn. Lentulus Lupus, consul in A.U.C. 597. The fragment is
to be found in Cic., de Nat. Deor., i., 23, 65. Cf. Lucil., Fr., lib.
i., 4. Hor., ii., Sat. i., 68.

[1268] _Muti._ T. Mucius Albutius, whom Lucilius ridicules for his
affected fondness for Greek customs. Cf. Lucil., Fr. incert. 3. Juv.,
Sat. i., 154, "Quid refert dictis ignoscat Mucius an non?" Cic., de
Fin., i., 3, 8. Varro, de R. R., iii., 2, 17.

[1269] _Genuinum._ Hor., ii., Sat. i., 77, "Et fragili quærens illidere
dentem, offendet solido?" "dens genuinus, qui a genis dependet: sic non
leo morsu illos pupugit." Cas., Juv. v., 69, "Quæ genuinum agitent non
admittentia morsum."

[1270] _Suspendere._ Cf. ad i., 40.

[1271] _Excusso_ may be also explained "without a wrinkle," or,
as D'Achaintre takes it, of the shaking of the head of a person,
ridiculing as he reads.

[1272] _Cum Scrobe._ Alluding to the well-known story of the barber who
discovered the ass's ears of King Midas, which he had given him for
his bad taste in passing judgment on Apollo's skill in music; and who,
not daring to divulge the secret to any living soul, dug a hole in the
ground and whispered it, and then closed the aperture. But the wind
that shook the reeds made them murmur forth his secret. Cf. Ov., Met.,
xi., 180-193.

[1273] _Auriculas._ Persius is said to have written at first "Mida rex
habet," but was persuaded by Cornutus to change the line, as bearing
too evident an allusion to Nero.

[1274] _Iliade_, such as that of Accius, mentioned above.

[1275] _Afflate._ Persius now describes the class of persons he would
wish to have for his readers. Men thoroughly imbued with the bold
spirit of the old comedians, Cratinus, Eupolis, and Aristophanes: not
those who have sufficient βαναυσία and bad taste to think that true
Satire would condescend to ridicule either national peculiarities, or
bodily defects; which should excite our pity rather than our scorn.

[1276] _Decoctius._ A metaphor from the boiling down of fruits, wine,
or other liquids, and increasing the strength by diminishing the
quantity. As Virgil is said to have written fifty lines or more in the
morning, and to have cut them down by the evening to ten or twelve.

[1277] _Supinus_ implies either "indolence," "effeminacy," or "pride."
Probably the last is intended here, as Casaubon says, "proud men walk
so erectly that they see the sky as well as if they lay on their
backs." Quintilian couples together "otiosi et supini," x., 2. Cf.
Juv., i., 190, "Et multum referens de Mæcenate supino." Mart., ii., Ep.
6, "Deliciæ supiniores." Mart., v., Ep. 8, also uses it in the sense
of _proud_. "Hæc et talia cum refert supinus." It also bears, together
with its cognate substantive, the sense of "stupidity."

[1278] _Ædilis._ Juv., x., 101, "Et de mensurâ jus dicere, vasa minora
Frangere pannosus vacuis Ædilis Ulubris."

[1279] _Arreti_, a town of Etruria, now "Arezzo." Cf. Mart., xiv., Ep.
98.

[1280] _Heminas_, from ἥμισο. Half the Sextarius, called also Cotyla.

[1281] _Abaco._ The frame with movable counters or balls for the
purpose of calculation. _Pulvere_ is the sand-board used in the schools
of the geometers for drawing diagrams.

[1282] _Nonaria._ Women of loose character were not permitted to show
themselves in the streets till after the ninth hour. Such at least is
the interpretation of the old Scholiast, adopted by Casaubon. The word
does not occur elsewhere.

[1283] _Vellet._ Hor., i., Sat. iii., 133, "Vellunt tibi barbam Lascivi
pueri." Dio Chrys., Or. lxxii., p. 382, φιλόσοφον ἀχίτωνα ἐρεθίζουσι
καὶ ἤτοι κατεγέλασαν ἢ ἐλοιδόρησαν ἢ ἐνίοτε ἕλκουσιν ἐπιλαβόμενοι.

[1284] _Cynico._ There is probably an allusion to the story of Lais and
Diogenes, Athen., lib. xiii.

[1285] _Do._ So Hor., i., Epist. xix., 8, "Forum putealque Libonis
mandabo siccis."

[1286] _Edictum_, i. e., Ludorum, or muneris gladiatorii; the programme
affixed to the walls of the forum, announcing the shows that were to
come. The reading of these would form a favorite amusement of idlers
and loungers. Callirhoe is probably some well-known nonaria of the
day. Persius advises hearers of this class to spend their mornings in
reading the prætor's edicts, and their evenings in sensual pleasures,
as the only occupations they were fit for. Marcilius says that it
refers to an edict of Nero's, who ordered the people to attend on
a certain day to hear him recite his poem of Callirhoe, which, as
D'Achaintre says, would be an admirable interpretation, were not the
whole story of the edict a mere fiction.

SATIRE II.

ARGUMENT.

This Satire, as well as the tenth Satire of Juvenal, is based upon
the Second Alcibiades of Plato, which it closely resembles in
arrangement as well as sentiment.

The object is the same in all three; to set before as the real
opinion which all good and worthy men entertained, even in the
days of Pagan blindness, of the manner and spirit in which the
deity is to be approached by prayer and sacrifice, and holds up
to reprobation and ridicule the groveling and low-minded notions
which the vulgar herd, besotted by ignorance and blinded by
self-interest, hold on the subject. While we admire the logical
subtlety with which Plato leads us to a necessary acknowledgment
of the justice of his view, and the thoroughly practical
philosophy by which Juvenal would divert men from indulging in
prayers dictated by mere self-interest, we must allow Persius
the high praise of having compressed the whole subject with a
masterly hand into a few vivid and comprehensive sentences.

The Satire consists of three parts. The first is merely an
introduction to the subject. Taking advantage of the custom
prevalent among the Romans of offering prayers and victims,
and receiving presents and congratulatory addresses from their
friends, on their birthday, Persius sends a poetical present to
his friend Plotius Macrinus, with some hints on the true nature
of prayer. He at the same time compliments him on his superiority
to the mass of mankind, and especially to those of his own rank,
in the view he took of the subject.

In the second part he exposes the vulgar errors and prejudices
respecting prayer and sacrifice, and shows that prayers usually
offered are wrong, 1st, as to their _matter_, and 2dly, as to
their _manner_: that they originate in low and sordid views of
self-interest and avarice, in ignorant superstition, or the
cravings of an inordinate vanity. At the same time he holds
up to scorn the folly of those who offer up costly prayers,
the fulfillment of which they themselves render impossible, by
indulging in vicious and depraved habits, utterly incompatible
with the requests they prefer. Lastly, he explains the origin of
these sordid and worse than useless prayers. They arise from the
impious and mistaken notions formed by men who, vainly imagining
that the Deity is even such a one as themselves, endeavor to
propitiate his favor in the same groveling spirit, and with the
same unworthy offerings with which they would bribe the goodwill
of one weak and depraved as themselves; as though, in Plato's
words, an ἐμπορικὴ τέχνη had been established between themselves
and heaven. The whole concludes with a sublime passage,
describing in language almost approaching the dignity of inspired
wisdom, the state of heart and moral feeling necessary to insure
a favorable answer to prayers preferred at the throne of heaven.

"Mark this day, Macrinus,[1287] with a whiter stone,[1288] which, with
auspicious omen, augments[1289] thy fleeting years.[1290] Pour out
the wine to thy Genius![1291] Thou at least dost not with mercenary
prayer ask for what thou couldst not intrust to the gods unless taken
aside. But a great proportion of our nobles will make libations
with a silent censer. It is not easy for every one to remove from
the temples his murmur and low whispers, and live with undisguised
prayers.[1292] A sound mind,[1293] a good name, integrity"--for
these he prays aloud, and so that his neighbor may hear. But in his
inmost breast, and beneath his breath, he murmurs thus, "Oh that my
uncle would evaporate![1294] what a splendid funeral! and oh that by
Hercules'[1295] good favor a jar[1296] of silver would ring beneath
my rake! or, would that I could wipe out[1297] my ward, whose heels
I tread on as next heir! For he is scrofulous, and swollen with
acrid bile. This is the third wife that Nerius is now taking[1298]
home!"--That you may pray for these things with due holiness, you
plunge your head twice or thrice of a morning[1299] in Tiber's
eddies,[1300] and purge away the defilements of night in the running
stream.

Come now! answer me! It is but a little trifle that I wish to know!
What think you of Jupiter?[1301] Would you care to prefer him to some
man! To whom? Well, say to Staius.[1302] Are you at a loss indeed?
Which were the better judge, or better suited to the charge of orphan
children! Come then, say to Staius that wherewith you would attempt to
influence the ear of Jupiter. "O Jupiter!"[1303] he would exclaim, "O
good Jupiter!" But would not Jove himself call out, "O Jove!"

Thinkest thou he has forgiven thee,[1304] because, when he thunders,
the holm-oak[1305] is rather riven with his sacred bolt than thou
and all thy house?[1306] Or because thou dost not, at the bidding of
the entrails of the sheep,[1307] and Ergenna, lie in the sacred grove
a dread bidental to be shunned of all, that therefore he gives thee
his insensate beard to pluck?[1308] Or what is the bribe by which
thou wouldst win over the ears of the gods? With lungs, and greasy
chitterlings? See[1309] some grandam or superstitious[1310] aunt
takes the infant from his cradle, and skilled in warding off the evil
eye,[1311] effascinates his brow and driveling lips with middle[1312]
finger and with lustral spittle, first. Then dandles[1313] him in her
arms, and with suppliant prayer transports him either to the broad
lands of Licinus[1314] or the palaces of Crassus.[1315] "Him may some
king and queen covet as a son-in-law! May maidens long to ravish him!
Whatever he treads on may it turn to roses!" But I do not trust prayers
to a nurse.[1316] Refuse her these requests, great Jove, even though
she make them clothed in white![1317]

You ask vigor for your sinews,[1318] and a frame that will insure old
age. Well, so be it. But rich dishes and fat sausages prevent the gods
from assenting to these prayers, and baffle Jove himself.

You are eager to amass a fortune, by sacrificing a bull; and court
Mercury's favor by his entrails. "Grant that my household gods may make
me lucky! Grant me cattle, and increase to my flocks!" How can that be,
poor wretch, while so many cauls of thy heifers melt in the flames?
Yet still he strives to gain his point by means of entrails and rich
cakes.[1319] "Now my land, and now my sheepfold teems. Now, surely
now, it will be granted!" Until, baffled and hopeless, his sestertius
at the very bottom of his money-chest sighs in vain.

Were I to offer you[1320] goblets of silver and presents embossed with
rich gold,[1321] you would perspire with delight, and your heart,
palpitating with joy in your left breast,[1322] would force even the
tear-drops from your eyes. And hence it is the idea enters[1323]
your mind of covering the sacred faces of the gods with triumphal
gold.[1324] For among the Brazen brothers,[1325] let those be chief,
and let their beards be of gold, who send dreams purged from gross
humors. Gold hath expelled the vases of Numa[1326] and Saturnian[1327]
brass, and the vestal urns and the pottery of Tuscany.

Oh! souls bowed down to earth! and void of aught celestial! Of what
avail is it to introduce into the temples of the gods these our modes
of feeling, and estimate what is acceptable to them by referring to our
own accursed flesh.[1328] This it is that has dissolved Cassia[1329]
in the oil it pollutes. This has dyed the fleece of Calabria[1330]
with the vitiated purple. To scrape the pearl from its shell, and from
the crude ore to smelt out the veins of the glowing mass; this carnal
nature bids. She sins in truth. She sins. Still from her vice gains
some emolument.

* * * * *

Say ye, ye priests! of what avail is gold in sacrifice? As much,
forsooth, as the dolls which the maiden bestows on Venus! Why do we not
offer that to the gods which the blear-eyed progeny of great Messala
can not give even from his high-heaped charger. Justice to god and man
enshrined[1331] within the heart; the inner chambers[1332] of the soul
free from pollution; the breast imbued[1333] with generous honor. Give
me these to present at the temples, and I will make my successful
offering[1334] with a little meal.[1335]

FOOTNOTES:

[1287] _Macrine._ Nothing is known of this friend of Persius, but from
the old Scholiast, who tells us that his name was Plotius Macrinus;
that he was a man of great learning, and of a fatherly regard for
Persius, and that he had studied in the house of Servilius. Britannicus
calls him Minutius Macrinus, and says he was of equestrian rank, and a
native of Brixia, now "Brescia."

[1288] _Meliore lapillo._ The Thracians were said to put a _white_
stone into a box to mark every happy day they spent, and a _black_
stone for every unhappy day, and to reckon up at the end of their
lives how many happy days they had passed. Plin., H. N., vii., 40.
So Mart., ix., Ep. 53, "Natales, Ovidi, tuos Apriles Ut nostras amo
Martias Kalendas; Felix utraque lux diesque nobis Signandi melioribus
lapillis." Hor., i., Od. xxxvi., 10, "Cressâ ne careat pulchra dies
notâ." Plin., Ep. vi., 11, "O Diem lætum notandum mihi candidissimo
calculo." Cat., lxviii., 148, "Quem lapide illa diem candidiore notet."

[1289] _Apponit._ A technical word in calculating; as in Greek,
τιθέναι, and προστιθέναι. So "Appone lucro." Hor., i., Od. ix., 14.

[1290] _Annos._ For the respect paid by the Romans to their birthdays,
see Juv., xi., 83; xii., 1; Pers., vi., 19; and Censorinus, de Die
Natali, pass.

[1291] _Genio._ Genius, "a genendo." The deity who presides over each
man from his birth, as some held, being coeval with the man himself.
The birthday was sacred to him; the offerings consisted of wine,
flowers, and incense. "Manum a sanguine abstinebant: ne die quâ ipsi
lucem accepissent, aliis demerent." Censor, a Varrone. Cf. Serv. ad
Virg., Geor., i., 302. Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 187, "Scit Genius natale
comes qui temperat astrum, naturæ deus humanæ, mortalis in unumquodque
caput;" and ii., Ep. i., 143, "Sylvanum lacte piabant, Floribus et vino
Genium memorem brevis ævi." Cf. Orell., in loc. On other days, they
offered bloody victims also to the Genius. "Cras Genium mero Curabis et
porco bimestri." Hor., iii., Od. xvii., 14.

[1292] _Aperto voto._ "To offer no prayer that you would fear to
divulge," according to the maxim of Pythagoras, μετὰ φωνῆς εὔχεο,
and that of Seneca, "Sic vive cum hominibus tanquam deus videat: sic
loquere cum deo tanquam homines audiant."

[1293] _Mens bona._ Juv., x., 356, "Orandum est ut sit mens sana in
corpore sano."

[1294] _Ebullit._ "Boil away."

[1295] _Hercule._ Hercules was considered the guardian of hidden
treasure, and as Mercury presided over open gains and profits by
merchandise, so Hercules was supposed to be the giver of all sudden and
unexpected good fortune; hence called πλουτοδότης. Cf. Hor., ii., Sat.
vi., 10, "O si urnam argenti fors quæ mihi monstret ut illi Thesauro
invento qui mercenarius agrum illum ipsum mercatus aravit, dives amico
Hercule."

[1296] _Seria_, "a tall, narrow, long-necked vessel, frequently used
for holding money."

[1297] _Expungam_, a metaphor from the military roll-calls, from which
the names of all soldiers dead or discharged were expunged.

[1298] _Ducitur._ Casaubon reads "conditur." Cf. Mart., x., Ep. xliii.,
"Septima jam Phileros tibi conditur uxor in agro: Plus nulli, Phileros,
quam tibi reddit ager."

[1299] _Mane._ Cf. Tibull., III., iv., 9, "At natum in curas hominum
genus omina noctis farre pio placant et saliente sale." Propert., III.,
x., 13, "Ac primum purâ somnum tibi discute lymphâ." The ancients
believed that night itself, independently of any extraneous pollution,
occasioned a certain amount of defilement which must be washed away
in pure water at daybreak. Cf. Virg., Æn., viii., 69, "Nox Ænean
somnusque reliquit. Surgit et ætherii spectans orientia Solis Lumina
rite cavis undam de flumine palmis Sustulit." Cf. Theophrast., περὶ
δεισιδαιμονιὰς, fin.

[1300] _Tiberino in gurgite._ Cf. Juv., vi., 522, "Hibernum fractâ
glacie descendet in amnem, ter matutino Tiberi mergetur et ipsis
Vorticibus timidum caput abluet." Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 290, "Illo mane
die quo tu indicis jejunia nudus in Tiberi stabit." Virg., Æn., ii,
719, "Me attrectare nefas donec me flumine vivo abluero." Ov., Fast.,
iv., 655, "Bis caput intonsum fontanâ spargitur undâ." 315, "Ter caput
irrorat, ter tollit in æthera palmas."

[1301] _De Jove._ Read, with Casaubon, "Est ne ut præponere cures Hunc
cuiquam? cuinam?"

[1302] _Staio._ The allusion is probably to Staienus, whom Cicero often
mentions as a most corrupt judge. Pro Cluent., vii., 24; in Verr.,
ii., 32. He is said to have murdered his own wife, his brother, and
his brother's wife. Yet even to such a wretch as this, says Persius,
you would not venture to name the wishes you prefer to Jove. Cf.
Sen., Ep. x., "Nunc quanta dementia est hominum! Turpissima vota Diis
insusurrant, si quis admoverit aurem, conticescent; et quod scire
hominem nolunt, deo narrant."

[1303] _Jupiter._ Cf. Hor., i., Sat. ii., 17, "Maxime, quis non,
Jupiter! exclamat simul atque audivit."

[1304] _Ignovisse._ Cf. Eccles., viii., 11, "Because sentence against
an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the
sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." Tib., I., ii., 8; ix.,
4. Claudian. ad Hadr., 38, _seq._ Juv., xiii, 10, "Ut sit magna tamen
certè lenta ira deorum est."

[1305] _Ilex._ The idea is taken probably from the well-known lines
of Lucretius, vi., 387, "Quod si Jupiter atque alii fulgentia Divei
Terrifico quatiunt sonitu cœlestia templa, Et jaciunt ignem quo quoique
est quomque voluntas: Quur quibus incautum scelus aversabile quomque
est non faciunt, ictei flammas ut fulguris halent Pectore perfixo
documen mortalibus acre? Et potius nulla sibi turpi conscius in re
volvitur in flammeis innoxius, inque peditur Turbine cœlesti subito
correptus et igni." Lucian parodies it also, τὶ δήποτε τοὺς ἱεροσύλους
καὶ λῃστὰς ἀφέντες καὶ τοσούτους ὑβριστὰς καὶ βιαίους καὶ ἐπιόρκους,
δρῦν τινὰ πολλάκις κεραυνοῦτε ἢ λίθον ἢ νεὼς ἱστὸν οὐδὲν ἀδικούσης;
Jup. Conf., ii., 638.

[1306] _Tuque domusque._ Probably taken from Homer, εἴπερ γάρ τε καὶ
αὐτίκ' Ὀλύμπιος οὐκ ἐτέλεσσεν, Ἔκ γε καὶ ὀψὲ τελεῖ· σύν τε μεγάλω
ἀπέτισαν, Σὺν σφῇσι κεφαλῇσι γύναιξί τε καὶ τεκέεσσιν.

[1307] _Fibris._ When any person was struck dead by lightning, the
priest was immediately called in to bury the body: every thing that
had been scorched by it was carefully collected and buried with it.
A two-year old sheep was then sacrificed, and an altar erected over
the place and the ground slightly inclosed round. Lucan., viii., 864,
"Inclusum Tusco venerantur cæspite fulmen." Hor., A. P., 471, "An
triste bidental moverit incestus." Juv., vi., 587, "Atque aliquis
senior qui publica fulgura condit." Ergenna, or Ergennas, is the name
of some Tuscan soothsayer, who gives his directions after inspecting
the entrails; the termination being Tuscan, as Porsenna, Sisenna,
Perpenna, etc. Bidental is applied indifferently to the place,
the sacrifice, and the person. Bidens is properly a sheep fit for
sacrifice, which was so considered when two years old. Hence bidens may
be a corruption of biennis; or from bis and dens, because at the age of
two years the sheep has eight teeth, two of which project far beyond
the rest, and are the criterion of the animal's age.

[1308] _Vellere barbam._ Alluding to the well-known story of Dionysius
of Syracuse. Cf. Sat. i., 133.

[1309] _Ecce._ He now passes on to prayers that result from
superstitious ignorance, or over-fondness, and which, as far as the
_matter_ is concerned, are equally erroneous with the previous class,
though not of the same malicious character. On the fifth day after the
birth of an infant, sacrifices and prayers were offered for the child
to the deities Pilumnus and Picumnus. Purificatory offerings were
made on the eighth day for girls, and on the ninth for boys. The day
therefore was called dies lustricus, and nominalis, because the name
was given. The Greeks called it ὀνομάτων ἑορτή.

[1310] _Metuens Divûm_, i. e., δεισιδαίμων. "Matetera, quasi Mater
altera."

[1311] _Urentes._ Literally, "blasting, withering." The belief in the
effects of the "evil eye" is as prevalent as ever in Southern Europe.
They were supposed to extend even to cattle. "Nescio quis teneros
oculus mihi fascinat agnos." Virg., Ecl., iii., 103. To avert this,
they anointed the child with saliva, and suspended amulets of various
kinds from its neck.

[1312] _Infami digito._ The middle finger was so called because used
to point in scorn and derision. Cf. Juv., x., 53, "Mandaret laqueum
mediumque ostenderet unguem."

[1313] _Manibus quatit._ So Homer (lib. vi.) represents Hector as
tossing his child in his arms, and then offering up a prayer for him.

[1314] _Licinus._ Probably the Licinus mentioned in Juv., Sat. i., 109;
xiv., 306; the barber and freedman of Augustus, an epigram on whom
is quoted by Varro. "Marmoreo Licinus tumulo jacet: at Cato parvo.
Pompeius nullo. Quis putet esse deos?" Casaubon supposes the Licinius
Stolo mentioned by Livy (vii., 16) to be intended.

[1315] _Crassi._ Cf. Juv., x., 108.

[1316] _Nutrici._ Seneca has the same sentiment, Ep. ix., "Etiamnum
optas quæ tibi optavit nutrix, aut pædagogus, aut mater? Nondum
intelligis quantum mali optaverint."

[1317] _Albata._ Those who presided over or attended at sacrifices
always dressed in white.

[1318] _Poscis opem nervis._ Persius now goes on to ridicule those who
by their own folly render the fulfillment of their prayers impossible;
who pray for health, which they destroy by vicious indulgence; for
wealth, which they idly squander on the costly sacrifices they offer
to render their prayers propitious, and the sumptuous banquets which
always followed those sacrifices.

[1319] _Ferto_, a kind of cake or rich pudding, made of flour, wine,
honey, etc.

[1320] _Si tibi._ He now proceeds to investigate the cause of these
misdirected prayers, and shows that it results from a belief that the
deity is influenced by the same motives, and to be won over by the same
means, as mortal men. Hence the costly nature of the offerings made and
the vessels employed in the service of the temple.

[1321] _Incusa._ Cf. Sen., Ep. v., "Non habemus argentum in quod solidi
auri cœlatura descendit." An incrustation or enchasing of gold was
impressed upon vessels of silver. This the Greeks called ἐμπαιστικὴ
τέχνη.

[1322] _Lævo._ This is the usual interpretation. It may mean, "in your
breast, blinded by avarice and covetousness," as Virg., Æn., xi., "Si
mens non læva fuisset."

[1323] _Subiit._ Sen., Ep. 115, "Admirationem nobis parentes auri
argentique fecerunt: et teneris infusa cupiditas altiùs sedit crevitque
nobiscum. Deinde totus populus, in alio discors, in hoc convenit: hoc
suspiciunt, hoc suis optant, hoc diis velut rerum humanarum maximum cum
grati videri velint, consecrant."

[1324] _Auro ovato._ It was the custom for generals at a triumph to
offer a certain portion of their manubiæ to Capitoline Jove and other
deities.

[1325] _Fratres ahenos._ It is said that there were in the temple porch
of the Palatine Apollo figures of the fifty Danaides, and opposite
them equestrian statues of the fifty sons of Ægyptus; and that some of
these statues gave oracles by means of dreams. Others refer these lines
to Castor and Pollux: but the words "præcipui sunto" seem to imply a
greater number. The passage is very obscure. Casaubon adopts the former
interpretation.

[1326] _Numæ._ Numa directed that all vessels used for sacred purposes
should be of pottery-ware. Cf. ad Juv., xi., 116.

[1327] _Saturnia._ Alluding to the Ærarium in the temple of Saturn.

[1328] _Pulpa_ is properly the soft, pulpy part of the fruit between
the skin and the kernel: then it is applied to the soft and flaccid
flesh of young animals, and hence applied to the flesh of men. It is
used here in exactly the scriptural sense, "the flesh."

[1329] _Casiam._ Vid. Plin., xiii., 3. Persius seems to have had in
his eye the lines in the second Georgic, "Nec varios inhiant pulchra
testudine postes Illusasque auro vestes, Ephyreiaque æra; Alba neque
Assyrio fucatur lana veneno nec _Casiâ_, liquidi _corrumpitur_ usus
_olivi_." Both the epic poet and the satirist, as Gifford remarks, use
the language of the old republic. They consider the oil of the country
to be vitiated, instead of improved, by the luxurious admixture of
foreign spices.

[1330] _Calabrum._ The finest wool came from Tarentum in Calabria. Vid.
Plin., H. N., viii., 48; ix., 61; Colum., vii., 2; and from the banks
of the Galesus in its neighborhood. Hor., Od., II., vi., 10, "Dulce
pellitis ovibus Galesi flumen." Virg., G., iv., 126. Mart., xii., Ep.
64, "Albi quæ superas oves Galesi."

[1331] _Compositum._ These lines, as Gifford says, are not only the
quintessence of sanctity, but of language. Closeness would cramp and
paraphrase would enfeeble their sense, which may be felt, but can not
be expressed. Casaubon explains compositum, "animum bene comparatum ad
omnia divina humanaque jura." τὸ εὔτακτον τῆς ψυχῆς πρὸς τὰ θεῖά τε καὶ
ἀνθρώπινα δίκαια. It may also imply the "harmonious blending of the
two."

[1332] _Recessus._ So the Greeks used the phrases μυχοὺς διανοίας,
ἄδυτα ταμιεῖα διανοίας. Cf. Rom., xi., 16, τὰ κρυπτὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων.

[1333] _Incoctum_ a metaphor from a fleece double-dyed. So Seneca,
"Quemadmodum lana quosdam colores semel ducit, quosdam nisi sæpius
macerata et recocta non perbibit: sic alias disciplines ingenia cum
accepere, protinus præstant: hæc nisi altè descendit, et diù sedit,
animum non coloravit, sed infecit, nihil ex his quæ promiserat
præstat." Ep. 71. Cf. Virg., Georg., iii., 307, "Quamvis Milesia magno
vellera mutentur Tyrios _incocta_ rubores."

[1334] _Litabo._ Cf. v., 120, "Soli probi _litare_ dicuntur proprie:
_sacrificare_ quilibet etiam improbi." Litare therefore is to _obtain_
that for which the sacrifice is offered. Vid. Liv., xxxviii., 20,
"Postero die sacrificio facto cum primis hostiis litasset." Plaut.,
Pœnul., ii., 41, "Tum Jupiter faciat ut semper _sacrificem_ nec unquam
_litem_." Cf. Lact. ad Stat. Theb., x., 610. Suet., Cæs., 81. Even the
heathen could see that the deity regarded the purity of the heart,
not the costliness of the offering of the sacrificer. So Laberius,
"_Puras_ deus non _plenas_ aspicit manus." τὸ δαιμονίον μᾶλλον πρὸς τὸ
τῶν θυόντων ἠθος ἢ πρὸς τὸ τῶν θυομένων πλῆθος βλέπει. Cf. Plat., Alc.,
II., xii., fin., "Est litabilis hostia bonus animus et pura mens et
sincera sententia." Min., Fel., 32.

[1335] _Farre._ The idea is probably taken from Seneca. Ep. 95, "Nec
in victimis, licet opimæ sint, auroque præfulgeant, deorum est honos:
sed pia et recta voluntate venerantium: itaque boni etiam _farre_
ac fictili religiosi." Hor., iii., Od. xxiii., 17, "Immunis aram si
tetigit manus non sumptuosa blandior hostia mollivit aversos Penates
_farre_ pio et saliente mica." Cf. Eurip., Fr. Orion εὖ ἴσθ' ὅταν τις
εὐσεβῶν θύῃ θεοῖς· κἂν μικρὰ θύῃ τυγχάνει σωτηρίας.

SATIRE III.

ARGUMENT.

In this Satire, perhaps more than in any other, we detect Persius'
predilection for the doctrines of the Stoics. With them the
summum bonum was "the sound mind in the sound body." To attain
which, man must apply himself to the cultivation of virtue, that
is, to the study of philosophy. He that does not can aspire to
neither. Though unknown to himself, he is laboring under a mortal
disease, and though he fancies he possesses a healthy intellect,
he is the victim of as deep-seated and dangerous a delusion as
the recognized maniac. The object of the Satire is to reclaim the
idle and profligate young nobles of his day from their enervating
and pernicious habits, by the illustration of these principles.

The opening scene of the Satire presents us with the bedchamber
where one of these young noblemen, accompanied by some other
youths probably of inferior birth and station, is indulging
in sleep many hours after the sun has risen upon the earth.
The entrance of the tutor, who is a professor of the Stoical
philosophy, disturbs their slumbers, and the confusion consequent
upon his rebuke, and the thin disguise of their ill-assumed
zeal, is graphically described. After a passionate outburst
of contempt at their paltry excuses, the tutor points out the
irretrievable evils that will result from their allowing the
golden hours of youth to pass by unimproved: overthrows all
objections which are raised as to their position in life,
and competency of means rendering such vigorous application
superfluous; and in a passage of solemn warning full of majesty
and power, describes the unavailing remorse which will assuredly
hereafter visit those who have so far quitted the rugged path
that leads to virtue's heights, that all return is hopeless. He
then proceeds to describe the defects of his own education; and
the vices he fell into in consequence of these defects--vices
however which were venial in himself, as those principles which
would have taught him their folly were never inculcated in him.
Whereas those whom he addresses, from the greater care that
has been bestowed on their early training, are without apology
for their neglect of these palpable duties. Then with great
force and vigor, he briefly describes the proper pursuits of
well-regulated minds; and looks down with contemptuous scorn on
the sneers with which vulgar ignorance would deride these truths,
too transcendent for their gross comprehension to appreciate.
The Satire concludes very happily with the lively apologue of
a glutton; who, in despite of all warning and friendly advice,
perseveres even when his health is failing, in such vicious and
unrestrained indulgence, that he falls at length a victim to
his intemperance. The application of the moral is simple. The
mind that is destitute of philosophical culture is hopelessly
diseased, and the precepts of philosophy can alone effect a cure.
He that despises these, in vain pronounces himself to be of sound
mind. On the approach of any thing that can kindle the spark, his
passions burst into flame; and in spite of his boasted sanity,
urge him on to acts that would call forth the reprobation even of
the maniac himself. The whole Satire and its moral, as Gifford
says, may be fitly summed up in the solemn injunction of a wiser
man than the schools ever produced: "Wisdom is the principal
thing: therefore get Wisdom."

What! always thus![1336] Already the bright morning is entering the
windows,[1337] and extending[1338] the narrow chinks with light. We
are snoring[1339] as much as would suffice to work off the potent
Falernian,[1340] while the index[1341] is touched by the fifth shadow
of the gnomon. See! What are you about? The raging Dog-star[1342] is
long since ripening the parched harvest, and all the flock is under
the wide-spreading elm. One of the fellow-students[1343] says, "Is
it really so? Come hither, some one, quickly. Is nobody coming!" His
vitreous bile[1344] is swelling. He is bursting with rage: so that you
would fancy whole herds of Arcadia[1345] were braying. Now his book,
and the two-colored[1346] parchment cleared of the hair, and paper,
and the knotty reed is taken in hand. Then he complains that the ink,
grown thick, clogs in his pen; then that the black sepia[1347] vanishes
altogether, if water is poured into it; then that the reed makes blots
with the drops being diluted. O wretch! and every day still more a
wretch! Are we come to such a pitch? Why do you not rather, like the
tender ring-dove,[1348] or the sons of kings, call for minced pap, and
fractiously refuse your nurse's lullaby!--Can I work with such a pen as
this, then?

Whom are you deceiving? Why reiterate these paltry shifts? The stake
is your own! You are leaking away,[1349] idiot! You will become an
object of contempt. The ill-baked jar of half-prepared clay betrays
by its ring its defect, and gives back a cracked sound. You are now
clay, moist and pliant:[1350] even now you ought to be hastily moulded
and fashioned unintermittingly by the rapid wheel.[1351] But, you will
say, you have a fair competence from your hereditary estate; a pure
and stainless salt-cellar.[1352] Why should you fear? And you have a
paten free from care, since it worships your household deities.[1353]
And is this enough? Is it then fitting you should puff out your lungs
to bursting because you trace the thousandth in descent from a Tuscan
stock;[1354] or because robed in your trabea you salute the Censor,
your own kinsman? Thy trappings to the people! I know thee intimately,
inside and out! Are you not ashamed to live after the manner of the
dissolute Natta?[1355]

But he is besotted by vicious indulgence; the gross fat[1356] is
incrusted round his heart: he is free from moral guilt; for he knows
not what he is losing; and sunk in the very depth of vice, will never
rise again to the surface of the wave.

O mighty father of the gods! when once fell lust, imbued with raging
venom, has fired their spirits, vouchsafe to punish fierce tyrants
in no other way than this. Let them see Virtue,[1357] and pine away
at[1358] having forsaken her! Did the brass of the Sicilian[1359]
bull give a deeper groan, or the sword[1360] suspended from the gilded
ceiling over the purple-clad neck strike deeper terror, than if one
should say to himself, "We are sinking, sinking headlong down," and
in his inmost soul, poor wretch, grow pale at what even the wife of
his bosom must not know? I remember when I was young I often used to
touch[1361] my eyes with oil, if I was unwilling to learn the noble
words of the dying Cato;[1362] that would win great applause from my
senseless master, and which my father, sweating with anxiety, would
listen to with the friends he had brought to hear me. And naturally
enough. For the summit of my wishes was to know what the lucky sice
would gain; how much the ruinous ace[1363] would sweep off; not to miss
the neck of the narrow jar;[1364] and that none more skillfully than I
should lash the top[1365] with a whip.

Whereas you are not inexperienced in detecting the obliquity of moral
deflections, and all that the philosophic porch,[1366] painted over
with trowsered Medes, teaches; over which the sleepless and close-shorn
youth lucubrates, fed on husks and fattening polenta. To thee, besides,
the letter that divides the Samian branches,[1367] has pointed out the
path that rises steeply on the right-hand track.

And are you snoring still? and does your drooping head, with muscles
all relaxed, and jaws ready to split with gaping, nod off your
yesterday's debauch? Is there indeed an object at which you aim, at
which you bend your bow? Or are you following the crows, with potsherd
and mud, careless whither your steps lead you, and living only for the
moment?

When once the diseased skin begins to swell, you will see men asking
in vain for hellebore. Meet the disease on its way to attack you.
Of what avail is it to promise mountains of gold to Craterus?[1368]
Learn, wretched men, and investigate the causes of things; what we
are--what course of life we are born to run--what rank is assigned
to us--how delicate the turning round[1369] the goal, and whence the
starting-point--what limit must be set to money--what it is right
to wish for--what uses the rough coin[1370] possesses--how much you
ought to bestow on your country and dear relations--what man the Deity
destined you to be, and in what portion of the human commonwealth your
station is assigned.

Learn: and be not envious because full many a jar grows rancid in his
well-stored larder, for defending the fat Umbrians,[1371] and pepper,
and hams, the remembrances of his Marsian client; or because the
pilchard has not yet failed from the first jar.[1372]

Here some one of the rank brood of centurions may say, "I have
philosophy enough to satisfy me. I care not to be what Arcesilas[1373]
was, and woe-begone Solons, with head awry[1374] and eyes fastened
on the ground, while they mumble suppressed mutterings, or idiotic
silence, or balance words on their lip pouting out, pondering over the
dreams of some palsied dotard, 'that nothing can be generated from
nothing; nothing can return to nothing.'--Is it this over which you
grow pale? Is it this for which one should go without his dinner?" At
this the people laugh, and with wrinkling nose the brawny[1375] youth
loudly re-echo the hearty peals of laughter.

"Examine me! My breast palpitates unusually; and my breath heaves
oppressedly from my fevered jaws: examine me, pray!" He that speaks
thus to his physician, being ordered to keep quiet, when the third
night has seen his veins flow with steady pulse, begs from some
wealthier mansion some mellow Surrentine,[1376] in a flagon of moderate
capacity, as he is about to bathe. "Ho! my good fellow, you look pale!"
"It is nothing!" "But have an eye to it, whatever it is! Your sallow
skin is insensibly rising." "Well, you look pale too! worse than I!
Don't play the guardian to me! I buried him long ago--you remain." "Go
on! I will hold my peace!" So, bloated with feasting and with livid
stomach he takes his bath, while his throat slowly exhales sulphureous
malaria. But shivering[1377] comes on over his cups, and shakes the
steaming beaker[1378] from his hands; his teeth, grinning, rattle in
his head; then the rich dainties dribble from his flaccid lips.

Next follow the trumpets and funeral-torches; and at last this votary
of pleasure, laid out on a lofty bier, and plastered over with thick
unguents,[1379] stretches out his rigid heels[1380] to the door. Then,
with head covered, the Quirites of yesterday[1381] support his bier.

"Feel my pulse, you wretch! put your hand on my breast. There is no
heat here! touch the extremities of my feet and hands. They are not
cold!"

If money has haply met your eye,[1382] or the fair maiden of your
neighbor has smiled sweetly on you, does your heart beat steadily? If
hard cabbage has been served up to you in a cold dish, or flour shaken
through the people's sieve,[1383] let me examine your jaws. A putrid
ulcer lurks in your tender mouth, which it would not be right to grate
against with vulgar beet.[1384] You grow cold, when pallid fear has
roused the bristles on your limbs. Now, when a torch is placed beneath,
your blood begins to boil, and your eyes sparkle with anger; and you
say and do what even Orestes[1385] himself, in his hour of madness,
would swear to be proofs of madness.

FOOTNOTES:

[1336] _Nempe hæc._ A passage in Gellius exactly describes the opening
scene of this Satire. "Nunc videre est philosophos ultrò currere ut
doceant, ad foras juvenum divitûm, eosque ibi sedere atque operiri
prope ad meridiem, donec discipuli nocturnum omne vinum edormiant." x.,
6.

[1337] _Fenestras._ So Virg., Æn., iii., 151, "Multo manifesti lumine,
quà se plena per insertas fundebat luna fenestras." Prop., I., iii.,
31, "Donec divisas percurrens luna fenestras."

[1338] _Extendit_, an hypallage. The light transmitted through the
narrow chinks in the lattices, diverges into broader rays.

[1339] _Stertimus_, for _stertis_. The first person is employed to
avoid giving offense.

[1340] _Falernum._ The Falernian was a fiery, full-bodied wine of
Campania: hence its epithets, "Severum," Hor., i., Od. xxvii., 9;
"Ardens," ii., Od. xi., 19; Mart., ix., Ep. lxxiv., 5; "Forte," ii.,
Sat. iv., 24 (cf. Luc., x., 163, "Indomitum Meroë cogens spumare
Falernum"); "Acre," Juv., xiii., 216. To soften its austerity it
was mixed with Chian wine. Tibull., II., i., 28, "Nunc mihi fumosos
veteris proferte Falernos Consulis, et Chio solvite vincla cado."
Hor., i., Sat. x., 24, "Suavior ut Chio nota si commista Falerni est."
_Despumare_ is, properly, "to take off the foam or scum;" "Et foliis
undam trepidi despumat aheni;" then, met., "to digest."

[1341] _Linea._ "It wants but an hour of noon by the sun-dial." The
Romans divided their day into twelve hours; the _first_ beginning with
the dawn; consequently, at the time of the equinoxes, their hours
nearly corresponded with ours. According to Pliny, H. N., ii., 76,
Anaximenes was the inventor of the sun-dial; whereas Diog. Laertius
(II., i., 3) and Vitruvius attribute the discovery to Anaximander. They
were, however, known in much earlier times in the East. Cf. 2 Kings,
xx. Sun-dials were introduced at Rome in the time of the second Punic
war; the use of Clepsydræ, "water-clocks," by Scipio Nasica.

[1342] _Canicula._ Hor., iii., Od. xiii., 9, "Te flagrantis atrox hora
Caniculæ nescit tangere." III., xxix., 19, "Stella vesani Leonis."

[1343] _Comitum._ One of the young men of inferior fortune, whom the
wealthy father has taken into his house, to be his son's companion.

[1344] _Vitrea bilis._ Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 141, "Jussit quod
splendida bilis;" ubi v. Orell. It is called, by medical writers,
ὑαλώδης χολή.

[1345] _Arcadiæ._ Juv., vii., 160, "Nil salit Arcadico juveni." Arcadia
was famous for its broods of asses.

[1346] _Bicolor._ The outer side of the parchment on which the hair
has been is always of a much yellower color than the inner side of
the skin; hence "croceæ membrana tabellæ," Juv., vii., 23; though
some think that the color was produced by the oil of citron or cedar.
(Plin., xiii., 5. Cf. ad Sat. i., 43.) Leaves and the bark of trees
were first used for writing on; hence _folia_ and _liber_: occasionally
linen, or plates of metal or stone; then paper was manufactured from
the Cyperus papyrus, or Egyptian flag. Plin., xii., 23; xiii., 11.
When the Ptolemies stopped the exportation of paper from Egypt, to
prevent the library of Eumenes, king of Pergamus, from rivaling that
of Alexandria, parchment (Pergamenum) was invented to serve as a
substitute. Plin., x., 11, 21. Hieron., Ep. vii., 2. Hor., Sat., II.,
iii., 2. The manufacturer of it was termed Membranarius. The parchment
was rendered smooth by rubbing with pumice, and flattened with lead,
and was capable of being made so thin, that we read that the whole
Iliad written on parchment was inclosed within a walnut-shell. Plin.,
VII., xxi., 21. Quintilian says, "that wax tablets were best suited for
writing, as erasures could be so readily made; but that for persons
of weak sight parchment was much better; but that the rapid flow of
thought was checked by the constant necessity for dipping the pen in
the ink." Quint., x., 3. Cf. Catull., xxii., 6. Tibull., III., i., 9.
They used reeds (calamus, fistula, arundo) for writing on this, as is
done to the present day in the East. The best came from Egypt. "Dat
chartis habiles calamos Memphitica tellus." Mart., xiv., Ep. 38. Hor.,
A. P., 447.

[1347] _Sepia_, put here for the ink. The popular delusion was, that
this fish, when pursued, discharged a black liquid (atramentum), which
rendered the water turbid, and enabled it to make its escape. (Hence it
is still called by the Germans "Tinten-fisch," Ink-fish.) Vid. Cic.,
Nat. Deor., ii., 50. Plin., ix., 29, 45. The old Schol. says that this
liquid was used by the Africans; but that a preparation of lamp-black
was ordinarily used.

[1348] _Palumbo._ The ring-dove is said to be fed by the undigested
food from the crop of its mother. _Pappare_ is said of children either
calling for food or eating pap (papparium). Hence the male-nurse is
called Pappas. Juv., iv., 632, "timidus prægustet pocula Pappas."
Plaut., Epid., v., 2, 62. It is here put by enallage for the pap
itself; as _lallare_, in the next line, for the "lullaby" of the nurse,
which Ausonius calls _lallum_. Epist. xvi., 90, "Nutricis inter lemmata
lallique somniferos modos." Cf. Hieron., Epist. xiv., 8, "Antiquum
referens mammæ lallare." Shakspeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, Act ii.,
sc. 3.

[1349] _Effluis_ is said of a leaky vessel, and refers to his
illustration of the ill-baked pottery in the following line--_sonat
vitium_. Cf. v. 25, "Quid solidum crepet."

[1350] _Udum et molle lutum._ Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 7, "Idoneus arti
cuilibet; argillâ quidvis imitaberis udâ." A. P., 163, "Cereus in
vitium flecti." Plat., de Legg., i., p. 633, θωπεῖαι κολακικαὶ αἳ τινὰς
κηρίνους ποιοῦσι πρὸς ταῦτα ξύμπαντα.

[1351] _Rotâ._ So Hor., A. P., 21, "Currente rotâ cur urceus uxit."
Plaut., Epid., III., ii., 35, "Vorsutior es quam rota figularis."

[1352] _Salinum._ The reverence for salt has been derived from the
remotest antiquity. From its being universally used to season food,
and from its antiseptic properties, it has been always associated with
notions of moral purity, and, from forming a part of all sacrifices,
acquired a certain degree of sanctity; so that the mere placing salt on
the table was supposed, in a certain degree, to consecrate what was set
on it. (Arnob., ii., 91, "Sacras facitis mensas salinorum appositu.")
Hence the salt-cellar became an heir-loom, and descended from father
to son. (Hor., ii., Od. xvi., 13, "Vivitur parvo bene cui paternum
splendet in mensâ tenui salinum.") Even in the most frugal times, it
formed part, sometimes the only piece, of family-plate. Pliny says that
the "salinum and patella were the only vessels of silver Fabricius
would allow," xxxiii., 12, 54; and in the greatest emergencies, as e.
g., A.U.C. 542, when all were called upon to sacrifice their plate for
the public service, the salt-cellar and paten were still allowed to be
retained. Liv., xxvi., 36, "Ut senatores salinum, patellamque deorum
causâ habere possint." Cf. Val. Max., IV., iv., 3, "In C. Fabricii et
Q. Æmilii Papi domibus argentum fuisse confiteor; uterque enim patellam
deorum et salinum habuit." Cf. Sat. v., 138.

[1353] _Cultrix foci._ A portion of the meat was cut off before they
began to eat, and offered to the Lares in the patella, and then burnt
on the hearth; and this offering was supposed to secure both house and
inmates from harm.

[1354] _Stemmate._ Vid. Juv., viii., 1. The Romans were exceedingly
proud of a Tuscan descent. Cf. Hor., i., Od. i., 1; iii., Od. xxix.,
1; i., Sat. vi., 1. The vocatives "millesime," "trabeate," are put by
antiptosis for nominatives. For the trabea, see note on Juv., viii.,
259, "trabeam et diadema Quirini." It was properly the robe of kings,
consuls, and augurs, but was worn by the equites on solemn processions.
These were of two kinds, the transvectio and the censio. The former is
referred to here. It took place annually on the 15th of July (Idibus
Quinctilibus), when all the knights _rode_ from the temple of Mars, or
of Honor, to the Capitol, dressed in the trabea and crowned with olive
wreaths, and saluted as they passed the censors, who were seated in
front of the temple of Castor in the forum. This custom was introduced
by Q. Fabius, when censor, A.U.C. 303. (Liv., ix., 46, fin. Aur. Vict.,
Vir. Illustr., 32.) It afterward fell into disuse, but was revived by
Augustus. (Suet., Vit., 38.) In the _censio_, which took place every
five years only, the equites _walked_ in procession before the censors,
leading their horses; all whom the censors approved of were ordered
to lead along their horses (equos traducere); those who had disgraced
themselves, either by immorality, or by diminishing their fortune, or
neglecting to take care of their horses, were degraded from the rank of
equites by being ordered to sell their horses.

[1355] _Natta._ We find a Pinarius Natta mentioned, Tac., Ann., iv.,
34, as one of the clients of Sejanus. Cicero also speaks of the Pinarii
Nattæ as patricians and nobles. De Divin., ii., xxi. (Cf. pro Mur.,
xxxv. Att., iv., 8.) Horace uses the name for a gross person. "Ungor
olivo non quo fraudatis immundus Natta lucernis," i., Sat. vi., 124;
and Juvenal for a public robber, "Quum Pansa eripiat quidquid tibi
Natta reliquit," Sat. viii., 95. He is here put for one so sunk in
profligacy, with heart so hardened, and moral sense so obscured by
habitual vice, as to be unable even to perceive the abyss in which
he is plunged. Cf. Arist., Eth., ii., 5, 8. "Reason and revelation
alike teach us the awful truth, that sin exercises a deadening effect
on the moral perception of right and wrong. Ignorance may be pleaded
as an excuse, but not that ignorance of which man himself is the
cause. Such ignorance is the result of willful sin. This corrupts the
moral sense, hardens the heart, destroys the power of conscience, and
afflicts us with judicial blindness, so that we actually lose at last
the power of seeing the things which belong unto our peace." P. 67 of
Browne's translation of the Ethics, in Bohn's Classical Library. (For
discinctus, vid. Orell. ad Hor., Epod. i., 34.)

[1356] _Pingue._ Cf. Psalm cxix., 70, "Their heart is as fat as brawn."

[1357] _Virtutem videant._ This passage is beautifully paraphrased by
Wyat.

"None other payne pray I for them to be,
But, when the rage doth lead them from the right,
That, looking backward, Vertue they may see
E'en as she is, so goodly faire and bright!
And while they claspe their lustes in arms acrosse,
Graunt them, good Lord, as thou maist of thy might,
To fret inwarde for losing such a losse!" Ep. to Poynes.

"Virtue," says Plato, "is so beautiful, that if men could but be
blessed with a vision of its loveliness, they would fall down and
worship." ὄψις γὰρ ὑμῖν ὀξυτάτη τῶν διὰ τοῦ σώματος ἔρχεται αἰσθήσεων,
ᾗ φρόνησις οὐχ ὁρᾶται δεινοὺς γὰρ ἂν παρεῖχεν ἔρωτας εἴ τι τοιρῦτον
ἑαυτῆς ἐναργὲς εἴδωλον παρείχετο εἰς ὄψιν ἰόν καὶ τἆλλα ὅσα ἐραστά.
Phædr., c. 65, fin. The sentiment has been frequently repeated.
Cic., de Fin., ii., 16, "Quam illa ardentes amores excitaret sui si
videretur." De Off., i., 5, "Si oculis cerneretur mirabiles amores,
ut ait Plato, excitaret sui." Senec., Epist. 59, 1, "Profecto
omnes mortales in admirationem sui raperet, relictis his quæ nunc
magna, magnorum ignorantia credimus." So Epist. 115. Shaftesbury's
Characteristics. The Moralists. Part iii., § 2.

[1358] _Intabescant._ Hor., Epod. v., 40. Ov., Met., ii., 780; iii.,
Od. xxiv., 31, "Virtutem incolumem odimus, Sublatam ex oculis quærimus
invidi." Pers., Sat. v., 61, "Et sibi jam seri vitam ingemuero
relictam."

[1359] _Siculi._ Alluding to the bull of Phalaris, made for him by
Perillus. Cf. ad Juv., viii., 81, "Admoto dictet perjuria tauro."
Plin., xxxiv., 8. Cic., Off., ii., 7. Ov., Ib., 439, "Ære Perillæo
veros imitere juvencos, ad formam tauri conveniente sono." A. Am., i.,
653, "Et Phalaris tauro violenti membra Perilli Torruit infelix imbuit
auctor opus." Ov., Trist., III., xi., 40-52. Claud., B. Gild., 186.
Phalaris and Perillus were both burnt in it themselves.

[1360] _Ensis_ refers to the entertainment of Damocles by Dionysius
of Syracuse. Vid. Cic., Tusc. Qu., v., 21. Plat, de Rep., iii., p.
404. Hor., iii., Od. i., 17, "Destrictus ensis cui super impia Cervice
pendet non Siculæ dapes Dulcem elaborabunt vaporem."

[1361] _Tangebam._ Cf. Ov., A. Am., i., 662, "Put oil on my eyes to
make my master believe they were sore."

[1362] _Catonis._ Either some high-flown speech put into Cato's mouth,
like that of Addison, or a declamation on the subject written by the
boy himself. Cf. Juv., i., 16; vii., 151.

[1363] _Damnosa Canicula._ Cf. Propert., IV., viii., 45, "Me quoque per
talos Venerem quærente secundos, semper _damnosi_ subsiluere _Canes_."
Juv., xiv., 4, "_Damnosa_ senem juvat alea," The talus had four flat
sides, the two ends being rounded. The numbers marked on the sides
were the ace, "canis" or "unio" (Isid., Or. xviii., 65, only in later
writers), the trey, "ternio," the quater, "quaternio," and the sice,
"senio," opposite the ace. They played with four _tali_, and the best
throw was when each die presented a different face (μηδενὸς ἀστραγάλου
πεσόντος ἴσῳ σχήματι, Lucian, Am. Mart., xiv., Ep. 14, "Cum steterit
nullus tibi vultu talus eôdem"), i. e., when one was canis, another
ternio, another quaternio, and the fourth senio. This throw was called
Venus, or jactus Venereus, because Venus was supposed to preside over
it. The worst throw was when all came out aces; and there appears
to have been something in the make of the dice to render this the
most common throw. This was called Canis, or Canicula; as Voss says,
because "like a dog it ate up the unfortunate gambler who threw it."
Ovid, A. Am., ii., 205, "Seu jacies talos, victam ne pœna sequatur,
Damnosi facito stent tibi sæpe Canes." One way of playing is described
(in Suet., Vit. August, c. 71) is letter of Augustus to Tiberius.
Each player put a denarius into the pool for every single ace or sice
he threw, and he who threw Venus swept away the whole. There were
probably many other modes of playing. Cf. Cic., de Div., i., 13. The
_tesseræ_ were like our dice with six sides, numbered from one to six,
so that the numbers on the two opposite sides always equaled seven. Cf.
Bekker's Gallus, p. 499. Lucil., i., fr. 27.

[1364] _Orcæ._ This refers to a game played by Roman boys, which
consisted in throwing nuts into a narrow-necked jar. This game was
called τρόπα by the Greeks; who used dates, acorns, and dibs for the
same purpose. Poll., Onom., IX., vii., 203. Ovid refers to it in his
"Nux." "Vas quoque sæpe cavum, spatio distante, locatur In quod missa
levi nux cadat una manu." Orca (the Greek ὕρχα Arist., Vesp., 676) was
an earthen vessel used for holding wine, figs, and salted fish. Cf.
1. 73, "Mænaque quod primâ nondum defecerit orcâ." Hor., ii., Sat.
iv., 66, "Quod pingui miscere mero muriâque decebit non alià quam quâ
Byzantia putruit orca." Colum., xii., 15. Plin., xv., 19. Varro, R.
R., i., 13. The dibs used for playing were called taxilli, Pompon. in
Prisc., iii., 615.

[1365] _Buxum._ "Volubile buxum." Cf. Virg., Æn., vii., 378-384.
Tibull., I., v. 3.

[1366] _Porticus._ ἡ ποικίλη Στοά. The Pœcile, or "Painted Hall,"
at Athens. It was covered with frescoes representing the battle of
Marathon, executed gratuitously by Polygnotus the Thasian and Mycon.
Plin., xxxv., 9. Corn. Nep., Milt., vi. This "porch" was the favorite
resort of Zeno and his disciples, who were hence called Stoics. Diog.
Laert., VII., i., 6.

[1367] _Samios diduxit litera ramos._ The letter Y was taken by
Pythagoras as the symbol of human life. The stem of the letter
symbolizes the early part of life, when the character is unformed, and
the choice of good or evil as yet undetermined. The right-hand branch,
which is the narrower one, represents the "steep and thorny path"
of virtue. The left-hand branch is the broad and easy road to vice.
Compare the beautiful Episode of Prodicus in Xenophon's Memorabilia.
Servius ad Virg., Æn., vi., 540, "Huic literæ dicebat Pythagoras
humanæ vitæ cursum esse similem, quia unusquisque hominum, cum primum
adolescentiæ limen attigerit, et in eum locum venerit 'partes ubi se
via findit in ambas,' hæreat nutabandus, et nesciat in quam se partem
potius inclinet." Auson., Idyll., xii., 9, "Pythagoræ bivium ramis
pateo ambiguis Y." Shakspeare, Hamlet, Act i., sc. 3. Cic., de Off.,
i., 32. Hesiod, Op. et Di., 288, μακρὸς δὲ καὶ ὄρθιος οἶμος. Pers.,
Sat., v., 35.

[1368] _Cratero_, a famous physician in Cicero's time. Cic. ad Att.,
xii., 13, 14. He is also mentioned by Horace, Sat., II., iii., 161,
"Non est cardiacus, Craterum dixisse putato."

[1369] _Flexus._ "There are many periods of life as critical as the
end of the stadium in the chariot-race, where the nicest judgment
is required in turning the corner." Adrian Turnebe. The reading of
D'Achaintre is followed.

[1370] _Asper Numus._ Cf. ad Juv., xiv., 62.

[1371] _Defensis pinguibus Umbris._ For the presents which lawyers
received from their clients, cf. Juv., vii., 119, "Vas pelamidum."

[1372] _Orca._ Cf. sup., 1. 50. The _Mœna_ was a common coarse kind of
fish (Cic., Fin., ii., 28), commonly used for salting.

[1373] _Arcesilas_ was a native of Pitane, in Æolis. After studying
at Sardis under Autolycus, the mathematician, he came to Athens, and
became a disciple of Theophrastus, and afterward of Crantor. He was the
founder of the Middle Academy. Diog. Laert., Proœm., x., 14. Liv., iv.,
c. vi. He maintained that "nothing can be known," and is hence called
"Ignorantiæ Magister." Lactant., III., v., 6. His doctrine is stated,
Cic., de Orat., iii, 18. Acad., i, 12.

[1374] _Obstipo capite_ implies "the head rigidly fixed in one
position." Sometimes in an erect one, as in an arrogant and haughty
person. (Suet., Tib., 68, "Cervix rigida et obstipa.") Sometimes bent
forward, which is the characteristic of a slavish and cringing person.
(δουλοπρέπες. Cf. Orell. ad Hor., ii., Sat. v., 92, "Davus sis Comicus
atque Stes capite obstipo multum similis metuenti.") Sometimes in the
attitude of a meditative person in deep reflection, "with leaden eye
that loves the ground."

[1375] _Torosa._ Applied properly to the broad muscles in the breast of
a bull. Ov., Met., vii., 428, "Feriuntque secures Colla torosa boüm."

[1376] _Surrentina._ Surrentum, now "Sorrento," on the coast of
Campania, was famous for its wines. Ov., Met., xv., 710, "Et Surrentino
generosos palmite colles." Pliny assigns it the third place in wines,
ranking it immediately after the Setine and Falernian. He says it was
peculiarly adapted to persons recovering from sickness. XIV., vi., 8;
XXIII., i., 20. Surrentum was also famous for its drinking-cups of
pottery-ware. XIV., ii, 4. Mart., xiv., Ep. 102; xiii., 110.

[1377] _Tremor._ So Hor., i, Epist. xvi., 22, "Occultam febrem sub
tempus edendi dissimules, donec manibus tremor incidat unctis."

[1378] _Trientem_, or _triental_, a cup containing the third part of
the sextarius (which is within a fraction of a pint), equal to four
cyathi Cf. Mart., vi., Ep. 86, "Setinum, dominæque nives, densique
trientes, Quando ego vos medico non prohibente bibam?"

[1379] _Amomis._ Juv., iv., 108, "Et matutino sudans Crispinus _amomo_,
Quantum vix redolent duo funera." The _amomum_ was an Assyrian shrub
with a white flower, from which a very costly perfume was made. Plin.,
xiii., 1.

[1380] _Rigidos calces._ Vid. Plin., vii., 8. The dead body was always
carried out with the feet foremost.

[1381] _Hesterni Quirites._ Slaves, when manumitted, shaved their
heads, to show that, like shipwrecked mariners (Juv., xii., 81), they
had escaped the storms of slavery, and then received a pileus (v., 82)
in the temple of Feronia. Cf. Plaut., Amph., I., i., 306. The temple,
according to one legend, was founded by some Lacedæmonians who quitted
Sparta to escape from the severity of Lycurgus' laws. Many persons
freed all their slaves at their death, out of vanity, that they might
have a numerous body of freedmen to attend their funeral.

[1382] _Visa est._ So iv., 47, "Viso si palles improbe numo."

[1383] _Cribro._ The coarse sieve of the common people would let
through much of the bran. The Romans were very particular about the
quality of their bread. Cf. Juv., v., 67, _seq._

[1384] _Beta._ Martial calls them _fatuæ_, from their insipid flavor
without some condiment, and "fabrorum prandia." xiii., Ep. xiii.

[1385] _Orestes._ Cf. Juv., xiv., 285.

SATIRE IV.

ARGUMENT.

Had Persius lived _after_ instead of before Juvenal we might have
imagined that he had taken for the theme the noble lines in his
eighth Satire,

"Omne animi vitium tanto conspectius in se
Crimen habet quanto Major qui peccat habetur." viii., 140.

"For still more public scandal Vice extends,
As he is great and noble who offends."--Dryden.

Or had he drawn from the fountains of inspired wisdom, that he
had had in his eye a passage of still more solemn import: "A
sharp judgment shall be to them that be in high places. For mercy
will soon pardon the meanest; but mighty men shall be mightily
tormented." Wisdom, vi., 5. Either of these passages might fairly
serve as the argument of this Satire. What, however, Persius
really took as his model is the First Alcibiades of Plato, and
the imitation of it is nearly as close as is that of the Second
Alcibiades in the Second Satire. And the subject of his criticism
is no less a personage than Nero himself. The close analogy between
Nero and Alcibiades will be further alluded to in the notes. We
must remember that Nero was but seventeen years old when he was
called to take the reins of government, and was but three years
younger than Persius himself. The Satire was probably written
before Nero had entirely thrown off the mask; at all events, before
he had given the full evidence which he afterward did of the savage
ferocity and gross licentiousness of his true nature. There was
enough indeed for the stern Satirist to censure; but still a spark
of something noble remaining, to kindle the hope that the reproof
might work improvement. In his First Satire he had ridiculed his
pretensions to the name of Poet; in this he exposes his inability
as a Politician. The Satire naturally and readily divides itself
into three parts. In the first he ridicules the misplaced ambition
of those who covet exalted station, and aspire to take the lead in
state affairs, without possessing those qualifications of talent,
education, and experience, which alone could fit them to take the
helm of government; and who hold that the adventitious privileges
of high birth and ancient lineage can countervail the enervating
effects of luxurious indolence and vicious self-indulgence. The
second division of the subject turns on the much-neglected duty of
self-examination; and enforces the duty of uprightness and purity
of conduct from the consideration, that while it is hopeless in
all to escape the keen scrutiny that all men exercise in their
neighbor's failings, while they are at the same time utterly
blind to their own defects, yet that men of high rank and station
must necessarily provoke the more searching criticism, in exact
proportion to the elevation of their position. He points out also
the policy of checking all tendency to satirize the weakness of
others, to which Nero was greatly prone, and in fact had already
aspired to the dignity of a writer of Satire; as such sarcasm only
draws down severer recrimination on ourselves. In the third part
he reverts to the original subject; and urges upon the profligate
nobles of the day the duty of rigid self-scrutiny, by reminding
them of the true character of that worthless rabble, on whose
sordid judgment and mercenary applause they ground their claims to
approbation. This love of the "aura popularis" was Nero's besetting
vice; and none could doubt for whom the advice was meant. Yet
the allusions to Nero throughout the Satire, transparent as they
must have been to his contemporaries, are so dexterously covered
that Persius might easily have secured himself from all charge
of personally attacking the emperor under the plea that his sole
object was a declamatory exercise in imitation of the Dialogue cf
Plato.

"Dost thou wield the affairs of the state?"[1386]--(Imagine the
bearded[1387] master, whom the fell draught of hemlock[1388] took off,
to be saying this:)--Relying on what? Speak, thou ward[1389] of great
Pericles. Has talent, forsooth, and precocious knowledge of the world,
come before thy beard? Knowest thou what must be spoken, and what
kept back? And, therefore, when the populace is boiling with excited
passion, does your spirit move you to impose silence on the crowd by
the majesty of your hand?[1390] and what will you say then? "I think,
Quirites, this is not just! That is bad! This is the properer course?"
For you know how to weigh the justice of the case in the double scale
of the doubtful balance. You can discern the straight line when it lies
between curves,[1391] or when the rule misleads by its distorted foot;
and you are competent to affix the Theta[1392] of condemnation to a
defect.

Why do you not then (adorned in vain with outer skin[1393]) cease to
display your tail[1394] before the day to the fawning rabble, more fit
to swallow down undiluted Anticyras?[1395]

What is your chief good? to have lived always on rich dishes; and a
skin made delicate by constant basking in the sun?[1396] Stay: this
old woman would scarce give a different answer--"Go now! I am son of
Dinomache!"[1397] Puff yourself up!--"I am beautiful." Granted! Still
Baucis, though in tatters, has no worse philosophy, when she has cried
her herbs[1398] to good purpose to some slovenly slave.

How is it that not a man tries to descend into himself? Not a man! But
our gaze is fixed on the wallet[1399] on the back in front of us! You
may ask, "Do you know Vectidius' farms!" Whose? The rich fellow that
cultivates more land at Cures than a kite[1400] can fly over! Him do
you mean? Him, born under the wrath of Heaven, and an inauspicious
Genius, who whenever he fixes his yoke at the beaten cross ways,[1401]
fearing to scrape off the clay incrusted on the diminutive vessel,
groans out, "May this be well!" and munching an onion in its hull, with
some salt, and a dish of frumety (his slaves applauding the while),
sups up the mothery dregs of vapid vinegar.

But if, well essenced, you lounge away your time and bask in the sun,
there stands by you one, unkenned, to touch you with his elbow, and
spit out his bitter detestation on your morals--on _you_, who by vile
arts make your body delicate! While you comb the perfumed hair[1402] on
your cheeks, why are you closely shorn elsewhere? when, though five
wrestlers pluck out the weeds, the rank fern will yield to no amount of
toil.

"We strike;[1403] and in our turn expose our limbs to the arrows. It is
thus we live. Thus we know it to be. You have a secret wound, though
the baldric hides it with its broad gold. As you please! Impose upon
your own powers; deceive _them_ if you can!"

"While the whole neighborhood pronounces me to be super-excellent,
shall I not credit[1404] them?"

If you grow pale, vile wretch, at the sight of money; if you execute
all that suggests itself to your lust; if you cautiously lash the forum
with many a stroke,[1405] in vain you present to the rabble your
thirsty[1406] ears. Cast off from you that which you are not. Let the
cobbler[1407] bear off his presents. Dwell with yourself,[1408] and you
will know how short your household stuff is.

FOOTNOTES:

[1386] _Rem populi tractas?_ from the Greek περὶ τῶν τοῦ δήμου
πραγμάτων βουλεύεσθαι. The imitations of the First Alcibiades are very
close throughout the Satire. Even in our own day, in looking back upon
ancient history, it would be difficult to find two persons so nearly
counterparts of each other as Nero and Alcibiades; not only in their
personal character but in the adventitious circumstances of their life.
Both came into public life at a very early age. Nero was emperor before
he was seventeen years old, and Alcibiades was barely twenty at the
siege of Potidæa. Seneca was to Nero what Socrates was to Alcibiades.
Both derived their claims to pre-eminence from the _mother's_ side:
Nero through Agrippina, from the Julian gens; Alcibiades through
Dinomache, from the Alemæonidæ. The public influence of both extended
through nearly the same period, thirteen years. Both were notorious
for the same vices: love of self-indulgence, ambition of pre-eminence,
personal vanity, lawless insolence toward others, lavish expenditure,
and utter disregard of all principle. It would be very easy to carry
out the parallel into greater detail. Comp. Suet., Nero, c. 26, with
Grote's Greece, vol. vii., ch. 55.

[1387] _Barbatum._ Cf. Juv., xiv., 12, "Barbatos licet admoveas mille
inde magistros." Cic., Fin., iv., "Barba sylvosa et pulcrè alita
inter hominis eruditi insignia recensetur." Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 34,
"Tempore quo me solatus jussit sapientem pascere barbam."

[1388] _Cicutæ._ Cf. ad Juv., vii, 206.

[1389] _Pupille._ Alcibiades was left an orphan at the age of five
years, his father, Clinias, having been killed at the battle of
Coronea; when he was placed with his younger brother Clinias, under
the guardianship of Pericles and his brother Ariphron, to whom his
ungovernable passions, even in his boyhood, were a source of great
grief. Of this connection Alcibiades was very proud. Cf. Plat., Alc.,
c. 1. Nero lost his father when scarcely three years old; and at the
age of eleven, he was adopted by Claudius and placed under the care
of Annæus Seneca. It is curious that the first public act of both was
an act of liberality to the people. Compare the account of Nero's
proposing the Congiarium (Suet., Nero, c. 7), with the anecdote of
the quail of Alcibiades told by Plutarch (in Vit., c. 10). There is
probably also a bitter sarcasm in the word "pupille," as it was the
term of contempt applied to Nero by Poppæa, who was impatient to be
married to him, which the control of his mother Agrippina, and the
influence of Seneca and Burrhus, delayed. Cf. Tac., Ann., xiv., I,
"Quæ (Poppæa) aliquando per facetias incusaret Principem et _pupillum_
vocaret qui jussis alienis obnoxius non modo imperii sed libertatis
etiam indigeret." Some imagine _pericli_ to be intended as a pun, "One
that would prove _dangerous_ hereafter;" as Alcibiades was compared to
a lion's whelp, Arist., Ran., 1431, οὐ χρὴ λέοντος σκύμνον ἐν πόλει
τρέφειν ἤν δ' ἐκτρέφῃ τις, τοῖς τρόποις ὑπηρετεῖν.

[1390] _Majestate manûs._ Ov., Met., i., 205, "Quam fuit illa Jovi: qui
postquam voce, _manuque_ Murmura compressit, tenuere silentia cuncti."
So Lucan says of Cæsar, "Utque satis trepidum turbâ coeunte tumultum
Composuit vultu, _dextrâque_ silentia jussit." Cf. Acts, xiii. 16.

[1391] _Curva._ The Stoic notion that virtue is a straight line; vices,
curved: the virtues occasionally approaching nearer to one curve than
the other. Cf. Arist., Eth., II., vii. and viii.; and Sat., iii., 52,
"Haud tibi inexpertum _curvos_ deprendere mores, Quæque docet sapiens
braccatis illita Medis Porticus."

[1392] _Nigrum Theta._ The Θ, the first letter of θάνατος, was set
by the Judices against the names of those whom they adjuged worthy
of death, and was hence used by critics to obelize passages they
condemned or disapproved of; the contrary being marked with Χ, for
χρηστόν. Cf. Mart., vii., Ep. xxxvii., 1, "Nosti mortiferum quæstoris,
Castrice, signum, Est operæ pretium discere theta novum." Auson., Ep.
128, "Tuumque nomen theta sectilis signet." Sidon., Carm., ix., 335,
"Isti qui valet exarationi Districtum bonus applicare theta." (It was
also used on tomb-stones, and as a mark to tick off the dead on the
muster-roll of soldiers.)

[1393] _Summâ pella decorus._ The personal beauty of Alcibiades is
proverbial. Suetonius does not give a very unfavorable account of
Nero's exterior, "Staturâ fuit prope justâ, sufflavo capillo, vultu
pulchro magis quam venusto, oculis cæsiis." The rest of the picture
is not quite so flattering. It should be observed, by the way,
that Suetonius speaks in terms by no means disparaging of Nero's
verses, which, he says, flowed easily and naturally: he discards the
insinuation that they were mere translations, or plagiarisms, as he
says he had ocular proof to the contrary. Suet., Vit., c. 51, 2.

[1394] _Caudam jactare_, a metaphor either from "a dog fawning," or "a
peacock displaying its tail." Hor., ii., Sat. ii., 26, "Rara avis et
pictâ pandat spectacula caudâ."

[1395] _Anticyras._ Cf. ad Juv., xiii., 97. Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 137,
"Expulit helleboro morbum bilemque meraco." Lucian, ἐν Πλοίῳ, 45, καὶ
ὁ ἑλλέβορος ἱκανὸς ποιῆσαι ζωρότερος ποθείς. _Meracus_ is properly
applied to unmixed _wine_; _merus_, to any _other_ liquid.

[1396] _Curata cuticula sole._ Cf. ad Juv., xi., 203, "Nostra bibat
vernum contracta cuticula solem." Alluding to the _apricatio_, or
"sunning themselves," of which old men are so fond. Line 33. Sat. v.,
179. Cic., de Senect., xvi. Mart., x., Ep. xii., 7, "I precor et totos
avida cute combibe soles, Quam formosus eris, dum peregrinus eris."
Plin., Ep. iii., 1. "Ubi hora balinei nuntiata est, in sole, si caret
vento, ambulat nudus." iv., Ep. 5, "Post cibum sæpe æstate si quod
otii, jacebat in sole." Cic., Att., vii., 11. Mart., i., Ep. lxxviii.,
4. Juv., ii., 105, "Et curare cutem summi constantia civis." Hor.,
i., Ep. iv., 29, "In cute curandâ plus æquo operata juventus." iv.,
15, "Me pinguem et nitidum bene curatâ cute vises." Cf. Sat. ii., 37,
"Pelliculam curare jube."

[1397] _Dinomaches._ Vid. line 1. Plut., Alc., 1. It appears from
Plat., Alc., cxviii., that it was a name Alcibiades delighted in.

[1398] _Ocima._ Properly the herb "Basil," _ocimum Basilicum_, either
from ὠκὺς, from its "rapid growth," or from ὄζειν, from its "fragrance."

[1399] _Mantica._ From Phædrus, lib. iv., Fab. x., "Peras imposuit
Jupiter nobis duas: propriis repletam vitiis post tergum dedit: Alienis
ante pectus suspendit gravem. Hâc re videre nostra mala non possumus:
alii simul delinquunt, censores sumus." So Petr., Frag. Traj., 57, "In
alio peduclum vides: in te ricinum non vides." Cat., xxii., 20, "Suus
quoique attributus est error: Sed non videmus manticæ quod in tergo
est."

[1400] _Quantum non milvus._ Cf. Juv., ix., 55, "Tot milvos intra tua
pascua lassos."

[1401] _Pertusa ad compita._ "Compita" are places where three or more
roads meet, from the old verb bito or beto. At these places altars,
or little chapels, were erected with as many sides as there were ways
meeting. (Jani bifrontes.) Cf. v., 35, "Ramosa in compita." Hence they
are called "pertusa," i. e., _pervia_, "open in all directions." At
these chapels it was the custom for the rustics to suspend the worn-out
implements of husbandry. Though some think this was more especially
done at the Compitalia. This festival was one of those which the Romans
called Feriæ Conceptivæ, being fixed annually by the Prætor. They
generally followed close upon the Saturnalia, and were held sometimes
three days before the kalends of January, sometimes on the kalends
themselves. Vid. Cic., Pis., iv. Auson., Ecl. de Fev., "Et nunquam
certis redeuntia festa diebus, Compita per vicos quum sua quisque
colit." According to Servius, they are described, though not by name,
by Virgil, Æn., viii., 717. Like the Quinquatrus, they lasted only
one day, and on that occasion additional wooden chapels were erected,
the sacrificial cakes were provided by different houses, and slaves,
not freedmen, presided at the sacrifices. Vid. Plin., XXXVI., xxvii.,
70. The gods whom they worshiped are said to have been the Lares
Compitales, of whom various legends are current. But this is doubtful.
Augustus appointed certain rites in their honor, twice in the year.
Suet., Vit., c. xxxi., "Compitales Lares ornari bis anno instituit
vernis floribus et æstivis." It seems to have been a season of rustic
revelry and feasting, and of license for slaves, like the Saturnalia.
The avarice of the miser, therefore, on such an occasion, is the more
conspicuous. His vessel is but a small one (seriola), and its contents
woolly (pannosam) with age (veterem); yet he grudges scraping off the
clay (limum) with which they used to stop their vessels, in order to
pour a libation of his sour wine.

[1402] _Balanatum gausape._ The Balanus, or "Arabian Balsam," was
considered one of the most expensive perfumes. πρὸς τὰ πολυτελῆ μύρα
ἀντ' ἐλαίου ἔχρωντο. Dioscor., iv., 160. Cf. Hor., iii., Od. xxix., 4,
"Pressa tuis _balanus_ capillis Jamdudum apud me est." The gausape is
properly a thick shaggy kind of stuff. Hence Sen., Ep. 53, "Frigidæ
cultor mitto me in mare quomodo psychrolutam decet, gausapatus."
Lucil., xx., Fr. 9, "Purpureo tersit tunc latas gausape mensas." From
whom Horace copies, ii., Sat. viii., 10, "Puer alte cinctus acernam
gausape purpureo mensam pertersit." It is here used for "a very thick,
bushy beard."

[1403] _Cædimus._ A metaphor from gladiators, which is continued
through the next three lines. "While we are intent on wounding our
adversaries, we leave our own weak points unguarded;" i. e., while
satirizing others, we are quite forgetful of and blind to our own
defects. There is here also a covert allusion to Nero, who, though so
open to sarcasm, yet took upon him to satirize others. Cf. ad Juv.,
iv., 106, "Et tamen improbior satiram scribente cinædo."

[1404] _Non credam._ Sen., Ep. lix., 11, "Cito nobis placemus: si
invenimus qui nos bonos viros dicat, qui prudentes, qui sanctos,
agnoscimus. Nec sumus modicâ laudatione contenti: quidquid in nos
adulatio sine pudore congessit, tanquam debitum prendimus: optimos nos
esse sapientissimos affirmantibus assentimur."

[1405] _Puteal flagellas._ "This line," Casaubon says, "was purposely
intended to be obscure; that while all would apply it in one sense
to Nero, Persius, if accused, might maintain that he intended only
the other sense, which the words at first sight bear." Puteal is
put for the forum itself by synecdoche. It is properly the "puteal
Libonis," a place which L. Scribonius Libo caused to be inclosed
(perhaps cir. A.U.C. 604). It had been perhaps a bidental (cf. ad Sat.
ii., 27), or, as others say, the place where the razor of the augur
Nævius was deposited. Near it was the prætor's chair, and the benches
frequented by persons who had private suits, among whom the class of
usurers would be most conspicuous. (Hence Hor., i., Epist. xix., 8,
"Forum putealque Libonis Mandabo siccis." ii., Sat. vi., 35.) _Puteal
flagellare_, therefore, is taken in its primitive sense to mean, "to
frequent the forum for the purpose of enforcing rigorous payment from
those to whom you _have_ lent money; or the benches of the usurers, in
quest of persons to whom you _may_ lend it on exorbitant interest."
Cf. Ov., Remed., Am., 561, "Qui _puteal_ Janumque timet, celeresque
Kalendas." Cic., Sext., 8. In its secondary sense, it may apply to the
nightly atrocities of Nero, who used to frequent the forum, violently
assaulting those he met, and outrageously insulting females, not
unfrequently committing robberies and even murder; but having been
soundly beaten one night by a nobleman whose wife he had outraged, he
went ever after attended by gladiators, as a security for his personal
safety; who kept aloof until their services were required. Nero might
well, therefore, be called the "scourge of the Forum," and be said
to leave scars and wales behind him in the scenes of his enormities.
Juvenal (Sat. iii., 278, _seq._) alludes to the same practices. A
description of them at full length may be found in Tacitus (Ann.,
xiii., 26) and Suetonius (Vit. Neron., c. 26).

[1406] _Bibulas._ "Those ears which are as prone to drink in the
flattery of the mob as a sponge to imbibe water."

[1407] _Cerdo_, Put here for the lower orders generally, whose applause
Nero always especially courted. So Juv., iv., 153, "Sed periit postquam
cerdonibus esse timendus cœperat." viii., 182, "Et quæ turpia cerdoni
volesos Brutosque decebunt." "Give back the rabble their tribute of
applause. Let them bear their vile presents elsewhere!"

[1408] _Tecum habita._ "Retire into yourself; examine yourself
thoroughly; your abilities and powers of governing: and you will find
how little fitted you are for the arduous task you have undertaken."
Compare the end of the Alcibiades. Juv., xi., 33, "Te consule, die tibi
qui sis." Hor., i., Sat. iii., 34, "Te ipsum concute." Sen., Ep. 80,
_fin._, "Si perpendere te voles, sepone pecuniam, domum, dignitatem:
intus te ipse considera. Nunc qualis sis, aliis credis."

SATIRE V.

ARGUMENT.

On this Satire, which is the longest and the best of all, Persius
may be said to rest his claims to be considered a Philosopher
and a Poet. It may be compared with advantage with the Third
Satire of the second book of Horace. As the object in that is to
defend what is called the Stoical paradox, "that none but the
Philosopher is of _sound mind_,"

"Quem mala stultitia et quemcunque inscitia veri
Cæecum agit, insanum Chrysippi porticus et grex
Autumat:" i., 43-45,

so here, Persius maintains that other dogma of the Stoics, "that
none but the Philosopher is truly a _free_ man." Horace argues
(in the person of a Stoic) that there can be but _one_ path that
leads in the right direction; all others must lead the traveler
only farther astray. "Unus utrique error sed variis illudit
partibus" (ἐσθλοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἁπλῶς, παντοδαπῶς δὲ κακοί. Arist.,
Eth., II., vi., 4). So Persius argues, whatever are the varied
pursuits of different minds, he that is under the influence of some
overwhelming passion, can offer no claim to be accounted a free
agent. "Mille hominum species, et rerum discolor usus." (52.) In
fact, if we substitute "freedom" for "wisdom," the whole argument
of the last part of the Satire may be expressed in the two lines of
Horace:

"Quisquis
_Ambitione_ malâ aut _argenti_ pallet amore
Quisquis _Luxuria_ tristive _Superstitione_
Aut alio mentis morbo calet:"

that man can neither be pronounced free or of sound mind.

The Satire consists of two parts; the first serving as a Proëm to
the other. It is, in fact, the earnest expression of unbounded
affection for his tutor and early friend Annæus Cornutus, from
whom he had imbibed those principles of philosophy, which it is
the object of the latter part of the Satire to elucidate. After a
few lines of ridicule at the hackneyed prologues of the day, he
puts into the mouth of Cornutus that just criticism of poetical
composition which there is very little doubt Persius had in reality
derived from his master; and in answer to this, he takes occasion
to profess his sincere and deep-seated love and gratitude toward
the preceptor, whose kind care had rescued him from the vicious
courses to which a young and ardent temperament was leading him;
and whose sound judgment and dexterous management had weaned him
from the temptations that assail the young, by making him his own
companion in those studies which expanded his intellect while
they rectified the _obliquity_ (to use the Stoics' phrase) of his
moral character. Such mutual affection, he urges, could only exist
between two persons whom something more than mere adventitious
circumstances drew together; and he therefore concludes that the
same natal star must have presided over the horoscope of both.

He then proceeds to the main subject of the Satire, viz., that all
men should aim at attaining that freedom which can only result from
that perfect "soundness of mind" which we have shown to be the
summum bonum of the Stoics. This real freedom no mere external or
adventitious circumstances can bestow. Dama, though freed at his
master's behest, if he be the slave of passion, is as much a slave
as if he had never felt the prætor's rod. Until he have really cast
off, like the snake, the slough of his former vices, and become
changed in heart and principles as he is in political standing,
he is so far from being really free from bondage that he can not
rightly perform even the most trivial act of daily life. True
freedom consists in virtue alone; but "Virtus est vitium fugere:"
and he who eradicates all other passions, but cherishes still one
darling vice, has but changed his master. The dictates of the
passions that sway his breast are more imperious than those of the
severest task-master. Whether it be avarice, or luxury, or love,
or ambition, or superstition, that is the dominant principle, so
long as he can not shake himself free from the control of these, he
is as much, as real a slave as the drudge that bears his master's
strigil to the bath, or the dog that fancies he has burst his bonds
while the long fragment of his broken chain still dangles from his
neck. The last few lines contain a dignified rebuke of the sneers
which such pure sentiments as these would provoke in the coarse
minds of some into whose hands these lines might fall; perhaps,
too, they may be meant as a gentle reproof of the sly irony in
which the Epicurean Horace indulged, while professing to enunciate
the Stoic doctrine, that none but the true Philosopher can be said
to be of sound mind.

It is the custom of poets to pray for a hundred voices,[1409] and to
wish for a hundred mouths and a hundred tongues for their verses;[1410]
whether the subject proposed be one to be mouthed[1411] by a
grim-visaged[1412] Tragœdian, or the wounds[1413] of a Parthian drawing
his weapon from his groin.[1414]

CORNUTUS.[1415] What is the object of this? or what masses[1416]
of robust song are you heaping up, so as to require the support
of a hundred throats? Let those who are about to speak on grand
subjects collect mists on Helicon;[1417] all those for whom the pot
of Procne[1418] or Thyestes shall boil, to be often supped on by the
insipid Glycon.[1419] You neither press forth the air from the panting
bellows, while the mass is smelting in the furnace; nor, hoarse with
pent-up murmur, foolishly croak out something ponderous, nor strive to
burst your swollen cheeks with puffing.[1420] You adopt the language of
the Toga,[1421] skillful at judicious combination, with moderate style,
well rounded,[1422] clever at lashing depraved morals,[1423] and with
well-bred sportiveness to affix the mark of censure. Draw from this
source what you have to say; and leave at Mycenæ the tables, with the
head[1424] and feet, and study plebeian dinners.

PERSIUS. For my part, I do not aim at this, that my page may be
inflated with air-blown trifles, fit only to give weight[1425]
to smoke. We are talking apart from the crowd. I am now, at the
instigation of the Muse, giving you my heart to sift;[1426] and delight
in showing you, beloved friend, how large a portion of my soul is
yours, Cornutus! Knock then, since thou knowest well how to detect what
rings sound,[1427] and the glozings of a varnished[1428] tongue. For
this I would dare to pray for a hundred voices, that with guileless
voice I may unfold how deeply I have fixed thee in my inmost breast;
and that my words may unseal for thee all that lies buried, too deep
for words, in my secret heart.

When first the guardian purple left me, its timid charge,[1429] and my
boss[1430] was hung up, an offering to the short-girt[1431]

Lares; when my companions were kind, and the white centre-fold[1432]
gave my eyes license to rove with impunity over the whole Suburra; at
the time when the path is doubtful, and error, ignorant of the purpose
of life, makes anxious minds hesitate between the branching cross-ways,
I placed myself under you. You, Cornutus, cherished my tender years
in your Socratic bosom. Then your rule, dexterous in insinuating
itself,[1433] being applied to me, straightened my perverse morals; my
mind was convinced by your reasoning, and strove to yield subjection;
and formed features skillfully moulded by your plastic thumb. For I
remember that many long nights I spent with you; and with you robbed
our feasts of the first hours of night. Our work was one. We both alike
arranged our hours of rest, and relaxed our serious studies with a
frugal meal.

Doubt not, at least, this fact; that both our days harmonize by some
definite compact,[1434] and are derived from the selfsame planet.
Either the Fate, tenacious of truth,[1435] suspended our natal hour in
the equally poised balance, or else the Hour that presides over the
faithful divides between the twins the harmonious destiny[1436] of us
two; and we alike correct the influence of malignant Saturn[1437] by
Jupiter, auspicious to both. At all events, there is some star, I know
not what, that blends my destiny with thine.

There are a thousand species of men; and equally diversified is the
pursuit of objects. Each has his own desire; nor do men live with one
single wish. One barters beneath an orient sun,[1438] wares of Italy
for a wrinkled pepper[1439] and grains of pale cumin.[1440] Another
prefers, well-gorged, to heave in dewy[1441] sleep. Another indulges
in the Campus Martius. Another is beggared by gambling. Another riots
in sensual[1442] pleasures. But when the stony[1443] gout has crippled
his joints, like the branches of an ancient beech--then too late they
mourn that their days have passed in gross licentiousness, their light
has been the fitful marsh-fog; and look back upon the life they have
abandoned.[1444] But your delight is to grow pale over the midnight
papers; for, as a trainer of youths, you plant in their well-purged
ears[1445] the corn of Cleanthes.[1446] From this source seek, ye young
and old, a definite object for your mind, and a provision against
miserable gray hairs.

"It shall be done to-morrow."[1447] "To-morrow, the case will be just
the same!" What, do you grant me one day as so great a matter? "But
when that other day has dawned, we have already spent yesterday's
to-morrow. For see, another to-morrow wears away our years, and will be
always a little beyond you. For though it is so near you, and under the
selfsame perch, you will in vain endeavor to overtake the felloe[1448]
that revolves before you, since you are the hinder wheel, and on the
second axle."

It is liberty, of which we stand in need! not such as that which,
when every Publius Velina[1449] has earned, he claims as his due the
mouldy corn, on the production of his tally. Ah! minds barren of all
truth! for whom a single twirl makes a Roman.[1450] Here is Dama,[1451]
a groom,[1452] not worth three farthings![1453] good for nothing and
blear-eyed; one that would lie for a feed of beans. Let his master give
him but a twirl, and in the spinning of a top, out he comes Marcus
Dama! Ye gods! when Marcus is security, do you hesitate to trust your
money? When Marcus is judge, do you grow pale? Marcus said it: it must
be so. Marcus, put your name to this deed? This is literal liberty.
This it is the cap of liberty[1454] bestows on us.

"Is any one else, then, a freeman, but he that may live as he pleases?
I may live as I please; am not I then a freer man than Brutus?"[1455]
On this the Stoic (his ear well purged[1456] with biting vinegar) says,
"Your inference is faulty; the rest I admit, but cancel '_I may_,' and
'_as I please_.'"

"Since I left the prætor's presence, made my own master by his
rod,[1457] why _may_ I not do whatever my inclination dictates, save
only what the rubric of Masurius[1458] interdicts?"

Learn then! But let anger subside from your nose, and the wrinkling
sneer; while I pluck out those old wives' fables from your breast. It
was not in the prætor's power to commit to fools the delicate duties
of life, or transmit that experience that will guide them through the
rapid course of life. Sooner would you make the dulcimer[1459] suit a
tall porter.[1460]

Reason stands opposed to you, and whispers in your secret ear, not
to allow any one to do that which he will spoil in the doing. The
public law of men--nay, Nature herself contains this principle--that
feeble ignorance should hold all acts as forbidden. Dost thou dilute
hellebore, that knowest not how to confine the balance-tongue[1461] to
a definite point? The very essence of medicine[1462] forbids this. If a
high-shoed[1463] plowman, that knows not even the morning star, should
ask for a ship, Melicerta[1464] would cry out that all modesty had
vanished from the earth.[1465]

Has Philosophy granted to you to walk uprightly? and do you know how
to discern the semblance of truth; lest it give a counterfeit tinkle,
though merely gold laid over brass? And those things which ought to be
pursued, or in turn avoided, have you first marked the one with chalk,
and then the other with charcoal? Are you moderate in your desires?
frugal in your household? kind to your friends? Can you at one time
strictly close, at another unlock your granaries? And can you pass by
the coin fixed in the mud,[1466] nor swallow down with your gullet the
Mercurial saliva?

When you can say with truth, "These are my principles, this I hold;"
then be free and wise too, under the auspices of the prætor and of
Jove himself. But if, since you were but lately one of our batch, you
preserve your old skin, and though polished on the surface,[1467]
retain the cunning fox[1468] beneath your vapid breast; then I recall
all that I just now granted, and draw back the rope.[1469]

Philosophy has given you nothing; nay, put forth your finger[1470]--and
what act is there so trivial?--and you do wrong. But there is no
incense by which you can gain from the gods this boon,[1471] that
one short half-ounce of Right can be inherent in fools. To mix these
things together is an impossibility; nor can you, since you are in all
these things else a mere ditcher, move but three measures of the satyr
Bathyllus.[1472]

"_I am_ free." Whence do you take this as granted, you that are in
subjection to so many things?[1473] Do you recognize no master, save
him from whom the prætor's rod sets you free? If he has thundered out,
"Go, boy, and carry my strigils to the baths of Crispinus![1474] Do
you loiter, lazy scoundrel?" This bitter slavery affects not thee;
nor does any thing _from without_ enter which can set thy strings in
motion.[1475] But if _within_, and in thy morbid breast, there spring
up masters, how dost thou come forth with less impunity than those whom
the lash[1476] and the terror of their master drives to the strigils?

Do you snore lazily in the morning? "Rise!" says Avarice. "Come!
rise!" Do you refuse? She is urgent. "Arise!" she says. "I can not."
"Rise!" "And what am I to do?" "Do you ask? Import fish[1477] from
Pontus, Castoreum,[1478] tow, ebony,[1479] frankincense, purgative Coan
wines.[1480]

"Be the first to unload from the thirsty camel[1481] his fresh
pepper--turn a penny, swear!"

"But Jupiter will hear!" "Oh fool! If you aim at living on good terms
with Jove, you must go on contented to bore your oft-tasted salt-cellar
with your finger!"

Now, with girded loins, you fit the skin and wine flagon to your
slaves.[1482]--"Quick, to the ship!" Nothing prevents your sweeping
over the Ægæan in your big ship, unless cunning luxury should first
draw you aside, and hint, "Whither, madman, are you rushing? Whither!
what do you want? The manly bile has fermented in your hot breast,
which not even a pitcher[1483] of hemlock could quench. Would _you_
bound over the sea? Would _you_ have your dinner on a thwart, seated
on a coil of hemp?[1484] while the broad-bottomed jug[1485] exhales
the red Veientane[1486] spoiled by the damaged pitch![1487] Why do you
covet that the money you had here put out to interest at a modest five
per cent., should go on to sweat a greedy eleven per cent.? Indulge
your Genius![1488] Let us crop the sweets of life! That you really
_live_ is my boon! You will become ashes, a ghost, a gossip's tale!
Live, remembering you must die.--The hour flies! This very word I speak
is subtracted from it!"

What course, now, do you take? You are torn in different directions by
a two-fold hook. Do you follow this master or that? You must needs by
turns, with doubtful obedience, submit to one, by turns wander forth
free. Nor, even though you may have _once_ resisted, or once refused to
obey the stern behest, can you say with truth, "I have burst my bonds!"
For the dog too by his struggles breaks through his leash, yet even as
he flies a long portion of the chain hangs dragging from his neck.

"Davus![1489] I intend at once--and I order you to believe me too!--to
put an end to my past griefs. (So says Chærestratus, biting his nails
to the quick.) Shall I continue to be a disgrace to my sober relations?
Shall I make shipwreck[1490] of my patrimony, and lose my good name,
before these shameless[1491] doors, while drunk, and with my torch
extinguished, I sing[1492] before the reeking doors of Chrysis?"

"Well done, my boy, be wise! sacrifice a lamb to the gods who
ward off[1493] evil!" "But do you think, Davus, she will weep at
being forsaken?" Nonsense! boy, you will be beaten with her red
slipper,[1494] for fear you should be inclined to plunge, and gnaw
through your close-confining toils,[1495] now fierce and violent. But
if she should call you, you would say at once, "What then shall I
do?[1496] Shall I not now, when I am invited, and when of her own act
she entreats me, go to her?" Had you come away from her heart-whole,
you would not, even now. This, this is the man of whom we are in
search. It rests not on the wand[1497] which the foolish Lictor
brandishes.

Is that flatterer[1498] his own master, whom white-robed Ambition[1499]
leads gaping with open mouth? "Be on the watch, and heap vetches[1500]
bountifully upon the squabbling mob, that old men,[1501] as they sun
themselves, may remember our Floralia.--What could be more splendid?"

But when Herod's[1502] day is come, and the lamps arranged on the
greasy window-sill have disgorged their unctuous smoke, bearing
violets, and the thunny's tail floats, hugging the red dish,[1503]
and the white pitcher foams with wine: then in silent prayer you move
your lips, and grow pale at the sabbaths of the circumcised. Then are
the black goblins![1504] and the perils arising from breaking an
egg.[1505] Then the huge Galli,[1506] and the one-eyed priestess with
her sistrum,[1507] threaten you with the gods inflating your body,
unless, you have eaten the prescribed head of garlic[1508] three times
of a morning.

Were you to say all this among the brawny centurions, huge
Pulfenius[1509] would immediately raise his coarse laugh, and hold a
hundred Greek philosophers dear at a clipped centussis.[1510]

FOOTNOTES:

[1409] _Centum voces._ Homer is content with ten. Il., ii., 484, Οὐδ εἴ
μοι δέκα μὲν γλῶσσαι δέκα δέ στόματ εἶεν. Virgil squares the number.
Georg., ii., 43, "Non mihi si _linguæ centum_ sint, _oraque centum_,
Ferrea vox." Æn., vi., 625. Sil., iv., 527, "Non mihi Mæoniæ redeat
si gloria linguæ, _Centenas_que pater det Phœbus fundere _voces_, Tot
cædes proferre queam." Ov., Met., viii., 532, "Non mihi si _centum_
Deus _ora_ sonantia _linguis_." Fast., ii., 119.

[1410] _In carmina._ "That their style and language may be amplified
and extended adequately to the greatness and variety of their subjects."

[1411] _Hianda._ Juv., vi., 636, "Grande Sophocleo carmen bacchamur
hiatu;" alluding to the wide mouths of the tragic masks (οἱ ὑποκριταὶ
μέγα κεχηνότες, Luc., Nigrin., i., p. 28, Ben.), or to the "ampullæ et
sesquipedalia verba" of the tragedy itself. Hor., A. P., 96.

[1412] _Mæsto._ Hor., A. P., 105, "Tristia mæstum vultum verba decent."

[1413] _Vulnera_, i. e., "Or whether it be an epic poem on the Parthian
war," which was carried on under Nero. The genitive Parthi may be
either subjective or objective, probably the former, in spite of Hor.,
ii., Sat. i., 15, "Aut labentis equo describat vulnera Parthi."

[1414] _Ab inguine._ This may either mean, "drawing out the weapon from
the wound he has received from the Roman," or may describe the manner
in which the Parthian ("versis animosus equis," Hor., i., Od. xix., 11)
draws his bow in his retrograde course. ("Miles sagittas et celerem
fugam Parthi timet," ii., Od. iii., 17.) Casaubon describes, from
Eustathius, three other ways of drawing the bow, παρὰ μαζον, παρ' ὦμον,
and παρὰ τὸ δεξιὸν ὠτίον, "from the ear," like our English archers.
So Propertius, lib. iv., says of the Gauls, "Virgatis jaculantis ab
inguine braccis." El., x., 43.

[1415] _Cornutus._ Annæus Cornutus (of the same gens as Mela, Lucan,
and Seneca) was distinguished as a tragic poet as well as a Stoic
philosopher. He was a native of Leptis, in Africa, and came to Rome
in the reign of Nero, where he applied himself with success to the
education of young men. He wrote on Philosophy, Rhetoric, and a
treatise entitled ἡ ἑλληνικὴ θεολογία. Persius, at the age of sixteen
(A.D. 50), placed himself under his charge, and was introduced by him
to Lucan; and at his death left him one hundred sestertia and his
library. Cornutus kept the books, to the number of seven hundred, but
gave back the money to Persius' sisters. Nero, intending to write an
epic poem on Roman History, consulted Cornutus among others; but when
the rest advised Nero to extend it to four hundred books, Cornutus
said, "No one would read them." For this speech Nero was going to put
him to death; but contented himself with banishing him. This took
place, according to Lubinus, four years after Persius' death; more
probably in A.D. 65, when so many of the Annæan gens suffered. (Cf.
Clinton in Ann.) Vid. Suid., p. 2161. Dio., lxii., 29. Eus., Chron., A.
2080. Suet. in Vit. Pers.

[1416] _Offas._ "Huge goblets of robustious song." Gifford.

[1417] _Helicone._ Cf. Prol., 1. 4. Hor., A. P., 230, "Nubes et inania
captet."

[1418] _Procnes olla._ The "pot of Procne, or Thyestes," is said
to _boil_ for them who compose tragedies on the subjects of the
unnatural banquets prepared by Procne for Tereus, and by Atreus for
Thyestes. Cf., Ov., Met., vi., 424-676. Senec., Thyest. Hor., A. P.,
91.--_Cænanda_ implies that these atrocities were to be actually
represented on the stage, which the good taste even of Augustus' days
would have rejected with horror. Hor., A. P., 182-188.

[1419] _Glycon_ was a tragic actor, of whom one Virgilius was part
owner. Nero admired him so much that he gave Virgilius three hundred
thousand sesterces for his share of him, and set him free.

[1420] _Stloppo._ "The noise made by inflating the cheeks, and then
forcibly expelling the wind by a sudden blow with the hands." It not
improbably comes from λόπος in the sense of an inflated skin; as stlis
for lis, stlocus for locus; stlataria from latus. Cf. ad Juv., vii.,
134.

[1421] _Verba togæ._ Having pointed out the ordinary defects of poets
of the day as to choice of subjects, style, and language, Cornutus
proceeds to compliment Persius for the exactly contrary merits. First,
for the use of words not removed from ordinary use, but such as were in
use in the most elegant and polished society of Rome, as distinguished
from the rude archaisms then in vogue, or the too familiar vulgarisms
of the tunicatus popellus in the provinces, where none assumed the toga
till he was carried out to burial. (Juv., Sat. iii, 172.) But then,
according to Horace's precept ("Dixeris egregiè si notum callida verbum
reddiderit junctura novum," A. P., 47), grace and dignity was added to
these by the novelty of effect produced by judicious combination. Cf.
Cic., de Orat., iii., 43. There is an allusion to the same metaphor as
in Sat. i., 65, "Per leve severos effundat junctura ungues."

[1422] _Ore teres modico._ The second merit, "a natural and easy mode
of reciting, suited to compositions in a familiar style." Cicero uses
_teres_ in the same sense. De Orat., iii., c. 52, "Plena quædam, sed
tamen teres, et tenuis, non sine nervis ac viribus." Horace, A. P.,
323, "Graiis dedit ore rotundo Musa loqui."

[1423] _Pallentes radere mores._ The next merit is in the choice of
a subject. Not the unnatural horrors selected to gratify the most
depraved taste, but the gentlemanly, and at the same time searching,
exposure of the profligate morals of the time.

[1424] _Cum capite._ Cf. Senec., Thyest., Act iv., 1. 763, "Denudat
artus dirus atque ossa amputat: tantum _ora_ servat et datas fidei
_manus_."

[1425] _Pondus._ So Horace, i., Epist. xix., 42, "Nugis addere pondus."

[1426] _Excutienda._ Seneca, Ep. lxxii., 1, "Explicandus est animus, et
quæcunque apud illum deposita sunt, subinde _excuti_ debent."

[1427] _Solidum crepet._ Cf. iii., 21, "Sonet vitium percussa."

[1428] _Sinuoso._ Cf. Hamlet, "Give me that man that is not passion's
slave, and I will wear him in my heart's core; ay, in my heart of
heart, as I do thee, Horatio!" Act iii., sc. 2.

[1429] _Custos._ The Prætexta was intended, as the robes of the
priests, to serve as a protection to the youths that wore it. The
purple with which the toga was bordered was to remind them of the
modesty which was becoming to their early years. It was laid aside by
boys at the age of seventeen, and by girls when they were married. The
assumption of the toga virilis took place with great solemnities before
the images of the Lares, sometimes in the Capitol. It not unfrequently
happened that the changing of the toga at the same time formed a bond
of union between young men, which lasted unbroken for many years. Hor.,
i., Od. xxxvi., 9, "Memor Actæ non alio rege puertiæ Mutatæque simul
togæ. "The Liberalia, on the 16th before the Kalends of April (i. e.,
March 17th), were the usual festival for this ceremony. Vid. Cic. ad
Att., VI., i., 12. Ovid explains the reasons for the selection. Fast.,
iii., 771, _seq._

[1430] _Bulla._ Vid. Juv., v., 164.

[1431] _Succinctis._ So Horace, A. P., 50, "Fingere cinctutis non
exaudita Cethegis." The Lares, being the original household deities,
were regarded with singular affection, and were probably usually
represented in the homely dress of the early ages of the republic.
Perhaps, too, some superstitious feeling might tend to prevent any
innovation in their costume. This method of wearing the toga, which
consisted in twisting it over the left shoulder, so as to leave the
right arm bare and free, was called the "Cinctus Gabinus" (cf. Ov.,
Fast., v., 101, 129), from the fact of its having been adopted at the
sudden attack at Gabii, when they had not time to put on the sagum, but
were forced to fight in the toga. Hence, in proclaiming war, the consul
always appeared in this costume (Virg., Æn., vii., 612, "Ipse Quirinali
trabeâ cinctuque Gabino Insignis reserat stridentia limina Consul"),
and it was that in which Decius devoted himself. Liv., viii., 9; v., 46.

[1432] _Umbo_ was the centre where all the folds of the toga met on the
left shoulder; from this boss the lappet fell down and was tucked into
the girdle, so as to form the _sinus_ or fold which served as a pocket.

[1433] _Fallere solers._ "You showed so much skill and address in your
endeavors to restore me to the right path, that I was, as it were,
gradually and insensibly cheated into a reformation of my life."

[1434] _Fœdere certo._ Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 187, "Scit Genius, natale
comes qui temperat astrum." ii., Od. xvii., 16, "Placitumque _Parcis_,
Seu _Libra_ seu me Scorpius adspicit formidolosus, pars violentior
_Natalis horæ_ seu tyrannus Hesperiæ Capricornus undæ Utrumque nostrum
incredibili modo _consentit astrum_." Manil., iv., 549, "Felix _æquato_
genitus sub pondere _Libræ_."

[1435] _Tenax veri._ "Because the decrees pronounced by Destiny at
each man's birth have their inevitable issue." So Horace, "Parca non
mendax," ii., Od. xvi., 39.

[1436] _Concordia._ This συναστρία, as the Greeks called the being born
under one Horoscopus (vi., 18), was considered to be one of the causes
of the most familiar and intimate friendship.

[1437] _Saturnum._ Hor., ii., Od. xvii., 22, "Te _Jovis impio_ tutela
_Saturno_ refulgens Eripuit." Both _gravis_ and _impius_ are probably
meant to express the Κρόνος βλαβερὸς of Manetho, i., 110. Propert.,
iv., El. i., 105, "Felicesque Jovis stellæ Martisque rapacis, Et grave
Saturni sidus in omne caput." Juv., vi., 570, "Quid sidus triste
minetur Saturni." Virg., Georg., i., 336, "Frigida Saturni stella."

[1438] _Sole recenti._ "In the extreme east;" from Hor., i., Sat. iv.,
29, "Hic mutat merces surgente à Sole ad eum quo Vespertina tepet
regio."

[1439] _Rugosum piper._ Plin., H. N., xii., 7.

[1440] _Pallentis cumini._ The cumin was used as a cheap substitute for
pepper, which was very expensive at Rome. It produced great paleness
in those who ate much of it; and consequently many who wished to have
a pallid look, as though from deep study, used to take it in large
quantities. Pliny (xx., 14, "Omne cuminum pallorem bibentibus gignit")
says that the imitators of Porcius Latro used to take it in order to
resemble him even in his natural peculiarities. Horace alludes to
this, i., Epist. xix., 17, "Quod si pallerem casu biberent _exsangue
cuminum_." (Latro died A.U.C. 752.) Cf. Plin., xix., 6, 32.

[1441] _Irriguo._ Virg., Æn., i., 691," Placidam per membra quietem
_irrigat_." iii., 511, "Fessos sopor irrigat artus."--_Turgescere._
Sulp., 56, "Somno moriuntur obeso."

[1442] _Putris._ Hor., i., Od. xxxvi., 17, "Omnes in Damalin _putres_
deponunt oculos."

[1443] _Lapidosa._ "That fills his joints with chalk-stones."
Hor., ii., Sat. vii., 16, "Postquam illi justa _cheragra Contudit
articulos_." i., Ep. i., 81, "_Nodosâ_ corpus nolis prohibere
_cheragrâ_."

[1444] _Vitam relictam._ Cf. iii., 38, "Virtutem videant intabescantque
relictâ."

[1445] _Purgatas aures._ Cf. l. 86, "Stoicus hic aurem mordaci lotus
aceto." One of the remedies of deafness was holding the ear over the
vapor of heated vinegar. The metaphor was very applicable to the
Stoics, who were famous for their acuteness in detecting fallacies, and
their keenness in debating. Cf. Plaut., Mil. Gl., III., i., 176, "Ambo
perpurgatis tibi operam damus auribus." Hor., i., Epist. i., 7, "Est
mihi purgatam crebrò qui personet aurem."

[1446] _Cleantheâ._ Vid. Juv., ii., 7. Cleanthes was a native of Assos,
and began life as a pugilist. He came to Athens with only four drachmæ,
and became a pupil of Zeno. He used to work at night at drawing water
in the gardens, in order to raise money to attend Zeno's lectures by
day; and hence acquired the nickname of φρεάντλης. He succeeded Zeno in
his school, and according to some, Chrysippus became his pupil. Diog.
Laërt., VII., v., 1, 2; vii., 1.

[1447] _Cras hoc fiet._ Cf. Mart., v., Ep. lviii., 7, "Cras vives!
hodie jam vivere Postume serum est, Ille sapit, quisquis, Postume,
vixit heri." Macbeth, Act v., sc. 5,

"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time:
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death."

"Our yesterday's to-morrow now is gone,
And still a new to-morrow does come on.
We by to-morrows draw out all our store,
Till the exhausted well can yield no more." Cowley.

[1448] _Canthum._ "The tire of the wheel." Quintilian (i., 5) says,
"The word is of Spanish or African origin. Though Persius employs it as
a word in common use." But Casaubon quotes Suidas, Eustathius, and the
Etym. Mag., to prove it is a pure Greek word; κανθὸς, "the corner of
the eye." Hence put for the orb of the eye.

[1449] _Velinâ Publius._ When a slave was made perfectly free he was
enrolled in one of the tribes, in order that he might enjoy the full
privileges of a Roman citizen: one of the chief of these was the
frumentatio, i. e., the right of receiving a ticket which entitled him
to his share at the distribution of the public corn, which took place
on the nones of each month. This ticket or tally was of wood or lead,
and was transferable. Sometimes a small sum was paid with it. Cf.
Juv., vii., 174, "Summula ne pereat quâ vilis tessera venit frumenti."
The slave generally adopted the prænomen of the person who manumitted
him, and the name of the tribe to which he was admitted was added.
This prænomen was the distinguishing mark of a freeman, and they were
proportionally proud of it. (Hor., ii., Sat. v., 32, "Quinte, puta,
aut Publi--gaudent prænomine molles auriculæ." Juv., v., 127, "Si quid
tentaveris unquam hiscere tanquam habeas tria nomina.") The tribe
"Velina" was one of the country tribes, in the Sabine district, and
called from the Lake Velinus. It was the last tribe added, with the
Quirina, A.U.C. 512, to make up the thirty-five tribes, by the censors
C. Aurelius Cotta and M. Fabius Buteo. Vid. Liv., Epit., xix. Cic.,
Att., iv., 15. The name of the tribe was always added in the ablative
case, as Oppius Veientinâ, Anxius Tomentinâ.

[1450] _Quiritem._ Cf. Sen., Nat., iii., "Hæc res efficit non è jure
Quiritium liberum, sed è jure Naturæ." There were three ways of making
a slave free: 1, per Censum; 2, per Vindictam; 3, per Testamentum.
The second is alluded to here. The master took the slave before the
prætor or consul and said, "Hunc hominem liberum esse volo jure
Quiritium." Then the prætor, laying the rod (Vindicta) on the slave's
head, pronounced him free; whereupon his owner or the lictor turned him
round, gave him a blow on the cheek (alapa), and let him go, with the
words, "Liber esto atque ito quo voles." (Plaut., Men., V., vii., 40.)

[1451] _Dama_ was a common name for slaves (Hor., ii., Sat. vii., 54,
"Prodis ex judice Dama turpis;" and v., 18, "Utne tegam spurco Damæ
latus"), principally for Syrians. It is said to be a corruption of
Demetrius or Demodorus. So Manes, from Menodorus, was a common name of
Phrygian slaves.

[1452] _Agaso._ Properly, "a slave who looks after beasts of burden"
(_qui agit asinos_, Schell.), then put as a mark of contempt for any
drudge. Hor., ii., Sat. viii., 73, "Si patinam pede lapsus frangat
agaso."

[1453] _Tressis._ Literally, "three asses." So Sexis, Septussis, etc.

[1454] _Pilea._ Cf. ad iii., 106, "Hesterni capite induto subiere
Quirites."

[1455] _Bruto._ From the _three_ Bruti, who were looked upon by the
vulgar as the champions of liberty. Lucius Junius Brutus, who expelled
the Tarquins; Marcus, who murdered Cæsar; and Decimus, who opposed
Antony.

[1456] _Aurem lotus._ Cf. ad l. 63.

[1457] _Vindicta._ Cf. Ov., A. A., iii., 615, "Modo quam Vindicta
redemit."

[1458] _Masurius_, or Massurius Sabinus, a famous lawyer in the
reign of Tiberius, admitted by him when at an advanced age into the
Equestrian order. He is frequently mentioned by Aulus Gellius (Noctes
xiv.). He wrote three books on Civil Law, five on the Edictum Prætoris
Urbani, besides Commentaries and other works, quoted in the Digests.

[1459] _Sambucam._ "You might as well put a delicate instrument of
music in the hands of a coarse clown, and expect him to make it
'discourse eloquent music,' as look for a nice discernment of the finer
shades of moral duty in one wholly ignorant of the first principles of
philosophy." Sambuca is from the Chaldaic Sabbecà. It was a kind of
triangular harp with four strings, and according to the Greeks, was
called from one Sambuces, who first used it. Others say the Sibyl was
the first performer on it. Ibycus of Regium was its reputed inventor,
as Anacreon of the Barbiton: but from its mention in the book of Daniel
(iii., 5), it was probably of earlier date. A female performer on it
was called Sambucistria. An instrument of war, consisting of a platform
or drawbridge supported by ropes, to let down from a tower on the walls
of a besieged town, was called, from the similarity of shape, by the
same name. Cf. Athen., iv., 175; xiv., 633, 7. (Suidas, in voce, seems
to derive it from ἴαμβος, quasi ἰαμβύκη, because Iambic verses were
sung to it.)

[1460] _Caloni._ The slaves attached to the army were so called, from
κᾶλα "logs," either because they carried clubs, or because they were
the hewers of wood and drawers of water for the soldiers. From their
being always in the camp they acquired some military knowledge, and
hence we find them occasionally used in great emergencies. They are
sometimes confounded with Lixæ; but the latter were _not_ slaves. The
name is then applied to any coarse and common drudge. Cf. Hor., i.,
Ep. xiv., 41, "Invidet usum Lignorum tibi calo." Cf. i., Sat. ii.,
44; vi., 103. Tac., Hist., i., 49.--_Alto_ refers to the old Greek
proverb, ἄνοος ὁ μακρὸς, "Every tall man is a fool;" which Aristotle
(in Physiogn.) confirms.

[1461] _Examen._ See note on Sat. i., 6.

[1462] _Natura medendi._ Horace has the same idea, ii., Ep. i., 114,
"Navem agere ignarus navis timet; abrotonum ægro non audet nisi qui
didicit dare; quod medicorum est promittunt medici."

[1463] _Peronatus._ Cf. Juv., xiv., 186.

[1464] _Melicerta_ was the son of Ino, who leaped with him into the
sea, to save him from her husband Athamas. Neptune, at the request
of Venus, changed them into sea-deities, giving to Ino the name of
Leucothea, and to Palæmon that of Melicerta, or, according to others,
Portunus (à portu, as Neptunus, à nando). Vid. Ov., Met., iv., 523,
_seq._ Fast., vi., 545. Milton's Lycidas,

"By Leucothea's golden bands,
And her son that rules the sands."

[1465] _Frontem._ See note on Sat. i., 12. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 80,
"Clament periisse pudorem cuncti."

[1466] _In luto fixum._ From Hor., i., Ep. xvi., 63, "Quî melior servo
qui liberior sit avarus. _In triviis fixum_ cum se demittat ob assem."
The boys at Rome used to fix an as tied to a piece of string in the
mud, which they jerked away, with jeers and cries of "Etiam!" as soon
as any sordid fellow attempted to pick it up. Mercury being the god of
luck (see note on ii., 44; Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 25), Persius uses the
term "Mercurial saliva" for the miser's mouth watering at the sight of
the prize (vi., 62).--_Glutto_ expresses the gurgling sound made in the
throat at the swallowing of liquids.

[1467] _Fronte politus._ Hor., i., Ep. xvi., 45, "Introrsus turpem,
speciosum pelle decorâ."

[1468] _Vulpem._ Hor., A. P., 437, "Nunquam te fallant animi sub vulpe
latentes." Lysander's saying is well known, "Where the lion's skin does
not fit, we must don the fox's."

[1469] _Funemque reduco._ Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act ii. sc. 1.

"I would have thee gone,
And yet no farther than a wanton's bird,
Who lets it hop a little from her hand,
Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves,
And with a silk thread plucks it back again."

[1470] _Digitum exsere._ The Stoics held that none but a philosopher
could perform even the most trivial act, such as putting out the
finger, correctly; there being no middle point between absolute wisdom
and absolute folly: consequently it was beyond even the power of the
gods to bestow upon a fool the power of acting rightly.

[1471] _Litabis._ See note on Sat. ii., 75.

[1472] _Bathylli_, i. e., "Like the graceful Bathyllus, when acting the
part of the satyr." Juv., Sat. vi., 63. Gifford's note.

[1473] _Tot subdite rebus._ "None but the philosopher can be free,
because all men else are the slaves of _something_; of avarice, luxury,
love, ambition, or superstition." Cf. Epict., Man., xiv., 2, ὅστις
οὖν ἐλεύθερος εἶναι βούλεται, μήτε θελέτω τι, μήτε φευγέτω τι τῶν ἐπ'
ἄλλοις· εἰ δὲ μὴ, δουλεύειν ἀνάγκη. So taught the Stoics; and inspired
wisdom reads the same lesson. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?"
Rom., vi., 16.

[1474] _Crispinus._ This "Verna Canopi," whom Juvenal mentions so often
with bitter hatred and contempt, rose from the lowest position to
eminence under Nero, who found him a ready instrument of his lusts and
cruelties. His connection with Nero commended him to Domitian also. One
of his phases may probably have been the keeping a bath. Juv., i., 27;
iv., 1, 14, etc.

[1475] _Nervos agitat._ "A slave is no better than a puppet in the
hands of his master, who pulls the strings that set his limbs in
motion." The allusion is to the ἀγάλματα νευρόσπαστα, "images worked by
strings." Herod., ii., 48. Xen., Sympos., iv. Lucian., de Deâ Syriâ,
xvi.

[1476] _Scutica._ Vid. ad Juv., vi., 480.

[1477] _Saperdam._ From the Greek σαπέρδης (Aristot., Fr. 546), a poor
insipid kind of fish caught in the Black Sea, called κορακῖνος until it
was salted. Archestratus in Athenæus (iii., p. 117) calls it a φαῦλον
ἀκιδνὸν ἕδεσμα.

[1478] _Castoreum._ Cf. Juv., xii., 34.

[1479] _Ebenum._ Virg., Georg., ii., 115, "Sola India nigrum fert
_ebenum_: solis est _thurea_ virga Sabæis."

[1480] _Lubrica Coa._ The grape of Cos was very sweet and luscious:
a large quantity of sea-water was added to the lighter kind, called
Leuco-Coum, which gave it a very purgative quality; which, in fact,
most of the lighter wines of the ancients possessed. Vid. Cels., i.,
1. Plin., H. N., xiv., 10. Horace alludes to this property of the Coan
wine, ii., Sat. iv., 27, "Si dura morabitur aloes, Mytilus et viles
pellent obstanti aconchæ Et lapathi brevis herba, sed _albo_ non sine
_Coo_." (May not "_lubrica_ conchylia" in the next line be interpreted
in the same way, instead of its recorded meaning, "slimy?") Casaubon
explains it by λεαντικός.

[1481] _Camelo._ "Thirsty from its journey over the desert to
Alexandria from India." Vid. Plin., H. N., xii., 7, 14, 15. Jahn's
Biblical Antiquities, p. 31.

[1482] _Baro_ is no doubt the true reading, and not _varo_, which some
derive from _varum_, "an unfashioned stake" (of which _vallum_ is the
diminutive), "a log;" and hence applied to a stupid person. Baro is,
as the old Scholiast tells us rightly for once, the Gallic term for a
soldier's slave, his Calo; and, like Calo, became a term of reproach
and contumely. It afterward was used, like homo (whence _homagium_,
"homage"), to mean the king's "man," or vassal; and hence its use in
mediæval days as an heraldic title. Compare the Norman-French terms
Escuyer, Valvasseur.

[1483] _Œnophorum._ Hor., i., Sat. vi., 109, "Pueri lasanum portantes
œnophorumque." Pellis is probably a substitute for a leathern
portmanteau or valise.

[1484] _Cannabe._

"And while a broken plank supports your meat,
And a coil'd cable proves your softest seat,
Suck from squab jugs that pitchy scents exhale,
The seaman's beverage, sour at once and stale." Gifford.

[1485] _Sessilis obba._ Sessilis is properly applied to the broad back
of a stout horse, affording a good seat ("tergum sessile," Ov., Met.,
xii., 401), then to any thing resting on a broad base. Obba is a word
of Hebrew root, originally applied to a vase used for making libations
to the dead. It is the ἄμβιξ of the Greeks (cf. Athen., iv., 152), a
broad vessel tapering to the mouth, and answers to the "Caraffe" or
"Barile" of the modern Italians.

[1486] _Veientanum._ The wine-grown at Veii. The Campagna di Roma is
as notorious as ever for the mean quality of its wines. Hor., ii.,
Sat. iii., 143, "Qui Veientanum festis potare diebus Campana solitus
trullâ." Mart., i., Ep. civ., 9, "Et Veientani bibitur fax crassa
_rubelli_." ii., Ep. 53. iii., Ep. 49.

[1487] _Pice._ See Hase's Ancient Greeks, chap. i., p. 16.

[1488] _Indulge genio._ Cf. ii., 8, "Funde merum Genio."

[1489] _Dave._ This episode is taken from a scene in the Eunuchus of
Menander, from which Terence copied his play, but altered the names.
In Terence, Chærestratus becomes Phædria, Davus Parmeno, and Chrysis
Thais. There is a scene of very similar character in le Dépit Amoureux
of Molière. Horace has also copied it, but not with the graphic effect
of Persius. ii., Sat. iii., 260, "Amator exclusus qui distat, agit ubi
secum, eat an non, Quo rediturus erat non arcessitus et hæret Invisis
foribus? ne nunc, cum me vocat ultro Accedam? an potius mediter finire
dolores?" _et seq._ Lucr., iv., 1173, _seq._

[1490] _Frangam._ Literally, "make shipwreck of my reputation."

[1491] _Udas_ is variously interpreted. "Dissipated and luxurious," as
opposed to _siccis_ (Hor., i., Od. xviii., 3; iv., Od. v., 38), just
before, in the sense of "sober." So Mart., v., Ep. lxxxiv., 5, "Udus
aleator." (Juvenal uses _madidus_ in the same sense. See note on Sat.
xv., 47.) For the drunken scenes enacted at these houses, see the last
scene of the Curculio of Plautus. Or it may mean, "wet with the lover's
tears." Vid. Mart, x., Ep. lxxviii., 8. Or simply "reeking with the
wine and unguents poured over them." Cf. Lucr., iv., 1175, "Postesque
superbos _unguit_ amaracina." Cf. Ov., Fast., v. 339.

[1492] _Cum face canto._ The torch was _extinguished_ to prevent the
serenader being recognized by the passers-by. The song which lovers
sang before their mistresses' doors was called παρακλαυσίθυρον.
«Examples may be seen, Aristoph., Eccl., 960, _seq._ Plaut., Curc., sc.
ult. Theoc., iii., 23. Propert., i., El. xvi., 17, _seq._» Cf. Hor.,
iii., Od. x., and i., Od. xxv. This serenading was technically called
"occentare ostium." Plaut., Curc., I., ii., 57. Pers., IV., iv., 20.

[1493] _Depellentibus._ The ἀποτροπαῖος and ἀλεξίκακος of the Greeks.
So ἀπόλλων· quasi ἀπέλλων the Averruncus of Varro, L. L., v., 5.

[1494] _Soleâ._ Cf. ad Juv., vi., 612, "Et soleâ pulsare nates." Ter.,
Eun., Act V., vii., 4.

[1495] _Casses._ From Prop., ii., El. iii., 47.

[1496] _Quidnam igitur faciam._ These are almost the words of Terence,
"Quid igitur faciam non eam ne nunc quidem cum arcessor ultro?" etc.
Eun. I., i.

[1497] _Festuca_ is properly "light stubble," or straws such as
birds build their nests with. Colum., viii., 15. It is here used
contemptuously for the prætor's Vindicta; as in Plautus, "Quid? ea
ingenua an festuca facta è servâ libera est?" Mil., IV., i., 15; from
whom it is probably taken.

[1498] _Palpo_ is either the _nominative_ case, "a wheedler,
flatterer," πόλαξ τοῦ δήμου, or the _ablative_ from palpum, "a bait,
or lure." Plautus uses the neuter substantive twice. Amph., I., iii.,
28, "Timidam palpo percutit." Pseud., IV., i., 35, "Mihi obtrudere non
potes palpum," in the sense of the English saying, "Old birds are not
to be caught with chaff."

[1499] _Cretata ambitio._ Those who aspired to any office wore a toga
whose whiteness was artificially increased by rubbing with chalk. Hence
the word Candidatus. _Ambitio_ refers here to its primitive meaning:
the going round, _ambire_ et _prensare_, to canvass the suffrages of
the voters. This was a laborious process, and required early rising to
get through it Hence _vigila_.

[1500] _Cicer._ At the Floralia (cf. ad Juv., vi., 250), which were
exhibited by the Ædiles, it was customary for the candidates for
popularity to throw among the people tesserulæ or tallies, which
entitled the bearer to a largess of corn, pulse, etc., for these there
would be, of course, a great scramble.

[1501] _Aprici senes._ Cf. ad Juv., xi., 203.

[1502] _Herodis dies._ Persius now describes the tyranny of
superstition; and of all forms of it, there was none which both
Juvenal and Persius regarded with greater contempt and abhorrence
than that of the Jews: and next to this they ranked the Egyptian.
From the favor shown to the Herods by the Roman emperors, from Julius
Cæsar downward, it is not wonderful that the partisans of Herod, or
Herodians, should form a large body at Rome as well as in Judæa; and
that consequently the birthday of Herod should be kept as "a convenient
day" for displaying that regard (compare Acts, xii., 21 with Matt.,
xiv., 6, and Mark, vi., 21), and be celebrated with all the solemnities
of a sabbath. It was the custom (as we have seen, Juv., xii., 92),
on occasions of great rejoicing, to cover the door-posts and fronts
of the houses with branches and flowers, among which violets were
very conspicuous (Juv., _u. s._), and to suspend lighted lamps even
at a very early hour from the windows, and trees near the house.
(So Tertull., Apol., "Lucernis diem infringere." Lactant., vi., 2,
"Accendunt lumina velut in tenebris agenti.") The sordid poverty of the
Jews is as much the satirist's butt as their superstition. The lamps
are greasy, the fish of the coarsest kind, and of that only the worst
part, the tail, serves for their banquet, which is also served in the
commonest earthenware.

[1503] _Fidelia._ Cf. iii., 22, 73.

[1504] _Lemures._ After his murder by Romulus, the shade of his
brother Remus was said to have appeared to Faustulus and his wife Acca
Larentia, and to have desired that a propitiatory festival to his Manes
should be instituted. This was therefore done, and three days were kept
in May (the 7th, 5th, and 3d before the Ides) under the name of Remuria
or Lemuria. They were kept at night, during which time they went with
bare feet, washed their hands thrice, and threw black beans nine times
behind their backs, which ceremonies were supposed to deliver them from
the terrors of the Lemures. During these days all the temples of the
gods were kept strictly closed, and all marriages contracted in the
month of May were held inauspicious. Ov., Fast., v., 421-92. Hor., ii,
Ep. ii., 208, "Somnia, terrores magicos, miracula, sagas, nocturnos
Lemures portentaque Thessala rides." The Lemures seem from Apuleius to
have been identical with the Larvæ, which is a cognate form to Lax.
(For a good Roman ghost story, see Plin., vii., Epist. 27.)

[1505] _Ovo._ Eggs were much used in lustral sacrifices, probably from
being the purest of all food (cf. Ov., A. Am., ii., 329, "Et veniat
quæ purget anus lectumque locumque Præferat et tremulâ sulphur et ova
manu." Juv., vi., 518, "Nisi se centum lustraverit ovis"); and hence
in incantations and fortune-telling. Hor., Epod. v., 19. If the egg
broke when placed on the fire, or was found to have been perforated,
it was supposed to portend mischief to the person or property of the
individual who tried the charm.

[1506] _Galli._ Vid. Juv., viii., 176, and vi., 512, "Ingens semivir."

[1507] _Sistro lusca sacerdos._ For the sistrum, see Juv., xiii., 93.
"Women who have no chance of being married," as the old Scholiast
says, "make a virtue of necessity, and consecrate themselves to a life
of devotion." Prate suggests this one-eyed lady probably turned her
deformity to good account, as she would represent it as the act of the
offended goddess, and argue that if her favored votaries were thus
exposed to her vengeance, what had the impious herd of common mortals
to expect. Cf. Ov., Pont., i., 51. The last lines may be compared with
the passage in Juvenal, Sat. vi., 511-591.

[1508] _Alli._ Garlic was worshiped as a deity in Egypt. Plin., xix.,
6. Cf. Juv., xv., 9. A head of garlic eaten fasting was used as a charm
against magical influence.

[1509] _Pulfenius._ Another reading is Vulpennius. These centurions
considered that bodily strength was the only necessary qualification
for a soldier, and that consequently all cultivation, both of mind and
body, was worse than superfluous. Cf. Juv., xiv., 193. Hor., i., Sat
vi., 73. Pers., iii., 77, "Aliquis de gente hircosâ Centurionum."

[1510] _Curio centusse._ From the Greek ούκ ἂν πριαίμην τετρημένου
χαλκοῦ. Plut. adv. Col. So Synesius, πολλοῦ μέν τ' ἂν εἶεν τρεῖς τοῦ
ὀβολοῦ. "They would be dear at three for a halfpenny!"--_Liceri_ is
properly "to bid at an auction," which was done by holding up the
finger. Vid. Cic. in Ver., II., iii., 11. Hence "Licitator." Cic., de
Off., iii, 15.

SATIRE VI.

ARGUMENT.

There are few points on which men _practically_ differ more than
on the question, What is the right use of riches? On this head
there was as much diversity of opinion among the philosophers
of old as in the present day. Some maintaining that not only a
virtuous, but also a happy life consisted in the absence of all
those external aids that wealth can bestow; others as zealously
arguing that a competency of means was absolutely necessary to
the due performance of the higher social virtues. The source of
error in most men lies in their mistaking the means for the end;
and the object of this Satire, which is the most original, and
perhaps the most pleasing of the whole, is to point out how a
proper employment of the fortune that falls to our lot may be
made to forward the best interests of man. Persius begins with
a warm encomium on the genius and learning of his friend Cæsius
Bassus, the lyric poet; especially complimenting him on his
antiquarian knowledge, and versatility of talent: and he then
proceeds to show, by setting forth his own line of conduct, how
true happiness may be attained by avoiding the extremes of sordid
meanness on the one hand, and ostentatious prodigality on the
other; by disregarding the suggestions of envy and the dictates
of ambition. A prompt and liberal regard to the necessities and
distresses of others is then inculcated; for this, coupled with
the maintenance of such an establishment as our fortune warrants
us in keeping up, is, to use the words of the poet, "to _use_
wealth, not to abuse it." He then proceeds with great severity
and bitter sarcasm to expose the shallow artifices of those who
attempt to disguise their sordid selfishness under the specious
pretense of a proper prudence, a reverence for the ancient
simplicity and frugality of manners, and a proper regard for
the interests of those who are to succeed to our inheritance.
The Satire concludes with a lively and graphic conversation
between Persius and his imaginary heir, in which he exposes the
cupidity of those who are waiting for the deaths of men whom
they expect to succeed; and shows that the anxiety of these for
the death of their friends, furnishes the strongest motive for a
due indulgence in the good things of this life; which it would
be folly to hoard up merely to be squandered by the spendthrift,
or feed the insatiable avarice of one whom even boundless wealth
could never satisfy. This Satire was probably written, as
Gifford says, "while the poet was still in the flower of youth,
possessed of an independent fortune, of estimable friends, dear
connections, and of a cultivated mind, under the consciousness
of irrecoverable disease; a situation in itself sufficiently
affecting, and which is rendered still more so by the placid and
even cheerful spirit which pervades every part of the poem."

Has the winter[1511] already made thee retire, Bassus,[1512] to thy
Sabine hearth? Does thy harp, and its strings, now wake to life[1513]
for thee with its manly[1514] quill? Of wondrous skill in adapting to
minstrelsy the early forms of ancient words,[1515] and the masculine
sound of the Latin lute--and then again give vent to youthful
merriment; or, with dignified touch, sing of distinguished old men.
For me the Ligurian[1516] shore now grows warm, and my sea wears its
wintry aspect, where the cliffs present a broad side, and the shore
retires with a capacious bay. "It is worth while, citizens, to become
acquainted with the Port of Luna!"[1517] Such is the best of Ennius in
his senses,[1518] when he ceased to dream he was Homer and sprung from
a Pythagorean peacock, and woke up plain "Quintus."

Here I live, careless of the vulgar herd--careless too of the evil
which malignant Auster[1519] is plotting against my flock--or that
that corner[1520] of my neighbor's farm is more fruitful than my own.
Nay, even though all who spring from a worse stock than mine, should
grow ever so rich, I would still refuse to be bowed down double by old
age[1521] on that account, or dine without good cheer, or touch with my
nose[1522] the seal on some vapid flagon.

Another man may act differently from this. The star that presides
over the natal hour[1523] produces even twins with widely-differing
disposition. One, a cunning dog, would, only on his birthday, dip his
dry cabbage in pickle[1524] which he has bought in a cup, sprinkling
over it with his own hands the pepper, as if it were sacred; the
other, a fine-spirited lad, runs through his large estate to please
his palate. I, for my part, will use--not abuse--my property; neither
sumptuous enough to serve up turbots before my freedmen, nor epicure
enough to discern the delicate flavor of female thrushes.[1525]

Live up to your income, and exhaust your granaries. You have a right to
do it! What should you fear? Harrow, and lo! another crop is already in
the blade!

"But duty calls! My friend,[1526] reduced to beggary, with shipwrecked
bark, is clutching at the Bruttian rocks, and has buried all his
property, and his prayers unheard by heaven, in the Ionian sea.
He himself lies on the shore, and by him the tall gods from the
stern;[1527] and the ribs of his shattered vessel are a station for
cormorants."[1528] Now therefore detach a fragment from the live turf;
and bestow it upon him in his need, that he may not have to roam about
with a painting of himself[1529] on a sea-green picture. But[1530] your
heir, enraged that you have curtailed your estate, will neglect your
funeral supper, he will commit your bones unperfumed to their urn,
quite prepared to be careless whether the cinnamon has a scentless
flavor, or the cassia be adulterated with cherry-gum. Should you then
in your lifetime impair your estate?

But Bestius[1531] rails against the Grecian philosophers: "So it
is--ever since this counterfeit[1532] philosophy[1533] came into the
city, along with pepper and dates, the very haymakers spoil their
pottage with gross unguents."

And are you afraid of this beyond the grave? But you, my heir, whoever
you are to be, come apart a little from the crowd, and hear.--"Don't
you know, my good friend, that a laureate[1534] letter has been sent
by Cæsar on account of his glorious defeat of the flower of the German
youth; and now the ashes are being swept from the altars, where they
have lain cold; already Cæsonia is hiring arms for the door-posts,
mantles for kings, yellow wigs for captives, and chariots, and tall
Rhinelanders. Consequently I intend to contribute a hundred pair of
gladiators to the gods and the emperor's Genius, in honor of his
splendid exploits.--Who shall prevent me? Do you, if you dare! Woe
betide you, unless you consent.--I mean to make a largess to the people
of oil and meat-pies. Do you forbid it? Speak out plainly!" "Not so,"
you say. I have a well-cleared field[1535] close by. Well, then! If
I have not a single aunt left, or a cousin, nor a single niece's
daughter; if my mother's sister is barren, and none of my grandmother's
stock survives--I will go to Bovillæ,[1536] and Virbius' hill.[1537]
There is Manius already as my heir. "What that son of earth!" Well, ask
me who my great-great-grandfather was! I could tell you certainly, but
not very readily. Go yet a step farther back, and one more; you will
find _he_ is a son of earth! and on this principle of genealogy Manius
turns out to be my great uncle. You, who are before me, why do you ask
of me the torch[1538] in the race? I am your Mercury! I come to you
as the god, in the guise in which he is painted. Do you reject the
offer? Will you not be content with what is left? But there is some
deficiency in the sum total! Well, I spent it on myself! But the whole
of what is left is yours, whatever it is. Attempt not to inquire what
is become of what Tadius once left me; nor din into my ears precepts
such as fathers give.[1539] "Get interest for your principal, and live
upon that."--What is the residue? "The residue!" Here, slave, at once
pour oil more bountifully over my cabbage. Am I to have a nettle, or a
smoky pig's cheek with a split ear, cooked for me on a festival day,
that that spendthrift grandson[1540] of yours may one day stuff himself
with goose-giblets, and when his froward humor urge him on, indulge in
a patrician mistress? Am I to live a threadbare skeleton,[1541] that
his fat paunch[1542] may sway from side to side?

Barter your soul for gain. Traffic; and with keen craft sift every
quarter of the globe. Let none exceed you in the art of puffing
off[1543] your sleek Cappadocian slaves, on their close-confining
platform.[1544] Double[1545] your property. "I have done so"--already
it returns three-fold, four-fold, ten-fold to my scrip. Mark where I am
to stop. Could I do so, he were found, Chrysippus,[1546] that could put
the finish to thy heap!

FOOTNOTES:

[1511] _Bruma._ The learned Romans, who divided their time between
business and study, used to begin their lucubrations about the time of
the Vulcanalia, which were held on the 23d of August (x. Kal. Sept.),
and for this purpose usually returned from Rome to their country
houses. Pliny, describing the studious habits of his uncle, says
(iii., Ep. 5), "Sed erat acre ingenium, incredibile studium, summa
vigilantia. Lucubrare a Vulcanalibus incipiebat, non auspicandi causâ
sed studendi, statim a nocte." So Horace, i., Ep. vii., 10, "Quod si
_bruma_ nives Albanis illinet agris, Ad mare descendet vates tuus et
sibi parcet Contractusque leget." He gives the reason, ii., Ep. ii.,
77, "Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus et fugit urbem." Cf. Juv.,
vii., 58. Plin., i., Ep. 9.

[1512] _Basse._ Cæsius Bassus, a lyric poet, said to have approached
most nearly to Horace. Cf. Quint., Inst., X., i., 96. Prop., I., iv.,
1. He was destroyed with his country house by the eruption of Mount
Vesuvius, in which Pliny the elder perished. Vid. Plin., vi., Ep. 16.

[1513] _Vivunt_, Casaubon explains by the Greek ἐνεργεῖν "to be in
active operation."

[1514] _Tetrico_ is spelt in some editions with a capital letter.
The sense is the same, as the rough, hardy, masculine virtues of the
ancient Romans were attributed to Sabine training and institutions.
Tetricus, or Tetrica, was a hill in the Sabine district. Virg., Æen.,
vii., 712, "Qui Tetricæ horrentis rupes, montemque severum Casperiamque
colunt." Liv., i., 18, "Suopte igitur ingenio temperatum animum
virtutibus fuisse opinor magis; instructumque non tam peregrinis
artibus quam disciplina _tetricâ_ ac tristi veterum Sabinorum: quo
genere nullum quondam incorruptius fuit." Ov., Am., III., viii., 61,
"Exæquet _tetricas_ licet illa Sabinas." Hor., iii., Od. vi., 38. Cic.
pro Ligar., xi.

[1515] _Vocum._ Another reading is "rerum," which Casaubon adopts, and
supposes Bassus to have been the author of a Theogony or Cosmogony. He
is said, on the authority of Terentianus Maurus and Priscian, to have
written a book on Metres, dedicated to Nero. Those who read "vocum,"
suppose that Persius meant to imply that he successfully transferred to
his Odes the nervous words of the older dialects of his country.

[1516] _Ligus ora._ Fulvia Sisennia, the mother of Persius, is said to
have been married, after her husband's death, to a native of Liguria,
or of Luna. It was to her house that Persius retired in the winter.

[1517] _Lunai portum._ A line from the beginning of the Annals of
Ennius. The town of Luna, now Luni, is in Etruria, but only separated
by the river Macra (now Magra) from Liguria. The Lunai Portus, now
Golfo di Spezzia, is in Liguria, and was the harbor from which the
Romans usually took shipping for Corsica and Sardinia. Ennius therefore
must have known it well, from often sailing thence with the elder Cato.

[1518] _Cor Ennii._ "Cor" is frequently used for sense. It is here a
periphrasis for "Ennius in his senses." Quintus Ennius was born B.C.
239, at Rudiæ, now Rugge, in Calabria, near Brundusium, and was brought
to Rome from Sardinia by Cato when quæstor there B.C. 204. He lived in
a very humble way on Mount Aventine, and died B.C. 169, of gout (morbus
articularis), and was buried in Scipio's tomb on the Via Appia. He
held the Pythagorean doctrine of Metempsychosis, and says himself, in
the beginning of his Annals, that Homer appeared to him in a dream,
and told him that he had once been a peacock, and that his soul was
transferred to him. The fragment describing this is extant. "Transnavit
cita per teneras Caliginis auras (anima Homeri) visus Homerus adesse
poeta. Tum memini fieri me pavum." «Cf. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 50.
"Ennius et sapiens et fortis et _alter Homerus_, Ut critici dicunt,
leviter curare videtur Quo promissa cadant et somnia Pythagorea."
Tertull., de An., 24, "Pavum se meminit Homerus, Ennio Somniante."»
The interpretation in the text seems the most reasonable. Others take
_quintus_ as a numeral adjective, and explain the meaning to be, that
the soul of a peacock transmigrated first into Euphorbus, then into
Homer, then into Pythagoras, and then into Ennius, who was consequently
fifth from the peacock.

[1519] _Auster_, the Sirocco of the modern Italians, was reckoned
peculiarly unwholesome to cattle. Cf. Virg., Georg., i., 443, "Urget
ab alto Arboribusque satisque Notus pecorique sinister." 462, "Quid
cogitet humidus Auster." Ecl., ii., 58. Tibul., I., i., 41. Hor.,
ii., Sat. vi., 18, "Nec mala me ambitio perdit nec plumbeus Auster,
Auctumnusque gravis, Libitinæ quæstus acerbæ." ii., Od. xiv., 15. Some
derive the name from "Ardeo," others from αὐὼ, "to parch or burn up:"
so Austerus, from αὐστηρός.

[1520] _Angulus._ Hor., ii., Sat. vi., 8, "Oh! si angulus ille proximus
accedat qui nunc denormat agellum."

[1521] _Senio._ "The premature old age brought on by pining at
another's welfare." So Plautus, "Præ mærore adeo miser æquè ægritudine
consenui." Cf. Capt., I., ii., 20. Truc., ii., 5, 13.

[1522] _Naso tetigisse._ "I will not become such a miser as to seal
up vapid wine, and then closely examine the seal when it is again
produced, to see whether it is untouched." Cf. Theophr. π. αἰσχροκερδ.
So Cicero says, "Lagenas etiam inanes obsignare." Fam., xiv., 26.

[1523] _Horoscope._ Properly, "the star that is in the ascendant at the
moment of a person's birth, from which the nativity is calculated."
Persius has just ridiculed the Pythagoreans, he now laughs at the
Astrologers. Whatever they may say, twins born under exactly the same
horoscope, have widely different characters and pursuits. "Castor
gaudet equis--ovo prognatus eodem Pugnis." Hor., ii., Sat. i., 26. Cf.
Diog. Laert., II., i., 3.

[1524] _Muria._ Either a brine made of salt and water, or a kind of
fishsauce made of the liquor of the thunny. Every word is a picture.
"He buys his sauce _in a cup_; instead of _pouring_ it over his
salad, he _dips_ the salad in it, and then scarcely moistens it: he
will not trust his servant to season it, so he does it himself; but
only sprinkles the pepper like _dew_, not in a good shower, and as
sparingly as if it were some _holy_ thing." Cf. Theophr., π. μικρολογ,
καὶ ἀπαγορεῦσαι τῇ γυναικὶ, μήτε ἅλας χρωννύειν μήτε ἐλλύχνιον, μήτε
κύμινον, μήτε ὀρίγανον, μήτε οὐλὰς, μήτε στεμματα, μήτε θυηλήματα·
ἀλλὰ λέγειν, ὅτι τὰ μικρὰ ταῦτα πολλά ἐστι τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ. Hor., i.,
Sat. i., 71, "Tanquam parcere _sacris_ cogeris." ii., Sat. iii., 110,
"Metuensque velut contingere sacrum."

[1525] _Turdarum._ So the best MSS. and the Scholiasts read, and
Casaubon follows. Varro, L. L., viii., 38, says the _feminine_ form is
not Latin. The "turdus" (Greek κίχλη), probably like our "field-fare,"
was esteemed the greatest delicacy by the Greeks and Romans. In the
Nubes of Aristophanes, the λόγος δίκαιος says, "In former days young
men were not allowed οὐδ' ὀψοφαγεῖν, οὐδὲ κιχλίζειν." (Ubi vid. Schol.;
but cf. Theoc., Id., xi., 78, cum Schol.) To be able to distinguish the
sex of so small a bird by the flavor would be the acme of Epicurism.
Hor., i., Ep. xv., 41, "Cum sit obeso nil melius turdo." Mart., xiii.,
Ep. 92, "Inter aves turdus, si quis me judice certet, Inter quadrupedes
mattya prima lepus." Cf. Athen., ii., 68, D.

[1526] _Prendit amicus._ From Hom., Od., v., 425, τόφρα δέ μιν μέγα
κῦμα φέρε τρηχεῖαν ἐπ' ἀκτήν· ἔνθα κ' ἀπὸ ῥινοὺς δρύφθη, σὺν δ' ὀστέ'
ἀράχθη, and 435. Virg., Æn., vi., 360. Cf. Palimirus," Prensantemque
uncis manibus capita ardua montis."

[1527] _Ingentes de puppe dei._ The tutelary gods were placed at the
stern as well as the stem of the ship. Cf. Æsch., S. Theb., 208. Virg.,
Æn., x., 170, "Aurato fulgebat Apolline puppis." Ov., Trist., I., x.,
l. Hor., i., Od. xiv., 10. Acts, xxviii., 11. Catull., I., iv., 36.
Eurip., Hel., 1664.

[1528] _Mergis._ Cf. Hom., Od., v., 337. The Mergus (αἴθυια of the
Greeks) is put for any large sea-bird. Hor., Epod. x., 21, "Opima
quodsi præda curvo litore porrecta mergos juveris."

[1529] _Pictus oberret._ Cf. ad Juv., xiv., 302, "Pictâ se tempestate
tuetur." xii., 27.

[1530] _Sed._ "But perhaps you will object," etc. He now ridicules
the folly of those who deny themselves all the luxuries and even the
necessaries of life, in order to leave behind a splendid inheritance to
their heirs. "Quum sit manifesta phrenesis Ut locuples moriaris egenti
vivere fato." Juv., xiv., 186. Cf. Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 191, "Utar,
et ex modico quantum res poscet acervo Tollam, nec metuam quid de me
judicet hæres Quod non plura datis invenerit." i., Ep. v., 13, "Parcus
ob hæredis curam, nimiumque severus assidet insano." ii., Od. xiv., 25.

[1531] _Bestius_, from Hor., i., Ep. xv., 37, "Diceret urendos
corrector Bestius." Probably both Horace and Persius borrowed from
Lucilius. Weichert, P. L., p. 420.

[1532] _Maris expers._ Hor., ii., Sat. viii., 15, "Chium maris
expers," which is generally interpreted to mean that Nasidienus set
before his guests wine which he called Chian, but which in reality had
never crossed the seas, being made at home. It may be put therefore
for any thing "adulterated, not genuine." Another interpretation
is, "effeminate, emasculate, void of manly vigor and energy," from
the supposed enervating effect of Greek philosophy on the masculine
character of the Romans of other days. A third explanation is, "that
which has experienced the sea," from the _active_ sense of expers, and
therefore is simply equivalent to "foreign, or imported." Casaubon
seems to incline to the latter view.

[1533] _Sapere._ So "Scire tuum," i., 27 and 9, "Nostrum illud vivere
triste." In the indiscriminate hatred of all that was Greek, philosophy
and literature were often included.

[1534] _Laurus._ After a victory, the Roman soldiers saluted their
general as Imperator. His lictors then wreathed their fasces, and his
soldiers their spears, with bays, and then he sent letters wreathed
with bays (literæ laureatæ) to the senate, and demanded a triumph. If
the senate approved, they decreed a thanksgiving (supplicatio) to the
gods. The bays were worn by himself and his soldiers till the triumph
was over. (Branches of bay were set up before the gate of Augustus,
by a decree of the senate, as being the perpetual conqueror of his
enemies. Cf. Ov., Trist., III., i., 39.) These letters were very rare
under the emperors, vid. Tac., Agric., xviii., except those sent by the
emperors themselves. Mart., vii., Ep. v., 3, "Invidet hosti Roma suo
veniat laurea multa licet." Caligula's mock expedition into Germany
(A.D. 40) is well known. The account given by Suetonius tallies exactly
with the words of Persius. "Conversus hinc ad curam triumphi præter
captivos ac transfugas barbaros, _Galliarum_ quoque _procerissimum
quemque_ et ut ipse dicebat ἀξιοθριαμβευτον legit ac seposuit ad
pompam; coegitque non tantum _rutilare et submittere comam_, sed et
sermonem Germanicum addiscere et nomina barbarica ferre." Vid. Domit.,
c. xlvii. Cf. Tac., German., xxxvii. (Virg., Æn., vii., 183. Mart.,
viii., Ep. xxxiii., 20.)

[1535] _Exossatus ager._ Among the Romans it was esteemed a great
disgrace for a legatee to refuse to administer to the estate of the
testator. Persius says, "even though you refuse to act as my heir, I
shall have no great difficulty in finding some one who will. Though
I have spent large sums in largesses to the mob, and in honor of the
emperor, I have still a field left near the city, which many would
gladly take." Such is unquestionably the drift of the passage; but
"exossatus" is variously explained. It literally means that from which
the bones have been taken: vid. Plaut., Aul., II., ix., 2, "Murænam
exdorsua, atque omnia exossata fac sient." Amph., I., i., 163. So
Lucr., iv., 1267. Ter., Ad., III., iv., 14. As stones are "the bones of
the earth" (Ov., Met., i., 393, "Lapides in corpore terræ ossa reor"),
it may mean "thoroughly cleared from stones;" or, as Casaubon says, so
thoroughly exhausted by constant cropping, that the land is reduced to
its very bones (as Juv., viii., 90, "Ossa vides regum vacuis exhausta
medullis"). "Yet even this field, bad as it is, some terræ filius may
be found to take." _Juxta_ is generally explained "near Rome," and
therefore parted with _last_. D'Achaintre takes it with exossatus in
the sense of "almost."

[1536] _Bovillæ_, a village on the Via Appia, no great distance
from Rome; hence called _Suburbanæ_, by Ovid (Fast., iii., 667) and
Propertius (IV., i., 33). Here Clodius was killed by Milo. Like Aricia,
it was infested by beggars. (Cf. Juv., iv., 117, "Dignus Aricinos qui
mendicaret ad axes.") Hence the proverb "Multi Manii Ariciæ."

[1537] _Virbii clivum_, a hill near Aricia, by the wood sacred to Diana
Nemorensis. It took its name from Hippolytus, son of Theseus, who was
worshiped here under the name of Virbius (bis vir) as having been
restored by Æsculapius to life. Cf. Ov., Met., xv., 543. Virg., Æn.,
vii., 760-782. There was also a hill within the walls of Rome called by
this name (cf. Liv., i., 48, where, however, Gronovius reads Orbii),
near the Vicus Sceleratus.

[1538] _Lampada._ The allusion is to the Torch-race λαμπαδηφόρια at
Athens. There were three festivals of this kind, according to Suidas,
the Panathenæan, Hephæstian, and Promethean. In the latter they ran
from the altar of Prometheus through the Ceramicus to the city. The
object of the runners in these races was to carry a lighted torch to
the end of their courses. But the manner of the running is a disputed
point among the commentators. Some say three competitors started
together, and he that carried his torch unextinguished to the goal
was victorious. Others say the runners were stationed at different
intervals, and the first who started gave up his torch at the first
station to another, who took up the running, and in turn delivering
it to a third; and to this the words of Lucretius seem to refer, ii.,
77, "Inque brevi spatio mutantur sæcla animantúm Et quasi cursores
vitaï lampada tradunt." Others again think that several competitors
started, but one only bore a torch, which, when wearied, he delivered
to some better-winded rival; which view is supported by Varro, R.
R., iii., 16, "In palæstra qui tædas ardentes accipit, celerior est
in cursu continuo quam ille qui tradit: propterea quod defatigatus
cursor dat integro facem." Cic., Heren., 4. The explanations of this
line consequently are almost as various. Prate, the Delphin editor,
supposes that Persius' heir was a man farther advanced in years than
Persius himself. Gifford explains it, "You are in full health, and have
every prospect of outstripping me in the career of life; do not then
prematurely take from me the chance of extending my days a little. Do
not call for the torch before I have given up the race:" and sees in it
a pathetic conviction of Persius' own mind, that his health was fast
failing, and that a fatal termination of the contest was inevitable and
not far remote. D'Achaintre thinks, with Casaubon, that "qui prior es"
means, "You are my nearer heir than the imaginary Manius, why therefore
do you disturb yourself? Receive my inheritance, as all legacies should
be received, i. e., as unexpected gifts of fortune; as treasures found
on the road, of which Mercurius is the supposed giver. I am then your
Mercury. Imagine me to be your god of luck, coming, as he is painted,
with a purse in my hand." Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 68.

[1539] _Dicta paterna._ Not "the precepts of my father," because
Persius' father was dead; but such as fathers give, inculcating lessons
of thrift and money-getting; as Hor., i., Ep. i., 53, "Virtus post
nummos--hæc recinunt juvenes dictata senesque." Cf. Juv., xiv., 122.

[1540] _Vago._ Cf. Varr. ap. Non., i., 223, "Spatale eviravit omnes
Venerivaga pueros."

[1541] _Trama_ is the "warp," according to some interpretations, the
"woof," according to others. The metaphor is simply from the fact, that
when the nap is worn off the cloth turns threadbare; and implies here
one so worn down that his bones almost show through his skin.

[1542] _Popa venter._ With paunch so fat that he looks like a "popa,"
"the sacrificing priest," who had good opportunities of growing fat
from the number of victims he got a share of; and therefore, like our
butchers, grew gross and corpulent. Popa is also put for the female
who _sold_ victims for sacrifice, and probably had as many chances of
growing fat. The idea of the passage is borrowed from Hor., ii., Sat.
iii., 122.

[1543] _Plausisse_, either in the sense of jactâsse, "to praise their
good qualities," or, "to clap them with the hand, to show what good
condition they are in." Cf. Ov., Met., ii., 866, "Modo pectora præbet
virgineâ plaudenda manu." Others read "pavisse," "clausisse," and
"pausasse." (Cf. Sen., Epist. lxxx., 9.)

[1544] _Catasta_, from κατάστασις, "a wooden platform on which slaves
were exposed to sale," in order that purchasers might have full
opportunity of inspecting and examining them. These were sometimes in
the forum, sometimes in the houses of the Mangones. Cf. Mart., ix.,
Ep. lx., 5, "Sed quos arcanæ servant tabulata Catastæ." Plin., H. N.,
xxxv., 17. Tib., II., iii., 59, "Regnum ipse tenet quem sæpe coëgit
Barbara gypsatos ferre catasta pedes." Persius recommends his miserly
friend to condescend to any low trade, even that of a slave-dealer,
to get money. Cappadocia was a great emporium for slaves. Cic., Post.
Red., "Cappadocem modo abreptum de grege venalium diceres." Hor.,
i., Ep. vi., 39, "Mancipiis locuples eget æris Cappadocum rex." The
royal property, consisting chiefly in slaves, was kept in different
fortresses throughout the country. The whole nation might be said to be
addicted to servitude; for when they were offered a free constitution
by the Romans, they declined the favor, and preferred receiving a
master from the hand of their allies. Strabo, xii., p. 540. After the
conquest of Pontus, Rome and Italy were filled with Cappadocian slaves,
many of whom were excellent bakers and confectioners. Vid. Plutarch v.
Lucullus. Athen., i, p. 20; iii., 112, 3. Cramer, Asia Minor, ii., p.
121. Mart., vi., Ep. lxvii., 4.

[1545] _Depunge._ A metaphor from the graduated arm of the steelyard.
Cf. v., 100, "Certo compescere puncto nescius examen." The end of the
fourteenth Satire of Juvenal, and of the fifteenth Epistle of Seneca,
may be compared with the conclusion of this Satire. "Congeratur in te
quidquid multi locupletes possederunt: Ultra privatum pecuniæ modum
fortuna te provehat, auro tegat, purpurâ vestiat, ... majora cupere
ab his disces. Naturalia desideria finita sunt: ex falsâ opinione
nascentia ubi desinant non habent. Nullus enim terminus falso est."
Sen., Ep. xvi., 7, 8; xxxix., 5; ii., 5.

[1546] _Chrysippi._ This refers to the σωρειτικὴ ἀπορία of the Stoics,
of which Chrysippus, the disciple of Zeno or Cleanthes, was said to
have been the inventor. The Sorites consisted of an indefinite number
of syllogisms, according to Chrysippus; to attempt to limit which,
or to bound the insatiable desires of the miser, would be equally
impossible. It takes its name from σῶρος, acerbus, "a heap:" "he that
could assign this limit, could also affirm with precision how many
grains of corn just make a _heap_; so that were but one grain taken
away, the remainder would be _no heap_." Cf. Cic., Ac. Qu., II.,
xxviii. Diog. Laert., VII., vii. Hor., i., Ep. ii., 4. Juv., ii., 5;
xiii., 184. Of the seven hundred and fifty books said to have been
written by Chrysippus, and enumerated by Diogenes Laertius, not one
fragment remains. His logic was so highly thought of, that it was
said "that, had the gods used logic, they would have used that of
Chrysippus."

SULPICIA.

INTRODUCTION.

The occasion of the following Satire is generally known as "the
expulsion of the philosophers from Rome by Domitian." As the same thing
took place under Vespasian also, it becomes worth while to inquire who
are the persons intended to be included under this designation; and in
what manner the fears of the two emperors could be so worked upon as
to pass a sweeping sentence of banishment against persons apparently
so helpless and so little formidable as the peaceful cultivators
of philosophy. It seems not improbable then that the fears both of
Vespasian and Domitian were of a _personal_ as well as of a political
nature. We find that in both cases the "Mathematici" are coupled
with the "Philosophi." Now these persons were no more nor less than
pretenders to the science of judicial astrology «cf. Juv., iii., 43;
vi., 562; xiv., 248; Suet., Cal., 57; Tit., 9; Otho, 4; Gell., i.,
9»; and to what an extent those who were believed to possess this
knowledge were dreaded in those days of gross superstition, may be
easily inferred by merely looking into Juvenal's sixth and Persius'
fifth Satire. Besides the baleful effects of incantations, which were
sources of terror even in Horace's days, the mere possession by another
of the nativity of a person whose death might be an object of desire to
the bearer, was supposed, at the time of which we are now speaking, to
be a sufficient ground of serious alarm. We are not surprised therefore
to find it recorded as an instance of great generosity on the part of
Vespasian, that on one occasion he pardoned one Metius Pomposianus,
although he was informed that he had in his possession a "Genesis
Imperatoria;" or that the possession of a similar document with regard
to Domitian cost the owner his life. (Cf. Suet., Vesp., 14; Domit.,
10.) With regard to the philosophers, it appears that the followers
of the Stoic school were those against whom the edict was especially
directed. Not only did the tenets of this school inculcate that
independence of thought and manners most directly at variance with the
servility and submissiveness inseparable from a state of thraldom under
a despot; but the cultivation of this branch of philosophy was held to
be nothing more than a specious cover for an attachment to the freedom
of speech and action enjoyed under the republican form of government:
and philosophy was accounted only another name for revolution and
rebellion.[1547]

The story told of Demetrius the Cynic, in Dio (lxvi., 13), and
confirmed by Suetonius (Vesp., c. 13), illustrates this view of the
subject. (Cf. Tac., Hist., iv., 40.) It appears to have been at the
suggestion of Mucianus,[1548] that all philosophers, but especially
the Stoics, were banished from Rome; and that the celebrated Musonius
Rufus was the only one who was suffered to remain. This took place A.D.
74. Sixteen years after this we find a decree of the senate passed to
a similar effect. Now, as philosophy may be studied equally well any
where, there seems no reason why, if it were not in some way connected
with their _political_ creed, all these votaries of Stoicism should in
the interim have taken up their abode at Rome. And though, no doubt,
the unoffending may have suffered with the guilty, the history of the
edict seems pretty plainly to show what _particular doctrines_ of their
philosophy were so obnoxious to Domitian. Suetonius, Tacitus, and Dio
all agree in the cause assigned for the sentence: viz., that Julius
Arulenus Rusticus and Herennius Senecio had been enthusiastic in their
praises of Thrasea Pætus and Helvidius Priscus; and that _therefore_
"all philosophers were removed from Rome." ("Cujus criminis occasione
philosophos omnes Urbe Italiâque submovit." Suet., Domit., 10. Cf.
Tac., Agric, 2; Dio, lxvii., 13.) But it was for their undisguised
hatred of tyrants, and for no dogma of the schools, that the former of
these was put to death by Nero, and the latter by Vespasian. Both of
them, as we know, celebrated with no ordinary festivities the birthdays
of the Bruti (Juv., v., 36); and Helvidius, even while prætor, went
so far as to omit all titles of honor or distinction before the name
of Vespasian. (Suet., Vesp., 15.) We must not therefore fall into the
common error of supposing this "banishment of philosophers" to have
been a mere act of wanton, senseless tyranny, or of brutal ignorance.
Even by his enemies' showing, the opening scenes of Domitian's
life[1549] are at direct variance with such an idea. (Cf. ad Juv.,
vii., 1.) And though we regret to find that men like Epictetus and Dio
of Prusa were included in the disastrous sentence, it is some relief to
learn that Pliny the younger, though living at the time in the house
of the philosopher Artemidorus, and the intimate friend of Senecio
and six or seven others of the banished, to whom he supplied money (a
fact which, as he himself hints, could not but have been known to the
emperor, as Pliny was prætor at the time), yet escaped unscathed. (Cf.
Plin., iii., Ep. XI., vii., 19; Gell., xv., 11.)

How far Sulpicia was connected with this movement, or whether she was
involved in the same sentence which overwhelmed the others, we have now
no means of ascertaining. It is quite clear that all her sympathies
were with the Greeks; and the passage concerning Scipio and Cato (1.
45-50) leaves little doubt that her philosophical opinions were those
of the Stoics. She rivals Juvenal in her thorough hatred of Domitian;
which may, perhaps, be partly also attributed to family reasons. For
we must remember that she belonged to the gens which produced Servius
Sulpicius Galba; and, as we have noticed on many occasions with regard
to Juvenal, an attachment to that emperor seems to go hand in hand with
hatred of Otho and Domitian. From the conclusion of the Satire, it is
probable that her husband was not implicated.

The Sulpician gens produced many distinguished men; of whom we may
mention the commissioner sent to Greece, and the conquerors of the
Samnites, of Sardinia, and of Pyrrhus, besides the notorious friend
of Marius. Of this illustrious stock she was no unworthy scion.
Martial[1550] bears the strongest testimony to the purity of her morals
and the chastity of her life, as well as to her devoted conjugal
affection; which latter virtue she illustrated in a poem replete with
the most lively, delicate, and virtuous sentiments; and which, had
not the licentiousness of the age been beyond such a cure, might have
produced a deep moral effect on the peculiar vices which especially
disgraced the era of the Cæsars. Her husband's name was Calenus, who
not improbably belonged to the Fufian gens,[1551] and with him she
enjoyed fifteen years of the purest domestic felicity, as we learn from
the Epigram addressed to him by Martial, in which, not without a tinge
of envy, he congratulates Calenus on the possession of so inestimable a
treasure. Both Epigrams are exceedingly beautiful, and every reader of
Martial will be only too ready to say, "O si sic omnia." Of her other
works we unfortunately do not possess a single fragment;[1552] and even
the solitary Satire which bears her name, was at one time, as Scaliger
tells us, falsely attributed to Ausonius.

Very much of the Satire is corrupt. Wernsdorf's seems, on the whole,
the best _approximation_ to a true reading; and the Commentary of Dousa
is, as far as it goes, satisfactory.

FOOTNOTES:

[1547] Vid. Niebuhr's Lectures, iii., p. 212.

[1548] _Licinius Mucianus_, the governor of Syria. He belonged to the
noble family of the Licinii, and was connected with the Mucii. For his
character, see Niebuhr's Lectures, vol. iii., p. 206.

[1549] "Domitian was a man of a cultivated mind and decided talent, and
is of considerable importance in the history of Roman literature. The
Paraphrase of Aratus, which is usually ascribed to Germanicus, is the
work of Domitian. The subject of the poem is poor, but it is executed
in a very respectable manner. Domitian's taste for Roman literature
produced its beneficial effects. He instituted the great pension
for rhetoricians, which Quintilian, for example, enjoyed, and the
Capitoline contests, in which the prize poems were crowned. During this
period, Roman literature received a great impulse, to which Domitian
himself must have contributed. From his poem we see that he was opposed
to the false taste of the time." Niebuhr's Lectures, iii., p. 216, 7.

[1550] Lib. x., Epig. 35 and 38. There is nothing in these two Epigrams
to imply that Sulpicia and Calenus were not both living peacefully and
happily at Rome, at the time Martial wrote his tenth book of Epigrams.
Now he says himself that he scarcely produced one book in a year, (x.,
70), and lib. ix. was written A.D. 94 or 95. The second edition of
his tenth book came out A.D. 99. The Epigrams to Calenus and Sulpicia
were probably therefore written at least six years after the Edict of
Domitian, i. e., between A.D. 90 and 99.

[1551] Vid. not. ad l. 62.

[1552] With the exception of a doubtful fragment quoted by the old
Scholiast on Juvenal, Sat. vi., 538.

SULPICIA.

ARGUMENT.

The Satire opens with an Invocation of Calliope, the Muse of
Heroic poetry. The dignity of the subject, which is in fact the
undeserved sufferings of the good and great men whom Domitian's
edict was ejecting from their homes, deserves a higher strain
than is compatible with the more commonplace, and therefore less
powerful, invectives of Iambic metre. The effect produced by such
a measure is described as nothing less than forcing the civilized
world to retrograde to a state of primæval barbarism. The cause
which has led to such a perversion of taste and degradation of
intellect is then examined; which are shown to be the result of
a long-protracted peace. The old Roman valor which had raised
the city to the proud position promised by the father of gods
and men, had become gradually enervated and enfeebled, as it
ceased to have an object on which to exercise itself. The stern
and rigid virtue of the best period of the city's history,
which had led her greatest men, even in the fierce struggles
for existence against the rival republic, to appreciate and
patronize the philosophy of Greece, the love of country and the
ties of brotherhood which had been fostered by that "rugged nurse
Adversity," were now all buried in the corpse-like lethargy
induced by the enervating influence of a lengthened peace. The
Satire concludes with a bitter denunciation of coming vengeance
against the tyrant; and a prophetic anticipation of the lasting
fame to be enjoyed by the poem.

Grant me, O Muse,[1553] to tell my little tale in a few words, in those
numbers in which thou art wont to celebrate[1554] heroes and arms! For
to thee I have retired; with thee revising[1555] my secret plan.[1556]
For which reason, I neither trip on in the measure of Phalæcus,[1557]
nor in Iambic[1558] trimeter; nor in that metre which, halting with
the same foot, learned under its Clazomenæan guide boldly to give vent
to its wrath. All other things[1559] moreover, in short, my thousand
sportive effusions; and how I was the first that taught our Roman
matrons to rival the Greeks, and to diversify their subject with wit
untried before, consistently[1560] with my purpose, I pass by; and thee
I invoke, in those points in which thou art chief of all, and, supreme
in eloquence, art best skilled. Descend[1561] at thy votary's prayer
and hear!

Tell me, O Calliope, what is it the great[1562] father of the gods
purposes to do? Does he revert to earth, and his father's age; and
wrest from us in death the arts that once he gave; and bid us, in
silence, nay, bereft of reason, too, just as when we arose in the
primæval age,[1563] stoop again[1564] to acorns,[1565] and the pure
stream? Or does he guard with friendly care all other lands and cities,
but thrusts away[1566] the race of Ausonia, and the nurslings of
Remus?[1567]

For, what must we suppose? There are two ways by which Rome reared
aloft her mighty head. Valor in war, and wisdom in peace. But valor,
practiced[1568] at home and by civil warfare, passed over to the seas
of Sicily and the citadels of Carthage, and swept away also all other
empires and the whole world.

Then, as the victor, who, left alone in the Grecian stadium, droops,
and though with valor undaunted, feels his heart sink within him--just
so the Roman race, when it had ceased from its struggles, and had
bridled peace in lasting trammels; then, revising at home the laws
and discoveries of the Greeks,[1569] ruled with policy and gentle
influence[1570] all that had been won by sea and land as the prizes of
war.

By this Rome stood--nor could she indeed have maintained her ground
without these. Else with vain words[1571] and lying lips would
Jupiter[1572] have been proved to have said to his queen, "I have given
them empire[1573] without limit!"

Therefore, now, he who sways the Roman state[1574] has commanded all
studies, and the philosophic name and race of men to depart out of
doors and quit the city.

What are we to do? We left the Greeks and the cities of men,[1575] that
the Roman youth might be better instructed in these.

Now, just as the Gauls,[1576] abandoning their swords and scales, fled
when Capitoline Camillus thrust them forth; so our aged men are said
to be wandering forth,[1577] and like some deadly burden, themselves
eradicating their own books. Therefore the hero of Numantia and of
Libya, Scipio, erred in that point, who grew wise under the training
of his Rhodian[1578] master; and that other band, fruitful in talent,
in the second war;[1579] among whom the divine apophthegm[1580] of
Priscus[1581] Cato[1582] held it of such deep import to determine
whether the Roman stock would better be upheld[1583] by prosperity
or adversity. By adversity, doubtless; for when the love of country
urges them to defend[1584] themselves by arms, and their wife held
prisoner together with their household gods, they combine[1585] just
like wasps (a bristling band, with weapons all unsheathed along their
yellow bodies), when their home and citadel is assailed. But when
care-dispelling peace has returned, forgetful of labor, commons and
fathers together lie buried in lethargic sleep. A long-protracted and
destructive peace[1586] has therefore been the ruin of the sons of
Romulus.[1587]

Thus our tale comes to a close. Henceforth, kind Muse, without whom
life is no pleasure to me, I pray thee warn them that, like the Lydian
of yore, when Smyrna fell,[1588] so now also they may be ready to
emigrate; or else, in line, whatever thou wishest. This only I beseech
thee, goddess! Present not in a pleasing light to Calenus[1589] the
walls of Rome and the Sabines.

Thus much I spake. Then the goddess deigns to reply in few words, and
begins:

"Lay aside thy just fears, my votary. See, the extremity of hate is
menacing him, and by our mouth shall he perish! For we haunt the laurel
groves of Numa,[1590] and the self-same springs, and, with Egeria
for our companion,[1591] deride all vain essays. Live on! Farewell!
Its destined fame awaits the grief that does thee honor. Such is the
promise of the Muses' choir, and of Apollo[1592] that presides over
Rome."

FOOTNOTES:

[1553] _Musa._ Although about to indite a Satire, Sulpicia declares
her intention of not imitating the Hendecasyllabics of Phalæcus, the
Iambics of Archilochus, or the Scazontics of Hipponax, but of writing
in the good old Heroic metre. She therefore invokes the aid of Calliope.

[1554] _Frequentas._ "Celebrare" is often used in the sense of
"crowding in large numbers to a place;" so here, conversely,
frequentare is used in the sense of "frequently celebrating."

[1555] _Detexere_ is properly to "finish off one's weaving." Vid. Hyg.,
Fab., 126, "Cum telam detexuero nubam." Plaut., Ps. I., iv., 7, "Neque
ad detexundam telam certos terminos habes."

[1556] _Penetrale_ is applied to the inmost and most sacred recesses;
hence the "Penetrales Dii." Cic., Nat. D., ii., 27. Senec., Œdip., 265.
So "penetrale sacrificium."--_Retractans_, in the sense of going over
again with a view to corrections and additions. So Plin., v. Ep., 8,
"Egi graves causas; has destino retractare." Senec., Ep., 46, "De libro
tuo plura scribam cum illum retractavero."

[1557] _Phalæco._ Phalæcus is said by Diomedes (iii., 509) and
Terentianus (p. 2440) to have been the inventor of the Hendecasyllabic
metre, which consists of five feet; the first a Spondee or Iamb.,
the second a Dactyl, and the three last Trochees. Many of Catullus's
pieces are in this metre. E. g. "Lugete O Veneres, Cupidinesque." Vid.
Hermann, Elem. Doctr. Metr., p. 264.

[1558] _Iambo._ The Iambic metre was peculiarly adapted to Satire.
Hence its probable etymology from ἰάπτω, jacio; and hence the epithet
_criminosi_ applied to these verses by Horace (i., Od. xvi., 2),
and _truces_ by Catullus (xxxvi., 5). Archilochus, the Parian, who
flourished in the eighth century B.C. (Cic., Tusc. Q., i., 1; Bähr, ad
Herod., i., 12), is said to have been the inventor of the metre, and to
have employed it against Lycambes, who had promised him his daughter
Neobule, but afterward retracted. Cf. Hor., A. P., 79, "Archilochum
proprio rabies armavit Iambo." i., Ep. xix., 23, "Parios ego primus
Iambos Ostendi Latio numeros animosque secutus Archilochi non res et
agentia verba Lycamben." The allusion in the next line is to Hipponax,
who flourished cir. B.C. 540; Ol. lx. He was a native of Ephesus; but
being expelled from his native country by the tyrant Athenagoras,
he settled at Clazomenæ, now the Isle of St. John. The common story
is, that he was so hideously ugly, that the sculptors Bupalus and
Athenis caricatured him. And to avenge this insult, Hipponax altered
the Iambic of Archilochus into a more bitter form by making the last
foot a spondee, which gave the verse a kind of halting rhythm, and was
hence called Scazontic, from σκάζω· or Choliambic, from χῶλος, "lame."
Diomed., iii., 503. «A specimen may be seen in Martial's bitter epigram
against Cato. i., Ep. I, "Cur in Theatrum Cato severe venisti?"» In
this metre he so bitterly satirized them that they hanged themselves,
as Lycambes had done, in consequence of the ridicule of Archilochus.
Hence Horace, vi., Epod. 13, "Qualis Lycambæ spretus infido gener Aut
acer hostis Bupalo." Pliny (H. N., xxxvi., 5) treats the whole story as
mythical. Cf. Mart., i., Ep. 97, for some good specimens, and Catull.,
xxxix. Another form of Choliambic verse is the substitution of an
Antibacchius for the final Iamb.: e. g., "Remitte pallium mihi quod
involasti." Catull., xxv. Two of Hipponax's verses may be seen, Strabo,
lib. xiv., c. 1.

[1559] _Cætera._ From the high compliment paid to her chastity and
poetical powers by Martial, it is probable that Sulpicia had composed
many poems before the present Satire. From the metre Martial chooses
for his complimentary effusion, and from the testimony of the old
Scholiast, it is probable these verses were in Hendecasyllabics; or at
all events in some lyrical metre. There was a poetess named Cornificia
in the time of Augustus, who wrote some good Epigrams. She was the
sister of Cornificius, the reputed enemy of Virgil (vid. Clinton, F.
H., in ann. B.C. 41), but as she was not a _lyrical_ poetess, Sulpicia
claims the palm to herself.

[1560] _Constanter._ The subject is too serious and solemn for lyrical
poetry; she therefore employs the dignity of Heroic verse. So Juvenal,
iv., 34, "Incipe Calliope--non est _cantandum_, res vera agitur,
narrate puellæ Pierides."

[1561] _Descende._ Cf. Hor., iii., Od. iv., 1, "_Descende_ cœlo et
_dic_ age tibiâ Regina longum _Calliope_ melos." Calliope, as the Muse
of _Heroic_ poetry, holds the chief place. (Cf. Auson., Id. xx., 7,
"Carmina Calliope libris Heroïca mandat.") Hence "Princeps." So Hesiod,
Theog., 79, Καλλιόπη θ' ἣ δὲ προφερεστάτη ἐστὶν ἁπασέων. Dionys., Hymn,
i., 6, Μουσῶν προκαθηγέτι τερπνῶν. The poets assign different provinces
to the different Muses. According to some, Calliope is the Muse of
Amatory poetry.

[1562] _Ille._ So Virg., Æn., ii., 779, "Aut _ille_ sinit regnator
Olympi."

[1563] _Patria Sæcula._ The age of Saturn, when men lived in primæval
barbarism, and all cultivation and refinement was unknown. Compare the
first twelve lines of Juvenal's sixth Satire. Ov., Met., i., 113.

[1564] _Procumbere._ Cf. ad Prol. Pers., i.

[1565] _Glandibus._ Ov., Met., i., 106, "Et quæ deciderant patula Jovis
arbore glandes." Lucret., v., 937, "Glandiferas inter curabant corpora
quercus." Virg., Georg., i., 8, 148. Ov., Am., III., x., 9. Juv., vi.,
10. Sulpicia had probably in view the passage in Horace, i., Sat. iii.,
99," Cum _prorepserunt primis_ animalia _terris, Mutum_ et turpe pecus
_glandem_ atque cubilia propter," etc.

[1566] _Exturbat._ A technical phrase, "eject." Cf. Cic. pro Rosc., 8,
"Nudum ejicit domo atque focis patriis, Diisque penatibus præcipitem
_exturbat_." Plaut., Trin., IV., iii., 77. Ov., Met., xv., 175. Tac.,
Ann., xi., 12.

[1567] _Remuli_: the other readings are Remi, and Romi. Cf. Juv., x.,
73, "Turba Remi." Alumnus is properly a "foundling." Cf. Plin., x.
Epist., 71, 72.

[1568] _Agitata._ As though the wars carried on within the peninsula of
Italy had served only to train the Romans in that military discipline
by which they were to subjugate the world. This universal dominion
having been attained, Rome rested from her labors, like the conqueror
left alone in his glory, in the Grecian games; and having no more
enemies against whom she could turn her arms, had sheathed her sword
and applied herself to the arts of Peace. This seems the most probable
interpretation. Dusa proposes to read Cætera _quæ_, for Cætera_que_,
and to place the line as a parenthesis after _socialibus armis_: but
with the sense given in the text, the substitution is unnecessary.
He supposes also Victor to apply to a _horse_ that has grown old in
the contests of the circus; the allusion would surely be more simple
to a conqueror in the Pentathlon. The reading _exiit_ is followed in
preference to _exilit_ or _exigit_.

[1569] _Graia inventa._ So Livy dates the first introduction of a
fondness for the products of Greek art from the taking of Syracuse by
Marcellus: lib. xxv., 48, "Inde primum initium mirandi Græcarum artium
opera." Cf. xxxiv., 4. Hor., ii., Epist. i., 156, "Græcia capta ferum
victorem cepit et artes intulit agresti Latio."

[1570] _Molli ratione._ Virg., Æn., vi., 852, "Hæ tibi erunt artes:
pacisque imponere morem, Parcere subjectis et debellare superbos."

[1571] _Aut frustra._ An anacoluthon, as the old Scholiast remarks;
stabat evidently referring to Roma. Cf. 1. 50, "An magis adversis
_staret_."

[1572] _Diespiter_, i. e., Diei pater. Macrob., Sat., i., 15. Hor.,
iii., Od. ii., 29.

[1573] _Imperium._ Virg., Æn., i., 279. It is in Jupiter's speech to
_Venus_, not to Juno, that the line occurs.

[1574] _Res Romanas imperat inter._ A line untranslatable as it
stands. Various remedies have been proposed--rex for res, temperat for
imperat, impar for inter, Romanos for Romanas. Rex being, like dominus,
generally used in a _bad_ sense by the Romans, rex Romanos imperat
inter would imply the excessive oppression of Domitian's tyranny. Dusa
suggests _rex Romanis temperat inter_ (taking interrex as one word
divided by tmesis), and supposes Sulpicia meant to assert, that as his
reign was to be so briefly brought to a close, he could only be looked
upon in the light of an Interrex.

[1575] _Hominum._ As though the Greeks alone deserved the name of men,
and the praise of humanity and refinement.

[1576] _Galli._ Alluding to the old legend of Brennus casting his
sword into the scale, with the words "Væ victis!" in answer to the
remonstrance of the tribune Q. Sulpicius. Liv., v., 48, 9. "Ensibus"
is preferred to the old reading, "Lancibus." Capitolinus was properly
the agnomen of M. Manlius. Camillus is probably so called here from his
appointing the collegium to celebrate the Ludi Capitolini, in honor of
Jupiter for his preserving the Capitol. Vid. Liv., v., 50. May there
not be a bitter sarcasm in the epithet? It was only four years before
he expelled the philosophers, that Domitian instituted the Capitoline
games. Suet., Vit., 4. (Vid. Chronology.)

[1577] _Palare dicuntur._ Wernsdorf adopts this reading; but it
is perhaps the only instance of the _active_ form of palare: and
_dicuntur_ is very weak.

[1578] _Rhodio._ The old readings were "Rhoido," which is
unintelligible, and that of the old Scholiast, "Rudio," who refers it
to Ennius, born at Rudiæ in Calabria. (Cf. ad Pers., vi., 10.) The
_Rhodian_ is Panætius; he was sprung from distinguished ancestors, many
of whom had served the office of general. He studied under Crates,
Diogenes, and Antipater of Tarsus. The date of his birth and death are
unknown. He was probably introduced by Diogenes to Scipio, who sent for
him from Athens to accompany him in his embassy to Egypt, B.C. 143. His
famous treatise De Officiis was the groundwork of Cicero's book; who
says that he was in every way worthy of the intimate friendship with
which he was honored by Scipio and Lælius. Cic., de Fin., iv., 9; Or.,
i., 11; De Off., pass. Hor., i., Od. xxix., 14. The title of his book
is περὶ τοῦ καθήκοντος. He also wrote De Providentia, De Magistratibus.

[1579] _Bello secundo_, i. e., the Second Punic War (from B.C.
218-201), a period pre-eminently rich in great men. Not to mention
their great generals, Marcellus, Scipio, etc., this age saw M. Porcius
Cato; the historians Fabius Pictor and Cincius Alimentus; the poets
Livius Andronicus, Ennius, Nævius, Pacuvius, Plautus, etc.; and among
the Greeks, Archimedes, Chrysippus, Eratosthenes, Carneades, and the
historians Zeno and Antisthenes.

[1580] _Sententia dia._ Hor., i., Sat. ii., 31, "Macte Virtute esto,
inquit _sententia dia_."

[1581] _Prisci Catonis._ Priscus is, as Dusa shows on the authority
of Plutarch, not the _epithet_, but the _name_ of Cato, by which he
was distinguished. So Horace, iii. Od., xxi., 11, "Narratur et Prisci
Catonis sæpe mero caluisse virtus." (But cf. Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 117.)

[1582] _Catonis._ Both Horace and Sulpicia have imitated Lucilius,
"Valerî sententia dia." Fr. incert., 105.

[1583] _Staret._ Nasica, as Sallust tells us, in spite of Cato's
"Delenda est Carthago," was always in favor of the preservation of
Carthage; as the existence of the rival republic was the noblest spur
to Roman emulation.

[1584] _Defendere._ Livy shows throughout, that the only periods of
respite from intestine discord were under the immediate pressure of war
from without. The particular allusion here is probably to the time of
Hannibal. So Juv., vi., 286, _seq._, "Proximus Urbi Hannibal et stantes
Collinâ in turre mariti." Liv., xxvi., 10. Sil. Ital., xii., 541,
_seq._ Sallust has the same sentiment, "Metus hostilis in bonis artibus
civitatem retinebat." Bell. Jug., 41.

[1585] _Convenit._ The next four lines are hopelessly corrupt. The
following emendations have been adopted: _domus arxque movetur_ for
_Arce Monetæ_: _pax secura_ for _apes secura_: _laborum_ for _favorum_:
_patres_que for _mater_, or the still older reading, _frater_; of which
last Dusa says, "Neque istud verbum emissim titivillitio."

[1586] _Exitium pax._ Juv., vi., 292, "Sævior armis Luxuria incubuit
victumque ulciscitur orbem." Compare the beautiful passage in Claudian
(de Bell. Gild., 96), "Ille diu miles populus qui præfuit orbi," etc.

[1587] _Romulidarum._ Cf. ad Pers., i., 31.

[1588] _Smyrna peribat._ Smyrna was attacked by Gyges, king of Lydia,
but resisted him with success. It was compelled, however, to yield to
his descendant, Alyattes, and in consequence of this event, it sunk
into decay and became deserted for the space of four hundred years.
Alexander formed the project of rebuilding the town in consequence of
a vision. His design was executed by Antigonus and Lysimachus. Vid.
Herod., i., 14-16. Paus., Bœot., 29. Strabo, xiv., p. 646. (An allusion
to Phocæa or Teos would have been more intelligible. Cf. Herod., i.,
165, 168. Hor., Epod. xvi., 17.) The next three lines are corrupt:
the reading followed is, "Vel denique quid vis: Te, Dea, quæso illud
tantum."

[1589] _Caleno._ Calenus, the husband of Sulpicia, probably derived
his name from Cales in Campania, now Calvi. (Hor., i., Od. xx., 9.
Juv., i., 69.) It was the cognomen of Q. Fufius, consul, B.C. 47. The
readings in the next line vary: _pariter ne obverte_; _pariterque
averte_; _pariterque adverte_. Dusa's explanation is followed in
the text. Sulpicia prays that her husband may not be induced by
the allurements of inglorious ease to remain longer in Rome or its
neighborhood, now that all that is really good and estimable has been
driven from it by the tyranny of the emperor. In line 66, read _ecce_
for _hæc_: _in ore_ for _honore_. If "dignum laude virum Musa vetat
mori," Hor., iv., Od. viii., 28, so he may be said "Doubly dying to go
down to the vile dust from whence he sprung," who lives only in the
sarcasm of the satirist.

[1590] _Laureta Numæ._ Cf. ad Juv., iii., 12, _seq._, the description
of Umbritius' departure from Rome.

[1591] _Comite Ægeria._ It is not impossible there may have been
some allusion to Numa and Egeria in Sulpicia's lost work on conjugal
affection; and hence Mart., x., Ep. xxxv., 13, "Tales Egeriæ jocos
fuisse Udo crediderim Numæ sub antro."

[1592] _Apollo._ Hor., i., Ep. iii., 17, "Scripta Palatinus quæcunque
recepit Apollo." Juv., vii., 37.

FRAGMENTS OF LUCILIUS.[1593]

INTRODUCTION.

If but little is known of the personal character and life of the
other Satirists of Rome, it is unfortunately still more the case with
Lucilius. Although the research and industry of modern scholars have
collected nearly a hundred passages from ancient writers where his
name is mentioned, the information that can be gleaned from them with
respect to the events of his life is very scanty indeed; and even of
these meagre statements, there is scarcely one that has not been called
in question by one or more critics of later days. It will be therefore,
perhaps, the most satisfactory course to present in a continuous
form the few facts we can gather respecting his personal history;
and to mention afterward the doubts that have been thrown on these
statements, and the attempts of recent editors to reconcile them with
the accredited facts of history.

Caius Lucilius, then, was born, according to the testimony of S.
Hieronymus (in Euseb., Chron.), B.C. 148, in the first year of the
158th Olympiad, and the 606th of the founding of the city (Varronian
Computation), in the consulship of Spurius Posthumius Albinus and
Lucius Calpurnius Piso. There was a plebeian Lucilian gens, as well
as a patrician, but it was to the latter that the family of the poet
undoubtedly belonged. Horace says of himself (ii. Sat, i., 74),
"Quidquid sum ego, quamvis infrà Lucili censum ingeniumque tamen me
cum magnis vixisse invita fatebitur usque Invidia." Porphyrion, in his
commentary on the passage, says Lucilius was the great uncle of Pompey
the Great; Pompey's grandmother being the poet's sister. But Acron says
he was Pompey's grandfather. Velleius Paterculus (ii., 29), on the
other hand, says that Lucilia, the mother of Pompey, was daughter of
the brother of Lucilius and of senatorian family.

His birthplace was Suessa, now Sessa, capital of the Aurunci, in
Campania; hence Juvenal (Sat. i., 19) says, "Cur tamen hoc potius
libeat decurrere campo, per quem magnus equos Auruncæ flexit alumnus,
Si vacat et placidi rationem admittitis edam;" and Ausonius (Ep. xv.),
"Rudes Camænas qui Suessæ prævenis." At the age of fifteen, B.C. 134,
he accompanied his patron, L. Scipio Africanus Æmilianus, to the
Numantine war, where he is said to have served as eques. Vell. Pat.,
ii., 9, 4. Here he met with Marius, now about in his twenty-third year,
and the young Jugurtha; who were also serving under Africanus, and
learning, as Velleius says, "that art of war, which they were afterward
to employ against each other." In the following year Numantia was taken
and razed to the ground, and Lucilius returned with his patron to
Rome, shortly after the sedition and death of Tiberius Gracchus; and
lived on terms of the most familiar friendship with him and C. Lælius,
until the death of Scipio, B.C. 129; and even at that early age had
already acquired the reputation of a distinguished Satirist. According
to Pighius (in Tabulis), he held the office of quæstor, B.C. 127, two
years after Scipio's death, and the prætorship, B.C. 117. Van Heusde
is also of opinion that he acted as publicanus; and from a passage
in Cicero (de Orat., ii., 70), some suppose he kept large flocks of
sheep on the Ager publicus. Besides Africanus and Lælius (with whose
father-in-law Crassus, however, he was not on very good terms, vid.
Cic., de Or., i., 16) he is said to have enjoyed the friendship of the
following distinguished men, Sp. Albinus, L. Ælius Stilo, Q. Vectius,
Archelaus, P. Philocomus, Lælius Decimus, and Q. Granius Præco. He had
a violent quarrel with C. Cælius, for acquitting a man who had libeled
him. He is said to have lived under Velia, where the temple of Victory
afterward stood, in a house built at the public expense for the son
of king Antiochus when hostage at Rome. (Asc. Pedian. in Ciceron.,
Orat. c. L. Pisonem, p. 13.) He made a voyage to Sicily, but for what
cause, or at what period of his life, is not stated. His closing years
were spent at Naples, whither he retired to avoid, as some think, the
effects of the hatred of those whom his Satire had offended; and here
he died, B.C. 103, in his forty-sixth year, and was honored, according
to Eusebius, with a public funeral. He had a faithful slave named
Metrophanes, whose honesty and fidelity he rewarded by writing an
epitaph for his tomb, quoted by Martial as an instance of antique and
rugged style of writing, xi. Ep., 90.

"Carmina nulla probas molli quæ limite currunt,
Sed quæ per salebras altaque saxa cadunt:
Et tibi Mæonio res carmine major habetur
Luceili Columella heic situ' Metrophanes."

The name of his mistress is said to have been Collyra, to whom the
sixteenth book of his Satires was inscribed. He wrote thirty books of
Satires, of which the first twenty and the last are in Heroic metre.
The other nine in Iambics or Trochaics. He is not to be confounded
with a comic poet of the same name, mentioned by the Scholiast on
Horace and by Fulgentius.

Such is the traditional, and for a long time currently-believed,
story of Lucilius' life. The greater accuracy, or greater skepticism,
of modern scholars has called into question nearly every one of
these meagre facts. Even the method of spelling his name has been a
subject of fierce controversy. In the best manuscripts, especially
those of Horace, Cicero, and Nonius Marcellus, the name of Lucilius
is invariably spelt with one l. Yet in spite of this testimony,
in order to square with some preconceived notions of orthography,
the l was doubled by Hadrian Turnebe, Claude de Saumaise, Joseph
Scaliger, Lambinus, Jos. Mercer, and Cortius. The propriety, however,
of omitting the second l has been fully established by an appeal to
MSS. and inscriptions; and to Varges and Ellendt the credit is due
of successfully restoring the correct mode of spelling. (Cf. Rhenish
Philolog. Museum for 1835, and Ellendt on Cicero, de Orat, iii., 43.)

Again, his prænomen is by some stated to be Lucius; whereas, not to
mention others, Cicero and Quintilian always speak of him as Caius.

But far more serious doubts, and with great probability, have been
cast upon the dates assigned by S. Hieronymus for his birth and death.
Bayle, in his Dictionary, was the first to suggest them; and they were
taken up and urged with great zeal and learning by Van Heusde (in his
Studia Critica in C. Lucilium Poetam, 1842), who accused Jerome of
negligence and incorrectness in the dates he assigns to many other
events: e. g., the overthrow of Numantia, the deaths of Plautus,
Horace, Catullus, Lucretius, and Livius the tragedian, and the birth
of Messala Corvinus. The charge against the chronographer has been
repeated, and with some show of truth, by Ritschel in the Rhenish
Museum, 1843. Van Heusde's line of argument is simply this, that the
dates of Hieron. are inconsistent with what Horace and Velleius say of
Lucilius, and with what the poet says of himself--that it is absurd to
suppose that a lad of fifteen could have served as an eques; or that so
young a person would have been admitted to such intimate familiarity
with men like Scipio Africanus and Lælius; and that at the time of
Scipio's death, when, as it is said, Lucilius had already gained a
great reputation as a Satirist, he could have been barely over nineteen
years old; that if he had died at the age of forty-six, Horace would
not have applied to him the epithet "Senex"--that the year of his
birth must be therefore carried back at least six years, and his death
assigned to a much later period, as he mentions the Leges Liciniæ and
Calpurnia, passed some years after the time fixed by Hieron. for his
death at Naples. In this view Milman coincides: "Notwithstanding the
distinctness of this statement of S. Hieronymus, and the ingenuity
with which many writers have attempted to explain it, it appears to
me utterly irreconcilable with facts." (Personæ Horatianæ, p. 178.)
Clinton also says[1594] (F. H., ann. B.C. 103), "The expression of
Horace, Sat., II., i., 34, by whom Lucilius is called 'Senex,' implies
that he lived to a later period."

Such are the principal objections to the common accounts. Of those who
hold their accuracy, and endeavor to explain away the difficulties
attaching to them, the chief are Varges and Gerlach. The principal
points will be taken in the order in which they occur.

With regard to the first, Varges shows, in opposition to Bayle, that
it was the custom for young Romans to serve long before the legal
age, either voluntarily, that they might apply themselves sooner to
civil matters, by getting over their period of military service; or
compulsorily, to supply the waste of soldiers caused by the incessant
wars in which Rome was engaged. Hence the necessity for the law of C.
Gracchus to prevent enlistment under the age of seventeen (νεώτερον
ἐτῶν ἑπτακαίδεκα μὴ καταλέγεσθαι στρατιώτην). Cf. Liv., xxv., 5. Duk.
ad Liv., xxvi., 25. As the equestrian service was the more honorable,
it was probably conceded to Lucilius on account of his gentle birth
and early promise. Gerlach thinks that Tibullus[1595] was only
thirteen when he accompanied M. Valerius Messala Corvinus in his
Aquitanian campaign. Now Tibullus was only of _equestrian_ family.
There is no difficulty, therefore, in supposing that Lucilius, who
was of _senatorian_ family, might have served as eques at the age of
fifteen.[1596]

As to the fact of Scipio and Lælius admitting him to their intimate
friendship at so early an age, a parallel may be found in the case of
Archias the poet. Besides, Scipio and Lælius were the most likely men
to discover and to foster the early talent of the young poet. For the
_fact_ of the intimacy we have the testimony of Horace, Sat., II., i.,
71,

"Quin ubi se a vulgo et scena in secreta remorant
Virtus Scipiadæ et mitis sapientia Lælî
Nugari cum illo et discincti ludere, donec
Decoqueretur olus, soliti."

On which the commentator says, "That the three were on such intimate
terms, that on one occasion Lælius was running round the sofas in the
Triclinium, while Lucilius was chasing him with a twisted towel to hit
him with." This story agrees exactly with the description given by
Cicero[1597] (de Orat., ii., 6) of the conduct of Scipio and Lælius,
who speaks of their retiring together to the country-house of the
former, and to have descended, for the relaxation of their minds, to
the most childish amusements, such as gathering shells on the shore
of Caieta. Who would be more likely than such men as these to be
captivated by the precocious wit and pungent sarcasm of a sprightly lad?

Again, the character of Lucilius's compositions admits of eminence at
an earlier period of life than the other branches of poetry. And yet
Catullus and Propertius, not to mention many others, attained great
eminence as poets at a very early age; certainly long before their
twentieth year.

The Satiric poetry of Lucilius depending more on a keen perception
of the ludicrous, and shrewd observation of passing events and the
foibles of individuals, would more readily win approbation at an early
age, than compositions whose excellence would consist in the display
of judgment, knowledge of the world, and elaborate finish. There is,
therefore, no reason to suppose that his talent may not, like that of
Cicero, have been developed at an early age, and having come under the
notice, might have won the approbation, of men of such character in
private life as Scipio and Lælius are reported to have been.

But Horace calls him "senex," ii. Sat., 28, _seq._

"Ille (Lucilius) velut fidis arcana sodalibus olim
Credebat libris: neque si male cesserat, unquam
Decurrens alio, neque si bene, quo fit ut omnis
Votivâ pateat veluti descripta tabellâ
Vita Senis--"

To this it is answered: nothing can be more loose and vague than the
employment by Roman writers of terms relating to the different periods
of human life: e. g., "puer, adolescentulus, adolescens, juvenis,
senex." We have seen that Tibullus at the age of forty may be called
"juvenis." Hannibal, at the age of forty-four (i. e., two years younger
than Lucilius at his death), calls himself senex. (Cf. Liv., xxx., 30,
compared with c. 28, and Crevier's note.)[1598] So Persius (Sat. i.,
124) calls Aristophanes "prægrandis senex," though, as Ranke shows in
his Life (p. xc.), he was not of great age. We might add that Horace
himself uses the phrase, "poetarum _seniorum_ turba" (i. Sat., x., 67),
as equivalent to priorum.

In the fourth Fragment of the twentieth book, Lucilius mentions the
Calpurnian Law.

"Calpurnî sævam legem Pisoni' reprendi
Eduxique animam in primoribu' naribus."

This Van Heusde holds to be the Lex Calpurnia, de ambitu, passed by
C. Calpurnius Piso, when consul, A.U.C. 687, B.C. 67, at which time
Lucilius would have been eighty-one years old. But there was another
Lex Calpurnia, de pecuniis repetundis, passed by L. Calpurnius Piso,
tribune, in A.U.C. 604, B.C. 150. Van Heusde says the former _must_ be
meant, because Lucilius applies to it the epithet _sæva_, and Cicero
(pro Muræna, c. 46) also styles it "severissime scriptam." He explains
the second line of the Fragment to mean, that Lucilius "all but paid
the penalty of death for his animadversions of the law," but these
words more correctly imply the "fierce snorting of an angry man."
So Pers., Sat., v., 91, "Ira cadat naso." Varro, R. R., ii., 3, 5,
"Spiritum _naribus ducere_." Mart., vi. Ep., 64, "Rabido nec perditus
ore fumantem nasum vivi tentaveris ursi." And any law whatever would be
naturally termed "sæva" by him who came under the influence of it.

In the 132d of the Fragmenta Incerta, we have (quoted from A. Gell.,
Noct. Att., ii., 24) these words, "Legem vitemus Licini." The object
of this law was to give greater sanction to the provisions of the Lex
Fannia, a sumptuary law, which had become nearly obsolete. If passed
by P. Licinius Crassus Dives Lusitanicus, when _consul_, it must be
referred to the year A.U.C. 657, B.C. 97, six years after the supposed
date of Lucilius's death. But there is no reason why this law should
not have been passed by Licinius when _tribune_ or _prætor_, as well
as when _consul_; probably during his prætorship, as nearer the
consulship, though Pighius (Annal., iii., 122), though without giving
any authority, assigns it to his tribuneship.

The Orchian Law was passed by C. Orchius when _tribune_. The Fannian
and many other sumptuary laws were passed by _prætors_ or _tribunes_.
The argument therefore derived from the law having been passed by
Licinius, when _consul_, falls to the ground.

Allowing, however, that Lucilius was alive during the consulship
of Licinius, we have the incidental, and therefore more valuable,
testimony of Cicero, that he must have died very shortly after. In
his "De Oratore," he introduces the speakers in the Dialogue quoting
Lucilius, as one evidently not very recently dead. Now this imaginary
Dialogue is supposed to have taken place B.C. 91.

FOOTNOTES:

[1593] In the Translation, the text and arrangement of Gerlach have
been principally followed. The few Fragments that have not been
translated are omitted, either from their hopelessly corrupt state,
their obscenity, or from their consisting of _single_, and those
unimportant, words.

[1594] Clinton, in his new Epitome of Chronology (Oxford, 1851), says,
Lucilius was about twenty years of age when serving at Numantia, B.C.
134.

[1595] But Clinton thinks that the war for which Messala triumphed
was carried on B.C. 28, and that Tibullus was then about thirty. The
war against the Salassi had been carried on B.C. 34. Heyne assigns
his birth to B.C. 49. Voss, Passow, and Dissen, to B.C. 59. Lachman
and Paldanus, to B.C. 54. He is called a "juvenis" at his death, B.C.
18. But Clinton says there is "no difficulty in this term, which may
express forty years of age."

[1596] Cf. Niebuhr's Lectures, vol. i., p. 316. "Slow and gradual
advancement, and a provision for officers in their old age, were
things unknown to the Romans. No one could by law have a permanent
appointment: every one had to give evidence of his ability. It was,
moreover, not necessary to pass through a long series of subordinate
offices. _A young Roman noble served as eques_, and the consul had
in his cohort the most distinguished to act as his staff: there they
learned enough, and in a few years, a young man, in the full vigor of
life, became a tribune of the soldiers."

[1597] "Sæpe ex socero meo audivi, quum is diceret, socerum suum Lælium
semper ferè cum Scipione solitum rusticari eosque incredibiliter
_repuerascere_ esse solitos quum rus ex urbe tanquam è vinculis
evolavissent.... Solet narrare Scævola conchas eos et umbilicos ad
Caietam et ad Laurentum legere consuêsse et ad omnem animi remissionem
ludumque descendere." Cf. Val. Max., viii., 8, 1.

[1598] These additional authorities have been collected by Gerlach and
Varges. Barth. ad Stat. Sylv., I., ii. 253. Markl. ad Stat. Sylv., 110.
Drakenborch, ad Sil. Ital., i., 634. Eustath., p. 107, 14, on the word
γέρων. Heyne's Homer, vol. iv., pp. 270, 606, 620.

BOOK I.[1599]

ARGUMENT.

To the first book there is said to have been annexed an Epistle
to L. Ælius Stilo, the friend of the poet, to whom in all
probability this book was dedicated. (Fr. 16.) We know from a
note of Servius on the tenth book of the Æneid (l. 104), that
the subject was a council of gods held to deliberate on the
fortune of the Roman state; the result of the conference being
that nothing but the death of certain obnoxious individuals
could possibly rescue the city from plunging headlong to ruin.
It is a kind of parody on the council of Celestials held in
the first book of the Odyssey, to discuss the propriety of the
return of Ulysses to Greece: and as Homer represents Neptune, the
great enemy of Ulysses, to have been absent from the meeting,
so here (Fr. 2) we find an allusion to some previous council,
at which Jupiter, by the machinations of Juno (Fr. 15), was
not present. Virgil, as Servius says, borrowed the idea of his
discussion between Venus, Juno, and Jupiter from this book; only
he translated the language of Lucilius into a type more suited
to the dignity of Heroic verse. Lucilius's council begin with
discussing the affairs of mankind at large, and then proceed to
consider the best method of prolonging the Roman state (Fr. 5),
which has no greater enemies than its own corrupt and licentious
morals, and the wide-spreading evils of avarice and luxury. But
amid the growing vices which undermined the state must especially
be reckoned the study of a spurious kind of philosophy, of
rhetoric, and logic, which not only was the cause of universal
indolence and neglect of all serious duties, but also led men
to lay snares to entrap their neighbors. (Fr. inc. 2.) A fair
instance of these sophistical absurdities is given (Fr. inc.
12); and the doctrine of the Stoics, to which Horace alludes
(i. Sat., iii., 124), is also ridiculed. (Fr. inc. 23.) The
pernicious effects of gold are then described, as destructive of
all honesty, good faith, and every religious principle (Fr. inc.
39-47); the result of which is, that the state is fast sinking
into helpless ruin. (Fr. inc. 50.) Nor are the evils of luxury
less baleful. (Fr. 19-21.)

All this discussion, in the previous conference, had been nugatory
on account of the absence of Jupiter, and the divisions that had
arisen among the gods themselves. In this debate Neptune had
taken a very considerable part, since we hear that, discussing
some very abstruse and difficult point, he said it could not be
cleared up, even though Orcus were to permit Carneades himself
to revisit earth. (Fr. 8.) Apollo also was probably one of the
speakers, and expressed a particular dislike to his cognomen of
"the Beautiful." (Fr. inc. 145.) Perhaps all the gods but Jove
(Fr. 3) had been present; but as they could not agree, the whole
matter was referred to Jupiter; who, expressing his vexation that
he was not present at the first meeting, blames some and praises
others. (Fr. 55, inc.)

The cause of his absence was probably the same as that described
(Iliad, xiv., 307-327) by Homer: which passage Lucilius probably
meant to ridicule. (Fr. 15.) The result of the deliberation is a
determination on the part of the gods that the only way to save
the Roman state is by requiring the expiatory sacrifice of the
most flagitious and impious among the citizens: and the three
fixed upon are P. Cornelius Lentulus Lupus, L. Papirius Carbo,
and C. Hostilius Tubulus.

(To this book may perhaps also be referred Fr. inc. 2, 46, 61, 63.)

This book must have been published subsequently to the death of
Carneades, which took place the same year as that of Scipio, B.C.
129, twenty-six years after his embassy to Rome.

1 ... held counsel about the affairs of men--

2 I could have wished, could it so have happened.... I could have
wished, at that council of yours before which you mention, I
could have wished, Celestials, to have been present at your
previous council!

3 ... that there is none of us, but without exception is styled
"Best Father of Gods," as Father Neptune, Liber, Saturn, Father
Mars, Janus, Father Quirinus.[1600]

4 Had Tubulus, Lucius, Lupus, or Carbo, that son of Neptune,
believed that there were gods, would he have been so perjured
and impious?[1601]

5 ... in what way it might be possible to preserve longer the
people and city of Rome.

6 ... though many months and days ... yet wicked men would not
admire this age and time.

7 When he had spoken these words he paused--

8 Not even though Orcus should send back Carneades
himself....[1602]

9 ... made ædile by a Satura; who from law may loose....[1603]

10 ... against whom, should the whole people conspire, they would
be scarce a match for him--

11 ... they might, however, discharge their duty and defend the
walls.

12 ... might put it off, if not longer, at least to this one
lustrum.[1604]

13 I will bring them to supper; and first of all will give each
of them, as they arrive, the bellies of thunny and heads of
acharne.[1605]

14 ...

15 ... so that I could compare «the embraces» of Leda daughter of
Thestius, and the spouse of Ixion.[1606]

16 These things we have sent, written to thee, Lucius Ælius![1607]

17 ... to creep on, as an evil gangrene, or ulcer, might.

18 A countenance too, like.... death, jaundice, poison.

19 ... to hate the infamous, vile, and disgraceful cook's
shop.[1608]

20 prætextæ and tunics, and all that foul handiwork of the
Lydians.[1609]

21 Velvets and double piles, soft with their thick naps.[1610]

22 ... that, like an angry cur, speaks plainer than a man.

23 ... the common herd stupidly look for a knot in a bulrush.[1611]

24 ... and legions serve for pay.

25 ... quote prodigies, elephants.

26 ... ladles and ewers.[1612]

27 Vulture.[1613]

28 ... like a fool, you came to dance among the Pathics.

29 Oh the cares of men! Oh how much vanity is there in human
affairs![1614]

FOOTNOTES:

[1599] Book I. Some of the commentators suppose that the thirty Satires
of Lucilius were divided into two books, and that the first of these
_books_, and not the first Satire only, was dedicated to Ælius Stilo.

[1600] _Fr._ 3. "Every god that is worshiped by man must needs in all
solemn rites and invocations be styled 'Father;' not only for honor's,
but also for reason's sake. Since he is both more ancient than man,
and provides man with life and health and food, as a father doth."
Lactant., Inst. Div., iv., 3.

[1601] _Tubulus._ C. Hostilius Tubulus was elected prætor B.C. 210
(Liv., xxvii., 6), and was prætor peregrinus next year. (Cf. Fr. inc.
97.) He became infamous from his openly receiving bribes, so that the
next year, on the motion of the tribune P. Scævola, he was impeached
by Cnæus Servilius Cæpio the consul, B.C. 203. P. Cornelius Lentulus
_Lupus_ first appears as one of the persons sent to Rome, to announce
the victory over Perseus. (Liv., xliv., 45.) He afterward served the
offices of curule ædile (Fr. 9), and censor (Fr. 12). He was consul
B.C. 156. Carbo is L. Papirius Carbo, the friend of C. Gracchus. We
learn from Aulus Gellius (xv., 21), that "Son of Neptune" was applied
to men of the fiercest and most blood-thirsty dispositions, who seemed
to have so little _humanity_ about them, that they might have been
sprung from the _sea_.

[1602] _Carneades_ (cf. Diog. Laert., IV., ix.) of Cyrene, disciple
of Chrysippus, and founder of the new Academy, was celebrated for his
great acuteness of intellect, which he displayed to great advantage
when he came as embassador from Athens to Rome, B.C. 155.

[1603] _Ædilem_ refers to Lupus, who was made curule ædile with L.
Valerius Flaccus, A.U.C. 591 (B.C. 163), and exhibited the Ludi
Megalenses the year Terence's Heauton Timorumenos was produced. A law
was called Satura which contained several enactments under one bill;
hence, according to Diomedes, Satire derives its name from the variety
of its subjects.

A person was said to be _legibus solutus_ who was freed from the
obligation of any _one_ law; afterward the emperors were so styled,
as being above _all_ laws; but at first there was some reservation,
as we find Augustus praying to be freed from the obligation of the
Voconian law. (In the year B.C. 199, C. Valerius Flaccus was created
curule ædile together with C. Cornelius Cethegus. Being flamen dialis,
and therefore not allowed to take an oath, he prayed, "ut legibus
solveretur." The consuls, by a decree of the senate, got the tribunes
to obtain a plebis-scitum, that his brother Lucius, the prætor elect,
might be allowed to take the oath for him. Liv., xxxi., 50.)

[1604] Fr. 12 refers also to Lupus, for he was censor A.U.C. 607, with
L. Marcius Censorinus.

[1605] _Priva._ Cf. Liv., xxx., 43, "Ut privos lapides silices,
privasque verbenas secum ferrent." The acharne was a fish known to the
Greeks, the best being caught off Ænos in Thrace. Athenæus mentions the
ἄχαρνος together with θύννου κεφάλαιον, "thunny-heads" (vii., p. 620,
D), in a passage from the Cyclopes of Callias. Ennius also (ap. Apul.
Apolog.) has "calvaria pinguia acharnæ."

[1606] Mercer suggests "coitum" as the missing word, which Gerlach
adopts. Cf. Hom., Il., xiv., 317, οὐδ' ὁπότ' ἠρασάμην Ἰξιονίης ἀλόχοιο.
The lady's name was Dia, daughter of Deioneus. _Contendere_, "to
compare." Cf. vii., Fr. 6.

[1607] L. Ælius Stilo (vid. arg.) was a Roman knight, a native of
Lanuvium, and was called Stilo, "quod orationes nobilissimo cuique
scribere solebat." He had also the nickname of Præconinus, because
his father had exercised the office of præco. He was a distinguished
grammarian, and a friend of the learned and great; and, it is said,
accompanied Q. Metellus Numidicus into banishment. Vid. Suet., de Gram.
Ill., II., iii. Ernest Clav. Cic.

[1608] Cf. Juv., viii., 172, "Mitte sed in magnâ legatum quære popina;"
and 1. 158; xi., 81, "Qui meminit calidæ sapiat quid vulva popinæ."

[1609] _Prætextæ._ Cf. Pers., v., 30, "custos purpura."

[1610] _Psilœ_, from ψιλὸς, "rasus," with its nap shorn like our modern
velvet (villus, hence vélours). _Amphitapæ_, from ἀμφί and τάπης, a
thick brocaded dress, like a rich carpet, soft on both sides.

[1611] _Nodum in scirpo facere_, or _quærere_, "to make a difficulty
where there is none." Cf. Ter., And., v., 4, 38. Enn. ap. Fest.,
"Quæritur in scirpo soliti quod dicere nodus." Plaut., Men., II., i.,
22. The modern Italian is equally expressive, "_Cercar l'osso nel
fico_."

[1612] ἀρύταινα, from ἀρύτω, "any vessel for drawing up water."

[1613] _Vulturius_ is the _older_ Latin form for _vultur_, which
is found in the days of Virgil. (In Plaut., Curc., II., iii., 77,
"Vulturios quatuor" is a bad throw at dice, like the "damnosa Canicula"
of Persius, iii., 49, and is said to be called so for the same reason,
because vultures devour, i. e., ruin men.)

[1614] Cf. Pers., i., 1.

BOOK II.

ARGUMENT.

On the subject of this book the commentators differ: some supposing
that it was directed against luxury and effeminacy. But the
avarice and licentiousness of the times form a considerable
portion of the writings of Lucilius, and there are very few of
his Satires in which these are not incidentally glanced at.
From the sixth Fragment, which after all is a very obscure one,
Ellendt supposed it was written to expose Æmilius Scaurus. Corpet
maintains that it contained the description of a sanguinary
brawl, in which many persons were engaged; that one person
was taken up for dead, his house purified (Fr. 22), and all
preparations made for his funeral, when some one saw another
lying in his bier. Fr. 1. It is quite clear that Fr. 14, 24,
and perhaps 2, refer to luxury; if by Manlius, in the second
Fragment, is intended Cn. Manlius Vulso. (Vid. note.)

1 ... whom, when Hortensius and Posthumius had seen, the rest,
too, saw that he was not on his bier, and that another was
lying there.

2 Hostilius ... against the plague and ruin which that halting
Manlius, too, «introduced among» us.[1615]

3 ... which were all removed in two hours, when the sun set, and
was enveloped in darkness.[1616]

4 ... that he, having been ill-treated, attacked the other's
jaws, and beat the breath out of him.

5 Now for the name: next I will tell you what I have got out of
the witnesses, by questioning.[1617]

6 ... which I charm and wrest and elicit from Æmilius.[1618]

7 I say not. Even though he conquer, let him go like a vagabond
into exile, and roam an outlaw.[1619]

8 The prætor is now your friend; but if Gentilis die this year,
he will be mine--[1620]

9 ... if he has left on his posteriors the mark of a thick and
large-headed snake.[1621]

10 Of a rough-actioned, sorry, slow-paced jade--[1622]

11 ... that unclean, shameless, plundering fellow.[1623]

12 Sleeved tunics of gold tissue, scarfs, drawers, turbans.[1624]

13 What say you? Why was it done? What is that guess of yours?

14 ... who may now ruin you, Nomentanus, you rascal, in every
thing else!

15 So surrounded was I with all the cakes.[1625]

16 ... to penetrate the hairy purse.[1626]

17 ... for a man scarce alive and a mere shadow.[1627]

18 ... as skilled in law.

19 ... he would lead these herds--

20 ... for what need has he of the amulet and image attached to
him, in order to devour fat bacon and make rich dishes by
stealth.[1628]

21 ... her that shows light by night.[1629]

22 ... purified--expiated--

23 ... a journey from the lowermost (river) to be told, and heard.

24 Long life to you, gluttons, gormandizers, belly-gods.[1630]

25 ... him that wanders through inhospitable wastes there
accompanies the greater satisfaction of things conceived in his
mind.[1631]

FOOTNOTES:

[1615] There are two persons of the name of Hostilius mentioned by
Livy, as contemporary with Cn. Manlius Vulso. Hostilius is Gerlach's
reading for the old _hostilibus_. Cn. Manlius got the nickname of Vulso
from _vellendo_, plucking out superfluous hairs to make his body more
delicate. (Plin., xiv., 20. Juv., viii., 114; ix., 14. Pers., iv.,
36.) He was consul B.C. 189, and marched into Gallo-Græcia, and for
his conquests was allowed a triumph, B.C. 186. Livy enters into great
detail in describing all the various luxuries which he introduced into
Rome, such as sofas, tables, sideboards, rich and costly vestments
and hangings, foreign musicians, etc. Liv., xxxix., 6. Plin., H.
N., xxxiv., 3, 8. Cf. Bekker's Gallus, p. 294. Catax (quasi cadax a
cadendo) is explained by coxo, "one lame of the hip." There is probably
an allusion to his effeminacy. Corpet considers Manlius Verna to be
intended, who had the sobriquet of Pantolabus, i. e., "grasp-all."

[1616] Leg. _obducto tenebris_. Dusa's conjecture, adopted by Gerlach.

[1617] _Exsculpo._ So Fr. incert. 49, "Esurienti Leoni ex ore
_exsculpere_ prædam." Ter., Eun., IV., iv., 44, "Possumne hodie ego ex
to _exsculpere_ verum."

[1618] All the commentators agree that no sense can be elicited from
this line. Ellendt (vid. sup.) supposes Æmilius Scaurus to be meant;
others, Æmilius the præco, by whom Scipio, when candidate for the
censorship, was conducted to the forum, for which he was ridiculed by
Appius Claudius. _Præcantare_ is applied to singing magic hymns and
incantations by the bed of one sick, to charm away the disease. Cf.
Tibull., I., v. 12, "Carmine cum magico præcinuisset anus." Macrob.,
Somn. Scip., II., iii. _Excantare_ is "to elicit by incantation." Vid.
Lucan, vi., 685, "Excantare deos."

[1619] Corpet says, this obviously refers to Scipio Africanus major.
But, as Gerlach says, it may apply equally well to Scipio Nasica, or
Opimius, who killed the Gracchi; perhaps even better to the latter than
to Scipio Africanus, who went _voluntarily_ into exile.

[1620] Cf. Ter., Andr., V., vi., 12, "_Tuus est_ nunc Chremes."
Gerlach's reading and punctuation are followed. _Gentilis_ is a proper
name, on the authority of Appuleius.

[1621] _Natrix_, properly "a venomous water-serpent." Cic., Acad.,
iv., 38. Hence applied by Tiberius to Caligula. (Suet., Calig., xi.)
It means here a thong or whip (scutica), which twists about and stings
like a snake. So Anguilla, Isidor., Orig., v. 27.

[1622] _Succussatoris._ Gr. ὑποσειστής, "one that shakes the rider in
his seat." _Caballi._ Vid. Pers., Prol. i., 1.

[1623] _Impuratus._ Ter., Phorm., IV., iii., 64. _Impuno_, "one who
dares all, through hope of impunity." _Rapister_ is formed like
magister, sequester, etc.

[1624] Cf. Bähr ad Herod., vii., 61 (which seems to confirm the
conjecture, χειροδύται), and the quotation from Virgil below. Herod.,
vi., 72. Schneider's note on Xen., Hell., II., i., 8. _Rica_ is a
covering for the head, such as priestesses used to wear at sacrifices,
generally of purple, square, with a border or fringe; cf. Varro, L. L.,
iv., 29; but worn sometimes by men, as Euclides of Megara used one. A.
Gell., vi., 10.

_Thoracia._ Properly "a covering for the breast," then "an apron"
(Juv., v., 143, "viridem thoraca jubebit afferri"), then "a covering
for the abdomen or thigh," like the fasciæ. Cf. Suet., Aug., 82, "Hieme
quaternis cum pingui togâ tunicis et subuculâ _thorace_ laneo et
feminalibus et tibialibus muniebatur."

_Mitra_ was a high-peaked cap, worn by courtesans and effeminate men.
Vid. Juv., iii., 66, "Ite quibus grata est pictâ lupa barbara mitrâ."
Virg., Æn., ix., 616, "Et _tunicæ manicas_ et habent redimicula mitræ."
iv., 216. Ov., Met., xiv., 654.

[1625] _Ferta._ Rich cakes, made of flour, wine, honey, etc., which
formed part of the usual offerings. Cf. Pers., ii., 48, "Attamen hic
extis et opimo vincere ferto intendit."

[1626] _Bulga_ is properly "a traveling bag of leather, carried on
the arm." See the amusing Fragment, lib. vi., 1. Hence its obvious
translation to the meaning in lib. xxvi., Fr. 36, and here.

[1627] _Monogrammo._ A metaphor from painting, "drawn only in outline."
Used here for a very thin emaciated person. (Cf. lib. xxvii., 17.)
Epicurus applied this epithet to the gods (Cic., Nat. Deor., ii., 23),
as being "tenues sine corpore vitæ." Virg., vi., 292. Cf. Pers., vi.,
73, "trama figuræ."

[1628] _Mutinus_, or _Mutunus_, is the same deity as Priapus. The form
is cognate with Muto. He appears to have been also called Mutinus
Tutinus, or Tutunus. The emblem was worn as a charm or phylactery
against fascination, and hung round children's necks. Cf. Lactant., i.,
20. August., Civ. D., iv., 7.

_Lurcor_ is "to swallow greedily." _Lardum._ Cf. Juv., xi., 84,
"Natalitium lardum."

_Carnaria_ is probably the neuter plural of the adjective. Carnarius
homo, is one who delights in flesh. Carnarium is either "an iron rack
with hooks for hanging meat upon," or "a larder where provisions are
kept."

[1629] _Noctilucam._ An epithet of the moon. Hor., iv., Od. vi., 38,
"Rite crescentem face Noctilucam." (Cf. Var., L. L., v., 68, "Luna
dicta Noctiluca in Palatio, nam ibi _noctu lucet_ templum.") Hence used
for a lantern, and then for a "minion of the moon," a strumpet, because
they suspended lights over their doors or cells. (Juv., vi., 122. Hor.,
ii., Sat. vii., 48.) This last appears from Festus to be the sense
intended here.

[1630] _Lurco_ is derived by some from λαῦρος, "voracious;" but by
Festus from _Lura_, an old word for "the belly." Cf. Plaut., Pers.,
III., iii., 16, "Lurco, edax, furax, fugax." Lurco was the cognomen of
M. Aufidius, who first introduced the art of fattening peacocks, by
which he made a large fortune. Varro, R. R., iii., 6. Plin., x., 20, 23.

[1631] _Inhospita tesqua._ Horace has copied this sentiment in his
epistle to his Villicus, "Nam quæ deserta et inhospita tesqua credis,
amæna vocat mecum qui sentit." i., Ep. xiv., 19. Tesqua is derived from
δάσκιος, "very wooded." (Lucan, vi., 41, "nemorosa tesca.") Varro says
_tesca_ are "places inclosed and set apart as _templa_ for the purposes
of augury." L. L., vi., 2.

BOOK III.

ARGUMENT.

We have not only much more ample and satisfactory information
respecting the subject of this Satire from ancient writers, but
the Fragments which have come down to us give sufficient evidence
that their statements are correct. It is the description of a
journey which Lucilius took from Rome to Capua, and thence to the
Straits of Messina; with an account of some of the halting-places
on his route, and incidents of travel. Besides this, which was
the main subject, he indulged by the way in a little pleasing
raillery against some of his contemporaries, Ennius, Pacuvius,
Cæcilius, and Terence, according to the old Scholiast. This
Satire formed the model from which Horace copied his Journey to
Brundusium, i, Sat., v. The special points of imitation will be
seen in the notes; from which it will appear that the particular
incidents mentioned by Horace, are probably fictitious. As to
the journey itself, Varges and Gerlach are both of opinion
that it was a _real_ one, and undertaken solely for purposes
of pleasure; as it was not unusual for the wealthier Romans of
that day to travel into Campania, or even to Lucania, and as far
as the district of the Bruttii. (Cf. Hor., i., Sat. vi., 102,
_seq._) These journeys were occasionally performed on foot: as we
hear of Cato traveling on foot through the different cities of
Italy, bearing his own arms, and attended only by a single slave,
who carried his baggage and libation-cup for sacrificing. But
Lucilius probably on this occasion had his hackney (canterius),
like Horace, which carried not only his master's saddle-bags, but
himself also. (Cf. Fr. 9. Hor., i., Sat. vi., 104.)

It is not quite clear whether the scene described at Capua was a
gladiatorial exhibition, or merely a drunken brawl that took
place in the streets, from which one of the parties came very
badly off.

Several of the "uncertain Fragments" may be fairly referred to this
book; evidently Fr. inc. 27. Cf. Hor., i., Sat. v., 85. Probably
Fr. inc. 77, 95, 53, 11, 10, 14, 36.

1 ... you will find twice five and eighty full miles; from Capua
too, two hundred and fifty--[1632]

2 ... from the gate to the harbor, a mile; thence to
Salernum.[1633]

3 ... thence to the people of the Dicæarcheans and Delos the
less.[1634]

4 Campanian Capua--

5 ... three miles in length.[1635]

6 ... But there, all these things were mere play--and no odds.
They were no odds, I say, all mere play--and a joke. The
real hard work was, when we came near the Setine country;
goat-clambered mountains; Ætnas all of them, rugged
Athosès.[1636]

7 Besides, the whole of this way is toilsome and muddy--[1637]

8 Moreover, the scoundrel, like a rascally muleteer, knocked
against all the stones--[1638]

9 My portmanteau galled my hackney's ribs by its weight.[1639]

10 We pass the promontory of Minerva with oars--[1640]

11 ... four from this to the river Silarus, and the Alburnian
harbor.[1641]

12 Hence, I arrive at midnight, by rowing, at Palinurus--[1642]

13 And you shall see, what you have often before wished, the
Straits of Messina, and the walls of Rhegium; then Lipara, and
the temple of Diana Phacelitis--[1643]

14 ... here the third passes the truck on the top of the
mast:[1644]

15 And you will square out the way, as the camp-measurer
does....[1645]

16 ... and we will take a decent time for refreshing our
bodies.[1646]

17 There was not a single oyster, or a burret, or peloris:[1647]

18 no asparagus.

19 Waking out of sleep, therefore, with the first dawn I call for
the boys--

20 Bending forward at once he covers his[1648]

21 The rabbit-mouthed butcher triumphs; he with the front tooth
projecting, like the Ethiopian rhinoceros--[1649]

22 ... the other, successful, returns in safety with seven
feathers, and gets clear off--[1650]

23 ... the forum of old decorated with lanterns, at the Roman
games.

24 ... besides, the neat-herd Symmachus, already given over, was
heaving with panting lungs his last expiring breath.[1651]

25 ... like the thick sparks, as in the mass of glowing iron.[1652]

26 she did not give birth to....

27 ... whoever attacks, can confuse the mind--

28 Tantalus, who pays the penalty for his atrocious acts--

29 ... our senses are turned topsy-turvy by the wine-flagons.[1653]

30 ... when it came to extremity and utter destruction--[1654]

31 then you exhale sour belchings from your breast--

32 we raise our jaws, and indulge in a grin

33 here however is one landlady, a Syrian[1655]

34 The little old woman's flight was rough and premature

35 ... they are studying; look to the wood....

36 propped up on a cushion.

37 seeing that

38 You should receive a share of the glory; you should have
partaken with me in the pleasure.

FOOTNOTES:

[1632] It is not known what the places are from which Lucilius meant to
mark these distances. Nonius explains _commodum_ by _integrum_, totum,
"complete."

[1633] Gronovius supposes the harbor intended to be the Portus
Alburnus. Varges says it is Pompeii, which was a little distance from
the sea. Gerlach takes it to be Salernum itself: "and there you are at
Salernum!"

[1634] This high-sounding line is supposed to be a parody of some of
the "sesquipedalia verba" of Ennius. The place meant is Puteoli, now
Pozzuoli, so called either from the mephitic smell of the water, or
from the quantity of wells there. It became the great emporium of
commerce, as Delos had been before, and hence was called Delos Minor.
It was a Greek colony, and was called Dicæarcheia, from the strict
justice with which its government was administered, or from the name of
its founder. Plin., III., v., 9. Stat. Sylv., II., ii., 96, 110. Sil.
Ital., viii., 534; xiii., 385.

[1635] _Longe_ pro _logitudine_. Cf. Hor., i., Sat. v., 25, "_Millia_
tum pransi _tria repimus_." What Horace says of his slow journey to
Terracina, Lucilius had said of his tedious ascent to Setia. See next
Fr.

[1636] _Susque deque_ is properly applied to a thing "about which you
are so indifferent that you do not care whether it is _up or down_."
Cic., Att., xiv., 6, "de Octavio susque deque." Compare the Greek
ἀδιαφορεῖ. A. Gell., xvi., 9. So "susque deque ferre," i. e., æquo
animo, "to bear patiently."

_Illud opus._ Virg., Æn., vi., 129, "Hoc opus hic labor est," _Setia_,
now Sezza, near the Pomptine marshes, on the Campanian hills. From its
high position, Martial gives it the epithet "pendula:" xiii., Ep. 112,
"Pendula Pomptinos quæ spectat Setia campos." The country round was a
famous wine district. Cf. Plin., iii., 5, 5; xiv., 6, 8. Mart., vi.,
86. Juv., v., 34; x., 27; xiii., 213. αἰγίλιποι. The Schol. on Hom.,
Il., ix., 15, explains this as "a cliff so high that even goats forsake
it." Cf., Æsch., Supp., 794. But it more probably comes from λίπτομαι,
than λείπομαι, therefore "eagerly sought by goats." Cf. Mart., xiii.,
Ep. 99.

[1637] _Labosum_ for laboriosum.

[1638] _Quartarius_, "quia partem _quartam_ questûs capiebant." "The
mule-drivers were so called, because they received one fourth of the
hire." Of course, as the animals were not their own, they were not very
careful how they drove them; and hence might run foul of the cippi,
which were either tomb-stones by the side of the road, or stones set
to mark the boundaries of land. Cf. Juv., Sat. i., 171. Pers., i., 37.
Hor., i., Sat. viii., 12.

[1639] Hor., i., Sat. vi., 105, "Mantica cui lumbos onere ulceret atque
eques armos." _Canterius_ (more correctly Cantherius), "a gelding."

[1640] The Promontory of Minerva, now P. di Campanella, is the
southernmost extremity of the Bay of Naples, a short distance from the
island of Capri.

[1641] The _Portus Alburnus_ is the mouth of the river Silarus (now
Selo), which separates Lucania from the district of the Picentini.
The Mons Alburnus (now Alburno), from which it takes its name, stands
near the junction of the Tanager (now Negro) with the Silarus. Virgil
mentions this district as abounding in the gad-fly. Georg., iii., 146.

[1642] _Palinurum_ (still called Capo Palinuro) is in Lucania, not far
from the town of Velia, at the north of the Laus sinus, or Golfo di
Policastra.

[1643] _Messana_, the ancient Zancle, still gives its name to the
strait between it and Rhegium. The geological fact from which the
latter derives its name (Rhegium, or ῥήγνυμι), is described, Virg.,
Æn., iii., 414, _seq._ _Lipara_ (now Lipari) is the principal of the
Æolian or Vulcanian Islands.

_Phacelitis_, from φάκελος, "a fagot." When Orestes made his escape
with Pylades and Iphigenia from Taurica, he carried away with him the
image of Artemis, inclosed for the purpose of concealment in a bundle
of sticks. Hence her name, Phacelitis, or, according to the Latin form,
Facelitis. This image he carried, according to one legend, to Aricia,
near which was the grove of Diana Nemorensis; or, as others say, to
Syracuse, where he built a temple and established her Cultus. Cf. Sil.
Ital., xiv., 260.

[1644] _Carchesium_ is, according to some, "the upper part of the
Levantine sail," or "the lower part of the mast." Others explain it as
"the cross-trees or _tops_ of the mast, to which the sailors ascended
to look out." Or it is "the hollow bowl-shaped top or truck of the
mast, through which the halyards work." Hence its use as applied to a
drinking-cup. (Virg., Georg., iv., 380. Athen., xi., c. 49. Müller's
Archæol. of Art, § 299.) Catull., Pel. et Thet., 236. Liv., Andron. Fr.
incert, 1, "Florem antlabant Liberi ex carchesiis."

[1645] _Degrumor._ Properly, "to mark out two lines crossing each
other exactly at right angles." There was a point in the camp near the
Prætorium, called Groma, at which four lines converged, which divided
the camp into four equal portions.

[1646] Hor., i, Epist. ii, 29.

[1647] _Purpura_ is properly the shell-fish from which the famous dye
came. (_Ostrum_, cognate with _ostrea_.) The _Peloris_ was a common
kind of shell-fish, caught probably off Cape Pelorum, whence its name.
Cf. Plin., xxxii, 9, 31. Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 32, "Muria Baiano melior
Lucrina peloris." Mart., vi., Ep. xi., 5, "Tu Lucrina voras: me pascit
aquosa Peloris." x., Ep. xxxvii., 9.

[1648] _Cernuus_ is applied to one "who falls on his face." "In eam
partem quâ _cernimus_." Virg., Æn., x., 894.

[1649] _Brocchus ovat Lanius._ The reading of Junius (cf. Virg.,
Æn., x., 500), probably part of the description of the street brawl.
_Brocchus_ is applied to one "with projecting mouth and teeth, like the
jowl of a bull-dog."

[1650] _Abundans._ Ter., Phorm., I., iii., 11, "Amore abundas Antipho."
This line either refers to an actual exhibition of gladiators, in
Campania perhaps, or Lucilius applies the language of the arena to the
street-fight. The Scholiast on Juvenal (iii., 158, ed. Jahn) says,
the helmets of the gladiators were adorned with peacocks' _feathers_;
others think the upper part of the _helmet_ was so called, which the
Samnis wore, and hence his opponent was denominated Pinnirapus.

[1651] _Depôstus_, "despaired of." So Virg., Æn., xii., 395, "Ille ut
depositi proferret fata parentis."

[1652] _Strictura_ is either "the mass of iron, generally in a glowing
state, ready to be forged," or "the sparks that fly from the iron
while it is being hammered." The line probably refers to Lipara, or
one of the Vulcanian isles, where the Cyclops had their workshop. (Cf.
Fr. 13.) Virgil uses the word also in describing the Cyclops, viii.,
420, "Striduntque cavernis _Stricturæ_ Chalybum et fornacibus ignis
anhelat." Pers., ii., 66, "_Stringere_ venas _ferventis massæ_."

[1653] _Fundus_ seems to be here used almost like _funditus_; or it may
mean "our firm solid basis."

[1654] _Ad incita_, from "in" and "cieo." A metaphor from chess,
or some game resembling it (latrunculi or calculi), when one party
has lost so many men that he has none more to move; or only in such
a position that by the laws of the game they _can not be moved_
(checkmated). The usual phrase is _ad incitas_. Lucilius is the only
writer who uses the form _ad incita_.

[1655] Syrus was a common name for a slave, from his country, as Davus,
"the Dacian," Geta, "the Goth," etc. Cf. Juv., viii., 159, "Obvius
assiduo Syrophœnix udus amomo currit Idumeæ Syrophœnix incola portæ."

BOOK IV.

ARGUMENT.

The Scholiast, on the third Satire of Persius, tells us that the
subject of that Satire, which is directed against the luxury and
vices of the rich, was borrowed from the fourth book of Lucilius.
In all probability the _form_ of the Satire is not the same; as
the dialogue between the severe censor and his pupils approaches
too near the Greek form, to have suited the taste of Lucilius.
No doubt there is a much closer imitation in the second Satire
of Horace's second book, which also was confessedly composed
upon this model; where the plain and rustic simplicity of Ofella
takes the place of the grave and sententious philosophy of the
more dignified Lælius. The first six Fragments are evidently to
be referred to Lælius; expatiating on the praises of frugality,
and exhibiting, by examples, the hollowness of all the pleasures
of luxury and gluttony. We have then allusions to a combat of
gladiators; and several references to women, and to the impetuous
and restless anxieties attendant upon the passion of love; which
are inconsistent with the character of Lælius, and were therefore
put into the mouth of some other speaker.

To the first part of the Satire we may probably refer the Fragments
192, 193, 132, 133, incert.

1 * * * *

At which that wise Lælius used to give vent to railings;
addressing the Epicures of our order--[1656]

2 "Oh thou glutton, Publius Gallonius! a miserable man thou art!"
he says. "Thou hast never in all thy life supped well, though
all thou hast thou squanderest on that lobster and gigantic
sturgeon!"[1657]

3 If you ask me, we enjoy food well cooked, and seasoned and
pleasing conversation--[1658]

4 ... because you prefer sumptuous living, and dainties to
wholesome food--

5 ... to devise besides what each wished to be brought to him;
one was attracted by sow's udder, and a dish of fatlings,
another by a Tiber pike caught between the two bridges--[1659]

6 ... let there be wine poured from a full.... with the hollow of
the hand for a siphon; from which the snow has abated naught,
or the wine-strainer robbed--[1660]

7 ... there was Æserninus, a Samnite, at the games exhibited by
the Flacci, a filthy fellow, worthy of such a life, and such
a station. He is matched with Pacideianus, who was by far the
very best gladiator since the world began--[1661]

8 I will kill him, and conquer, said he, if you ask that: But so
I think it will be; I will smite him on the face before I plant
my sword in the stomach and lungs of Furius. I hate the man!
I fight in a rage! nor is there any farther delay than till
some one fits a sword to my right hand; with such passion, and
hatred of the man, am I transported with anger.[1662]

9 ... although he himself was a good Samnite in the games, and
with the wooden swords, rough enough for any one....[1663]

10 But if no woman can be of so hardy a body, yet she may remain
juicy, with soft arms, and the open hand may rest on her breast
full of milk--[1664]

11 † Tisiphone devoured unguent from his lungs and fat; Erinnys
most sacred of Eumenides bore off what was extracted.[1665]

12 ... pursues him, not expecting, leaps upon his head, and having
encircled him, champs him all up and devours him--[1666]

13 ... remains fixed in the hinder part with vertebræ and joints,
as with us the ankle and knee.

14 These carry before them huge fishes, for a present, thirty in
number--

15 ... that you might not be able to shake out the door-peg with
your hand, and even by yourself force out the bar with a
wedge.[1667]

16 He is longer than a crane--

17 To scour the fields ... the whelps and young of wild beasts.

18 ... and when he is such a handsome man, and a youth worthy of
you.

19 ... he places under this, he adds four props with nails.[1668]

20 ... who eats himself, devours me--

21 I was drunk and bloated.

FOOTNOTES:

[1656] _Lapathus_ is the "sorrel," which, it appears, the Romans
cultivated in their gardens with great care. It was called, in its wild
state, _Rumex_. It was used at banquets, on account of its purgative
qualities, together with the Coan wines, which possessed the same
properties. Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 27. Pers., Sat. v., 135. _Gumia_
is a "glutton, epicure, belly-god." (Lurco, comedo, helluo, gulæ
mancipium.) The etymology is uncertain. Merula reads in all places
_gluvia_, whence _ingluvies_.

[1657] There are two fish known by the name of _squilla_; the one
apparently a small fish (perhaps a _river_ fish, as Martial mentions
their abounding in the Liris: lib. xiii., Ep. 83), used as a sauce or
garnish for larger fish. Vid. Hor., ii., Sat. viii., 42, "Affertur
_squillas_ inter muræna natantes," which Orell. explains as a conger
served up with crabs. The other is a large fish forming a dish of
itself. Cf. Juv., v., 80, "Quam _longo_ distendat _pectore_ lancem
quæ fertur domino _squilla_," etc. If it is represented by the Greek
κᾶρις, it is something of the lobster or prawn kind. It appears to have
been dressed sometimes with sorrel sauce. Cf. Athen., iii., 92, 66.
The _acipenser_ is probably _not_ the sturgeon: from its etymology it
is some sharp-headed fish. (Acies et penna, or pinna.) Salmas., Ex.
Plin., 1316: but what it _really was_ is not known. It was a _royal_
fish, like the sturgeon (Mart., xiii., Ep. 91), and when brought to
table was ushered in with great solemnities: the servant who bore it
had a chaplet round his head, and was preceded by another playing the
flute. Publius Gallonius, the præco, is said to have been the first
who introduced this luxury. Macrob., Sat. ii., 12. In Pliny's time,
however, he tells us, it had gone out of fashion. H. N., ix., 26.

_Decumanus_ is used here in the same sense as "Fluctus decumanus," i.
e., of extraordinary size (Ov., Trist., I., ii., 49), the Pythagorean
notion being that the tenth was always the largest; which notion they
extended even to eggs. (Compare the Greek τρικυμία, Æsch., P. V., 1015,
with Blomfield's gloss.)

[1658] This, according to Gerlach's view, is the answer of Lælius
to some petulant questionings of an epicure. The missing words are
_utimur_ and _cibo_, or something to that effect.

[1659] _Sumen_ was "the sow's udder, killed the day after farrowing."
Cf. ad Juv., xi., 138, 81. Pers., i., 53.

_Altilis_ is put for any thing fattened up--oxen, hares, geese, ducks,
hens, or even fish. Cf. Hor., i., Ep. vii., 35, "Satur altilium."
Juv., v., 168, "Minor altilis." Athen., ix., c. 32. Woodcocks, snipes,
thrushes, and even dormice, are mentioned among their fatlings.

_Catillo_ (either from _catullus_ or _catillus_, diminutive of catinus,
"a dish") is applied to "a dog that runs about licking the dishes."
It is then used as a term of contempt for "those who came late to the
sacrifices of Hercules, and had nothing left them but the dishes to
lick." It is here used for "the pike that battens on the rich products
of the Roman cloacæ." (Macrob., Sat. ii., 12.) The Roman epicures
distinguished between three different kinds of the Tiber pike (lupus
Tiberinus). The worst were those caught quite out at sea; the second
best, those caught at Ostia at the river's mouth; the finest of all
were those taken in the neighborhood of the embouchures of the sewers,
either between the Pons Senatorius and Pons Sublicius, where the cloaca
maxima empties itself, or between the Pons Sublicius and Fabricius.
Hor., ii., Sat. ii, 31, "_Lupus_ hic _Tiberinus_ an alto captus hiet,
_pontesne inter_ jactatus an amnis Ostia sub Tusci." Juv., v., 104,
"Tiberinus, et ipse vernula riparum pinguis torrente cloacâ."

[1660] Lucilius probably refers to some rich, strong, full-bodied wine,
which these epicures drank unmixed, contrary to the usual custom.
_Defusum_ seems to be the better reading, which implies "pouring from
a larger vessel, as the crater, into the cyathus or drinking-cup."
_Diffusum_ is applied "to racking the wine from the wine-vat or cask
into the amphora," when it was sealed down. Cf. Hor., i., Ep. v., 4,
Orell. Juv., v., 30. For the use of _snow_ in cooling wine, see note
to Juv., v., 50. This wine has lost none of its strength by mixing it
with snow, and none of its flavor from having been filtered through the
strainer. (Cf. Plin., H. N., xiv., 27. Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 51, _seq._)
A great difficulty with the ancients seems to have been to clear their
wine of the lees; some of the methods are mentioned in the passage of
Horace just quoted. Eggs were also used for the same purpose. Besides
this, the wine was poured through a _colum_ and _saccus vinarius_. The
former was a kind of metal sieve, of which numbers have been found at
Pompeii. The latter was a filter-bag of linen. (Hence "integrum perdunt
lino vitiata saporem." Hor., _u. s._) The usual plan was to fill both
the colum and saccus with snow, and then to pour the wine over it;
and with this view the snow was carefully preserved till summer, as
is still done at Naples. (Hence "æstivæ nives." Mart., v., Ep. lxiv.,
2.) Nero's invention of using water that had been boiled and afterward
frozen, as a substitute for snow, has been already alluded to. This
process also served to moderate the intoxicating power of the stronger
wines; hence the phrases "castrare, frangere, liquare, vina." (Cf.
Plin., H. N., xix., 4,19; xiv., 22; xxiv., 1, 1. Mart., xii., Ep. lx.,
9, "Turbida sollicito transmittere Cæcuba sacco." xiv., Ep. ciii. and
civ.; ix., Ep. xxiii, 8; xci., 5.)

[1661] The magistrate who exhibited the shows of gladiators was said
_edere munus_. The first _editores_ were the brothers Marcus and
Decimus Junius Brutus, A.U.C. 490, B.C. 264, who exhibited a munus
gladiatorium in the Forum Boarium, at their father's funeral. Val.
Max., II., iv., 7, Liv. Epit., xvi. The country of Samnium afterward
produced many of these gladiators, though probably the name Samnis was
also given to those who were armed after the old Samnite fashion (as
Threx, Gallus, etc. Hor., i., Ep. xviii., 36; ii., Ep. ii., 98. Livy
describes their equipment in detail, ix., 40, which tallies exactly
with the paintings discovered at Pompeii. Vid. Pompeii, vol. i., p.
308, _seq._). Æsernia, now Isernia, was a town in the district of the
Pentri in Samnium, to which the Romans sent a colony in the year above
mentioned. Æsernius was probably some famous gladiator who was a native
of this place, but his name and that of Pacideianus were afterward used
proverbially for any eminent men of that class. Cf. Cic., opt. gen.,
Or. vi. Tusc., iv., 21, ad Quint. Frat., iii., 4. Hor., ii., Sat. vii.,
97. Nonius explains "spurcus" to mean "savage, blood-thirsty."

[1662] The reading and interpretation of Gerlach is followed.

[1663] Cicero (de Orat., iii., 23) quotes these lines of Lucilius, when
speaking of a certain Velocius, who, when a youth, had applied himself
with great success to the gladiatorial art, so as in fact to be a match
for any one, but afterward never practiced it. The relative claims of
the readings _civis_ and _cuivis_ are discussed at great length in
Harles' note to the passage of Cicero (q. v., ed. Lips., 1816). The
_rudis_ was the wooden sword with which the gladiators practiced; the
_sica_ being used in the _ludus_. They also received a rudis as a token
of their release from service. Hence "rudem poscere," "rude donatus,"
etc. Ov., Am., II., ix., 22. Cic., Phil., ii., 29. Hor., i., Ep. i., 2.
Suet., Cal., 32.

[1664] "Even though women may not have sufficient bodily strength to
endure the rougher and more laborious duties of human life, still they
may so far take care of their bodies as to be enabled to discharge the
womanly office of suckling children." Gerlach: who reads _succosa_ for
_succussa_, and explains _uberior_ by "largior, digitis non contractis,
vola manus," "the open palm." Cf. lib. xxviii., Fr. 47.

[1665] An utterly hopeless Fragment: for the second word, _titene_,
there are eleven various readings. Gerlach's emendation is followed,
who thinks it refers to the torments of love.

[1666] This Fragment also Gerlach considers descriptive of the
impetuosity of unbridled lust. Van Heusde sees an allusion to the
episode of the hawk and the nightingale in Hesiod. Op. et Di., 201,
_seq._

[1667] _Pessulus_ was the peg or bolt by which the fastening of the
door was secured on the inside. It probably refers to a lover effecting
a forcible entrance into his mistress's house. Cf. Hor., i., Od. xxv.,
1; iii., Od. xxvi., 7, where Horace enumerates _vectes_ among the
weapons of a lover's warfare. Cf. Lucil., xxix., Fr. 47, "Vecte atque
ancipiti ferre effringam cardines."

[1668] Cf. Cels., ii., 15.

BOOK V.

ARGUMENT.

The person to whom this book is addressed, is supposed by Scaliger
to have been a professor of the art of rhetoric. Lucilius
complains that this friend, though he knew he had been ill,
had never come to see him; and at the same time he ridicules
the affected and pedantic style of language then in vogue in
the schools of the rhetoricians. He then glances slightly at
the fickleness and inconstancy of his friend's attachment,
contrasting the present state of his feelings with his stanch
friendship in former days; at the same time assuring him that his
own heart remains unchanged. He admits, however, that there is
some ground for excuse for this disappointment of his hopes, as
even the good Tiresias of yore was occasionally found tripping.
(Fr. 10.) The causes which lead to breach of friendship are then
discussed, the chief of which is avarice, that lust of gold, that
nothing can satiate; while, meantime the people are lacking the
common necessaries of life. With avarice, ambition springs up; as
sure a divider of faithful hearts as avarice itself. Yet Lælius,
that true-hearted and single-minded man, could hold the highest
offices of state without losing his integrity of heart, or
sacrificing the simplicity of his rugged virtues. This treachery,
however, is gradual in its growth. (Fr. 3.) At first a large
bribe alone has power to sever the bonds of friendship; yet
soon they give way before the most paltry inducement. Yet such
is the infatuation and gross folly of men, that they even aim at
deceiving the gods themselves by an affectation of piety. With
this depraved state of morals he contrasts the frugal simplicity
of ancient days, describing by the way the plain and homely
elements that composed their forefathers' rustic meal. There
is supposed to be an allusion in this book to one Q. Metellus
Caprarius; a man who proved the worthlessness of his character,
both during his administration as prætor, and afterward when
serving in the camp before Numantia. (Fr. 11, 23, 20, 21, 22,
Gerl.) Horace had perhaps part of this Satire in view, when he
wrote his first Satire of the first book; especially where he
mentions avarice as one of the causes which make men discontented
with their lot in life. Very similar sentiments to those
expressed in this book may be found in Sallust also. (Bell. Cat.,
c. xii., init.)

1 Though you do not inquire how I find myself, I shall
nevertheless let you know. Since you have remained in that
class in which the greatest portion of mankind is now, that
you wish that man to perish whom you _would_ not come to see,
though you _should_ have done so. If you do not like this
"would" and "should," because it is inartificial, Isocratean,
and altogether turgid, and at the same time thoroughly
childish, I will not waste my labor. If you....

2 For if what is _really_ enough for man could have satisfied
him, this had been enough. Now since this is not so, how can we
believe that any riches whatever could satisfy desire?

3 ... just as when the dealer has produced his first fresh figs,
and in the early season gives only a few for an exorbitant
price.[1669]

4 For one and the same pain and distress is.... by all--

5 ... if his body remained as strong.... as the sentiments of the
writer's heart continue true....

6 Say when force compels you to penetrate gradually through the
seams of the crannies, in the darkness of night.[1670]

7 Since you alone, in my great sorrow and distress, and in my
extremity of difficulty, proved yourself a haven of safety to
me--[1671]

8 He was, I think, the only one who watched over me; and when he
seemed to me to be doing that, he laid snares for me![1672]

9 ...

10 Still it is allowed that one of the ancients, an old man of the
same years, Tiresias, fell.

11 Look not to the rostrum and feet of the prætor elect.[1673]

12 Lælius says, that though poor, he discharges important
offices.[1674]

13 The onion-man, become blear-eyed by constantly eating acrid
tear-bringing onions.[1675]

14 The Endive besides, stretching out with feet like horses--[1676]

15 The tear-producing onion also, with its lacryimose shells in
due succession--[1677]

16 ... a pitcher and a long bowl with two handles--[1678]

17 Go on and prosper with your virtue, say I, and with these
verses.

18 Too genial Ceres fails; nor do the people set bread.

19 ... bade the flat-nosed herd (of Nereus) frolic.[1679]

20 when he determined to lead out the guard from the camp.[1680]

21 he was the elder: we can not do all things--[1681]

22 ... the guard of the fleet, catapultas, darts, spears.[1682]

23 ... whether you may be able to get off, or the day must be
further postponed.[1683]

24 ... meanwhile his breast is thick with bristles

25 ... and spreads legs beneath legs[1684]

26 ... porridge dressed with fat.[1685]

27 ... the basket with its treacherous heap.

28 ... dashed a wooden trencher on his head--[1686]

FOOTNOTES:

[1669] Read perhaps _primus_ for _primas_. "He who is the first
to bring his figs into the market," and therefore, as it were,
_forestalls_ others, which "propola" seems to imply.

[1670] _Rimarum._ Cf. Juv., iii., 97. Plaut., Cas., V., ii., 23.

[1671] The whole passage is corrupt. Gerlach's emendation is followed,
with the exception of reading _sanè_ for _sanus_.

_Creperus_ is equivalent to anceps, dubius. Cf. Lucr., v., 1296,
"creperi certamina belli." Pacuv., Dulorest, Fr. 19, "Non vetet animum
ægritudine in _re creperâ_ confici."

[1672] _Retia._ Cf. Propert., El. III., viii., 37, "qui nostro nexisti
retia lecto."

[1673] See argument.

[1674] Cf. book iv., Fr. 1-6. Cic., de Off., ii., 17.

[1675] _Cæparius_ implies "one very fond of onions," as well as the
dealer in that article.

[1676] Probably alluding to the wide-spreading fibres of the Intyba.
"Amaris intyba fibris." Virg., Georg., i., 120; iv., 20; where Martyn
explains it as Succory in the former passage, Endive in the latter.

[1677] _Tallæ_ are the several successive hulls or shells of the onion,
κρομμύου λέπυρον. Cf. Theoc., v., 95.

[1678] _Mixtarius._ Any vessel in which wine and water were mixed for
drinking. κρατήρ.

[1679] No doubt "dolphins" are meant; and with almost equal certainty
we may assert that Lucilius is parodying a line of Pacuvius quoted by
Quintilian (i., c. 5), "Nerei repandirostrum incurvicervicum pecus."
But the reading of the line is very doubtful. Corpet, after Balth.
Venator, reads, _nasi_ rostrique. D'Achaintre follows the old reading,
_jussit_. Gerlach reads nisi, but suggests _simum_ (but without quoting
Pliny, which would confirm his conjecture, vid. H. N., IX., viii., 7,
"dorsum repandum, rostrum _simum_"). Lucil., vii., Fr. 9, "Simat nares
delphinus ut olim." May not _nisi_, after all, be a corruption of
_Nerei_? Cf. Hor., Od., I., ii., 7. Virg., Georg., iv., 395, "_Lascivum
Nerei simum pecus_." Liv. Andron., Fr. 3, ed. Bothe, Lips., 1834.
Pacuv., Dulorest., Fr. 26.

[1680] For _cernere_ used for _decernere_, see Plaut., Cist., I., i.;
1. Varro, L. L., vi., 5. Cic, Leg., iii., 3. Catull., lxiv., 150.
Senec, Ep., lviii., 2. Virg., Æn., xii., 709. See Argument.

[1681] Cf. Virg., Ecl., viii., 63.

[1682] Read _Catapultas, tela_. The difference between the Catapulta
and the Ballista seems to have been, that the former was used for
shooting bolts or short spears, the latter for projecting large stones.
The _Sarissa_ was a very long spear. (Liv., ix., 19: xxxviii., 7.
Polyæn., Str., iv., 11.) It was the peculiar weapon of the Macedonians.
Ov., Met., xii., 466. Lucan, viii., 298: x., 47.

[1683] _Elabi_ is elegantly applied to those who, though really guilty,
get off by some artifice or by bribery. Cic, Act., i., Verr., 11. Ver.,
i., 34; ii., 58.

_Diem prodere._ Ter., And., II., i., 13, "Impetrabo ut aliquot saltem
nuptiis prodat dies." Liv., xxv., 13, "alia prodita dies."

[1684] Hor., i., Sat. ii., 126.

[1685] _Puls_ is a mixture of coarse meal and water seasoned with salt
and cheese, or with eggs and honey; the modern _polenta_ or macaroni.
Vid. Juv., vii., 185; xi., 58. Persius complains that the haymakers
were grown so luxurious as to spoil it by mixing thick unguents with
it: vi., 40. _Adipatus._ "Adipe conditus." Balbi Gloss. Cf. Juv., vi.,
631, "Livida materno fervent adipata veneno."

[1686] _Scutella_, dimin. of _Scutra_. Any broad flat vessel for
holding _puls_ or vegetables, probably often _square_, like our
trenchers. Hence the checked dresses in Juvenal are called "scutulata,"
ii., 97.

BOOK VI.

ARGUMENT.

Schoenbeck considers the subject of this book to have been an
attack upon the crafty and dishonest tricks of pleaders in the
forum. Gerlach sees in it little more than Lucilius' favorite
theme, the exposure of vile and sordid avarice. The miser's
anxious alarm for the safety of his money-bags (Hor., i., Sat.
i., 70, "Congestis undique saccis indormis inhians"), which he
can not bear out of his sight, and from which no earthly power
can tear him away (Fr. 1, 2), the miserable appliances of his
scanty furniture, and the absence of any thing approaching to
luxury, or even comfort, form the first portion of the Satire.
The remaining Fragments seem rather to apply to the manners of
the nobles. Their insolent disregard of the feelings of others
(Fr. 4), their unbridled licentiousness, their arrogance of look
and bearing, and haughty contempt of all union with plebeians,
are depicted in very bold language. Yet these same men are
described as condescending to the most servile and fulsome
flattery in courting the favor of these same plebeians, when
such condescension is necessary to advance their own ambitious
schemes. The extravagant gesture and overstrained language
of some bad orator is then described (Fr. 3), which Gerlach
considers to apply to one of these patricians when pleading
his own cause. Van Heusde refers to no one in particular, but
Corpet supposes there is an allusion to Caius Gracchus, who is
mentioned by Plutarch as having been "the first of the Romans who
used violent gesticulation in speaking, walking up and down the
rostrum, and pulling his toga from his shoulder." What connection
the Fragment in which Crassus and Mucius are mentioned has with
the main subject, as also the allusion in Fr. 5 to some immodest
female, is not known.

1 ... who has neither hackney nor slave, nor a single attendant.
His bag, and all the money that he has, he carries with him.
He sups with his bag, sleeps with it, bathes with it. The
man's whole hope centres in his bag alone. All the rest of his
existence is bound up in this bag![1687]

2 ... whom not even bulls bred in the Lucanian mountains, could
draw away with their sturdy necks, in one long pull.[1688]

3 ... this, I say, he will bray and bawl out from the Rostra,
running about like a courier, and loudly calling for help.[1689]

4 ... they think they can offend with impunity, and by their
nobility easily keep aloof those who are not their equals.[1690]

6 If he has spattered his garments with mud, at that he foolishly
sets up a loud and hearty laugh--

8 ... what you would wish him to do--

9 Lewdness fills their faces; impudence and prodigality--

10 if you know him, he is not a big man, but a big-nosed, lean
fellow--

11 That alone withstood adverse fortune and circumstances.

13 Three beds stretched on ropes, by Deucalion.[1691]

14 ... down and velvet, or any other luxury.[1692]

15 The hair-dresser sports round the impluvium, in a circle.[1693]

16 ... this he believes some one begg'd from your bath[1694]

17 ... he makes a good bargain, who sells a cross-bred horse.[1695]

18 ... they think one of their own should enter and pass
over.[1696]

19 ... they do not prevent your going farther--[1697]

20 ... to bid "All hail!" is to wish health to a friend.[1698]

21 Give round the drink, beginning from the top--[1699]

22 The Sardinian land

23 ... both the things we abound in, and those we lack.

FOOTNOTES:

[1687] _Bulgam_ (cf. ii., Fr. 16), from the Greek μολγός, "a hide or
skin" «cf. Arist., Frag. 157; Schol. ad Equit., 959», is a leathern
bag suspended from the arm or girdle, and seems to have answered the
purpose either of a traveling valise or purse. Compare the gypciére of
the middle ages. Hor., Ep., II., ii., 40. Juv., viii., 120; xiv., 297.
Suet., Vitell., xvi. It was a Tarentine word, as we learn from Pollux,
x., 187. From bulga comes the Spanish _bolsa_, the French _bourse_, and
our _purse_.

_Dormit._ Hor., i., Sat. i., 70. Virg., Geor., ii., 507, "Condit opes
alius, defossoque incubat auro."

[1688] _Protelo._ The ablative of the old protelum, which is
interpreted as "the continuous, unintermitting pull of oxen applied to
a dead weight." Nothing could more forcibly express the hopeless task
of attempting to detach the miser from his gains. Cf. xii., Fr. 2.
Plin., IX., xv., 17. Lucret., ii., 532; iv., 192.

[1689] _Concursans._ iv., Fr. 17.

_Ancarius._ The ἄγγαρος, "a mounted courier of the Persians," such
as were kept in readiness at regular stages for carrying the royal
dispatches. (Cf. Herod., viii., 98; iii., 126. Xen., Cyr., VIII.,
vi., 17. Æsch., Agam., 282. Marco Polo describes the same institution
as existing among the Mongol Tartars. Heeren, Ideen, i., p. 497. Cf.
Welcker's Æschyl., Trilog., p. 121.) The name was then applied to any
porter, or carrier of burdens, and hence specially to "an ass," which,
Forcellini says, is its meaning here. Hence _rudet_, cf. Pers., Sat.
iii., 9.

_Quiritare_, is to appeal to the citizens for help, by calling out
"Cursum," etc. Cic. ad Div., x., 32. It was the _city_ cry. Countrymen
were said "Jubilare." Varro, L. L., v. 7. Cf. Liv., xxxix., 8. Plin.,
Pan., xxix. Quinctil., iii., 8, "Rogatus sententiam, si modo est sanus,
non quiritet."

[1690] _Facul_, i. e., facilè. "Haud facul fœmina invenietur bona."
Pacuv. ap. Non., ii., 331. "Difficul" is used in the same manner.

[1691] Descriptive probably of the meanness and antiquity of the
miser's furniture. Grabatum, from the Macedonian word κράβατος, is used
for the coarsest kind of bed. Cf. Cic., Div., ii., 63. Mart., vi.,
Ep. xxxix., 4; xii., Ep. xxxii., 12, "Ibat tripes grabatus et tripes
mensa;" where Martial is describing a somewhat similarly luxurious
establishment. Virg., Moret., 5. Sen., Epist. xviii., 5; xx., 10. These
sort of beds seem to have been supported on ropes. Cf. Petr., Sat. 97.
Mart., v., Ep. lxii., 6, "Putris et abrupta fascia reste jacet." S.
Mark, ii., 9. (See the lines attributed to Sulpicia, quoted in the old
Schol. to Juv., Sat. vi., 538. Lucil., xi., Fr. 13.)

[1692] _Amphitape._ Lib. i., Fr. 21.

[1693] The _Atrium_, which was generally the principal apartment in the
house, had an opening in the centre of the roof, called Compluvium,
or Cavum Ædium, toward which the roof sloped so as to throw the
rainwater into a cistern in the floor (commonly made of marble), called
Impluvium. (See the drawings of the houses of Pansa and Sallust,
Pompeii, vol. ii., p. 108, 120. Bekker's Gallus, p. 257.) The two
terms are used indifferently. The _Cinerarius_ seems to be the same
as the Ciniflo (Hor., i., Sat. ii., 98, "a cinere flando," Acron. in
loc.), "the slave who heated the Calamistri, or curling pins." Bekker's
Gallus, p. 440.

[1694] _Latrinam_, quasi lavatrinam, "the private bath;" balneum being
more commonly applied to the public one. Cf. Plaut., Curc., IV.,
iv., 24. Turneb. It is sometimes put for a worse place, as we say
"wash-house." Vid. Bekker's Gallus, p. 265.

[1695] _Musimo_ is put for any hybrid animal, as a mule, etc. "Animal
ex duobus animalibus diversæ speciei procreatum." It is applied to a
cross between a goat and a sheep. So Plin., VIII., xlix., 75. Compare
the Greek μούσμων.

[1696] See Argument. _Suam_ seems to imply "one of their own order."
Nonius explains _innubere_ by "transire," because women when married
pass to their husbands' houses: it generally means the same as nubere.
But Cort. (ad Lucan, iii., 23, "Innupsit tepido pellex Cornelia busto")
explains it "marrying _beneath one's_ station," which is very probably
its force here. See Bentley's note on the line, who suggests the
emendation "transitivè," no doubt correctly.

[1697] _Porcent_, i. e., porro arcent, prohibent, used by Ennius,
Pacuvius, and Accius.

[1698] "The conventional phrase of forced courtesy implies the
familiarity of equal friendship." See Arg.

[1699] Ter., And., III., ii, 4, "Quod jussi ei dari bibere, date." _Ab
summo_, i. e., beginning from him that sits at the top of the table.
Vid. Schol. ad Hom., Il., i, 597. Cic., de Sen., xiv. Plaut., Pers.,
V., i., 19. As V., ii., 41, "Da, puere, ab summo: Age tu interibi ab
infimo da suavium." So in Greek, ἐν κύκλῳ πίνειν.

BOOK VII.

ARGUMENT.

The _general_ subject of the book seems to be agreed upon by all
commentators, though they differ as to the details. Schoenbeck
says it is directed against the lusts of women; particularly
the occasions where those lusts had most opportunity of being
exhibited and gratified, the festivals of the Matronalia and the
kindred Saturnalia. Petermann considers that it refers simply
to the intercourse between husbands and wives, in which view
Dousa seems to coincide. Duentzer takes a wider view, and says
it refers to _all_ licentious pleasures. Van Heusde leaves the
matter undecided. Gerlach coincides with the general view, but
supposes that the passions and the quarrels alluded to must be
referred to _slaves_, or at all events persons of the lowest
station, for whom festivals, like the Sigillaria (alluded to in
Fr. 4), were more particularly intended. The first two Fragments
evidently refer to a matrimonial brawl. The tenth, eleventh,
and twelfth refer to an unhallowed passion. The fifth, sixth,
and thirteenth to the unnatural and effeminate refinements
practiced by a class of persons too often referred to in Juvenal
and Persius. The fifteenth, to the fastidious taste of those
who professed to be judges of such matters. The connection of
the seventh Fragment is uncertain, as it applies apparently to
rewards for military service.

1 When he wishes to punish her for her misdeed, the fellow takes
a Samian potsherd and straightway mutilates himself--[1700]

2 I said, I come to the main point; I had rather belabor my wife,
grown old and mannish, than emasculate myself--[1701]

3 ... who would love you, prove himself the patron of your bloom
and beauty, and promise to be your friend.

4 This is the slaves' holiday; a day which you evidently can not
express in Hexameter verse.[1702]

5 I am shaved, plucked, scaled, pumice-stoned, bedecked, polished
up and painted--[1703]

6 Did I ever compare this man with Apollo's favorite
Hyacinthus.[1704]

7 Five spears: a light-armed skirmisher, with a belt of
gold.[1705]

8 first glows like hot iron from the forge--

9 If he moves and flattens his nostrils as a dolphin at
times.[1706]

10 The one grinds, the other winnows corn as it were....[1707]

11 ... bloom and beauty, like a go-between and kind
procuress.[1708]

12 like that renowned Phryne when....[1709]

13 that no dirt settle on the ear ... no vermin--

14 ... that have no eyes, or nose....

15 We are severe; difficult to please; fastidious as to good
things.

17 ... and the goose's neck.[1710]

19 ... We murmur, are ground, sink down....[1711]

20 you whimper in the same way--[1712]

21 With such passion and hatred for him am I transported.[1713]

22 Here is Macedo if Acron is too long flaccid.[1714]

FOOTNOTES:

[1700] _Samos_ produced a particular kind of earth (Samia creta),
peculiarly serviceable in the potter's art. Hence the earthenware
of Samos acquired, even in very early ages, considerable celebrity;
and the potters at Samos, as at Corinth, Athens, and Ægina, formed a
considerable portion of the population. See the pun on "Vas Samium,"
Plaut., Bacch., II., ii., 23. Vid. Müller's Ancient Art, § 62. With
the sharp fragments of the Samian potsherds, the Galli, or priests of
Cybele, were accustomed to mutilate themselves. Plin., XXXV., xii., 46.
Juv., vi., 513, "Mollia qui ruptâ secuit genitalia testâ." Mart, iii.,
Ep. lxxxi., 3.

[1701] _Virosus_, φιλανδρος, "viri appetens."

[1702] The Scholiast on Hor., i., Sat. v., 87, tells us that the
allusion is to the festival of the Sigillaria. (Auson., Ecl. de Fer.
Rom., 32, "Sacra Sigillorum nomine dicta colunt.") The Saturnalia
were originally held on the 19th of December (xiv. Kal. Jan.), and
lasted for one day only. They were instituted B.C. 497 (Liv., ii.,
21; xxii., 1), and were intended to commemorate the golden days of
Saturn, when slavery was unknown; hence slaves were waited on by their
masters, who wore a short robe, called the Synthesis, for that purpose.
It was a time of general festivity and rejoicing; and presents were
interchanged between friends. The festival was afterward extended to
three days by an edict of Julius Cæsar, which Augustus confirmed; and,
commencing on the 17th, terminated on the 19th. (Macrob., Sat. i.,
10.). Caligula added two more days (or one at least, Suet., Cal., 17),
which custom Claudius revived when it had fallen into desuetude. Then
the Sigillaria were added, so that the period of festivity was extended
to seven days. Mart., xiv., Ep. 72. The Sigillaria were so called from
sigillum, "a small image." (From the words of Macrobius, it seems
that these sigilla were _images_ of men offered to Dis, and intended
as substitutes for the _living_ sacrifices which were offered in more
barbarous ages. Macrob., _u. s._) The name was applied to the little
figures which were sent as presents on the occasion of this festival.
These not unfrequently were confectionery or sweetmeats made in this
form. Senec., Ep., xii., 3. Suet., Claud., 5. The Easter cakes in Roman
Catholic countries are no doubt a remnant of this custom. (Cf. Blunt's
Vestiges, p. 119.)

[1703] _Pumicor._ Cf. Ov., A. Am., i., 506, "Nec tua mordaci pumice
crura teras." Juv., viii., 16, "Si tenerum attritus Catinensi pumice
lumbum." ix., 95, "res Mortifera est inimicus pumice lævis." The
pumice-stone, particularly that found at the foot of Mount Ætna, was
used to render the skin delicately smooth. Resin, and a kind of plaster
made of pitch, was used to eradicate all superfluous hairs. Plin.,
xiv., 20; xxxv., 21. Cf. ad Juv., viii., 114, "Resinata juventus." ix.,
14, "Bruttia præstabat calidi tibi fascia visci." ii., 12. Pers., iv.,
36, 40, Plaut., Pseud., I., ii., 9. Mart., xiv., Ep. 205.

[1704] _Hyacintho._ Cf. ad Virg., Ecl., iii., 63. Ov., Met., x., 185,
_seq._ _Cortinipotens_ is an epithet of Apollo as lord of the Cortina;
i. e., the egg-shaped basin on the Delphian tripod whence the oracles
were echoed. Vid. Hase's Ancient Greeks, p. 144. Serv. ad Virg., Æn.,
iii., 92, "Mugire aditis Cortina reclusis." vi., 347, "Neque te Phœbi
cortina fefellit." Suet., Aug., 52. _Contendi._ Cf. lib. i., Fr. 15.

[1705] _Cinctus_ is sometimes put for a soldier. Plin., vii., Ep. 25.
Juv., xvi., 48.

The _Rorarii_ were light companies who advanced before the line, and
began the battle with slings and stones; so called from ros. "Quod
ante rorat quam pluit." Cf. Varro, L. L., vi., 3. Liv., viii., 8. The
_Velites_, from vexillum.

[1706] _Simat._ Cf. ad lib. v., Fr. 19.

[1707] _Molere._ Hor., i., Sat. ii., 35. Auson., Epig., lxxi., 7.
Theoc., iv., 58, μύλλει. Cf. lib. ix., Fr. 26.

[1708] _Saga._ Tibull., i., El. v., 59, "Sagæ præcepta rapacis desere."

[1709] _Phryne._ Vid. Athen., xiii., p. 591. Plin., xxxiv., 8. The name
was not uncommon in the same class at Rome. Tibull., ii, El. vi., 45.
Hor., Epod., xiv., 16.

[1710] 16 and 17 seem hopelessly corrupt. Gerlach supposes some
"remedy for languishing love" to be intended ("irritamentum Veneris
languentis"), and reads "Callosa ova et bene plena: tunc olorum atque
anseris collus" (cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 14), "Hard and well-filled
eggs; then swan's and goose's neck." But the emendation is too wide to
be admitted into the text.

[1711] _Muginor_ is used by Cicero in the sense of "dallying,
trifling." "Nugas agere, causari, moras nectere, tarde conari." Att.,
xvi., 12. But its primitive meaning is conveyed by its etymology,
"Mugitu moveo." It refers to the noise made by those who move heavy
weights, that their efforts may be exerted in concert. Coupled with Fr.
10, its meaning is obvious here.

[1712] _Ogannis_, i. e., obgannis. It is properly applied to a dog. Cf.
Juv., vi., 64, "Appula gannit." Compare the Greek λαγνεύειν.

[1713] Cf. lib. iv., Fr. 8.

[1714] Gerlach reads "Acron" for the old _lorum_, which Scaliger
approved, and connected this Fragment with the second of the eighth
book.

BOOK VIII.

ARGUMENT.

The eighth book, as Schoenbeck supposes, consisted of an exposition
of domestic life, with a discussion as to the virtues which a
good wife ought to possess. Duentzer would rather connect it with
the last book, and imagines unlawful love to have been the theme,
and that the ancient title of the book countenanced this opinion.
The second, fourth, fifth, eleventh, and thirteenth Fragments
seem to confirm the conjecture; the drift of the others is not
apparent.

1 When the victor cock proudly rears himself, and raises his
front talons--

2 When I drink from the same cup, embrace, press lip to
lip....[1715]

3 But on the river, and at the very parting of the waters, ... a
merchantman ... with feet of holm-oak.[1716]

4 ... that she is slender, nimble, with clean chest, and like a
youth....[1717]

5 ... then she joins side to side, and breast to breast.[1718]

6 If he achieve the whole route, and the steep stadium at an
ambling pace--[1719]

7 To salt sea-eels, and bring the wares into the larder.[1720]

8 But all trades and petty gains....

9 the Hiberian island....[1721]

10 a necessary close at hand; a bake-house, store-room,
kitchen[1722]

11 ... with friendly hand wipes off the tears....

12 ... giblets, or else liver....[1723]

13 ... the work flags....[1724]

14 ... wine-bibbers.[1725]

FOOTNOTES:

[1715] Nonius reads "fictrices," and explains "fingere" by "lingere."
Cf. Schol. ad Aristoph., Aves, 507.

[1716] Gerlach says, "Ex his verbis vix probabilem eruas sensum."

The _cercurus_ was a large merchant-vessel, used by the Asiatics,
undecked, and capable of carrying a large freight. It was invented,
according to Pliny, by the Cyprians. Plin., vii., 56, 57. Cf. Plaut.,
Merc., I., i., 86. Stich., II., iii., 34. It appears, however, from
Livy, that the name was sometimes applied to a vessel of smaller size.
Liv., xxx., 19. _Ilignis pedibus._ Cf. Ter., Adelph., IV., ii., 46.
Virg., Georg., iii., 330. For _concinat_, Gerlach proposes to read
"concinnat."

[1717] _Pernix_ is the epithet Catullus applies to Atalanta: ii., 12,
"Quam ferunt puellæ Pernici aureolum fuisse malum."

[1718] Cf. Lib. v., Fr. 25. Probably from this Horace takes his line,
i., Sat. ii., 126.

[1719] _Evadit._ Cf. Virg., Æn., ii., 731; xii., 907. Ov., Met., iii.,
19. _Acclivis_ is properly applied to a "gentle ascent." Virg., Georg.,
ii., 276. Col., iii., 15. _Tolutim_, à tollendo. Pliny (viii., 42)
tells us that the people of Asturias in Spain trained their jennets
to a particular kind of easy pace: "mollis alterno crurum explicatu
glomeratio." Varro speaks of giving a horse to a trainer, that he may
teach him this pace: "ut equiso doceat tolutim incedere." Cf. Plaut.,
As., III., iii., 116, "Demam hercle jam hordeo tolutim ni badizas."
Hence the "managed palfrey" of the Middle Ages. The pace probably
resembled that now taught by the Americans to their horses, and called
"racking." Cf. lib. xiv., 12, "equus gradarius, optimus vector."

[1720] The _frigidarium_ was not only the "cold bath" (Bekker's Gallus,
p. 385), but was also applied to a cool cellar or pantry for keeping
provisions fresh.

[1721] All the commentators seem to give up this line in despair.
_Colustrum_ is properly the first milk that comes after parturition;
which, as being apt to curdle, was esteemed unwholesome, and produced
an attack called "Colustratio." Schoenbeck supposes that the
inhabitants of this "Hibera insula," wherever it was, used _fomenta_
and _colustra_ as medical remedies. Mart., xiii., Ep. 38.

[1722] _Posticum_, Nonius makes equivalent to _Sella_. Gerlach,
however, thinks "cella" the correct reading here. The _pistrinum_ was
the name both for the bake-house and the mill for grinding the corn.
Vid. Bekker's Gallus, p. 265.

[1723] _Gigeria_ are the entrails of poultry: these were sometimes
served with a kind of stuffing or forcemeat called _insicia_. The word
occurs only in Lucilius, Petronius, and Apicius.

[1724] Scaliger connects this Fragment with lib. vii., Fr. 22, and
reads, "Hic est Macedo: si lorum longui' flaccet, Læna manu lacrymas
mutoni absterget amicâ."

[1725] _Bua_ was the word taught by Roman nurses to children,
equivalent to our "pap." "Potio posita parvulorum." Varro. Hence
_Vinibuæ_ for _vinolentæ_.

BOOK IX.

ARGUMENT.

The subject of the ninth book is known from several notices in the
old grammarians.[1726] It is said to have contained strictures
on the orthography of the ancient writers; some emendations of
the verses of Accius and Ennius (with especial reference to
the former, who is said to have always used double vowels to
express a long syllable), and a mention of the double genius,
who, according to the notion of Euclides the Socratic, attends
upon each individual of the human race. The exact connection of
this latter topic with the foregoing, is not at present evident
to us. It appears that this book had anciently the title of
"_Fornix_" as the work of Pomponius on a cognate subject was
called "_Marsyas_." Van Heusde supposes that it took its name
from the Fabian arch on the Via Sacra, and that its subject
resembled the ninth of Horace's first book of Satires. The poet,
in his walk along the Via Sacra, meets with a troublesome fellow
near the arch of Fabius, who pesters him with a speech which he
is about to deliver, as defendant in a cause, and which he wishes
Lucilius to look over and correct; and that this furnishes the
poet with the groundwork for a discussion on several points in
grammar, orthography, and rhetoric. With this view Gerlach so far
agrees, as to suppose the subject of both Horace's and Lucilius's
Satires to have been similar; especially since many similar
phrases and sentiments occur in both; but he considers a detailed
disquisition on single letters and syllables inconsistent with
a desultory conversation, or with a cursory criticism of an
oration, and considers it better to confess one's ignorance
honestly than indulge in vain-glorious conjecture. Particularly,
since many other Fragments of this book have come down to us,
wholly irreconcilable with this view of the subject; some
referring to avarice, others to the Salii; which, though they
might certainly be incidentally mentioned, imply too diversified
a subject to be definitely circumscribed within so limited an
outline, as Van Heusde conjectures.

1 ... only let the nap of the woof stand erect within....[1727]

2 First is A. I will begin with this; and the words spelled with
it. In the first place, A is either a long or short syllable;
consequently we will make it one, and, as we say, write it
in one and the same fashion, "Pācem, Plăcide, Jānum, Aridum,
Acetum," just as the Greeks do. Ἄρες Ἄρες.[1728]

3 ... not very different from this, and badly put together, if
with a burr like a dog, I say AR ... this is its name.[1729]

4 ... and there is no reason why you should make it a question or
a difficulty whether you should write ACCURRERE with a D or a
T.[1730]

5 But it is of great consequence whether ABBITERE have a D or
B--[1731]

6 "Now come PUEREI." Put E and I at the end, to make "pueri" the
plural; if you put I only, as PupillI, PuerI, LuceilI, this
will become the singular number. "_Hoc illi factum est unI._"
Being singular, you will put I only. "_Hoc IllEI fecere._" Add
E to mark the plural. Add also E to MendacEI and FurEI, when
you make it the dative case." MEIle hominum, dub MEIlia." Here
too we must have both vowels, MEIles, MEIlitiam. Pila, "a ball
to play with," Pilum, "a pestle to pound with," will have I
simply. But to PEIla, "javelins," you must add E, to give the
fuller sound.[1732]

7 Our S, and what after a semi-Greek fashion we call Sigma,
admits of no mistake.

8 ... in the word PeLLiciendo.[1733]

9 For just as we see Intro (within) to be a very different word
from Intus (inside), so _apud se_ is very different from, and
has not the same force as, _ad se_. "A man invites us to come
in and join him (intro ad se). He keeps himself at home, inside
his own house (intus apud se)."

10 "The water boils," may be expressed by _Fervit_ (of the third
conjugation), or _Fervet_ (of the second conjugation). Or
again, _Fervit_ may be the _present_ tense, _Fervet_ the
_future_; both of the third conjugation.

11 So Fervĕre (with the E short, of the third conjugation).

12 You do not perceive the force of this; or how this differs from
the other. In the first place, this which we call "Poema" is
a small portion. So also an epistle, or any distich which is
of no great length, may be a "Poema." A "Poësis" is a _whole_
work, as the whole Iliad; it is one Thesis. So also the Annals
of Ennius, that is also a single work, and of much greater
magnitude than what I just now styled Poëma. Wherefore I
assert, that no one who finds fault with Homer, finds fault
with him _all through_; nor does he criticise, as I said
before, the _whole_ Poesis; but simply a single verse, word,
proposition, or passage.

13 ... that he is a misshapen old man, gouty in his joints and
feet--that he is lame, wretched, emaciated, and ruptured--

14 I seize his beak, and smash his lips, Zopyrus-fashion, and
knock out all his front teeth.[1734]

15 For he who makes bricks never has any thing more than common
clay with chaff, and stubble mixed with mud.[1735]

16 If she is nothing on the score of beauty, and if in former days
she was a harlot and common prostitute, you must have coin and
money.

17 ... What if I see some oysters? Shall I be able to detect the
very river, and mud, and slime they came from?[1736]

18 He is a corn-chandler, and brings with him his bushel-measure
and his leveling-stick.[1737]

19 Study to learn: lest the fact itself and the reasoning confute
you--

20 with one thousand sesterces you can gain a hundred---

21 he had scratched himself, like a boar with his sides rubbed
against a tree--

22 ... hence the ancilia, and high-peaked caps, and sacrificial
bowls[1738]

23 as the priest begins the solemn dance, and then the main body
takes it up after him.[1739]

24 ... herself cuts all the thongs from the hide--

25 ... how he differs from him whom Apollo has rescued. So be it.

26 her motion was as though she were winnowing corn.[1740]

FOOTNOTES:

[1726] Isidorus Hispalensis, Q. Terentianus Scaurus, and Velius Longus.

[1727] _Panus_ is explained in two ways, as "tramæ involucrum," and
as "tumor inguinis." Gerlach inclines to the latter interpretation.
Schmidt supposes Lucilius to employ the metaphor of weaving to express
the following sentiment: "as the outer surface of the woof is of little
consequence if the inner part be good, so, provided a man's internal
qualities, the virtues of his heart and head, are all that we can
desire, it matters little what the outer integument is that shrouds
this fair inside:" and that to this Horace alludes, ii., Sat. i., 63,
"Lucilius ausus Primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem Detrahere
et _pellem_ nitidus quâ quisque per ora Cederet _introrsum turpis_."
(Lucilii Satyrarum quæ de lib. ix. supersunt disposita, c. L. F.
Schmidt, p. 40.) But Gerlach thinks that _panus_ could not be used to
express _pellis_.

[1728] This, we learn from Terentianus, is a criticism on Accius, who
used to mark long syllables by _doubling_ the vowels, which Lucilius
considers a fault, there being no more necessity in Latin to mark the
quantity by the orthography than in Greek, where, though the length of
the vowel be changed, as in ἄρες ἄρες, the spelling remains unaltered.
Cf. Hom., Il., v., 31. Mart., ix., Ep. xii., 15.

[1729] Corpet supposes some rustic person is alluded to, who used the
old-fashioned form. Cf. Plaut., Truc., II., xii., 17. Gerlach supposes
it is the poet himself. Cf. Pers., Sat. i., 109, "Sonat hic de nare
caninâ litera."

[1730] Gerlach thinks there may be an allusion to Plautus, who often
uses this word. Cf. Capt., III., iv., 72. Rud., III., iv., 72.

[1731] _Abbitere_ for _abbire_ is Schmidt's reading, who also reads
_siet_ for _sive_, omitting _habet_ at the end of the line.

[1732] The rule contained in this Fragment seems superfluous,
especially after the opinion Lucilius has given in the second. _I_ is
equally long or short with _A_, nor does it appear why the _genitive_
should not be as _essentially_ long as the _dative_ singular. If the
insertion of the E were simply to mark the difference of number, there
might be some apparent reason.

[1733] "This Fragment is simply an illustration of the rule that the
preposition _per_ in composition remains unchanged, unless it stand
before the letter L, when by assimilation it is changed into the
initial letter of the word: so per lacio becomes pellacio; per labor,
pellabor; per luceo, pelluceo."

[1734] Alluding to the story of Zopyrus, told by Herodotus, lib. iii.,
154, and by Justin, lib. iii., 10, _seq._, who mutilated himself to
gain Babylon for Darius. Cf. lib. xxii., Fr. 3.

[1735] _Acerosum_, according to Nonius, is applied to coarse bread,
not sufficiently cleared from chaff and husk. Cf. lib. xv., Fr.
18. _Aceratum_, to clay mixed with stubble and straw, fit for the
brickmaker's use, the paleatum of Columella. V., vi., med. Cf. Exod.,
v., 16.

[1736] Juvenal borrows and enlarges upon this idea, in describing the
Epicurism of Montanus. Sat. iv., 139, "Nulli majus fait usus edendi
tempestati meâ. Circæ nata forent an Lucrinum ad saxum, Rutupinove
edita fundo. _Ostrea, callebat primo deprendere morsa_, et _semel
aspecti_ litus dicebat echini."

[1737] _Rutellum_, the diminutive of Rutrum. "a mattock," was the stick
with which the corn-dealer struck off the heaped-up corn, so as to make
it level with the top of his measure. It was also called Hostorium,
from the old verb Hostire, "to strike." Compare the old English
"strike," used for a measure.

[1738] _Capis_ (à capiendo, Varro, v., 121, "quod ausatæ ut prehendi
possent") was a cup with a handle, generally made of earthenware, and
ordinarily used in sacrifices. Vid. Liv., lib. x., 7. So also Capedo
and Capula. Cf. Bekker's Gallus, p. 481. The _apex_ is the conical cap
worn by the Salii.

[1739] _Præsul_ was the name applied to the Princeps Saliorum, because
he led the sacred dance, as προορχηστὴρ, ἔξαρχος. Called also Præsultor
and Præsultator. _Amtruo_ (from _am_, ἀμφὶ, circum, and _trua_, "an
implement used for stirring things round while they were being cooked")
is the technical phrase for the dancing of the Salii. The Præsul
danced at the head of the procession, _amtruabat_; the rest followed,
imitating his movements; _redamtruabant_. This procession took place in
the Comitium on the Kalends of March.

[1740] Cf. vii., Fr. 10.

BOOK X.

ARGUMENT.

The old Scholiast, in his Life of Persius, tells us that "after he
had quitted school, and the instruction of his tutors, he was
so much struck with the tenth book of the Satires of Lucilius,
that he was seized with a vehement desire of writing Satire,
and immediately applied himself to the imitation of this book,
and after first detracting from his own merits, proceeded to
disparage the poetical attempts of others." Van Heusde supposes
that the book contained a detailed account of the life of
Lucilius; and hence the saying of the Scholiast, that "the whole
life of Lucilius was as distinctly known as if it had been
portrayed in pictures." (So Horace says, Sat., II., i., 30,
"Quo fit ut omnis Votivâ pateat veluti descripta tabella Vita
senis.") He conjectures the difference between the subjects of
the ninth and tenth books to have been this: that in the ninth,
Lucilius criticised the ignorance and corrected the mistakes of
the Librarii; i. e., those who _copied_ the compositions of the
poets, only incidentally, and by the way, touching on the poets
themselves. Whereas the tenth was intended directly as an attack
upon the poets who preceded him. Jahn, in his prolegomena on
Persius, imagines this imitation of the tenth book to have been
carried farther than we are perhaps justified in assuming; he
conjectures that the Hendecasyllabic Prologue of Persius was a
direct imitation of a similar proem, and in the same metre which
formed the commencement of this book. This opinion he fortifies
by two quotations, one from Petronius, Sat. iv., the other from
Apuleius, de Deo Socr., p. 364. In this view Gerlach does not
coincide, though he is disposed to admit that Lucilius in all
probability began the book with a disparagement of himself,
and so far furnished an example for Persius to imitate. It
is a question that must remain doubtful, and is of no great
importance. It is, however, also clear that this book contained
criticisms on the verses of Accius and Ennius. (Vid. Schol. ad
Hor., i., Sat. x.)

Perhaps the Fragments (incert. 3, 4, and 5) on Albutius and Mucius
may have belonged to this book.

1 ... as we wrote before, the judgment to be formed is concerning
the honors of the Crassi ... that is, in each case let us lay
down what I should choose, what not.[1741]

2 Behind stood the nimble skirmisher in his cloak.[1742]

3 ... although suddenly to bring down from three pair of
stairs.[1743]

4 ... you also bind mooring-stakes to very strong cables.[1744]

5 ... might be firmly ... from waves and adverse winds.

6 ... and languor overwhelmed, and sluggishness, and the torpor
of quietude.

7 ... verily, he said I cut up the ox magnificently in the
temple.[1745]

8 ... would seem importunate, boastful, bad and nefarious.

FOOTNOTES:

[1741] Gerlach's reading and interpretation is followed: "Lucilius
would not wish to have all the honors of that illustrious family heaped
upon him, but make his own selection." Nonius also explains _sumere_ by
"eligere." Corpet reads, "Crassi" and "sicut describimus," and supposes
the allusion to be to the eloquence of Crassus, son-in-law of Scævola.
Cf. Cic., Brut., 38-44. But no doubt P. Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus
is here meant, who, as we learn from Aulus Gellius (I., xiii., 10),
was famous for five things: he was the richest man in Rome, the man of
noblest birth, the most eloquent, the best lawyer, and the Pontifex
Maximus. Lucilius might well be at a loss which of all these he would
choose.

[1742] Cf. lib. vii., Fr. 7. Schol. ad Juv., vi., 400.

[1743] _Quamvis_ may also imply "quamvis fæminam." Cf. Cæcilium in
Asoto (ap. Nonium, p. 517), "nam ego duabus vigiliis transactis _Duco
desubito_ domum." _Trinis scalis_, "from the third story," the upper
rooms being the residence of the poorer classes. Cf. Juv., x., 18,
"rarus venit in cœnacula miles." iii., 201, "altimus ardebit quem
tegula sola tuetur à pluviâ." vii., 118. Mart., i., Ep. cxviii., 7, "Et
scalis habito tribus sed altis." Hor., i., Ep. i., 91. Suet., Vit., 7.

[1744] _Tonsilla_, according to Festus, "is a stake with an iron head,
for sticking in the ground and fastening the mooring cable of a boat
to." Cf. Pacuvium in Medo, "accessi eam et tonsillam pegi læto in
littore." (Fr. 17, ed. Fr. H. Bothe, Lips., 1834.) The MS. reading is
_Consellæ_, "double seats," stretched on ropes, as the beds (grabati).
Lucil., vi., Fr. 13; xi., 13. Nonius explains _aptare_ by "connectere"
and "colligare."

[1745] Cf. Donat. in Terent., Andr., II., i., 24.

BOOK XI.

ARGUMENT.

Schoenbeck supposes this book to have been written in memory of the
Iberian war; because it not only touches on military affairs, but
contains also some bitter sarcasms on the morals of certain young
men who served in that campaign. Petermann coincides in the same
opinion. Corpet supposes that the principal object of the book
was an elaborate defense of the character of Scipio Africanus;
especially with regard to the salutary and strict discipline
which he restored to the Roman army during the Numantine war.
Gerlach admits the probability of these conjectures, though he
scarcely thinks that the Fragments which have come down to us
of this book are of sufficient length to enable us to pronounce
definitively on the question. It is quite clear that the mention
of Opimius the father, or of the elder Lucius Cotta, can bear
no relation to the Numantine war, since they both lived before
it began; still it is possible that their names might have
been introduced, to render the morals of their sons still more
conspicuous. How the Fragment (2) respecting the plebeian Caius
Cassius Cephalo was connected with the main subject is not
clear, unless he was introduced for the purpose of incidentally
mentioning the bribery of the unjust judge, Tullius.

The fourth and ninth Fragments may clearly refer to the Numantine
war; as may perhaps the seventh; as we learn from Cicero, that
while Scipio Africanus was before Numantia, he received some
munificent presents, which were sent to him from Asia by King
Attalus, and which he accepted in the presence of his army. (Cic.
pro Dei., 7.) This happened probably only a few months before the
death of Attalus; and Lucilius was most likely an eye-witness
of the fact. The thirteenth Fragment also may refer to the same
campaign; though Duentzer supposes it to be an allusion to the
miserable penuriousness of Ælius Tubero. The fifth and sixth
Fragments apparently refer rather to civil than military matters.

1 Quintus Opimius, the famous father of this Jugurthinus, was
both a handsome man and an infamous, both in his early youth;
latterly he conducted himself more uprightly.[1746]

2 This Caius Cassius, a laborer, whom we call Cefalo--a cut-purse
and thief--him, one Tullius, a judge, made his heir; while all
the rest were disinherited.[1747]

3 Lucius Cotta the elder, the father of this Crassus, "the
all-blazing," was a close-fisted fellow in money-matters; very
slow in paying any body--[1748]

5 Asellus cast it in the teeth of the great Scipio, that during
his censorship, the lustrum had been unfortunate and
inauspicious.[1749]

6 ... and now I wished to throw into verse a saying of Granius,
the præco.[1750]

7 ... a noble meeting; there glittered the drawers, the cloaks,
the twisted chains of the great Datis.[1751]

8 ... and a road must be made, and a rampart thrown up here, and
that kind of groundwork--[1752]

9 ... he is a wanderer now these many years; he is now a soldier
in winter quarters, serving with us

10 ... thence, while still of tender age and a mere boy, comes to
Rome.

11 Nor have I need of him as a lover, nor a mean fellow to bail
me--

12 ... he is a jibber, a shuffler, a hard-mouthed, obstinate
brute.[1753]

13 When they had taken their seats here, and the skins were
extended in due order....[1754]

14 ... who in the wash-house and the pool....

FOOTNOTES:

[1746] _Jugurthinus_ is properly the proud title of Marius. (Ov.,
Pont., IV., iii., 45, "Ille Jugurthino clarus Cimbroque triumpho.")
It is here applied ironically to Lucius Opimius, who so notoriously
received bribes from Jugurtha, when he went over, as chief of the ten
commissioners, to arrange the division of the kingdom between Jugurtha
and Adherbal, B.C. 117. (Sall., Bell. Jug., xvi.) He had been before
honorably distinguished by the taking of Fregellæ, when in rebellion
against Rome, while he was prætor. The safety of the Roman state had
also been committed to him when consul (B.C. 121) during the riots of
Caius Gracchus, which by his prompt measures he was the main instrument
in quelling. (Hence Cicero styles him "civis præstantissimus."
Brut., 34.) For this he was accused by the democratic party, but was
acquitted; his defense being conducted by the same Papirius Carbo who
had assailed Scipio Africanus after the death of Tiberius Gracchus
("aliâ tum mente Rempublicam capessens." Cic., de Or., ii., 25). The
partisans of Gracchus, however, afterward crushed him by means of the
Mamilian law, along with many other excellent men. Cic., Brut., _u.
s._ Sall., Bell. Jug., 40. He was consul with Q. Fabius Maximus, who
that year overthrew the Allobroges and Arverni. His consulship was
long remembered as having been a splendid year for wine, hence called
Opimianum. Cic., Brut., 83. Of his father Quintus, Cicero speaks in
nearly the same terms as Lucilius does here: "Q. Opimius, consularis,
qui adolescentulus malè audisset." De Orat., ii., 68.

[1747] _Cephalo_, like Capito, was probably a nickname from the
size of his head. _Sector_ is used by Plautus exactly in the sense
of the English "cut-purse." Sector Zonarius, i. e., Crumeniseca,
βαλαντιοτόμος. Trinum., IV., ii., 20. It is applied by Cicero to a mean
fellow, who buys at auction the confiscated goods of proscribed persons
to retail again. Cic., Rosc. Am., 29. Ascon. in Verr., II., i., 20. Cf.
Nonius, _s. v._ Secare. _Damnare_, i. e., "exhæredare." Non.

[1748] παναίθου (cf. Horn., Il. xiv., 372) is an epithet applied to a
helmet. Why it was given to this Cotta is not known. Gerlach supposes
him to be the L. Cotta mentioned by Cicero (de Orat., iii., 11) as
affecting a coarse and rustic style of speaking, "gaudere videtur
gravitate linguæ, sonoque vocis agresti," and that this name was given
him by way of irony. He would be most justly entitled to the epithet of
Crassus, "the coarse," which was probably given for the same reason.
(Crassus not being the regular cognomen of the Aurelian gens, to which
Cotta belonged, but of the Licinian.) Valerius Maximus gives a story of
the sordid avarice of the father, which illustrates what Lucilius says,
that when tribune of the Plebs he took advantage of the "sacrosanct"
character of his office to refuse paying his creditors their just
claims, but was compelled to do so by his colleagues. (Pighius assigns
this event to B.C. 155.) He was afterward accused by P. Corn. Scipio
Africanus minor; but being defended by Q. Metellus Macedonicus,
was acquitted. Cf. Cic., Brut., 21, where he gives him the epithet
"veterator." He was one of the partisans of the Gracchi.

[1749] _Asellus_ is probably the same whom Cicero mentions (de Orat.,
ii., 64), about whom Scipio made the pun, which is, of course, as
Cicero says, untranslatable: "Cum Asellus omnes provincias stipendia
merentem se peragrâsse gloriaretur, '_Agas Asellum_,'" etc.

[1750] _Granius_, a præco, though a great favorite with the plebeians,
who used to retail his witticisms with great zest, was on terms of
intimate friendship with Crassus, Catulus, T. Tinca Placentinus, and
other men of high rank, whom he used to criticise with the greatest
severity and freedom, and hold, especially with the latter, contests in
sharp repartee. (Vid. Cic., Brut., 43, 46: de Orat., ii., 60, 70, where
some of his witticisms are quoted.)

[1751] Gerlach refers this Fragment to the presents sent by Attalus.
"Datis" he takes to mean any common name, but would suggest "ducis."

[1752] _Rudus_ is applied to a mixture of stones, gravel, and rubble,
cemented together with lime, used by the Romans as a substratum for a
path or pavement. Cat., R. R., 18. Plin., xxxvi., 25. Cf. Liv., xli.,
27, "Vias sternendas silice in Urbe glareâ extra Urbem locaverunt."
Tibull., I., viii., 59.

[1753] This Fragment is most probably connected with Fr. 3, as both
strigosus and bovinator are applied to beasts who refuse to move; and
hence to persons who use all kinds of artifices to avoid the payment of
their just debts.

[1754] Cf. vi., 13; x., 4.

BOOK XII.

ARGUMENT.

The extant Fragments of this book are too few and too varied in
their matter to enable us to form any definite idea of the
general subject. From a passage in Diomedes (lib. iii, p. 483),
which contains the seventh Fragment, Schoenbeck supposes it must
have referred to scenic matters; which conjecture he considers
farther strengthened by the first Fragment. (Cf. Plaut., Pers.,
I., iii, 78.) But, as Gerlach observes, "Chorage" in this passage
can hardly be understood in its primitive sense, since it is
coupled with the word "Quæstore;" and as the quæstors had nothing
to do with the Ludi Scenici, except when it fell to them to take
the place of the prætors or ædiles, this office could hardly be
reckoned among their positive or regular duties.

1 ... that this man stands in need of some quæstor and choragus
to furnish gold at the public expense, and from the treasury.

2 ... a hundred yoke of mules, with one strong pull, could not
drag him.[1755]

3 Let this be fixed firmly and equally in your breast....

4 ... he is remarkable for bandy-legged and shriveled
shanks.[1756]

5 ... of what advantages I deprived myself.[1757]

6 I agreed with the man.

7 At the Liberalia, among the Athenians on the festal day[1758]
of father Liber, wine used to be given to the singers instead
of a crown--

8 ... whatever had happened while I and my brother were boys.

9 ... wrinkled and full of famine.

FOOTNOTES:

[1755] Cf. vi., 2.

[1756] _Petilis_ is derived by Dacier from πέταλον: i. e., withered and
shriveled up like a dead leaf.

[1757] _Decollare_, in its primitive sense, is "to decapitate;" then
simply "to deprive."

[1758] This Fragment is given just as it stands in Diomedes (see
Arg.), without any attempt on the part of editors or commentators to
reduce it to the form of a verse. The whole passage stands thus in
the original: "Alii a vino tragœdiam dictam arbitrantur: proptereà
quod olim dictabatur τρύξ, à quo τρύγητος hodieque vindemia est, quia
'Liberalibus, apud Atticos, die festo Liberi patris vinum cantoribus
pro Corollario dabatur' cujus rei testis est Lucilius in duodecimo."
"Others think that Tragedy is so called from wine, because the
ancient term was τρύξ; whence even at the present day the vintage is
called τρυγητός." For the Attic Dionysia see the second vol. of the
Philological Museum. «Probably, like the Sigillaria in lib. vii., Fr.
4, the festival was described by some circumlocution, the whole word
being inadmissible into a verse.»

BOOK XIII.

ARGUMENT.

The Fragments of this book, as well as of the twelfth, are too few
to admit of any opinion being satisfactorily arrived at with
respect to its subject. Schoenbeck supposes it was directed
against sumptuous extravagance and luxurious banquets. Petermann
adopts the same view. Gerlach, though he considers the Fragments
so vague that they might support any hypothesis, allows that this
conjecture is tenable, as the third, fifth, ninth, tenth, and
eleventh appear to "savor of the kitchen."

1 Or to conquer in war altogether by chance and fortune; if it is
entirely by chance and at random, that any one arrives at the
highest distinction.[1759]

2 ... to whom fortune has assigned an equal position, and chance
their destiny.

3 The same thing occurs at supper. You will give oysters bought
for a thousand sesterces.

4 ... sets them to engage with one another in fierce
conflict.[1760]

5 In the first place, let all banquetings and company be done
away with.[1761]

6 Add shoes from Syracuse, a bag of leather....[1762]

7 ... one only, out of many, who has intellect....

8 ... as he is styled skilless in whom there is no skill.[1763]

9 and not so poor as ... a chipped dish of Samian pottery.[1764]

10 ... for as soon as we recline at a table munificently heaped up
at great expense....

11 ... the same food at the feast, as the banquet of almighty
Jove....[1765]

FOOTNOTES:

[1759] Nonius draws this distinction between Fors and Fortuna: _fors_
simply expresses "the accidents of temporal affairs, as opposed to
providence or design." _Fortuna_ is "the personification of these in
the form of the goddess." In the text Gerlach's conjecture is followed
instead of the reading of the MSS., which is quite unintelligible: "Si
forte ac temerè omnino quis summum ad honorem perveniat." Cf. Pacuv. in
Hermiona, "Quo impulerit fors eò cadere Fortunam autumant."

[1760] _Cernit_, i. e., "disponit." Nonius. Cf. v., Fr. 29, "Postquam
præsidium castris educere crevit."

[1761] _Dominia._ As dominus is put for the "master of the feast,"
so dominium is used for the banquet itself (lib. vi., Fr. 7; Sall.,
Hist., iii., "In imo medius inter Tarquinium et _dominum_ Perpenna;"
Cic., Vatin., xiii., "Epuli dominus Q. Arrius"), or for the office of
the giver of the banquet. Cicero uses Magisteria in the same sense.
Senect., c. 14. It is also put for "the _place_ where a banquet is
held." Cic., Ver., II., iii., 4. _Sodalitium_ is properly a banquet
celebrated by "Sodales," i. e., persons associated in the same
religious cultus.

[1762] _Pasceolum_, "a leathern bag or purse," marsupium, from
φάσκωλον. Suid. Plaut, Rud., V., ii., 27, "prætereà centum Denaria
Philippea in pasceolo seorsum." _Aluta._ Vid. ad Juv., xiv., 282.

[1763] _Iners._ Cf. Cic., de Fin., "Lustremus animo has maximas
_artes_, quibus qui carebant _inertes_ à majoribus nominabantur."

[1764] Cf. ad lib. vii., Fr. 1.

[1765] _Epulum_ (i. e., edipulum) and _epulæ_ seem to be interchanged;
but epulum is probably the older form of the word.

BOOK XIV.

ARGUMENT.

The fourteenth book contained, according to Schoenbeck's idea, the
praises of a placid and easy life. Duentzer, on the other hand,
says the subject was ambition. The two notions are not so much
opposed, says Gerlach, as at first sight they seem: the object
of the poet being to contrast the frugal simplicity and tranquil
leisure of a rustic life, with the empty vanities and arrogant
assumption of the ambitious man. Thus the Fragments 2, 4, 5, 12,
15, 16, and perhaps 1, contain the praises of frugal parsimony
and an honorable leisure: 3, 6, 7, 8, and perhaps others,
describe the heart-burnings and disappointments of a life devoted
to ambition.

1 Is that rather the sign of a sick man that I live on bread and
tripe? * * *[1766]

2 ... but you rather lead in peace a tranquil life, which you
seem to hold more important than doing this.

3 Publius Pavus Tuditanus, my quæstor in the Iberian land, was a
skulker, a mean fellow, one of that class, clearly.[1767]

4 ... these, I say, we may consider a sham sea-fight, and a game
of backgammon ... but though you amuse yourself, you will not
live one whit the better.[1768]

5 ... for that he preferred to be approved of by a few, and those
wise men, than to rule over all the departed dead--[1769]

6 ... were he not associated with me as prætor, and annoyed
me....[1770]

7 ... for that famous old Cato ... because he was not conscious
to himself.[1771]

8 I will go as embassador to the king, to Rhodes, Ecbatana, and
Babylon, I will take a ship....[1772]

9 ... no supper, he says; no portion for the god....[1773]

10 when that which we chew with our mouth, ...[1774]

11 I see the common people hold it in earnest affection--

12 The horse himself is not handsome, but an easy goer, a capital
hackney.[1775]

13 ... whom oftentimes you dread; occasionally feel pleasure in
his company.

14 ... In a moment, in a single hour....[1776]

15 ... the cheese has a flavor of garlic--[1777]

16 ... and scraggy wood-pigeons.[1778]

17 ... chalk....

FOOTNOTES:

[1766] Gerlach's reading is followed, "quod pane et viscere vivo." In
the next line he thinks there is something of the same kind of pun as
in Ovid, Met., xv., 88, "Heu quantum scelus est in viscera viscera
condi."

[1767] _Lucifugus_, "one who shuns the light, because his deeds are
evil." So Nebulo and Tenebrio are used for one who would gladly cloak
his deeds of falsehood and cunning under the mist of darkness. Cic.,
de Fin., i., 61, "Malevoli, invidi, difficiles, _lucifugi_, maledici,
monstrosi." Nebulo is also applied to a vain empty-headed fellow, of no
more solidity than a mist; and then to a spendthrift, who had devoured
all his substance and "left not a wrack behind." Vid. Ælium Stilum ap.
Fest., in voc. Who this desirable person was, is doubtful. Gerlach
thinks that Lucilius' quarrel with him began at the siege of Numantia,
and that this Fragment is part of a speech which the poet puts into
the mouth of Scipio respecting his quæstor. _Tuditanus_ was a cognomen
of the Sempronian gens, from the "mallet-shaped" head of one of the
family. _Pavus_ may have been derived from the taste shown by one of
them for feeding and fattening peacocks. There was a Publius Sempronius
Tuditanus consul with M. Cornelius Cethegus in B.C. 204, and a Caius
Semp. Tuditanus consul B.C. 129, the year of Scipio Africanus' death.
Cicero speaks highly of his eloquence (Brut., c. 25), and Dionysius
Halicarnassus of his historical powers (i., p. 9).

[1768] Corpet supposes the allusion to be to the game called "duodecim
scripta," which resembled our backgammon; the alveolus being a kind
of table on which the dice were thrown, with a rim to prevent their
rolling off. Cicero tells us P. Mutius Scævola was a great adept at
this game. (Or., i., 50.) Gerlach supposes it to be a Fragment of the
speech of some plain countryman, who couples all these things together,
to show that they do not tend to make life happier. _Calces_ will be
the white lines marked on the stadium.

[1769] ἢ πᾶσιν, κ. τ. λ. Part of Achilles' speech to Ulysses in the
shades below, where he declares he would rather submit to the most
menial offices on earth, than rule over all the shades of departed
heroes. Odyss., xi., 491. Cf. Attii Epinausimache, "Probis probatum
potius quam multis fore."

[1770] The prætor may probably be C. Cæcilius Metellus Caprarius, with
whom Scipio was so wroth at Numantia, as Cicero tells us (de Or., ii.,
66); to whom Gerlach also refers Fr. incert. 96, 97.

[1771] This Fragment is hopeless. Even Gerlach does not attempt to
explain it.

[1772] _Cercurum._ Cf. ad viii., 4.

[1773] _Prosecta_, the same as _prosiciæ_ (from prosecando, as insiciæ
from insecando). The gloss in Festus explains it by αἱ τῶν θυμάτων
ἀπαρχαί. Cf. Arnob. adv. Gent., vii., "Quod si omnes has partes quas
prosicias dicitis, accipere Dii amant, suntque illis gratæ." Scaliger
reads _prosiciem_.

[1774] Cf. iv., Fr. 12, and Pomponius Pappo ap. Fest. in v., "Nescio
quis ellam urget, quasi asinus, uxorem tuam: ita opertis oculis simul
manducatur ac molet:" which is perhaps the sense here.

[1775] _Gradarius_ is said of a horse "trained to an easy, ambling
pace," like that expressed by the word _tolutim_, cf. ix., Fr. 6
(exactly the contrary to succussator, ii., Fr. 10), xv., Fr. 2. Hence
"pugna gradaria," where the advance to the charge is made at a slow
pace. So Seneca (Epist., xl.) applies the term to Cicero's style of
oratory, "lentè procedens, interpungens, intermittens actionem."

[1776] _Puncto._ So στιγμὴ χρόνου. Cf. Terent., Phorm., act. I., iv.,
7, "Tum temporis mihi punctum ad hanc rem est."

[1777] _Allium olet_; instead of the old reading, "allia molliet."

[1778] _Macros._ So Horace, "Sedulus hospes pæne macros arsit dum
turdos versat in igni." i., Sat. v., 72.

BOOK XV.

ARGUMENT.

None of the commentators on Lucilius have ventured to give a
decisive opinion on the subject of this book, with the exception
of Duentzer; who says that the poet intended it as a defense
of true tranquillity of mind, in opposition to the precepts
and dogmas of the Stoics. In the sixth Fragment we certainly
have mention made of a philosopher; but it is only to assert
that many common and homely articles in daily and constant use
are of more real value than any philosopher of any sect. This,
however, may be supposed to be the opinion of some vulgar and
ignorant plebeian, or of a woman. In the fifth Fragment we have
the character of a wife portrayed, such as Juvenal describes
so graphically in his sixth Satire. Indolent and slatternly in
her husband's presence, she reserves all her graces of manner
and elegance of ornament for the presence of strangers. We have
besides a notice of the wonders in Homer's narratives, the
praises of a good horse, a picture of a usurer, an account of a
soldier who has seen service in Spain, a eulogy of frugality and
other matters; how all these can possibly be arranged under one
head, is, as Gerlach says, a matter of the greatest obscurity.

1 Men think that many wonders described in Homer's verses are
prodigies; among the chief of which is Polyphemus the Cyclops,
two hundred feet long: and then besides, his walking-stick,
greater than the main-mast in any merchantman--[1779]

2 ... no high-actioned Campanian nag will follow him that has
conquered by a mile or two * * * *[1780]

3 ... moreover, as to price, the first is half an as, the second
a sestertius, and the third more than the whole bushel.

4 ... in the number of whom, first of all Trebellius ... fever,
corruption, weariness, and nausea....[1781]

5 When she is alone with you, any thing is good enough. Are any
strange men likely to see her? She brings out her ribbons, her
robe, her fillets--[1782]

6 A good cloak, if you ask me, or a hackney, a slave, or a
litter-mat, is of more service to me than a philosopher--[1783]

7 ... besides, that accursed usurer, and Syrophœnician, what used
he to do?[1784]

8 ... not a single slave ... that, just as though he were a
slave, no one can speak his mind freely.[1785]

9 ... since he has served as a soldier in the Iberian land, for
about eighteen years of his life--....[1786]

10 ... that in the first place, with them, you are a mad,
crack-brained fellow.[1787]

11 ... he knows what a tunic and toga are....

12 a huge bowl, like a muzzle, hangs from his nostrils.[1788]

13 ... a bell and twig-baskets of pot-herbs.[1789]

14 ... he sets him low, and behind....[1790]

15 ... or who with grim face, pounces upon money.[1791]

16 ... there is no flummery-maker inferior to you--[1792]

17 ... their heads are bound; and their forelocks float, high, and
covering their foreheads, as their custom was.[1793]

18 ... which compelled ... to drink gall, and wrinkle the belly by
coarse bread, and inferior oil, and a loaf from Cumæ.[1794]

FOOTNOTES:

[1779] _Polyphemus._ Hom., Odyss., ix., 319, Κύκλωπος γὰρ ἔκειτο
μέγα ῥόπαλον παρὰ σηκῷ . . ὅσσον θ' ἱστὸν νηὸς ἐεικοσόροιο μελαίνης,
φορτίδος εὐρείης.

_Corbita_, "navis oneraria," so called, according to Festus, because
a basket (corbis) was suspended from the top of the mast. Cf. Plaut.,
Pæn., III., i., 4. The smaller swift-sailing vessels were called
Celoces (a κέλης), hence "Obsecro operam celocem hanc mihi ne corbitam
date." Cf. Plant., Pseud., V., ii., 12.

[1780] _Sonipes._ Cf. Virg., Æn., xi., 599, "Fremit æquore toto
insultans sonipes, et pressis pugnat habenis." Catull., lxiii., 41,
"Sol pepulit noctis umbras vegetis sonipedibus." _Succussor._ Cf. ii.,
Fr. 10. _Milli_ is apparently an old ablative of the singular form.

[1781] The whole Fragment is so corrupt as to be hopeless. Gerlach's
interpolations are scarcely tenable. _Senium_, we learn from Nonius,
is equivalent to tædium. So Persius, "En pallor seniumque." i., 26.
_Vomitus_ seems to be applicable to a _person_, "an unclear, offensive
fellow." So Plaut., Mostell., III., i., 119, "Absolve hunc, quæso,
vomitum, ne hic nos enecet."

[1782] Cf. Juv., vi., 461, "Ad mœchum lotâ veniunt cute: quando videri
vult formosa domi? mœchis foliata parantur. Interea fœda aspectu
ridendaque multo pane tumet facies ... tandem aperit vultum et tectoria
prima reponit, incipit agnosci." _Spiram._ Cf. Juv., viii., 208.
_Redimicula._ Juv., ii., 84. Virg., Æn., ix., 614.

[1783] _Pænula._ Cf. Juv., v., 79. _Canterius._ Cf. ad lib. iii., Fr.
9. _Segestre_, a kind of straw mat (from seges) used in litters.

[1784] Gerlach's reading is followed. τοκογλύφος is one who calculates
his interest to a farthing; a sordid usurer. _Syrophœnix._ Cf. iii.,
Fr. 33.

[1785] _Ergastulum_ is put sometimes for the slave himself, sometimes
for the under-ground dungeon where, as a punishment, he was set to
work. Cf. Juv., vi., 151, "Ergastula tota." viii., 180, "Nempe in
Lucanos aut Tusca ergastula mittas." xiv., 24, "Quem mire afficiunt
inscripta ergastula." Nonius says that the masculine form, ergastulus,
is used for the "keeper of the bridewell," custos pœnalis loci.

[1786] The war in Spain may be dated from the refusal of the Segedans
to comply with the directions of the senate, and to pay their usual
tribute. The failure of M. Fulvius Nobilior in Celtiberia took place
B.C. 153, exactly twenty years before the fall of Numantia.

[1787] _Cerebrosus._ "Qui cerebro ita laborat ut facile irascatur."
Plaut., Most., IV., ii., 36, "Senex hic cerebrosus est certe." Hor.,
i., Sat. v., 21, "Donec cerebrosus prosilit unus, ac mulæ nautæque
caput lumbosque saligno fuste dolat."

[1788] _Postomis_ (ab ἐπιστομίς), or, as some read, prostomis, is a
sort of muzzle or "twitch" put upon the nose of a refractory horse. To
this Lucilius compares the drinking-cup applied for so long a time to
the lips of the toper, that it looks as though it were suspended from
his nose. Cf. Turneb., Adversar., 17, c. ult. _Trulla._ Cf. Juv., iii.,
107.

[1789] _Sirpicula_ is a basket made of twigs or rushes, for carrying
flowers or vegetables. By _tintinnabulum_ Scaliger understands "genus
vehiculi." But sirpiculæ (a sirpando) are also "the twigs with which
bundles of fagots, etc., are bound together," which were also used in
administering punishment; and the allusion may be to this, as those who
were led to punishment sometimes carried bells. Vid. Turneb., Advers.,
xi., 21. Hence Tintinnaculus. Plaut., Truc., IV., iii., 8.

[1790] The MSS. vary between suffectus and sufferctus. The latter would
come from suffercio. Cf. Suet., Ner., 20.

[1791] _Inuncare_ is applied by Apuleius to "an eagle bearing away a
lamb in its talons."

[1792] _Alica_ (anciently halica) is a kind of grain, somewhat like
spelt. The ζέα or χόνδρος of the Greeks. Of this they prepared a kind
of porridge or furmety, of which the Italians were very fond; as of the
polenta, and the maccaroni of the present day. Cf. ad Pers., iii., 55.

[1793] _Aptari_ Nonius explains by nexum, illigatum. _Capronæ_ (quasi
a capite pronæ) is properly "that part of the mane which falls between
the horse's ears in front." Then, like antiæ, applied to the forelocks
of women. Vid. Fest. in v.

[1794] _Galla_ is properly the gall-nut, or oak-apple, used, from its
astringent qualities, in tanning and dyeing; and hence applied to any
harsh, rough, inferior wine. _Acerosum_ (cf. ad ix., Fr. 15) is applied
to meal not properly cleared from the husk or bran; the αὐτόπυρος of
the Greeks. _Decumanus_ (cf. ad iv., Fr. 2) is often applied to any
thing of uncommon size: here it is used for the worst kind of oil
(quasi ex decimâ quâque mensurâ rejecto et projecto), or more probably
"such oil as the husbandman would select in order to furnish his
_decimæ_," i. e., the very worst. Festus says the whole fragment is an
admonition to the exercise of frugality and self-denial.

BOOK XVI.

ARGUMENT.

We have in the old grammarians two conflicting accounts of the
subject of this book. Censorinus (de Die Natali, iii.) says
that it contained a discussion on the "double genius" which the
Socratic Euclides assigned to all the human race. On the other
hand, Porphyrion (in a note of the twenty-second ode of Horace's
first book) tells us that Horace here imitated Lucilius, who
inscribed his sixteenth book to his mistress Collyra; hence this
book was called Collyra, as the ninth was styled Fornix (in which
also we may observe that it was stated that the double genius of
Euclides was discussed). Priscian again seems to imply (III., i.,
8) that it was inscribed to Fundius; and that Horace copied from
it his fourteenth Epistle of the first book. Gerlach considers
the 1st, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Fragments may form part of a
conversation between Lucilius and his steward, on the true use of
riches. The 10th Fragment may refer to Collyra, especially if we
may suppose that the 13th Fragment (incert.) refers to the same
person. If so, she was probably, like the Fornarina of Raffaelle,
some buxom ἀρτοκόπος (cf. Herod., i., 51) or confectioner. And
this her name seems to imply, Collyra being a kind of circular
wheaten cake, either prepared in a frying-pan, or baked on the
coals or in an oven. (Cf. Coliphium, Juv., ii., 53, and Plaut.,
Pers., I., iii., 12, "Collyræ facite ut madeant et coliphia.")
She is therefore the "valida pistrix" who understands the whole
mystery of making Mamphulæ, which, as Festus tells us, was a kind
of Syrian bread or cake, made without leaven.

1 A ram went by, by chance; "now what breed?" says he. What great
* *! You would think they were scarcely fastened by a single
thread, and that a huge weight was suspended from the end of
his hide.

2 The Jupiter of Lysippus, forty cubits high at Tarentum,
surpassed that....[1795]

3 The famous King Cotus said that the only two winds he knew were
Auster and Aquilo; but much more those little Austers.... nor
did he think it was necessary to know....[1796]

4 A certain man bequeathed to his wife all his chattels, and his
household stuff. What constitutes chattels? and what does not?
For who is to decide that point at issue?[1797]

5 Fundius, ... merit delights you ... if you have turned out a
somewhat more active bailiff.[1798]

6 These whom riches advance.... and they anoint their unkempt
heads.

7 Why do you seek for this so lazily, especially at this time.

8 ... you sell publicly however, and lick the edge....[1799]

9 ... this is far different, says he ... who was sowing onions.

10 ... from the middle of the bake-house.

FOOTNOTES:

[1795] This Fragment Gerlach quotes as one of the most corrupt of all.
The colossal statue of the sun, at Rhodes, may perhaps be referred to
as being outdone. For _Lysippus_, cf. Cic., de Orat., iii., 7; Brut.,
86. Plin., H. N., vii., 37. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 240. Athen., xi, 784, C.
Müller's Archæol. of Art, § 129.

[1796] _Cotys._ This was as generic a name for the Thracian kings as
Arsaces among the Parthians. Livy mentions a Cotys, son of Seuthes,
king of the Odrysæ, who brought a thousand cavalry to the support of
Perseus against the Romans, and speaks of him in the highest terms
of commendation: lib. xlii., 29, 51, 67; xliii., 3. Another Cotys
assisted Pompey, for which handsome presents were sent to him: cf.
Lucan, Phars., v., 54. A third Cotys, or Cottus, king of the Bessi, is
mentioned by Cicero as having bribed L. Calpurnius Piso, the proconsul,
with three hundred talents: In Pison., xxxiv. The first of the three
is probably intended here, as Livy tells us that after the termination
of the Macedonian war (in which Scipio served), Bitis, the son of
Cotys, was restored with other captives unransomed to his father, in
consequence of the hereditary friendship existing between the Roman
people and his ancestors. The sayings of Cotys, therefore, might have
been current at Rome in Lucilius' time. Liv., xlv., 42.

[1797] _Mundus_ (quasi _movendus_, quod moveri potest), which seems at
first to have had the meaning in the text, came afterward to be applied
particularly to the necessary appendages of women, unguents, cosmetics,
mirrors, vessels for the bath, etc.; and hence the word muliebris is
generally added. It differs from _ornatus_, which is applied to rings,
bracelets, earrings, jewels, head-gear, ribbons, etc. (Cf. Liv.,
xxxiv., 7.) Hence the usual formula of wills, "Uxori meæ vestem, mundum
muliebrem, ornamenta omnia, aurum, argentum, do, lego." _Penus_ is
properly applied to all "household stores laid up for _future_ use;"
hence penitus, penetro, and penates. Cf. Virg., Æn., i., 704, "Cura
penum struere."

[1798] _Villicus._ Cf. Hor., i., Epist. xiv. The Villicus superintended
the country estate, as the dispensator did the city household. They
were both generally "liberti." _Fundi_ is translated as a proper name
on the authority of Priscian, III., i., 8.

[1799] _Ligurris._ Cf. Hor., i., Sat. iii., 80, "Servum patinam qui
tollere jussus semesos pisces tepidumque ligurierit jus." ii., Sat.
iv., 78, "Seu puer unctis tractavit calicem manibus dum furta ligurit."
Juv., ix., 5, "Nos colaphum incutimus lambenti crustula servo."

BOOK XVII.

ARGUMENT.

This book contained, according to Schoenbeck's view, a discussion
on the dogma of the Stoics, "that no one could be said to possess
any thing peculiarly his own." The poet therefore ridicules the
creations of the older poets, who have dignified their heroines
with every conceivable embellishment, and invested them with the
attractions of every virtue that adorns humanity. He then goes
through the list of all the greatest mythological personages that
occur in the various Epic poets, in order to show the fallacy
of their ideas, and establish his own theory on the subject of
moral virtue. Gerlach, on the other hand, considers that the
subject was merely a disparagement of the boasted virtues of
the female character; by showing that even these creations of
ideal perfection, elaborated by poets of the greatest genius,
and endowed with every excellence both of mind and body, are not
even by them represented as exempt from those passions and vices
which disgrace their unromantic fellow-mortals. In this general
detraction of female purity, not even the chaste Penelope herself
escapes. The 6th Fragment seems to be directed against those
whose verses are composed under the inspiration of sordid gain.

1 Now that far-famed lady with the "beautiful ringlets," "and
beautiful ankles?" Do you think it was forbidden to touch
her...? Or that Alcmena, the bedfellow of Amphytrion, and
others, was knock-kneed or bandy-legged. In fine,
Leda herself; I don't like to mention her: look out yourself,
and choose some dissyllable. Do you think Tyro, the nobly-born,
had any thing particularly disfiguring; a wart ... a mole, or a
projecting tooth?[1800]

2 All other things he despises; and lays out all at no high
interest ... but that no one has aught of his own....[1801]

3 His bailiff Aristocrates, a drudge and neat-herd, he corrupted
and reduced to the last extremity.[1802]

4 Do you, when married, say you will never be married, because
you hope Ulysses still survives?

5 If he will not go, seize him, he says; and if he shuffles, lay
hands on him....[1803]

6 ... if you sell your Muses to Laverna.[1804]

7 ... the big bones and shoulders of the man appear.[1805]

FOOTNOTES:

[1800] καλλιπλόκαμος is the epithet applied by Homer (Il., xiv., 326)
to Demeter, in a passage which seems to have been a favorite one with
Lucilius. Cf. book i., Fr. 15. _Leda_ is also mentioned in connection
with her. It is applied also to Thetis, Il., xviii., 407. καλλίσφυρος
is applied to Danäe in the passage referred to above, and to Ino,
daughter of Cadmus, Odyss., v., 333. For _mammis_ Gerlach suggests
"palmis." _Compernis_ is also applied to one who, from having over-long
feet or heels, knocks his ankles together, ἄκοιτιν. Odyss., xi., 266.

Τυρὼ εὐπατέρειαν. Odyss., xi., 235. _Verruca_, ἀκροχορδών. _Nævus_
(quasi gnæus, or gnavus, Fest., because born with a person, hence
sometimes called Nævus Maternus) is put for any disfiguring mark. Cf.
Hor., i., Sat. vi., 67. Shaks., Cymb., act ii., sc. 2.

[1801] _Proprium_, equivalent to _perpetuum_. Nonius.

[1802] _Mediastinum._ Cf. Hor., i., Ep. xiv., 14, "Tu _mediastinus_
tacitâ prece rura petebas. Nunc urbem et ludos et balnea _villicus_
optas." Torrentius explains _mediastinus_ by "Servus ad omnia viliora
officia comparatus." The Schol. Cruq. by "Servus qui stat in medio,
paratus omnium ministeriis." _Commanducatus._ Cf. ad iv., Fr. 12. _Ad
Incita._ Cf. ad iii., Fr. 30.

[1803] _Calvitur_, from _calvus_, because the tricky old men, slaves
especially, were always represented on the Roman comic stage (as
the clowns in our pantomimes) with bald heads: hence "to frustrate,
disappoint." "Calamitas plures annos arvas calvitur." Pacuv. So Plaut.,
Cas., II., ii., 3, "Ubi domi sola sum sopor manus calvitur." Hence
Venus is called Calva, "Quod corda amantium _calviat_," i. e., fallat,
deludat. Serv. ad Virg., Æn., i., 720.

[1804] The Fragment is very corrupt. The reading of the MSS. is,
"Si messes facis, Musas si vendis Lavernæ." Dusa suggests "Semissis
facient." Mercer, "Si versus facies musis." Gerlach, "Semissis facies
Musas si vendis Lavernæ." Semissis, a genitive like Teruncii, i. e.,
"Your verses will be worthless if the only Muse that inspires you
is the love of gain." _Laverna_ was the Goddess of Thieves at Rome.
Plaut., Cornic., "Mihi Laverna in furtis celebrassis manus." Hor.,
i., Epist. xvi., 60, "Pulchra Laverna, da mihi fallere, da justo
sanctoque videri," where the old Schol. says she derived her name a
Lavando, because thieves were called Lavatores. Scaliger thinks she is
identical with the Greek goddess πραξιδίκη, which others deny. The word
is also derived from latere, and λαβεῖν. Ausonius applies the term to
a plagiarist: "Hic est ille Theo poeta falsus, Bonorum mala carminum
Laverna." Ep. iv.

[1805] Cf. Virg., Æn., v., 420, "Et magnos membrorum artus, magna ossa
lacertosque Exuit."

BOOK XVIII.

ARGUMENT.

From the small portion of this book that has come down to us, it is
but mere idle conjecture to attempt to decide upon its subject.
Petermann says it treated "of fools and misers." There are some
lines in the first Satire of Horace's first book, which bear
so close a resemblance to some lines in this book that Gerlach
considers it was the model which Horace had before his eyes. The
passages are quoted in the notes.

1 Take twelve hundred bushels of corn, and a thousand casks of
wine....[1806]

2 In short, as a fool never has enough, even though he has
everything....

3 ... for even in those districts, there will be drunk a cup
tainted with rue and sea-onion....[1807]

4 ... I enjoy equally with you--[1808]

5 ... in the transaction of the ridiculous affair itself, he
boasts that he was present.

FOOTNOTES:

[1806] Cf. Hor., i., Sat. i., 45, "Millia frumenti tua triverit area
centum."

[1807] _Incrustatus._ Hor., i., Sat. iii., 56, "Sincerum cupimus vas
incrustare." Where Porphyrion explains the word, "_incrustari_ vas
dicitur cum aliquo vitioso succo illinitur atque inquinatur." It is
sometimes applied to covering any thing, as a cup, with gold or silver
(cf. Juv., v., 88, "Heliadum crustas"), or a wall with roughcast or
plaster. For the _vinum rutatum_, see Pliny, H. N., xix., 45. _Scilla_
is probably the sort of onion to which Juvenal refers, Sat. vii., 120,
"Afrorum Epimenia, bulbi."

[1808] _Fruniscor_, an old form of fruor. Cf. Hor., i., Sat. i., 47,
"Non tuns hoc capiet venter plus quam mens."

BOOK XIX.

ARGUMENT.

The same may be said of this book as of the eighteenth. The few
Fragments that remain being insufficient to furnish any data
for a positive opinion as to its subject. From the 2d and 3d
Fragments, Mercer supposes that the same question was discussed
which Cicero refers to in the Offices (lib. ii., c. 20), "Whether
a worthy man, without wealth, was to be preferred to a very rich
man who had but an indifferent reputation." The second Fragment
clearly contains a precept respecting the laying up a store which
may be made available in time of distress; which Horace had
perhaps in his eye in book i., Sat. i., l. 33, _seq_. It contains
likewise a criticism on a verse of Ennius, as being little more
than empty sound, devoid of true poetic sentiment; which probably
was the basis of Cicero's censure in the Tusculan disputations.
The study of dramatic composition is also discouraged, from the
fact that the most elaborate passages are frequently spoiled by
the want of skill in the Tragic actor. In the 9th Fragment, Dacke
supposes there is an allusion to the Dulorestes of Pacuvius. The
7th Fragment may also probably refer to Ennius, as the principal
word in it is employed by him in the eleventh book of his Annals.
There is probably also a hit at those poets who adopt a style of
diction quite unintelligible to ordinary readers.

1 Wrinkled and shriveled old men are in quest of all the same
things.[1809]

2 So do thou seek for those fruits, which hereafter in ungenial
winter thou mayest enjoy; with this delight thyself at
home.[1810]

3 Will you have the gold, or the man? Why, have the man! What
boots the gold? Wherefore, as we say, I see nothing here which
I should greatly covet....[1811]

4 And infant children make a woman honest....

5 So each one of us is severally affected....

6 Choose that particular day which to you seems best.

7 ... but do not criticise the lappet[1812]

8 ... hanging from the side, sprinkling the rocks with clotted
gore and black blood....[1813]

9 The tragic poet who spoils his verses through Orestes about to
grow hoarse.[1814]

10 ... twenty thousand gravers and pincers[1815]

11 ... and to pluck out teeth with crooked pincers.

12 ... desire may be eradicated from a man, but never covetousness
from a fool.[1816]

FOOTNOTES:

[1809] _Passus_ is properly applied to a dried grape; either "quod
solem diutius passa est," or more probably from _pando_.

[1810] Cf. Hor., i., Sat. i., 32, "Sicut parvula nam exemplo est
magni formica laboris ore trahit quodcunque potest atque addit acervo
quem struit, haud ignara et non incanta futuri. Quæ simul inversum
contristat Aquarius annum non usquam prorepit et illis utitur ante
quæsitis sapiens."

[1811] The passage in Cicero stands thus, "Si res in contentionem
veniet, nimirum Themistocles est auctor adhibendus; qui cum
consuleretur utrum bono viro pauperi, an minùs probato diviti, filiam
collocaret: Ego vero, inquit, malo virum, qui pecuniâ egeat, quam
pecuniam, quæ viro." De Off., ii., 20.

[1812] _Peniculamentum_ is a portion of the dress hanging down like
a tail; perhaps like the "liripipes" of our ancestors. "Pendent
peniculamenta unum ad quodque pedule." Ennius, Annal., lib. xi., ap.
Nonium.

[1813] Cicero (Tusc. Qu., i., 44) quotes the passage from the Thyestes
of Ennius: it is part of his imprecation against Atreus, "Ipse summis
saxis fixus asperis evisceratus," etc. Vid. Enn., Frag. Bothe, p. 66,
11. Gerlach considers them to be the very words of Ennius, inserted in
his Satire by Lucilius. Cicero's criticism is probably borrowed from
Lucilius: it is in no measured terms: "Illa inania; non ipsa saxa magis
sensu omni vacabant quam ille 'latere pendens' cui se hic cruciatum
censet optare: quæ essent dura si sentiret; nulla sine sensu sunt."

[1814] Cf. Juv., i., 2, "_Rauci_ Theseide Codri ... necdum finitus
Orestes."

[1815] Gerlach supposes that Lucilius ridicules the folly of those
poets who either write what is unintelligible, or whose effusions
are spoiled by the indifference of the actors who personate their
characters, in the same way as Horace, ii., Sat. iii., 106, "Si scalpra
et formas non sutor emat."

[1816] Nonius explains _cupiditas_ to be a milder form of _cupído_.

BOOK XX.

ARGUMENT.

Gerlach without hesitation pronounces the subject of this book
to have been "the superstition of the lower orders, and the
luxury of the banquets of the wealthy." There were, even in
the days of Lucilius, many who could see through, and heartily
despise, the ignorant superstition by which their fellow-men were
shackled. Hence the famous saying of Cato, that he wondered how
a soothsayer could look another of the same profession in the
face without laughing. The 3d and 4th Fragments are probably part
of the speech of some notorious epicure, who cordially detests
the simplicity and frugality of ancient days; and the 6th may
contain the fierce expression of his unmeasured indignation at
any attempt to suppress or curtail the lavish munificence and
luxurious self-indulgence of men like himself. The 6th, 7th, and
9th Fragments may also refer to the sumptuous banquets of the day.

1 These bugbears, Lamiæ, which the Fauni and Numas set up--at
these he trembles, and sets all down as true.... Just as little
children believe that all the statues of brass are alive and
human beings, just so these men believe all these fables to be
true, and think there is a heart inside these brazen statues.

... It is a mere painter's board, nothing is real; all
counterfeit.[1817]

2 ... in their own season, and at one and the same time ... and
in half an hour ... after three are ended ... only the same and
the fourth.

3 ... such dainties as endive, or some herb of that kind, and
pilchards' sauce ... but this is sorry ware.[1818]

4 I reviled the savage law of Calpurnius Piso, and snorted forth
my angry breath from my nostrils....[1819]

5 ... then he will burst asunder, just as the Marsian by his
incantation makes the snakes burst, when he has caused all
their veins to swell

6 They are captivated with tripe and rich dinners.[1820]

7 ... he be a trifler and an empty-headed fellow ... far the
greatest[1821]

8 ... then a certain youth whom they call[1822]

9 ... then he wiped the broad tables with a purple napkin[1823]

10 ... damage the bows and shear away the helm.

11 ... they chatter: and your dirty-nosed country lout chimes
in.[1824]

FOOTNOTES:

[1817] _Terriculas_ (for the old reading, Terricolas), "any thing
used to frighten children, as bugbears." The forms _terriculum_ and
_terriculamentum_ also occur. Compare the μορμολυκεῖον of the Greeks,
Arist., Thesm., 417, and μορμὼ, Arist., Achar., 582; Pax, 474 (vid.
Ruhnken's Timæus, in voc., who quotes numerous passages); and Empusa,
Ar., Ran., 293. The _Lamiæ_ were monsters, represented of various
shapes (λάμια, Arist., Vesp., 1177, from λάμος, vorago), as hags,
or vampyres (strigum instar), or with the bodies of women above,
terminating in the lower extremities of an ass. Hence ὀνοσκελίς,
ὀνοκώλη. Vid. Hor., A. P., 340, "Neu pransæ Lamiæ vivum puerum extrahat
alvo," cum Schol. Cruqu. They were supposed to devour children, or
at all events suck their blood. Cf. Tert. adv. Valent., iii. Festus
in voc. Manducus, Maniæ. Manducus is probably from mandendo, and
was represented with huge jaws and teeth, like our "Raw-head and
bloody-bones." It was probably the mask used in the Atellane exodia.
Cf. Juv., iii., 175, "Cum personæ pallentis hiatum in gremio matris
formidat rusticus infans." Plaut., Rud., II., vi., 51, "Quid si aliquo
ad ludos me pro manduco locem? Quapropter? Quia pol clarè crepito
dentibus." The _Fauni_ are put for any persons of great antiquity, the
inventors of these fables (ἀρχαϊκά, Ar., Nub., 812), just as Picus
in Juvenal, viii., 131, "tum licet a _Pico_ numeres genus." Pergula
(cf. ad Juv., xi., 137) is "the stall outside a shop where articles
were exhibited for sale," and where painters sometimes exposed their
pictures to public view. «Cf. Plin., xxxv., 10, 36, who says Apelles
used to conceal himself behind the pergula, to hear the remarks of
passers-by on his paintings.»

[1818] _Pulmentarium._ So ὄψον, "any kind of food eaten with something
else, though rarely, if ever, with vegetables." It took its name from
the days when the Romans had no bread, but used pulse instead. Vid.
Plin., xviii., 8, 19. Pers., iii., 102. Juv., vii., 185. Hor., ii.,
Sat. ii., 19, "Tu pulmentaria quære sudando." _Intybus._ Cf. ad v., Fr.
14. _Mænarum._ Ad Pers., iii, 76.

[1819] Cf. Introduction, p. 285. Gerlach says it describes the fierce
snortings of an angry man: "hominem ex imo pectore iras anhelantem."
Cf. Pers., v., 91, "Ira cadat naso." Theoc., i., 18, χολὰ ποτὶ ῥινὶ
κάθηται. Mart., vi., Ep. lxiv., 28.

[1820] _Præcisum_, like omasum, "the fat part of the belly of beef
chopped up;" the "busecchie" of the modern Italians.

[1821] Cf. xiv., Fr. 3.

[1822] _Parectaton_, a παρεκτείνω. Quasi extensus, "an overgrown
youth." The penultima is lengthened in Latin.

[1823] Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. viii., 11.

[1824] _Deblaterant._ Cf. Plaut., Aul., II., iii., 1. _Blennus_ is
beautifully expressed by the German "rotznase." Plaut., Bacch., V., i.,
2.

BOOK XXI.

Of this Book no Fragments remain.

BOOK XXII.

1 Those hired female mourners who weep at a stranger's funeral,
and tear their hair, and bawl louder....[1825]

2 A slave neither faithless to my owner, nor unserviceable to
any, here I, Metrophanes, lie, Lucilius' main-stay[1826]

3 Zopyrion cuts his lips on both sides....[1827]

4 ... whether the man's nose is straighter now, ... his calves
and legs.

FOOTNOTES:

[1825] _Præfica_, the ἰαλεμίστρια, Æsch., Choëph., 424, or θρηνήτρια
(cf. Mark, v., 38), of the Greeks; from præficiendo, as being set at
the head of the other mourners, to give them the time, as it were:
"quaæ dant cæteris modum plangendi, quasi in hoc ipsum _præfectæ_."
Scaliger says it was an invention of the Phrygians to employ these
hired mourners. Plaut., Truc., II., vi., 14. Gell., xviii., 6. The
technical name of their lamentation was Nænia. Cf. Fest. in voc. It
generally consisted of the praises of the deceased. Æsch., Choëph.,
151, παιᾶνα τοῦ θανόντος ἐξαυδωμένας. «Cf. Hor., A. P., 431, "Ut qui
conducti plorant in funere, dicunt et faciunt prope plura dolentibus ex
animo."»

[1826] Cf. Introduction. Mart., xi., Ep. xc., 4. Plaut., Amph., I.,
i., 213. Terent., Phorm., II., i., 57, "O bone custos salve, columen
verò familiæ!" _Columella_ is properly "the king-post that supports
the roof;" then put, like columen, for the main-stay or support of any
thing. So Horace calls Mæcenas, ii., Od. xvii., 4, "Mearum grande decus
columenque rerum." Cic., Sext., viii., "Columen reipublicæ." So Timon
is called, Lucian, Tim., 50, τὸ ἔρεισμα τῶν Ἀθηναίων. Sil., xv., 385,
"Ausonii columen regni." So Clytæmnestra calls Agamemnon, ὑψηλῆς στέγης
στύλον ποδήρη. Ag., 898. «Doederlein thinks there is a connection
between the words culmus, calamus, culmen, columen, columna, columella,
with cello, whence celsus. "Significarique id quod emineat, sursum
tendat, altum sit," ii., 106.»

[1827] Cf. ad ix., 14.

BOOK XXIII.

1 ... and the slave who had licked with his lips the nice
cheese-cakes.[1828]

2 ... to hold[1829]

FOOTNOTES:

[1828] _Lamberat._ Cf. Hor., i., Sat. iii., 80, "Si quis eum servum,
patinam qui tollere jussus semesos pisces tepidumque ligurrierit jus,
in cruce suffigat." Juv., xi., 5. _Placenta_, the πλακοῦς of the
Greeks, was a flat cake made of flour, cheese, and honey, rolled out
thin and divided into four parts. Cato, R. R., 76, gives a receipt for
making it. It was used in sacrifices. Hence Horace, i., Epist. x., 10,
"Utque sacerdotis fugitivus liba recuso: Pane egeo jam mellitis potiore
placentis." Juv., xi., 59, "pultes coram aliis dictem puero sed in aure
placentas." Mart., v., Ep. xxxix., 3; vi., Ep. lxxv., 1, "Quadramve
placentæ." ix., Ep. xci., 18.

[1829] _Tongere_ is, according to Voss, an old form of _tenere_, and
has its triple meanings: "to know; to rule over; to overcome." The
Prænestines used _tongitionem_ for _notitionem_.

BOOKS XXIV., XXV.

No Fragments extant.[1830]

FOOTNOTES:

[1830] The few Fragments referred to these books are, in better MSS.
and editions, ascribed to others, where they will be found.

BOOK XXVI.

ARGUMENT.

Gerlach considers this book to contain the strongest evidences of
how much Horace was indebted to Lucilius, not only in the choice
of his subjects, but also in his illustration and method of
handling the subject when chosen. In the 105th of the Fragmenta
incerta, we find the words "Valeri sententia dia" (which Horace
imitates, i., Sat. ii., 32, "sententia dia Catonis"). By Valerius
he here supposes Q. Valerius Soranus to be intended; a man of
great learning and an intimate friend of Publius Scipio and
Lucilius. He was author of a treatise on grammar, entitled
ἐποπτίδων; which contained, according to Turnebe's conjecture, a
discussion on the mysteries of literature and learning (ἐπόπτης
being applied to one initiated into the mysteries). This is not
improbable; as he is said to have lost his life for divulging the
sacred and mysterious name of Rome. Vid. Plut., Qu. Rom., lxi.
«Two verses of his are quoted by Varro, L. L., vii., 3, and x.,
70. Cf. Plin., H. N., Præf., p. 6, Hard. A. Gell., ii., 10.»

With him, therefore, as a man of judgment and experience,
Lucilius, who had already acquired some ill-will from his
Satires, consults, as to the best method of avoiding all odium
for the future, and as to the subjects he shall select for
his compositions. This book then contains an account of this
interview between the poet and his adviser; and Gerlach most
ingeniously arranges the fragments in such an order as to
represent in some manner the topics of discussion in a methodical
sequence. These are, chiefly, the propriety of his continuing
to pursue the same style of writing, and the enunciation of
the opinions of both on matters relating to war, marriage, and
literary pursuits.

Van Heusde and Schoenbeck give no definite idea of the subject.
Petermann considers the subject matter to have been far more
diversified. The book begins, in his opinion, with a vivid
description of the miseries of conjugal life, introducing a very
graphic matrimonial quarrel; this is followed by so infinitely
diversified a farrago of sentiments that it is hopeless to
attempt to establish any systematic connection between them.

Corpet considers the whole to have been a philosophical discussion
of the miseries of human life, especially those attendant on the
married state, which the poet illustrated by the very forcible
example of Agamemnon and Clytæmnestra.

The whole of the book was composed in the Trochaic metre;
consisting of tetrameters catalectic and acatalectic. A few
Fragments consist of Iambic heptameters and octometers (Iambici
septenarii et octonarii), unless, as is not improbable, these
lines have been referred to this book, through the inadvertence
of grammarians or copyists. It might, however, have been
intentional, as in the succeeding books we find Iambic, Trochaic,
and Dactylic metres indiscriminately employed.

1 Men, by their own act, bring upon themselves this trouble and
annoyance; they marry wives, and bring up children, by which
they cause these.[1831]

2 For you say indeed, that what was secretly intrusted to you,
you would neither utter a single murmur, nor divulge your
mysteries abroad....[1832]

3 If she were to ask me for as much iron as she does gold, I
would not give it her. So again, if she were to sleep away from
me, she would not get what she asks.

4 ... but Syrus himself, the Tricorian, a freedman and thorough
scoundrel; with whom I become a shuffler, and change all
things.[1833]

5 ... covered with filth, in the extremity of dirt and
wretchedness, exciting neither envy in her enemies, nor desire
in her friends.

6 ... but that I should serve under Lucilius as collector of the
taxes on pasturage in Asia, no, that I would not![1834]

7 ... just as the Roman people has been conquered by superior
force, and beaten in many single battles; but in war never, on
which every thing depends.

8 Some woman hoping to pillage and rifle me, and filch from me my
ivory mirror.[1835]

9 In throwing up a mound, if there is any occasion for bringing
vineæ into play, their first care is to advance them.

11 Take charge of the sick man, pay his expenses, defraud his
genius.[1836]

12 ... But for whom? One whom a single fever, one attack of
indigestion, nay, a single draught of wine, could carry
off....[1837]

13 If they commiserate themselves, take care you do not assign
their case too high a place.[1838]

14 Now, in like manner ... we wish to captivate their mind ...
just to the people and to authors....[1839]

15 ... you do not collect that multitude of your friends which you
have entered on your list....[1840]

16 ... wherefore it is better for her to cherish this, than bestow
all her regard on that....

17 ... in the first place, all natural philosophers say, that man
is made up of soul and body.

18 ... to have returned and retraced his steps[1841]

19 ... and that which is greatly to your fancy is excessively
disagreeable to me....

20 ... strive with the highest powers of your nature: whereas I,
on the other hand ... that I may be different[1842]

21 ... whether he should hang himself, or fall on his sword, that
he may not look upon the sky....[1843]

22 ... study the matter, and give your attention to my words, I
beg.

23 ... in order that I may escape from that which I perceive it is
the summit of your desires to attain to.[1844]

24 On the other hand, it is a disgrace not to know how to conquer
in war the sturdy barbarian Hannibal.[1845]

25 ... but if they see this, they think that a wise man always
aims at what is good....

26 ... delighted with your pursuit, you write an ancient history
to your favorites....[1846]

27 ... who I am, and with what husk I am now enveloped, I can
not....[1847]

28 ... then to oppose to my mind a body worn out with pains.

29 ... nor before he had handled a man's veins and heart....

30 Let us appear kind and courteous to our friends--[1848]

31 Why should not you too call me unlettered and uneducated?[1849]

32 ... call together the assembly, with hoarse sound and crooked
horns.[1850]

33 They will of their own accord fight it out for you, and die,
and will offer themselves voluntarily.

34 When I bring forth any verse from my heart--[1851]

35 He is not on that account exalted as the giver of life or of
joy....[1852]

36 As each one of us has been brought forth into light from his
mother's womb[1853]

37 ... if you wish to have your mind refreshed through your
ears[1854]

38 ... they who drag on life for six months, vow the seventh to
Orcus.

39 ... we are easily laughed at; we know that it is highly
dangerous to be angry--[1855]

40 Part is blown asunder by the wind, part grows stiff with
cold--[1856]

41 ... if he tastes nothing between two market days.[1857]

42 ... let it be glued with warm glue spread over it....

43 ... wherefore I quit the straight line, and gladly discharge
the office of rubbish--[1858]

44 ... if I had hit upon any obsolete or questionable word

45 ... your youth, tired and tested to the highest degree by
me.[1859]

46 ... when I had invigorated my body with a double stadium on the
exercise-ground, and with ball....[1860]

47 ... those who will take food from a clean table must needs wash.

48 Now obscurity is to these a strange and monstrous thing--[1861]

49 ... what you would think you should beware of and chiefly
avoid....

50 ... enter on that toil which will bring you both fame and
profit--

51 ... what he understood, I showed that not a few could:

52 ... how disgusting and poor a thing it is to live «with
loathing for food».[1862]

53 ... for my part, I am not persuaded publicly to change mine.

54 ... then my tithes, which treat me so ill, and turn out so badly

55 ... we see that he who is ill in mind gives evidence of it in
his body.

56 ... make the battle of Popilius resound[1863]

57 ... Sylvanus, the driver away of wolves ... and trees struck by
lightning.[1864]

58 ... that you transport yourself from the fierce storms of life
into quiet.

59 Moreover, it is a friend's duty to advise well, watch over,
admonish--

60 Since I found it out from great crowds of boon
companions--[1865]

61 ... a faithless wife, a sluggish household, a dirty home--[1866]

62 ... nor is peace obtained ... because he dragged Cassandra from
the statue[1867]

63 ... Eager to return home, we almost infringed our king's
command[1868]

64 ... Let something, at all events, which I have attempted, turn
out, some way....

65 ... Thither our eyes of themselves entice us, and hope hurries
our mind to the spot.

66 ... he thinks by clothes to ward off cold and shivering.

67 ... unless you write of monsters and snakes with wings and
feathers.[1869]

68 ... for I grow contemptuous and am weary of Agamemnon--

69 ... he is tormented with hunger, cold, dirt, unbathed
filthiness, neglect.

70 ... a sieve, a colander, a lantern ... a thread for the
web.[1870]

71 May the gods suggest better things, and avert madness from you

72 ... a dry, wretched, miserable stock he calls an elder--

73 ... be more learned than the rest; abandon, or change to some
other direction, those faults which have become sacred with you.

74 It were better to get gold from the fire or food out of the mud
with our teeth.

75 Let him chop wood, perform his task-work, sweep the house, be
beaten.

76 He alone warded off Vulcan's violence from the fleet....

77 Therefore, they think all will escape sickness....

78 I therefore dispose, for money, of that which costs me dearer.

FOOTNOTES:

[1831] _Producunt_, i. e., "instituunt," Nonius: vel "gignunt," Plaut.,
Rud., IV., iv., 129. Pers., vi., 18, "Geminos Horoscope varo producis
genio." Juv., viii., 271, "Quam te Thersitæ similem producat Achilles."
Plaut., As., III., i., 40. Ter., Ad., III., ii., 16. Juv., xiv., 228.
This, and the 3d, 4th, and 5th Fragments refer to the miseries of
married life.

[1832] _Mutires_, "to grumble, mutter." Plaut., Amph., I., i., 228,
"Etiam muttis? jam tacebo."

[1833] The Tricorii were a people of Gallia Narbonensis, on the
banks of the Druentia, now Durance, near Briançon, bordering
on the Allobroges and Vocontii. Hannibal marched through their
territory, after leaving the Arar. Cf. Plin., ii., 4. Liv., xxi., 31.
_Versipellis._ Cf. Plaut., Amph., Prol., 123, "Ita versipellem se facit
quando lubet."

[1834] Van Heusde's interpretation is followed, which seems the most
obvious one. Gerlach takes the contrary view, and says, these very
words prove that Lucilius could not have been a scriptuarius or
decumanus. Lucilius means, "he would not change his present condition
and pursuits, even for a very lucrative post in Asia."

[1835] _Depeculassere_ and _deargentassere_, are examples of the
old form of a future infinitive ending in _assere_. Cf. Plaut.,
Amphit., I., i., 56, "Sese igitur summâ vi virisque eorum oppidum
_expugnassere_." _Decalauticare_, "to deprive of one's hood," from
calautica, "a covering for the head, used by women, and falling over
the shoulders." It seems that Cicero charged Clodius with wearing one,
when he was detected in Cæsar's house. "Tunc cum vincirentur pedes
fasceis, cum calauticam capiti accommodares." Cic. in Clod. ap. Non.,
in voc. _Decalicasse_, is another reading.

[1836] _Defrudet._ Cf. Plaut., Asin., I., i., 77, "Me defrudato.
Defrudem te ego? Age, sis, tu sine pennis vola!"

[1837] Cf. Shaksp., Measure for Measure, act iii., sc. 1, "Reason thus
with life," etc.

[1838] Read "causam ... collocaveris."

[1839] Hopelessly corrupt. Gerlach says very justly, "fortasse rectius
ejusmodi loca intacta relinquuntur."

[1840] _Conficere_, i. e., "Colligere." Nonius, in voc.

[1841] _Repedasse._ Cf. Lucret., vi., 1279, "Perturbatus enim totus
repedabat." Pacuv. ap. Fest., in voc., "Paulum repeda gnate à vestibulo
gradum."

[1842] 19 and 20. Cf. Hor., i., Epist. xiv., 18, "Non eadem miramur:
eô disconvenit inter meque et te: nam quæ deserta et inhospita tesqua
Credis, amœna vocat mecum qui sentit, et odit quæ tu pulchra putas."
Cf. 23.

[1843] Describes the alternatives which the man worn out by conjugal
miseries proposes to himself.

[1844] Hor., i., Epist. xiv., 11,. "Cui placet alterius sua nimirum est
odio sors. Stultus uterque locum immeritum causatur iniquè. In culpâ
est animus qui se non _effugit_ unquam."

[1845] Gerlach's emendation is followed. Nonius explains "viriatum" by
"magnarum virium." Freund explains it, "adorned with bracelets," from
an old word, "viriæ," a kind of armlet or bracelet.

[1846] This refers, according to Gerlach, to Aulus Postumius Albinus,
consul B.C. 151, who wrote a Roman history in Greek. Cic., Brut., 21.
Fr. inc. 1.

[1847] _Folliculus_, properly the "pod, shell, or follicle" of a grain
or seed, is here put for the human flesh or body, which serves as the
husk to enshrine the principle of vitality.

[1848] _Munifici._ Plaut., Amph., II., ii., 222, "Tibi morigera, atque
ut munifica sim bonis, prosim probis."

[1849] _Idiota._ Cf. Cic., Ver., ii., 4; Sest., 51. Gerlach considers
these words to have been addressed either to Valerius Soranus, or
more probably to Ælius Stilo, whose judgment in literary matters was
so highly thought of that even Q. Servilius Cæpio, C. Aurelius Cotta,
and Q. Pompeius Rufus used his assistance in the composition of their
speeches. Cf. ad lib. i., Fr. 16.

[1850] Lipsius supposes this Fragment to refer to the Roman custom of
sounding a trumpet in the most frequented parts of the city, when the
day of trial of any citizen, on a capital charge, was proclaimed.

[1851] This Fragment, as well as 37 and 44, Gerlach supposes to have
been addressed to Ælius Stilo.

[1852] _Vel vitæ vel gaudî dator._ Gerlach's last conjecture.

[1853] _Bulga._ Cf. lib. ii., Fr. 16; vi., Fr. i.

[1854] _Irrigarier._ Cf. Plaut., Pœn., III., iii., 86, "Vetustate vino
edentulo ætatem irriges." Virg., Æn., iii., 511, "Fessos sopor irrigat
artus."

[1855] _Capital._ Cf. Plaut., Trin., IV., iii., 81, "Capitali
periculo." Rud., II., iii., 19. Mostell., II., ii., 44, "Capitalis ædes
facta est."

[1856] _Difflo._ "Flatu disturbo." Non. Cf. Plaut. Mil. Gl., I., i.,
17, "Quoius tu legiones difflavisti spiritu, quasi ventus folia aut
paniculam tectoriam." Gerlach thinks this refers to some description
of the return of the Greeks from the Trojan war, and is quoted by
Lucilius to show how entirely his style of composition differs from
such subjects.

[1857] _Nundinæ._ The market days were every ninth day, when the
country people came into Rome to sell their goods. These days
were _nefasti_. "Ne si liceret cum populo agi, interpellarentur
nundinatores." Fest.

[1858] _Lira_ is properly "the ridge thrown up between two furrows."
Hence _lirare_, "to plow or harrow in the seed." [In Juv., Sat. xiii.,
65, some read "_liranti_ sub aratro."] _Delirare_, therefore, is "to go
out of the right furrow." Hence, "to deviate from the straight course,
to go wrong, or deranged." Hor., i., Ep. xii., 20, "Quidquid delirant
reges plectuntur Achivi."

[1859] _Spectatam._ Ov., Trist., I., v., 25, "Ut fulvum spectatur in
ignibus aurum tempore sic duro est inspicienda fides." Cic., Off., ii.,
11, "Qui pecuniâ non movetur hunc igni spectatum arbitrantur."

[1860] _Siccare_, is properly applied "to healing up a running sore."
Then generally for hardening and making healthy the skin or body.

[1861] _Ignobilitas._ Cic., Tusc., v., 36, "Num igitur _ignobilitas_
aut humilitas ... sapientem beatum esse prohibebit?"

[1862] _Vescum._ Ovid explains the word. Fast., iii., 445, "Vegrandia
farra coloni. Quæ male creverunt, vescaque parva vocant." Cf. Virg.,
Georg., iii., 175, "Et vescas salicum frondes." Lucret., i., 327,
"Vesco sale saxa peresa." Nonius explains it by "minutus, obscurus."
Gerlach omits the last words of the Fragment.

[1863] Gerlach supposes Popilius Lænas to be meant, who incurred great
odium from the manner in which he conducted the inquiry into the death
of Tiberius Gracchus.

[1864] Cf. Plaut., Trin., II. iv., 138, "Nam fulguritæ sunt hic alternæ
arbores."

[1865] _Combibo._ "A pot companion." Cic., Fam., ix., 25, "In
controversiis quas habeo cum tuis combibonibus Epicureis."

[1866] For the old reading _flaci tam_, Dusa reads _flaccidam_;
Gerlach, _fædatam_.

[1867] Nonius explains _prosferari_ by _impetrari_, which is very
doubtful. Scaliger proposes "Nec mihi oilei proferatur Ajax." Gerlach,
"Agamemnoni præferatur Ajax," which would connect this Fragment with
Fr. 68 and 40, and the following.

[1868] _Domuitio_ (i. e., Domum itio, formed like circuitio). This,
probably, also refers to the return of the Greeks from Troy. _Imperium
imminuimus._ Cf. Plaut., Asin., III., i., 6, "Hoccine est pietatem
colere _imperium_ matris _minuere_?"

[1869] This is also an allusion to tragic poets, whose subjects are
quite foreign to his taste. Cf. Fr. 40. The allusion is of course to
such plays as the Medea of Euripides (the Amphitryo of Plautus, etc.).

[1870] It is not impossible that the reference may be to the custom
prescribed by the laws of the xii. tables to persons searching for
stolen goods. The person so searching either wore himself (or was
accompanied by a servus publicus wearing) a small girdle round the
abdomen, called Licium; this was done to prevent any suspicion of
himself introducing into the house that which he alleged to have been
stolen from him; and that it might not be abused into a privilege of
entering the women's apartments for the purposes of intrigue, he was
obliged to carry before his face a Lanx perforated with small holes
(hence incerniculum), that he might not be recognized by the women,
whose apartments the law allowed him to search. This process was
called, in law, per lancem et licium furta concipere. It is alluded to
by Aristoph., Nub., 485. Cf. Schol. in loc. Fest. in voc. Lanx. Plato,
Leg., xii., calls licium χιτωνίσκον.

BOOK XXVII.

ARGUMENT.

The Fragments of this book are of too diversified a character to
form a correct conclusion with regard to the general subject.
Corpet admits the difficulty, but considers that it contained
a criticism upon the philosophic opinions of the day. Mercer
thinks that the principal portion was occupied by a matrimonial
discussion, in which the lady had decidedly the better of the
argument; who being sprung from a more noble descent, and being
possessed of a more ample fortune, considered that the control
of the household pertained to herself, as a matter of right.
These conjectures, however satisfactory as far as they go,
will not sufficiently account for the greater portion of the
Fragments. Gerlach supposes that the book contained a defense of
the poet's own pursuits and habits of life against the attacks
of calumniators. The book begins, therefore, with a conversation
between the poet and a friend, when the various points at issue
are brought forward and refuted. The chief of these are the
study of poetry; which, as Lucilius maintains, conduces greatly
to the well-being of the state. He then defends his choice of
the particular branch of poetry which he has adopted, and proves
that his satiric view is to be attributed to no arrogance,
self-sufficiency, or malevolence, or envy toward his fellow-men;
that he himself is possessed of a certain evenness of temper,
neither elated by prosperity nor depressed by adversity. The
result of this temperament is an openness of heart, and frankness
of disposition, which leads him to form friendships rapidly,
without that cautious circumspection which commonly attends
men of less equable tone of mind. This peculiar disposition of
mind is also one which, extending to itself no indulgence for
any frailty, is but little inclined to overlook the weaknesses
of others, but impartially corrects the failings of itself and
others: whereas the more common character of mankind is to be
indulgently blind to those faults to which they are themselves
inclined, and severely critical of the imperfections of their
neighbors. While others, again, make it their whole study
hypocritically to conceal their own defects. He concludes with
a sentiment which Horace has borrowed and enlarged upon, that
whereas no perfection can be expected in this life, he is to be
accounted to have arrived most nearly at the wished-for goal, who
is disfigured by the fewest defects; and since all human affairs
are at the best but frail and fleeting, it is a characteristic of
wisdom out of evils to choose the least.

1 Moreover it is inherent in good men, whether they are angry
or kindly disposed, to remain long in the same way of
thinking.[1871]

2 The cook cares not that the tail be very large, provided it be
fat. So friends look to a man's mind; parasites, to his riches.

3 He acts in the same way as those who secretly convey away from
the harbor an article not entered, that they may not have to
pay custom-dues.[1872]

4 Lucilius greets the people in such elaborate verses as he can;
and all this too zealously and assiduously.[1873]

5 ... do you think Lucilius will be content, when I have wearied
myself out, and used all my best endeavors....

6 ... for such a return as this indeed they foreboded, and to
offend in no other thing.

7 ... those, too, who have approached the door they throw out of
the windows on their head--

8 ... that I envy no one, nor often cast a jealous eye on their
luxuries[1874]

9 ... he on the other hand ... all things imperceptibly and
gradually ... out of doors, that he might hurt no one

10 nor, like the Greeks, at whatever question you ask, do we
inquire, where are the Socratic writings?[1875]

11 This is little better than moderate; this, as being as bad as
possible, is less so.

12 Let your order, therefore, now bring forward the crimes he has
committed....

13 ... rather than an indifferent harvest, and a poor vintage

14 ... but if you will watch and carefully observe these for a
little time.

15 ... but whatever may happen, or not, I bear patiently and
courageously.

16 But if you watch the man who rejoices....

17 What dutiful affection? Five mere shadows of men call....[1876]

18 When I beg for peace, when I soothe her, accost her, and call
her "my own!"

19 Yet elsewhere a wart or a scar, a mole or pimples, differ.[1877]

20 ... to which he has once made up his mind, and as he thinks
altogether....

21 ... when my little slaves, come to me ... should not I salute
my mistress--

22 ... they call mad, whom they see called a sap or a woman.[1878]

23 ... nor if I ... usury a little less; and helped a long time.

24 ... now up, now down, like a mountebank's neck.[1879]

25 ... his country's adviser, and hereditary legislator--

26 What they lend one another, is safe without fear of loss

27 ... if face surpass face, and figure figure--

28 let them rather spare him, whom they can, and in whom they
think credit can be placed.[1880]

29 ... since I know that nothing in life is given to man as his
own.

30 We were nimble ... thinking that would be ours forever.[1881]

31 Yet if this has not come back to you, you will lack this
advantage.

32 I fear it can not be; and I differ from Archilochus.[1882]

33 ... than that he should not alone swallow up and squander all.

35 ... especially, if, as I hope, you lend me this....[1883]

36 ... first, with what courage he prevented slavery....

38 ... but you fear, moreover, lest you should be captivated by
the sight, and her beauty....

39 ... in prosperity to be elated, in adversity to be depressed....

40 ... I will send one to plunder the property; I will look out
for a wretched beggar....

41 ... for even from boyhood ... to extricate myself from love....

42 ... whether you maintain at home twenty or thirty or a hundred
bread-wasters.[1884]

43 I would have you, as is fair, place faith in hymns.[1885]

44 ... bids you God speed, and salutes you most heartily and
warmly.[1886]

FOOTNOTES:

[1871] _Propitius_ is sometimes applied to human beings as well as
to deities. Cf. Ter., Adelph., I., i., 6, "Uxor quæ in animo cogitat
irata, quam illa quæ parentes propitii." Cic., Att., viii., 16, "hunc
propitium sperant, illum iratum putant." The last line is very corrupt.
Gerlach proposes to read "soliditas propositi," which is scarcely
tenable.

[1872] _Inscriptum_, any thing contraband, not entered or marked at the
custom-house, portitorium. Varr., R. R., II., i., 16.

[1873] Gerlach reads _factis_ instead of _fictis_, which Nonius must
have followed. Cf. Hor., i., Sat. x., 58, "Num rerum dura negarit
Versiculos natura magis _factos_ et euntes mollius." Cic., de
Orat., iii., 48, "Oratio polita et facta quodammodo." So in Greek,
κατειργασμένος· πεποιημένος. Longin., viii.

[1874] _Strabo._ Cf. Hor., i., Epist. xiv., 37, "Non istic _obliquo
oculo_ mea commoda quisquam limat." To this Varro opposes "integris
oculis."

[1875] Cf. Hor., A. P., 310, "Rem tibi Socraticæ poterunt ostendere
chartæ."

[1876] _Monogrammi._ Cf. lib. ii., Fr. 17.

[1877] _Papulæ._ Cf. Sen., Vit. Beat., 27, "Papulas observatis alienas,
obsiti plurimis ulceribus." Virg., Georg., iii., 564.

[1878] _Maltha_ is properly a thick unctuous excretion; fossil tar or
petroleum; thence used, like our English "sap," for an effeminate fool:
perhaps from the Greek μαλακός.

[1879] _Cernuus._ Cf. iii., Fr. 20. Properly "one who falls on his
face;" then applied to a mountebank or tumbler, throwing somersaults;
a πεταυριστὴς· κυβιστητήρ. Cf. "jactata petauro corpora," Juv., xiv.,
265, with the note. Lucil., Fr. inc. 40. _Collus_ is the older form of
_collum_.

[1880] Very corrupt: the reading followed is adopted by Dusa and
Gerlach.

[1881] _Pernicis._ Cf. Hor., Epod. ii., 42, "Pernicis uxor Appuli."

[1882] _Excidere_ Nonius explains by _dissentire_.

[1883] Cf. Plaut., Curc., I., i., 47, "Ego cum illâ facere nolo mutuum."

[1884] _Cibicidas_, i. e., "slaves," a humorous word, "consumers of
food."

[1885] Cf. ad xxviii., 44.

[1886] _Sospitat_, a religious phrase, properly "to preserve, protect."
Plaut., Amph., III., viii., 501, Hild., "Dii plus plusque istuc
sospitent." So Ennius, "regnum sospitent superstitentque." _Impertit._
Cf. Cic., Att., ii., 12, "Terentia impertit tibi multam salutem."

BOOK XXVIII.

ARGUMENT.

Van Heusde considers that this book contained some severe
strictures on the part of a morose old man, or stern uncle,
on the over-indulgence of a fond and foolish father. Yet a
considerable portion of the Satire seems to contain a defense
of the poet himself against the assaults of some invidious
maligners, and in order to do this, he enters, generally,
into a discussion of the habits and manners of young men of
the age. Their licentiousness, he is prepared to admit, has
been in great measure produced by the want of restraint in
early youth. This petulance develops itself in an uncontrolled
license of speech, regardless of all annoyance to the feelings
of others--in avarice--in haughtiness, the peculiar vice of
men of rank--ambition, luxury, and love of sensual pleasure.
These charges he illustrates by a passage quoted from Cæcilius.
Even those who do show some taste for better things, and apply
themselves to the cultivation of philosophy, do not, like
Polemon, adopt the severe maxims of a self-denying system, but
attach themselves to the school of Epicurus or Aristippus. To
such as these, all good advice, all endeavors to reclaim them to
the rugged paths of a stricter morality, are utterly hopeless and
unavailing.

1 Let him grant the man what he wishes; cajole him, corrupt him
altogether, and enfeeble all his nerves.[1887]

2 You can shorten your speech, while your hide is still
sound.[1888]

3 He both loved Polemo, and bequeathed his "school" to him after
his death; as they call it.[1889]

4 ... wherefore I am resolved to act against him; to prosecute
him, and give up his name....

5 ... she will steal every thing with bird-limed hands; will take
every thing, believe me, and violently sweep off all--[1890]

6 ... that ancient race, of which is Maximus Quintus, the
knock-kneed, the splay-footed....[1891]

7 ... what they say Aristippus the Socratic sent of old to the
tyrant....[1892]

8 ... to concede that one point, and yield in that in which he is
overcome....[1893]

9 ... or if by chance needs be, elsewhere; if you depart hence
for any place--

10 ... though the old woman returns to her wine-pot.[1894]

11 ... to threaten openly to name the day for his trial.

12 ... unhonored, unlamented, unburied--[1895]

13 ... substitute others, if you think whom you can.

14 ... lest he do this, and you escape from this sorrow.

15 ... what will become of me? since you do not wish to associate
with the bad.[1896]

16 ... he never bestirs himself, nor acts so as to bring ruin on
himself.

17 Here then was the meeting: arms and an ambuscade were
placed.[1897]

18 I made away with a large quantity of fish and fatlings; that I
deny....[1898]

19 ... add, moreover, a grave and stern philosopher.

20 ... rap at the door, Gnatho: keep it up! they stand firm! We
are undone!

21 Come, come, you thieves; prate away your lies![1899]

22 But flight is prepared; greatly excited, he steps with timid
foot.[1900]

23 Why do you thus use engines throwing stones of a hundred
pounds' weight?[1901]

24 ... in the first place, gold is superabundant, and the
treasures are open--

25 ... persuade ... and pass: or tell me why you should pass.

26 † he besides orders our ... who are entering....[1902]

27 ... to your own mischief, you destroyers of hinges[1903]

28 If Lucilius has provoked him in his love.

29 Whether you have kept aloof from your husband, a year, or this
year--

30 besides this, some extra work, whenever you please[1904]

31 to whom I intrusted implicitly my life and fortunes.[1905]

32 ... on whom I have often inflicted a thousand stripes a day

33 ... that he is a capital botcher: sews up patchwork
excellently.[1906]

34 ... by such great power they will elate their minds to
heaven[1907]

35 But what are you doing? tell me that I may know--

36 ... Youth must provide now against old age.

37 As though you had dropsy in your mind.

38 ... as to face and stature....[1908]

39 ... and what is filthy in look and smell--

40 ... to forge supports of gold and brass--[1909]

41 Nor challenges at any price--

42 Go in, and be of good cheer.

43 Care nothing about teaching letters to a clod.[1910]

44 I have made up my mind, Hymnis, that you are taking from a
madman[1911]

45 You know the whole affair. I am afraid I shall be blamed

46 Chremes had gone to the middle. Demænetus to the top.

47 Here you will find firm flesh, and the breasts standing forth
from a chest like marble--[1912]

48 I will surpass the forms and atoms of Epicurus--

49 † Now you come toward us....[1913]

50 ... I come to the pimp ... that he intends to buy her outright
for three thousand sesterces.[1914]

FOOTNOTES:

[1887] Nonius explains _eligere_ by _defatigare_. It is used by Varro
and Columella in the sense of "plucking up, weeding out," eridicare;
and metaphorically by Cicero in the same sense. (Tusc., iii., 34.)
Gerlach maintains that _nervos eligere_ is not Latin, and reads _nervos
elidat_ «which is confirmed by a passage in the same treatise of
Cicero, "Nervos omnes virtutis elidunt." Tusc., ii., 11».

[1888] _Compendi facere._ Plaut., Most., I., i., 57, "Orationis operam
compendiface." Pseud., IV., vii., 44, "Quisquis es adolescens operam
fac compendi quærere." Asin., II., ii., 41, "Verbivelitationem fieri
compendi volo." Capt., V., ii., 12. Bacch., I., ii, 51; II., ii., 6.
_Terginum_ is a scourge made of hide (the "cowskin" of the Americans).
Cf. Plaut., Ps., I., ii., 22, "Nunquam edepol vostrum durius _tergum_
erit quam _terginum_ hoc meum."

[1889] The story of Polemon entering intoxicated into the school of
Xenocrates, and being suddenly converted by that philosopher's lecture
on temperance, is told by Diogenes Laertius (in Vit., i., c. 1), and
referred to by Horace, ii., Sat. iii., 253, "Faciasne quod olim mutatus
Polemon? ponas insignia morbi Fasciolas, cubital, focalia, potus ut
ille dicitur ex collo furtim carpsisse coronas postquam est impransi
correptus voce magistri." He afterward succeeded Xenocrates; and Zeno
and Arcesilaus were among his hearers. Cic., Orat., iii., 18.

[1890] _Viscatis manibus._ Cf. Sen., Ep. viii., 3, "Quisquis nostrum
ista _viscata_ beneficia devitet."

[1891] To whom these vituperative alliterations (_vatia_, _vatrax_,
_vatricosus_) are applied is uncertain. The Fabian gens are most
probably alluded to. The reading "verrucosus," therefore, has been
suggested, to identify the person with the great Fabius Cunctator.
(Aur. Vict., Vir. Ill., 43.) But this violates the metre, and still
leaves the two other epithets unaccounted for. Three famous men of the
gens had the prænomen Quintus, Æmilianus, his son Allobrogicus, and his
grandson. Gerlach considers the last to be the object of the Satire, as
his profligacy and licentiousness were notorious. Cf. Val. Max., III.,
v., 2.

[1892] Of the numerous repartees of Aristippus to Dionysius, mentioned
by Diogenes Laertius in his Life, it is difficult to say to which
Lucilius alludes. Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 10; i., Epist. xvii., 13,
_seq_.

[1893] Cf. Hor., Epod. xvii., 1, "Jam jam efficaci _do manus_ scientiæ."

[1894] _Armillum_, "a wine-pot," vini urceolus, vas vinarium; so
called quia armo, i. e., humero deportatur. Old women being naturally
wine-bibbers (vinibuæ), "anus ad armillum" passed into a proverbial
expression. Cf. Prov., xxvi., 11. 2 Pet., ii., 22.

[1895] _Nullo honore._ Cf. Scott's Lay of Last Minstrel, "Unwept,
unhonored, and unsung."

[1896] _Committere_, Nonius explains by "conjungere, sociare." Cf.
Virg., Æn., iii., "Delphinum caudas utero commissa luporum." Ov., Met,
xii., 478, "Quà vir equo commissus erat."

[1897] Nonius quotes this passage as an instance of "convenire" used in
the sense of "interpellare."

[1898] _Altilium._ Cf. Juv., v., 168, "Ad nos jam veniet minor
altilis." Hor., i., Ep. vii., 35, "Nec somnum plebis laudo satur
altilium." Cf. iv., Fr. 5.

[1899] _Argutamini._ Cf. Enn. ap. Non., "Exerce linguam ut argutarier
possis." Næv., ibid., "totum diem argutatur quasi cicada." Plaut.,
Amp., I., i., 196, "Pergin argutarier?" Bacch., I., ii., 19, "Etiam me
advorsus exordire argutias?"

[1900] _Percitus_ is commonly used by the comic writers for the
excitement of any strong passion, as love, anger, etc.

[1901] _Centenarias._ So pondere centenario. Plin., vii., 20. Cf. ad
lib. v., Fr. 22.

[1902] Hopelessly corrupt. Dusa proposes _puer_.

[1903] _Confectores._ Connected probably with Fr. 20, and referring to
the violent entrances lovers used to effect into the houses of their
mistresses. Cf. lib. iv., Fr. 15; xxix., Fr. 47. Hor., iii., Od. xxvi.,
7. Where Zumpt explains _vectes_ as instruments which "adhibebantur ad
fores effringendas." _Conficere_, i. e., frangere. Nonius.

[1904] _Subsecivus_ is properly applied to that which is "cut off and
left remaining over and above," as land in surveying, etc. So horæ
subsecivæ, tempus subsecivum, "leisure hours, odd times," used by
Cicero and Pliny. So Seneca says of philosophy, "Exercet regnum suum:
dat tempus non accipit. Non est _res subseciva_: ordinaria est, domina
est: adest et jubet." Cf. the Greek phrase ἐκ παρέργου.

[1905] _Concredidit._ Plaut., Aul., Prol., 6.

[1906] _Sarcinator._ Plaut., Aul., III., v., 41. _Cento_, "a patchwork
coverlet." Juv., vi., 121. Vid. Fest in voc. "prohibere." The phrase
_centones sarcire_ also means, "to impose upon a person by falsehoods."
Cf. Plaut., Epid., III., iv., 19, "Quin tu alium quæras quoi centones
sarcias."

[1907] The emendations of this Fragment are endless. The reading of the
text is approved by Merula and Gerlach.

[1908] _Statura._ Cf. Cic., Phil., ii., 16, "Velim mihi docas, L,
Turselius, qua _facie_ fuit, quâ _staturâ_."

[1909] _Fulmenta_, "any prop or support." Hence "a bed-post." Whence
the proverb, "Fulmenta lectum scandunt." Plautus also uses it for the
"heel of a shoe," "fulmentas jubeam suppingi soccis?" Trin., III., ii.,
94, _seq_. Lib. iv., Fr. 19.

[1910] _Lutum_ for "lutulentum."

[1911] Gerlach thinks _Hymnis_, here and in lib. xxvii., Fr. 43, may be
a proper name.

[1912] _Hic corpus._ "Verba conciliatricis Lenæ." Dusa. (Cf. Arist.,
Acharn., 1199).

[1913] Given up even by Gerlach.

[1914] _Destinet._ Cf. Plaut., Rud., Prol., 45, "Amare occœpit, ad
lenonem devenit minis triginta sibi puellam destinat." Pers., IV.,
iii., 80. Mart., III., i., 109; IV., iii., 35. _Destinare_ is properly
"to set one's mind upon a thing." So _obstinare_. Plaut., Aul., II.,
ii., 89.

BOOK XXIX.

ARGUMENT.

The remains of this book are so mutilated and so diversified, that,
as Gerlach says, "one might be disposed to imagine that the very
essence of the subject was its unconnected variety." Both he and
Merula, however, consider that it contained a long episode on
the state of morality in the good old days; when the war with
Hannibal rendered a luxurious indulgence incompatible even with
personal safety. (Cf. Juv., vi., 291. Sulpic., 51, 52.) An old
man is introduced inveighing bitterly against the sloth, the
luxury, and immoderate extravagance of the young men of his day;
of their unscrupulousness as to the means by which the money was
acquired, which was squandered on their licentious pleasures.
He then describes one of these scenes of dissipation; and shows
how young men, once entangled in the snares of their worthless
paramours not only become lost to every principle of virtue and
sense of shame, but are so completely enslaved and enthralled
by their passions, that they are able to refuse nothing,
however unworthy of them, which is exacted by their tyrannical
mistresses. This corruption extends itself, also, not only to
the courts of law, where justice has become a matter of barter,
both with advocates and judges, but its fatal effects may also
be traced in the debasement and deterioration of literature, of
poetry, and of the public taste.

1 When he has done this, the culprit will be handed over along
with others to Lupus: he will not appear. He will deprive the
man of both primary matter and elements: when he has prohibited
him from the use of water and fire, he has still two elements:
he would have preferred ... still he will deprive him--[1915]

2 ... and rest assured in your mind, that it will be a very
weighty reason indeed with me, which would draw me away from
any thing that would serve you.

3 ... who communicates to me what the difference is between the
race of mankind and brutes, and what it is connects them
together.

4 Apollo is the deity who will not suffer you to bring disgrace
and infamy on the ancient Delians.[1916]

5 For he swears a great oath that he has written, and will not
write afterward.... and return into fellowship.

6 ... when you have learnt, you may pass your life without care.

7 ... at the close of the year, days of mourning, sorrow, and
ill-luck.[1917]

8 ... and loved all; for he makes no difference, and separates
them by a white line....

So in love, and in the case of young men of rather better face, he
marks.... and loves nothing.[1918]

9 Why do you give way to excessive anger? You had better keep
your hands off a woman!

10 ... you could not take it away before you took the spirit of
Tullius from the man, and killed the man himself.[1919]

11 We heard he appealed to his friends, with that rascal Lucilius.

12 besides that you would wish us to direct, and apply our minds
to your words

13 So, I say, was that crafty fellow, that old wolf, Hannibal,
taken in.[1920]

14 But they are not alike, and do not give. What if they would
give? Would you accept, tell me?

15 ... convey him, like a runaway slave, with handcuffs, fetters,
and collar.[1921]

16 ... who will both beg you for less, and grant their favors much
better, and without disgrace.[1922]

17 If you wish to detain him....

18 Albinus, in grief, confines himself to his house, because he
has divorced his daughter....[1923]

19 ... to foment another's hungry stomach with ground barley like
a poultice.[1924]

20 I know for certain it is as you say: for I had thoroughly
examined into all.

21 ... she will bring you youth and elegance, if you think that
elegance.

22 ... first opposite.... if there is any garret to which he can
retire.

23 ... and in the gymnasium, that after the old fashion you might
retain spectators.

24 ... where there was a scout to shut him out from you, and nip
his passion in the bud.[1925]

25 When he sees me, he wheedles and coaxes, scratches his head,
and picks out the vermin.[1926]

26 What will it profit me, when I am now sated with all things.

27 ...[1927]

28 Go on, I pray; and if you can, make me think myself worthy of
you.

29 ... this he would have found the only thing for the man's
disease.

30 This is their way of reckoning: the items are falsified: the
sum total roguishly balanced.[1928]

31 These fellows will balance their accounts exactly in the same
way--[1929]

32 Come, now, add up the expenditure, and then add on the debts.

33 ... suffering from a Chironian and not a mortal sore and
wound.[1930]

34 ... what you have hired at a great price is dear; though with
no great loss.[1931]

35 ... all their hope rests in me, that I may be bilked of my
money.[1932]

36 ... would not return ... and banish her poor wretch.[1933]

37 ... we have all been plundered.

38 ... distribute, scatter, squander, dissipate....

39 ... collect assistance, though she does not deserve I should
bring it.

40 ... you think me your patron, friend, and lover....

41 ... that in this matter, you should bring me aid and assistance

42 ... Do you, meantime, bring a light, and draw the
curtains.[1934]

43 ... thank me for introducing you.

44 ... then he subjoins that which is even now well known.

45 I will hit his leg with a stone, if he strikes you....

46 Let no one break these double hinges with iron....[1935]

47 I will break through the hinges with a crowbar and two-edged
iron.

48 I shall pass quickly through each winter.[1936]

49 Sends forth his pent-houses, prepares sheds and mantlets.[1937]

50 ... add all the rest in order, at my peril.

51 ... for a little while, they will devour me; while she, like a
very polypus....[1938]

52 ... rise, woman, draw not a bad outline....[1939]

53 ... since while they are extricating others, they get into the
mud themselves--

54 ... he came here, on his way, while he was traveling elsewhere.

55 ... what? he would himself share for learning what is
good.[1940]

56 ... as if he had not got what he wished for.

57 ... nor the cloudless breezes favor with their blast--[1941]

58 ... whence he can scarcely get home, and hardly get clear out.

59 ... and heaviness often oppresses you, by your own fault.[1942]

60 ... the annihilation of our army to a man--

61 ... thrust forth by force, and driven out of Italy.

62 ... this then he possessed, and nearly all Apulia--

63 ... with some intricate beginning out of Pacuvius.

64 ... may the king of gods avert ill-omened words.[1943]

65 ... rails at wretched me too....

66 ... first he denies that Chrysis returns intact.[1944]

67 ... the Greeks call tripping up.[1945]

68 ... all things alike he separates ... and heinous.[1946]

69 ... What man art thou? Man! no man....[1947]

70 ...[1948]

71 ... all other things in which we are carried away, not to be
prolix.[1949]

72 † ....[1950]

73[1951]

FOOTNOTES:

[1915] _Lupus._ Cf. lib. i., Fr. 4, where he speaks of his perjuries,
and Fr. inc. 193, "Occidunt Lupe te saperdæ et jura siluri," where he
satirizes his luxuriousness; here he alludes to his unjust dealings as
judge. Cf. ad Pers., i., 114. _Interdicere aquâ et igni_, the technical
phrase for banishment. Cf. Cæs., B. G., vi., 44. Cic., Phil., vi., 4.
Fam., xi., 1. Lupus appears to grieve that the banished man has still
two elements, air and earth, left to enjoy. Thales is said to have
been the first to use ἀρχαὶ in the sense of "first principles." (Vid.
Ritter's History of Philosophy.) Empedocles first reduced the elements
to four, and called them ῥιζώματα. Plato first called them στοιχεῖα,
vid. Tim., 48. _Adesse_ is applied both to the defendant who _appears_
before the tribunal and to the advocate who _stands by_ to support
him. «Cicero seems to allude to the passage in his speech for Roscius
(pro Rosc. Am., xxvi.), "Non videntur hunc hominem ex rerum naturâ
sustulisse et eripuisse, cui repente cœlum, solem, aquam, terramque
ademerint?" Cf. de Orat., i., c. 50, 1.»

[1916] _Deliacis_, the conjecture of Junius for _deliciis_. The
Fragment will then be connected with Fr. 8, and will refer to the
θεωρία sent to Delos; with which, of course, the death of Socrates is
connected. Plat., Phæd., 58.

[1917] _Annus vertens_, i. e., "circumactus, completus." Nizol. Cic.
pro Qu., 40. Nat. De., ii., 54, "Mercurii stella anno ferè vertente
signiferum lustrat orbem." Phil., xiii., 10, "intra finem anni
vertentis." So mensis vertens. Plaut., Pers., IV., iv., 76. _Dies
religiosi_, ἀποφράδες ἡμέραι, "Days of ill omen," on which nothing
important was undertaken; as the Dies Alliensis. Cf. Cic., Att., ix.,
4. Qu., Fr. 3, 4. Liv., vi., 1. Suet., Tib., 61, "Nullus à pœnâ hominum
cessavit dies, ne religiosus quidem ac sacer." Claud., 14. Aul. Gell.,
iv., 9. Festus reckons thirty-six of these days in the year (in voc
"Religiosus" and "Mundus").

[1918] _Albâ lineâ signare_ is a phrase for "doing any thing carelessly
and negligently:" to make, as it were, a white line on a white ground,
which could not be distinguished; whereas careful workmen work by a
clearly-defined and durable line. Cf. Aul. Gell., Præf., 11, "Albâ ut
dicitur lineâ, sine curâ discriminis converrebant."

[1919] _Tullius_, Gerlach supposes to have been an unjust judge, like
Lupus, Fr. 1, and to be the same as the "judex" mentioned, xi., Fr. 2.

[1920] _Acceptum_, i. e., deceptum. Nonius. _Veterator._ Cf. Ter.,
Andr., II., vi., 26, "Quid hic volt veterator sibi?"

[1921] _Canis_, and its diminutive, _catulus_, are both used for a
species of fetter. Plaut., Cas., II., vi., 37, "Ut quidem tu hodie
canem et furcam feras." Curcul., V., iii., 13, "Delicatum te hodie
faciam cum catello ut adcubes ferreo ego dico." σκύλαξ is used in Greek
with the same double meaning. _Collare._ Cf. Plaut., Capt., II., ii.,
107, "Hoc quidem haud molestum est, jam quod collum collari caret."
Other kinds of fetters are mentioned, Plaut., Asin., III., ii., 4,
"Compedes, nervos, catenas, numellas, pedicas, boias." Capt., IV., ii.,
109.

[1922] _Præbent._ Cf. Ov., A. Am., ii., 685, "Odi quæ præbet, quia sit
præbere necesse."

[1923] _Albinus._ It is doubtful whether the allusion is to Aulus or
Spurius Posthumius Albinus. The latter, Cicero tells us, was condemned
and banished by the "Gracchani judices," together with Opimius. Cic.,
Brut., 34. (Cf. lib. xi., Fr. 1.) He is here charged with incest, as
the phrase _repudium remittere_ properly applies to a wife, or one
betrothed (_divortium_ being applied to a wife only). Vid. Fest. in v.
"Repudium." Plaut., Aul., IV., x., 57, c. not. Hildyard.

[1924] _Mæstum_, i. e., fame enectum. Non.

[1925] Compare the whole scene in Plaut, Asin., act. iv., sc. 1.

[1926] _Subblanditur._ Plaut., Cas., III., iii., 23. Bacch., III.,
iv., 19. _Palpatur._ Plaut., Merc., I., ii., 60, "Hoc, sis, vide ut
palpatur! Nullus 'st quando occœpit, blandior." Amph., I., iii., 9,
"Observatote quam blande mulieri palpabitur."

[1927] Cf. xxviii., Fr. 49. The Fragment is assigned to both books.

[1928] _Æra_, "numeri nota." Nonius. Cf. Cic. in Hortens., "Quid tu
inquam soles; cum _rationem_ ad dispensatorem accipis, si _æra_ singula
probasti, _summam_ quæ ex his confecta sit, non probare?" This and the
31st, 32d, 34th, and 38th Fragments, are part of the old man's speech,
inveighing against the profligacy and extravagance of young men. Vid.
Argument.

[1929] _Subducere rationes._ Cf. Plaut., Curc., iii., 1, "Beatus
videor: subduxi ratiunculam, quantum æris mihi sit, quantumque alieni
siet; dives sum si non reddo eis, quibus debeo; si reddo eis quibus
debeo plus alieni est."

[1930] _Vomica._ Cf. Juv., xiii., 35. The _vulnus Chironium_ is
described by Celsus, "Magnum est, habet oras duras, callosas, tumentes:
sanie tenui manat, odorem malum emittit, dolorem modicum affert:
nihilominus difficile coit et sanescit:" v., 28. It took its name from
Chiron, who is said to have first found out the way of treating it.
«Cf. Orph., H., 379. Hom., Il., xi., 831. Pind., Pyth., iii.»

[1931] _Magna mercede._ Merces, i. e., "cost, injury, detriment." Cic.,
Fam., i., 9, "In molestia gaudeo te eam fidem cognoscere hominum non
ita magnâ mercede, quam ego maximo dolore cognôram." The sentiment is
probably the same as Cato's, "asse carum esse dicebat, quo non opus
esset."

[1932] _Emungi._ Cf. Ter., Ph., IV., iv., 1, "Quid egisti? Emunxi
argento senes." Plaut., Bac., V., i., 15, "Miserum med auro esse
emunctum." Hor., A. P., 238, "Pythias emuncto lucrata Simone talentum."
_Bolus_, "any thing thrown as a bait;" hence "profit, gain." Ter.,
Heaut., IV., ii. 6, "Crucior, bolum mihi tantum ereptum tam desubito de
faucibus." Plaut., Pers., IV., iv., 107, "Dabit hæc tibi grandes bolos."

[1933] _Exterminare._ "To expel, banish beyond certain limits."

[1934] _Aulæa obducite._ Cf. Plin., ii., Ep. 17, "Velis obductis."

[1935] _Cardines._ Plaut., Amph., IV., ii., 6, "Pœne effregisti, fatue,
foribus cardines." Asin., II., iii., 8, "Pol haud periclum est cardines
ne foribus effringantur." Cf. iv., Fr. 15; xxviii., Fr. 27.

[1936] _Carpere_, "celeriter præterire." Non. Cf. Virg., Georg., iii.,
141, "Acri carpere prata fuga."

[1937] _Pluteus_, _tecta_, _testudines_, are all military terms, and
signify sheds, pent-houses, or mantlets, made of wood and hurdles
covered with hides, under cover of which the soldiers advanced to the
attack of a town. The vinea and musculus were of the same kind. (Cf.
xxvi., Fr. 9.) Cf. Fest., in v. Pluteus., Veget., iv., 15. They are
also used metaphorically, as perhaps here. Plaut, Mil. Gl., II., ii.,
113, "Ad eum vineas pluteosque agam."

[1938] _Polypus_, one that sticks as close as a polypus or barnacle.
Cf. Plaut., Aul., II., ii., 21, "Ego istos novi polypos qui sicubi quid
tetigerint tenent." (Where vid. Hildyard's note.) Ov., Met., iv., 366,
"deprensum polypus hostem continet--"

[1939] _Filum_, "oris liniamentum." Non. Cf. Plaut., Merc., IV., iv.,
15, "Satis scitum filum mulieris." So filum corporis, "the contour of
the body." A. Gell., i., 9.

[1940] Cf. iii., Fr. 38.

[1941] _Sudum_, "semiudum." Non. Serenum. Fulgent. Cf. Virg., Georg.,
iv., 77, "Ver nactæ sudum." Æn., viii., 529, "Arma inter nubem, cœli in
regione serenâ per sudum rutilare vident."

[1942] _Gravedo._ Crapula, κραιπάλη, "the headache that follows
intoxication." Plin., xx., 13, "Crapulæ gravedines." (Cf. Arist.,
Acharn., 277.)

[1943] _Obscœna_, i. e., "mali ominis." Fest. Hence the phrases
"obscenæ aves, canes, anus." So "puppis obscœna," the ship that bore
Helen to Troy. Ov., Her., v., 119. So Dies alliensis (Id. Quinct.) was
said to be "Obscœnissimi ominis." Fest., in voc.

[1944] _Signatam_, i. e., integram; a metaphor from that which is kept
closely sealed, and watched that the seals may not be broken.

[1945] _Supplantare._ Plato (Euthydem., l. 278) uses ὑποσκελίζειν.

[1946] _Nefantia._ Cf. lib. iii., 28, "Tantalus qui pœnas ob facta
nefantia pendit."

[1947] _Nemo homo._ The two words, according to Charisius, were always
used together. Cf. Plaut., Asin., II., iv., 60, "Ego certe me incerto
scio hoc daturum nemini homini." Pers., II., ii., 29, "Nemo homo unquam
ita arbitratus 'st." Cic., N. D., ii., 38.

[1948] Lib. xxviii., 17, where the Fr. is also quoted.

[1949] _Ecferimur_, i. e., "extollimur." Non.

[1950] Is hopelessly corrupt.

[1951] Occurs before; lib., xix., Fr. 8.

BOOK XXX.

ARGUMENT.

Most of the commentators seem to be agreed that the subject of
this book was "matrimonial life." Mercer considers that it
contained an altercation between a married couple, in which
the lady strenuously refuses to submit to the lawful authority
of her husband. Van Heusde says that in it were depicted the
miseries of married life generally; especially of those husbands
who are so devoted to their wives, that they surrender the reins
of government into the hands of those, for whom the law compels
them to provide subsistence, not only at the expense of their
own personal labor, but also at the risk of life itself: the
only return which they receive as an equivalent from the hands
of their wives, being opprobrious language, ill temper, haughty
exaction, treachery, and unfaithfulness to the marriage-bed. In
addition to this, Gerlach thinks that in this, his last book,
Lucilius recapitulated the subjects of his previous Satires; and
consequently many Fragments are assigned to this book, which
might easily be inserted in others. Among other matters, the poet
also defends himself against the malignant charges of envious
critics, one, Gaius, being especially noticed. The story of the
old lion, which Horace has copied «i., Ep. i., 74», may also lead
us to suppose that the treachery of false friends formed part of
the matter of the poem.

N.B.--Gerlach considers that the 80th was undoubtedly the _last_
book. The passages quoted from subsequent books are the result of
the carelessness of the Librarii. These passages, therefore, will
all be found incorporated into the preceding books.

1 † ... Lamia and Pytho ... with sharp teeth ... those
gluttonous, abandoned, obscene hags....[1952]

2 ... a sick and exhausted lion....[1953]

3 Then the lion said with subdued voice, "Why will you not come
hither yourself?"[1954]

4 What does it mean? how does it happen that the footsteps, all
without exception, lead inward and toward you?

5 For, be assured that disease is far enough removed from men in
wine, when one has regaled himself pretty sumptuously.[1955]

6 † ... in face and features ... sport, and in our conversation
... this is the virgin's prize, and let us pay this
honor....[1956]

7 ... Should you first fasten me to the yoke, and force me
against my will to submit to the plow, and break up the clods
with the coulter.[1957]

8 Immediately, as soon as the gale has blown a little more
violently, it has raised and lifted up the waves.

9 You may see all things glittering within, in the glowing
recess.[1958]

10 must I first break you in, fierce and haughty as you are, with
a Thessalian bit, like an unbroken filly, and tame you down by
war?[1959]

11 or when I am going somewhere, and have invented some pretext
as to the goldsmiths, to my mother, a relation or female
friend's.[1960]

12 Much fiercer than she of whom we spoke before: the milder she
is, the more savagely she bites.

13. † who not expecting ... entering on the impulse of an evil
omen.[1961]

14 ... hoping that time will bring forth the same--

... will give chewed food from her mouth--[1962]

15 So when fame, making thy fight illustrious, having been borne
to our ears, shall have reported.[1963]

16 Take care there are in the house a webster, waiting maids,
men-servants, a girdle-maker, a weaver--[1964]

17 You clean me out, then turn me out; ruin and insult me--[1965]

18 If Maximus left sixteen hundred ... of silver.[1966]

19 beardless hermaphrodites, bearded pathic-adulterers[1967]

20 What is it, if you possess a hundred or two hundred thousand

21 † ... what we seek in this matter ... deceived ... guarded
against[1968]

22 ... here like a mouse-trap laid, ... and like a scorpion with
tail erect....

23 ... and what great sorrows and afflictions you have now
endured.[1969]

24 † it was better you should be born, ... like a beast or ass.

25 ... on the ground, in the dung, stalls, manure, and
swine-dung.[1970]

26 ... as much as my fancy delights to draw from the Muses'
fountain.

27 ... and that our poems alone out of many are now praised.

28 Now, Gaius, since rebuking, you attack us in turn....[1971]

29 ... and would perceive that his ... lay neglected ... left
behind....

30 ... since you do not choose to recognize me at this time,
trifler!

31 ... still I will try to write briefly and compendiously
back.[1972]

32 ... and that by your harsh acts and cruel words....

33 ... no one's mind ought to be so confident--

34 ... if I may do this, and repay by verses....

35 ... just as you who ... those things which we consider to be an
example of life--

36 ... when having well drunk, he has retired from the midst....

37 Calvus Palatina, a man of renown, and good in war.[1973]

38 and in a fierce and stubborn war by far the noblest enemy.

39 ... as to your praising your own ... blaming, you profit not a
whit.[1974]

40 ... but tell me this, if it is not disagreeable, what is
it?[1975]

41 all the labor bestowed on the wool is wasted; neglect, and the
moths destroy all.[1976]

42 † ... one is flat-footed, with rotten feet....[1977]

43 ... no one gives to them: no one lets them in: nor do they
think that life....

44 by whose means the Trogine cup was renowned through the
camp.[1978]

45 ... thanks are returned to both: to them, and to themselves
together.[1979]

46 ... little mattresses besides for each, with two
coverlets.[1980]

47 What do you care, where I am befouled, and wallow?

48 Why do you watch where I go, what I do? What affair is that of
yours?

49 What he could give, what expend, what afford....

50 So the mind is insnared by nooses, shackles, fetters.

51 You are delighted when you spread that report about me, in your
conversations abroad.

52 and by evil-speaking you publish in many conversations

53 While you accuse me of this, do you not before revolve in your
mind?

54 ... let us kick them all out, master and all.

55 ... when once I saw you eager for a contest with Cælius.[1981]

56 These monuments of your skill and excellence are erected.

57 ... and remain, meanwhile, content with these verses.

58 They bring me forth to you, and compel me to show you these

59 ... at what our friends value us, when they can spare us.

60 ... both by your virtue and your illustrious writings to
contribute....

61 ... What? Do the Muses intrust their strong-holds to a mortal?

62 Listen to this also which I tell you; for it relates to the
matter.

63 The quæstor is at hand that you may serve....[1982]

64 ... receive laws by which the people is outlawed....

65 ... or to sacrifice with her fellows at some much frequented
temple.[1983]

66 Whom you know to be acquainted with all your disgrace and
infamy.

67 Then he sees this himself.... in sullied garments.

68 ... What you squander on the stews, prowling through the
town.[1984]

69 ... that she is sworn to one, to whom she is given and
consecrated.

70 ... serves him as a slave, allures his lips, fascinates with
love.[1985]

71 † ... himself oppresses ... a head nourished with sense.[1986]

72 ... fingers, and the bodkin in her beautifully-clustering
hair.[1987]

73 ... and beccaficos, and thrushes, flutter round ... carefully
tended for the cooks.[1988]

74 ... but why do I give vent to these words with trembling mind.

75 Think not that I could curse thee!

76 Sorry and marred with mange, and full of scab....[1989]

77 Which wearies out the people's eyes and ears and hearts.[1990]

78 † No one will thrust through that belly of yours ... and create
pleasure ... use force and you will see--[1991]

79 This you will omit: in that employ me gladly....

80 All modesty is banished--licentiousness and usury restored.

81 That too is a soft mischief, wheedling and treacherous.

82 They appear, on the contrary, to have invited, or instigated
these things.

83 ... all ... to you, handsome and rich--but I ... so be it![1992]

84 The husband traverses the wide sea, and commits himself to the
waves.

85 † whose whole body you know has grown up ... with cloven hoofs.

86 to be able to write out ... the thievish hand of Musco.[1993]

87 Time itself will give sometimes what it can for keeping
up....[1994]

88 and then fly, like a dog, at your face and eyes--[1995]

89 ... published it in conversation in many places....

90 He departed unexpectedly; in one hour quinsy carried him
off.[1996]

91 An old bed, fitted with ropes, is prepared for us....[1997]

92 that no one, without your knowledge, could remove from your
servants.

93 † And that they who despised you were so proud[1998]

94 and contract the pupil of their eyes at the glittering
splendor.[1999]

95 ... you rush hence, and collect all stealthily.

96 ... and since modesty has retreated from your breast

97 ... nor suffer that beard of yours to grow.

98 ... he destroys and devours me....

FOOTNOTES:

[1952] _Lamia._ Cf. lib. xx., Fr. 1. _Oxyodontes._ Scaliger's
emendation for Ixiodontes. _Gumiæ._ Vid. lib. iv., Fr. 1.

[1953] _Leonem ægrotum._ Horace has copied the fable, i., Epist. i.,
73, "Olim quod vulpes ægroto cauta leoni respondit, referam. Quia me
vestigia terrent omnia te advorsum spectantia, nulla retrorsum."

[1954] _Deductus_, "tenuis; a lanâ quæ ad tenuitatem nendo deducitur."
Serv. Cf. Virg., Ecl., vi., 5, "pastorem pingues pascere oportet oves,
deductum dicere carmen."

[1955] _Invitare_, Nonius explains by "repleri," and quotes Sallust.
Hist., "Se ibi cibo vinoque invitarent." So Plaut., Amph., I., i.,
130, "Invitavit sese in cœna plusculum." Suet., Aug., 77, "quoties
largissimè se invitaret senos sextantes non excessit." _Dapsilius._ So
"Dapsiliter suos amicos alit." Næv. ap. Charis.

[1956] _Pretium_, "præmium." Non. Virg., Æn., v., 111, "Et palmæ
pretium victoribus."

[1957] _Proscindere._ Cf. Varr., R. R., i., 29, "terram quum primum
arant _proscindere_ appellant: quum iterum, _affringere_ quod primâ
aratione gleba grandes solent excitari." Virg., Georg., ii., 237. Ov.,
Met., vii., 219.

[1958] _Lege_, "Omnia tum endo mucho (μυχῷ) videas fervente
micare."--Turnebe's emendation.

[1959] The invention of bits is ascribed by Pliny and Virgil to the
Thessalian Lapithæ. Plin., vii., 56. Virg., Georg., iii., 15, "Frena
Pelethronii Lapithæ, gyrosque dedere." Cf. Lucan., Phars., vi., 396,
_seq_. Val. Flac., i., 424, "Oraque Thessalico melior contundere fræno
Castor." Gerlach proposes, therefore, to read _equam_ for _acrem_, as
young ladies are often compared by the poets to fillies. Cf. Hor.,
iii., Od. xi., 9, "Quæ velut latis equa trima campis, ludit exultim."
Anacr., Fr. 75. Heraclid. Pont., All. Hom., p. 16. «Vid. Theogn., 257.
Arist., Lys., 1308. Eurip., Hec., 144. Hip., 546.»

[1960] _Commentavi._ The words of an adulterous wife, inventing some
excuse to keep her assignation. _Aurifex._ Cf. Plaut., Aul., III., v.,
34. Cic., Orat., ii., 38.

[1961] Dusa refers this to the fox in the fable, quoted above. _Ominis_
is Gerlach's emendation for _hominis_ and _hemonis_. (_Hemo_ was an
older form of _Homo_, hence Nemo, ne hemo.)

[1962] _Mansum_ is the food that has been chewed by the nurse
preparatory to its being given to the child. Cf. Cic., Orat., ii.,
39, "tenuissimas particulas, atque omnia minima _mansa_, ut nutrices
infantibus pueris, in os inserant." Quint., X., i. Pers., iii., 17,
"pappare minutum poscis." Plaut., Epid., V., ii., 62. It is expressed
by the Greek ψωμίζειν. Arist., Lys., 19. Thesm., 692.

[1963] _Clarans._ Cf. Hor., iv., Od. iii., 3, "Ilium non labor Isthmius
clarabit pugilem."

[1964] These are the demands of an imperious, perhaps a dowered wife.
The speech of Megadorus in the Aulularia of Plautus (iii., Sc. v.),
admirably illustrates this Fragment. In the list of slaves which
the "dotata" expects, we find the Aurifex, Lanarius, Sarcinatores,
strophiarii, semizonarii, textores. The Gerdius is probably the same
as the Lenarius: as it is explained in the Glos. γέρδιος, ὑφαντής.
_Zonarius._ Cf. Cic. p. Flac, vii., 17.

[1965] Probably the indignant expostulation of some young man to
a Lena. Compare the scene between Argyrippus and Cleæreta, in the
Asinaria of Plautus (i., Sc. iii.). _Exsultare_, "Gestu vel dictu
injuriam facere." Non. Gerlach reads _deures_. The old reading is
_deaures_, which is defensible. Cf. xxvi., Fr. 8, _deargentassere_.

[1966] _Maximus._ Q. Fabius Maximus Cunctator, whose son was notorious
for his profligacy and luxuriousness. This is probably, therefore, part
of the old man's speech against the licentiousness of the young.

[1967] _Androgyni._ Cf. Herod., iv., 67, c. not. Bähr. Juv., vi., 373,
"Tonsoris damno tantum rapit Heliodorus."

[1968] _Inductum._ Thus explained by Nonius. Cf. Tibul., I., vi., 1,
"Semper ut inducar blandos offers mihi vultus."

[1969] _Exanclaris._ Ennius in Andromacha, "Quantis cum ærumnis illum
exantlavi diem." Fr. 6, p. 36, ed. Bothe. Cic., Tusc., i., 49; ii.,
8. Acad., ii., 34. On the difference of the forms "exanclare and
exantlare," vid. Burmann, ad Quintil., Inst., i., 6. Cf. Æsch., P. V.,
375. Choëph., 746. Eurip., Hipp., 898.

[1970] _Sucerda_, from sus and cerno.

[1971] _Gai._ Van Heusde, Burmann, and Merula agree in supposing these
to be the words of Fabius Cunctator to C. Minutius Rufus. «Cf. Liv.,
xxii., 8, 12, where, however, most of the Edd. call him Marcus.»
_Incilare_, "increpare, improbare." Non. Pacuv. in Dulor, "Si quis
hâc me oratione incilet, quid respondeam?" Fr. 28, p. 121, ed. Bothe.
Lucret., iii., 976, "jure increpet inciletque."

[1972] _Summatim._ Cic, Att., v., 16. Suet., Tib., 61, "Commentario
quem summatim breviterque composuit."

[1973] _Calvus_, probably either L. Cæcilius Metellus Calvus, consul
with Q. Fabius Maximus Servilianus, B.C. 142, or his son L. Cæcilius
Metellus Calvus Dalmaticus, consul with L. Aurelius Cotta, B.C. 119,
who repaired out of his spoils the temple of Castor and Pollux. From
the form of the word _Palatina_, Dusa and Gerlach suppose it to imply
the name of a tribe; though Gerlach says we have no evidence of the
existence of a tribe called from the hill «but cf. Cic., Verr., II.,
ii., 43». Cf. ad Pers., v., 73, "Publius Velina."

[1974] _Hilum_ is the primitive from which nihilum is formed (i. e.,
ne-hilum). Cf. Poet. ap. Cic., Tusc., I., vi., "Sisyphus versat saxum
sudans nitendo neque proficit hilum." Lucret., iii., 221, "nec defit
ponderis hilum."

[1975] _Nænum_, probably "ne unum," written also _nenum_, _nena_ the
Archaic form of Non. Cf. Varro, Epist. ad Fusium, ap. Non. "Si hodie
nænum venis, cras quidem." Lucret., iii., 20, "Nenu potest."

[1976] _Pallor_, "negligentia, vetustas." Non.

[1977] _Plautus_, an Umbrian word implying "flat-footed." From this
peculiarity the poet derived his name, "Plotos appellant Umbri pedibus
planis natos." Fest. The end of the line is hopeless. Turnebe reads
"mens elephanti," and says it refers to "the horrors of matrimony, and
the bodily defects of wives." Gerlach reads "mensa Libonis," and says,
"Lucilius compares women to the tables of the money-changers." Cf.
Hor., Sat., II., vi., 35. Cf. ad Pers., Sat., iv., 49.

[1978] Cic., de Div., ii., 37, mentions a people of Galatia, called
Trogini. The name does not occur elsewhere.

[1979] The Archaic _Simitû_ for _simul_ occurs repeatedly in Plautus.

[1980] _Privæ._ Cf. i., Fr. 13. Privum, "proprium uniuscujusque." Non.
_Centonibus._ Cf. xxviii., Fr. 33. _Culcitulæ_, "small cushions or
pillows," from _calco_. Fest. Cf. Plaut., Most., IV., i., 49.

[1981] _Invadere_, i. e., "appetenter incipere." _Cæli._ Cicero tells
us (Auct. ad Her., ii., 13, 19) that Cælius was the name of the judge
who acquitted the man on the charge of defamation, who had libeled
Lucilius on the stage.

[1982] _Publica._ Fruter conjectures _Publicià_; but the Publician law
is not mentioned.

[1983] _Operatum._ So ῥέζειν. Cf. Virg., Georg., i., 339, "Sacra refer
Cereri lætis operatus in herbis." Liv., i., 81. Propert., ii., 24, 1.
Nonius explains it "Deos religiose et cum summâ veneratione sacrificiis
litare."

[1984] _Lustris._ Plaut., Asin., V., ii., 17, "Is liberis lustris
studet." Casin., II., iii., 28, "Ubi in lustra jacuisti?" Cic.,
Phil., xiii., 11. Probest., "Aliquis emersus ex tenebris lustrorum ac
stuprorum." The Fragment probably forms part of a speech of a jealous
wife upbraiding her husband, as Cleostrata, in the Casina of Plautus,
quoted above.

[1985] _Præservit._ Cf. Plaut., Amph., Prol., 126, "Ut præservire
amanti meo possem patri." _Delicere_, "to allure from the right path."
Titinius ap. Non. in voc., "parasitus habeat qui illum sciat delicere,
et noctem facere possit de die." _Delenit._ Cf. xxviii., Fr. 1, "to
inthrall the senses by the passion of love." So Titinius, "Dotibus
deleniti ultro etiam uxoribus ancillantur."

[1986] _Nutricari_ for "nutrire." Cf. Cic., de Nat. Deor., ii., 34,
"Educator et altor est mundus omniaque sicut membra et partis suas
nutricatur et continet."

[1987] _Discerniculum_, "the bodkin in a woman's headdress for parting
the hair."

[1988] _Ficedulæ._ Cf. ad Juv., xiv., 9. _Turdi._ Cf. ad Pers., vi.,
24. Read perhaps "curatique cocis."

[1989] Cf. Juv., ii., 79, "Dedit hanc contagio labem et dabit in
plures: sicut grex totus in agris unius _scabie_ cadit et _porrigine_
porci."

[1990] _Rumpit_, "defatigat." Non.

[1991] _Pertundet._ So Ennius, "latus pertudit hasta." Juv., vi., 46,
"Mediam pertundite venam." vii., 26, "Aut claude et positos tineâ
pertunde libellos." _Deliciet_ Gerlach explains by "Juvare, voluptatem
creare:" and reads "_Utere vi atque videbis._"

[1992] _Fortis_ etiam "dives." Non.

[1993] Gerlach retains _Musconis_. _Tagax_, from the old form tago.
"Furunculus a tangendo." Fest, "light-fingered." _Perscribere_ may mean
(like conscribellare in Catullus) "to mark letters upon," i. e., brand
him with the word Fur on the hand: hence trium literarum homo.

[1994] _Habendo._ Cf. Virg., Georg., iii., 159, "Et quos aut pecori
malint summittere habendo."

[1995] _Involem._ Ter., Eun., V., ii., 20, "Vix me contineo quin
involem in capillum." So "Castra involare." Tac., Hist., iv., 33.

[1996] _Angina_, "genus morbi; eo quod angat." Non. Cf. Plaut., Trin.,
II., iv., 139, "Sues moriuntur anginâ." Most., I., iii., 61, "In
anginam ego nunc me velim vorti, ut veneficæ illi fauces prehendam."

[1997] _Consternere_ is applied "to preparing a couch." Cf. Catul.,
lxiv., 163, "Purpureâve tuum consternens veste cubile." This seems to
be the meaning here; as there seems to be a vibration of the reading
between consternitur, nobis lectus, and vetus, for Restes. Cf. ad lib.
vi., Fr. 13.

[1998] Dusa's conjecture is followed. Scaliger supposes temnere to be
an old form of the perfect "tempsere."

[1999] _Præstringere_ "non valdè stringere et claudere." Non.

THE SATIRES

DECIMUS JUNIUS JUVENALIS,

AND OF

AULUS PERSIUS FLACCUS.

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE,

BY WILLIAM GIFFORD, ESQ.

SATIRE I.

Oh! heavens--while THUS hoarse Codrus perseveres
To force his Theseid on my tortured ears,
Shall I not ONCE attempt "to quit the score,"
ALWAYS an auditor, and nothing more!
Forever at my side, shall this rehearse 5
His elegiac, that his comic verse,
Unpunished? shall huge Telephus, at will,
The livelong day consume, or, huger still,
Orestes, closely written, written, too,
Down the broad marge, and yet--no end in view! 10
Away, away!--None knows his home so well
As I the grove of Mars, and Vulcan's cell,
Fast by the Æolian rocks!--How the Winds roar,
How ghosts are tortured on the Stygian shore,
How Jason stole the golden fleece, and how 15
The Centaurs fought on Othrys' shaggy brow;
The walks of Fronto echo round and round--
The columns trembling with the eternal sound,
While high and low, as the mad fit invades,
Bellow the same trite nonsense through the shades. 20
I, TOO, CAN WRITE--and, at a pedant's frown,
ONCE poured my fustian rhetoric on the town:
And idly proved that Sylla, far from power,
Had passed, unknown to fear, the tranquil hour:--
Now I resume my pen; for, since we meet 25
Such swarms of desperate bards in every street,
'Tis vicious clemency to spare the oil,
And hapless paper they are sure to spoil.
But why I choose, adventurous, to retrace
The Auruncan's route, and, in the arduous race, 30
Follow his burning wheels, attentive hear,
If leisure serve, and truth be worth your ear.
When the soft eunuch weds, and the bold fair
Tilts at the Tuscan boar, with bosom bare;
When one that oft, since manhood first appeared, 35
Has trimmed the exuberance of this sounding beard,
In wealth outvies the senate; when a vile,
A slave-born, slave-bred, vagabond of Nile,
Crispinus, while he gathers now, now flings
His purple open, fans his summer rings; 40
And, as his fingers sweat beneath the freight,
Cries, "Save me--from a gem of greater weight!"
'Tis hard a less adventurous course to choose,
While folly plagues, and vice inflames the Muse.
For who so slow of heart, so dull of brain, 45
So patient of the town, as to contain
His bursting spleen, when, full before his eye,
Swings the new chair of lawyer Matho by,
Crammed with himself! then, with no less parade,
That caitiff's, who his noble friend betrayed, 50
Who now, in fancy, prostrate greatness tears,
And preys on what the imperial vulture spares!
Whom Massa dreads, Latinus, trembling, plies
With a fair wife, and anxious Carus buys!
When those supplant thee in thy dearest rights, 55
Who earn rich legacies by active nights;
Those, whom (the shortest, surest way to rise)
The widow's itch advances to the skies!--
Not that an equal rank her minions hold;
Just to their various powers, she metes her gold, 60
And Proculeius mourns his scanty share,
While Gillo triumphs, hers and nature's heir!
And let him triumph! 'tis the price of blood:
While, thus defrauded of the generous flood.
The color flies his cheek, as though he prest, 65
With unsuspecting foot, a serpent's crest;
Or stood engaged at Lyons to declaim,
Where the least peril is the loss of fame.
Ye gods!--what rage, what phrensy fires my brain,
When that false guardian, with his splendid train, 70
Crowds the long street, and leaves his orphan charge
To prostitution, and the world at large!
When, by a juggling sentence damned in vain,
(For who, that holds the plunder, heeds the pain?)
Marius to wine devotes his morning hours, 75
And laughs, in exile, at the offended Powers:
While, sighing o'er the victory she won,
The Province finds herself but more undone!
And shall I feel, that crimes like these require
The avenging strains of the Venusian lyre, 80
And not pursue them? I shall I still repeat
The legendary tales of Troy and Crete;
The toils of Hercules, the horses fed
On human flesh by savage Diomed,
The lowing labyrinth, the builder's flight, 85
And the rash boy, hurl'd from his airy height?
When, what the law forbids the wife to heir,
The adulterer's Will may to the wittol bear,
Who gave, with wand'ring eye and vacant face,
A tacit sanction to his own disgrace; 90
And, while at every turn a look he stole,
Snored, unsuspected, o'er the treacherous bowl!
When he presumes to ask a troop's command,
Who spent on horses all his father's land,
While, proud the experienced driver to display, 95
His glowing wheels smoked o'er the Appian way:--
For there our young Automedon first tried
His powers, there loved the rapid car to guide;
While great Pelides sought superior bliss,
And toyed and wantoned with his master-miss. 100
Who would not, reckless of the swarm he meets,
Fill his wide tablets, in the public streets,
With angry verse? when, through the midday glare,
Borne by six slaves, and in an open chair,
The forger comes, who owes this blaze of state 105
To a wet seal and a fictitious date;
Comes, like the soft Mæcenas, lolling by,
And impudently braves the public eye!
Or the rich dame, who stanched her husband's thirst
With generous wine, but--drugged it deeply first! 110
And now, more dext'rous than Locusta, shows
Her country friends the beverage to compose,
And, midst the curses of the indignant throng,
Bear, in broad day, the spotted corpse along.
Dare nobly, man! if greatness be thy aim, 115
And practice what may chains and exile claim:
On Guilt's broad base thy towering fortunes raise,
For virtue starves on--universal praise!
While crimes, in scorn of niggard fate, afford
The ivory couches, and the citron board, 120
The goblet high-embossed, the antique plate,
The lordly mansion, and the fair estate!
O! who can rest--who taste the sweets of life,
When sires debauch the son's too greedy wife;
When males to males, abjuring shame, are wed, 125
And beardless boys pollute the nuptial bed!
No: INDIGNATION, kindling as she views,
Shall, in each breast, a generous warmth infuse,
And pour, in Nature and the Nine's despite,
Such strains as I, or Cluvienus, write! 130
E'er since Deucalion, while, on every side,
The bursting clouds upraised the whelming tide,
Reached, in his little skiff, the forked hill,
And sought, at Themis' shrine, the Immortals' will;
When softening stones grew warm with gradual life, 135
And Pyrrha brought each male a virgin wife;
Whatever, passions have the soul possest,
Whatever wild desires inflamed the breast,
Joy, Sorrow, Fear, Love, Hatred, Transport, Rage,
Shall form the motley subject of my page. 140
And when could Satire boast so fair a field?
Say, when did Vice a richer harvest yield?
When did fell Avarice so engross the mind?
Or when the lust of play so curse mankind?--
No longer, now, the pocket's stores supply 145
The boundless charges of the desperate die:
The chest is staked!--muttering the steward stands,
And scarce resigns it, at his lord's commands.
Is it a SIMPLE MADNESS,--I would know,
To venture countless thousands on a throw, 150
Yet want the soul, a single piece to spare,
To clothe the slave, that shivering stands and bare!
Who called, of old, so many seats his own,
Or on seven sumptuous dishes supped alone?--
Then plain and open was the cheerful feast, 155
And every client was a bidden guest;
Now, at the gate, a paltry largess lies,
And eager hands and tongues dispute the prize.
But first (lest some false claimant should be found),
The wary steward takes his anxious round, 160
And pries in every face; then calls aloud,
"Come forth, ye great Dardanians, from the crowd!"
For, mixed with us, e'en these besiege the door,
And scramble for--the pittance of the poor!
"Dispatch the Prætor first," the master cries, 165
"And next the Tribune." "No, not so;" replies
The Freedman, bustling through, "first come is, still,
First served; and I may claim my right, and will!--
Though born a slave ('tis bootless to deny,
What these bored ears betray to every eye), 170
On my own rents, in splendor, now I live,
On five fair freeholds! Can the PURPLE give
Their Honors, more? when, to Laurentum sped,
NOBLE Corvinus tends a flock for bread!--
Pallas and the Licinii, in estate, 175
Must yield to me: let, then, the Tribunes wait."
Yes, let them wait! thine, Riches, be the field!--
It is not meet, that he to Honor yield,
To SACRED HONOR, who, with whitened feet,
Was hawked for sale, so lately, through the street. 180
O gold! though Rome beholds no altars flame,
No temples rise to thy pernicious name,
Such as to Victory, Virtue, Faith are reared,
And Concord, where the clamorous stork is heard,
Yet is thy full divinity confest, 185
Thy shrine established here, in every breast.
But while, with anxious eyes, the great explore
How much the dole augments their annual store,
What misery must the poor dependent dread,
Whom this small pittance clothed, and lodged, and fed? 190
Wedged in thick ranks before the donor's gates,
A phalanx firm, of chairs and litters, waits:
Thither one husband, at the risk of life,
Hurries his teeming, or his bedrid wife;
Another, practiced in the gainful art, 195
With deeper cunning tops the beggar's part;
Plants at his side a close and empty chair:
"My Galla, master;--give me Galla's share."
"Galla!" the porter cries; "let her look out."
"Sir, she's asleep. Nay, give me;--can you doubt!" 200
What rare pursuits employ the clients' day!
First to the patron's door their court to pay,
Next to the forum, to support his cause,
Thence to Apollo, learned in the laws,
And the triumphal statues; where some Jew, 205
Some mongrel Arab, some--I know not who--
Has impudently dared a niche to seize,
Fit to be p---- against, or--what you please.--
Returning home, he drops them at the gate:
And now the weary clients, wise too late, 210
Resign their hopes, and supperless retire,
To spend the paltry dole in herbs and fire.
Meanwhile, their patron sees his palace stored
With every dainty earth and sea afford:
Stretched on th' unsocial couch, he rolls his eyes 215
O'er many an orb of matchless form and size,
Selects the fairest to receive his plate,
And, at one meal, devours a whole estate!--
But who (for not a parasite is there)
The selfishness of luxury can bear? 220
See! the lone glutton craves whole boars! a beast
Designed, by nature, for the social feast!--
But speedy wrath o'ertakes him: gorged with food,
And swollen and fretted by the peacock crude,
He seeks the bath, his feverish pulse to still, 225
Hence sudden death, and age without a Will!
Swift flies the tale, by witty spleen increast,
And furnishes a laugh at every feast;
The laugh, his friends not undelighted hear,
And, fallen from all their hopes, insult his bier. 230
NOTHING is left, NOTHING, for future times
To add to the full catalogue of crimes;
The baffled sons must feel the same desires,
And act the same mad follies, as their sires.
VICE HAS ATTAINED ITS ZENITH:--Then set sail, 235
Spread all thy canvas, Satire, to the gale--
But where the powers so vast a theme requires?
Where the plain times, the simple, when our sires
Enjoyed a freedom, which I dare not name,
And gave the public sin to public shame, 240
Heedless who smiled or frowned?--Now, let a line
But glance at Tigellinus, and you shine,
Chained to a stake, in pitchy robes, and light,
Lugubrious torch, the deepening shades of night;
Or, writhing on a hook, are dragged around, 245
And, with your mangled members, plow the ground.
What, shall the wretch of hard, unpitying soul,
Who for THREE uncles mixed the deadly bowl,
Propped on his plumy couch, that all may see,
Tower by triumphant, and look down on me! 250
Yes; let him look. He comes! avoid his way,
And on your lip your cautious finger lay;
Crowds of informers linger in his rear,
And, if a whisper pass, will overhear.
Bring, if you please, Æneas on the stage, 255
Fierce war, with the Rutulian prince, to wage;
Subdue the stern Achilles; and once more,
With Hylas! Hylas! fill the echoing shore;
Harmless, nay pleasant, shall the tale be found,
It bares no ulcer, and it probes no wound. 260
But when Lucilius, fired with virtuous rage,
Waves his keen falchion o'er a guilty age,
The conscious villain shudders at his sin,
And burning blushes speak the pangs within;
Cold drops of sweat from every member roll, 265
And growing terrors harrow up his soul:
Then tears of shame, and dire revenge succeed--
Say, have you pondered well the advent'rous deed?
Now--ere the trumpet sounds--your strength debate;
The soldier, once engaged, repents too late. 270
J. Yet I MUST write: and since these iron times,
From living knaves preclude my angry rhymes,
I point my pen against the guilty dead,
And pour its gall on each obnoxious head.

SATIRE II.

O FOR an eagle's wings! that I might fly
To the bleak regions of the polar sky,
When from their lips the cant of virtue falls,
Who preach like Curii, live like Bacchanals!
Devoid of knowledge, as of worth, they thrust, 5
In every nook, some philosophic bust;
For he, among them, counts himself most wise,
Who most old sages of the sculptor buys;
Sets most true Zenos, or Cleanthes' heads,
To guard the volumes which he--never reads! 10
TRUST NOT TO OUTWARD SHOW: in every street
Obscenity, in formal garb, we meet.--
And dost thou, hypocrite, our lusts arraign,
Thou! of Socratic catamites the drain!
Nature thy rough and shaggy limbs designed 15
To mark a stern, inexorable mind;
But all's so smooth below!--"the surgeon smiles,
And scarcely can, for laughter, lance the piles."
Gravely demure, in wisdom's awful chair,
His beetling eyebrows longer than his hair, 20
In solemn state, the affected Stoic sits,
And drops his maxims on the crowd by fits!--
Yon Peribomius, whose emaciate air,
And tottering gait, his foul disease declare,
With patience I can view; he braves disgrace, 25
Not skulks behind a sanctimonious face:
Him may his folly, or his fate excuse--
But whip me those, who Virtue's name abuse,
And, soiled with all the vices of the times,
Thunder damnation on their neighbor's crimes! 30
"Shrink at the pathic Sextus! Can I be,
Whate'er my guilt, more infamous than he?"
Varillus cries: Let those who tread aright,
Deride the halt; the swarthy Moor, the white;
This we might bear; but who his spleen could rein, 35
And hear the Gracchi of the mob complain?
Who would not mingle earth, and sea, and sky,
Should Milo murder, Verres theft, decry,
Clodius adultery? Catiline accuse
Cethegus, Lentulus, of factious views, 40
Or Sylla's pupils, soil'd with deeper guilt,
Arraign their master for the blood he spilt?
Yet have we seen--O shame, for ever fled!--
A barbarous judge start from the incestuous bed,
And, with stern voice, those rigid laws awake, 45
At which the powers of War and Beauty quake,
What time his drugs were speeding to the tomb
The abortive fruit of Julia's teeming womb!--
And must not, now, the most debased and vile,
Hear these false Scauri with a scornful smile; 50
And, while the hypocrites their crimes arraign,
Turn, like the trampled asp, and bite again!
They must; they do:--When late, amid the crowd,
A zealot of the sect exclaimed aloud,
Where sleeps the Julian law? Laronia eyed 55
The scowling Stoicide, and taunting, cried,
"Blest be the age that such a censor gave,
The groaning world to chasten and to save!
Blush, Rome, and from the sink of sin arise--
Lo! a THIRD CATO, sent thee from the skies! 60
But--tell me yet--What shop the balm supplied,
Which, from your brawny neck and bristly hide,
Such potent fragrance breathes? nor let it shame
Your gravity, to show the vender's name.
"If ancient laws must reassume their course, 65
Give the Scantinian first its proper force.
Look, look at home; the ways of men explore--
Our faults, you say, are many; theirs are more:
Yet safe from censure, as from fear, they stand,
A firm, compact, impenetrable band! 70
We know your monstrous leagues; but can you find
One proof in us, of this detested kind?
Pure days and nights with Cluvia, Flora led,
And Tedia chastely shared Catulla's bed;
While Hippo's brutal itch both sexes tried, 75
And proved, by turns, the bridegroom and the bride!
We ne'er, with misspent zeal, explore the laws,
We throng no forum, and we plead no cause:
Some few, perhaps, may wrestle, some be fed,
To aid their breath, with strong athletic bread. 80
Ye fling the shuttle with a female grace,
And spin more subtly than Arachne's race;
Cowered o'er your labor, like the squalid jade,
That plies the distaff, to a block belayed.
"Why Hister's freedman heired his wealth, and why 85
His consort, while he lived, was bribed so high,
I spare to tell; the wife that, swayed by gain,
Can make a third in bed, and near complain,
Must ever thrive: on secrets jewels wait:
Then wed, my girls; be silent, and--be great!" 90
"Yet these are they, who, fierce in Virtue's cause,
Consign our venial frailties to the laws;
And, while with partial aim their censure moves,
Acquit the vultures, and condemn the doves!"
She paused: the unmanly zealots felt the sway 95
Of conscious truth, and slunk, abashed, away.
But how shall vice be shamed, when, loosely drest,
In the light texture of a cobweb vest,
You, Creticus, amid the indignant crowd
At Procla and Pollinea rail aloud?-- 100
These, he rejoins, are "daughters of the game."
Strike, then;--yet know, though lost to honest fame,
The wantons would reject a veil so thin,
And blush, while suffering, to display their skin.
"But Sirius glows; I burn." Then, quit your dress; 105
'Twill thus be madness, and the scandal less.
O! could our legions, with fresh laurels crowned,
And smarting still from many a glorious wound,
Our rustic mountaineers (the plow laid by,
For city cares), a judge so drest descry, 110
What thoughts would rise? Lo! robes which misbecome
A witness, deck the awful bench of Rome;
And Creticus, stern champion of the laws,
Gleams through the tissue of pellucid gauze!
Anon from you, as from its fountain-head, 115
Wide and more wide the flagrant pest will spread;
As swine take measles from distempered swine,
And one infected grape pollutes the vine.
Yes, Rome shall see you, lewdlier clad, erewhile,
(FOR NONE BECOME, AT ONCE, COMPLETELY VILE,) 120
In some opprobrious den of shame, combined
With that vile herd, the horror of their kind,
Who twine gay fillets round the forehead; deck
With strings of orient pearl the breast and neck;
Soothe the GOOD GODDESS with large bowls of wine, 125
And the soft belly of a pregnant swine.--
No female, foul perversion! dares appear,
For males, and males alone, officiate here;
"Far hence," they cry, "unholy sex, retire,
Our purer rites no lowing horn require!" 130
--At Athens thus, involved in thickest gloom,
Cotytto's priests her secret torch illume;
And to such orgies give the lustful night,
That e'en Cotytto sickens at the sight.
With tiring-pins, these spread the sooty dye, 135
Arch the full brow, and tinge the trembling eye;
Those bind their flowing locks in cawls of gold,
Swill from huge glasses of immodest mould,
Light, filmy robes of azure net-work wear;
And, by their Juno, hark! the attendants swear! 140
This grasps a mirror--pathic Otho's boast
(Auruncan Actor's spoil), where, while his host,
With shouts, the signal of the fight required,
He viewed his mailed form; viewed, and admired!
Lo, a new subject for the historic page, 145
A MIRROR, midst the arms of civil rage!--
To murder Galba, was--a general's part!
A stern republican's--to dress with art!
The empire of the world in arms to seek,
And spread--a softening poultice o'er the cheek! 150
Preposterous vanity! and never seen,
Or in the Assyrian or Egyptian queen,
Though one in arms near old Euphrates stood,
And one the doubtful fight at Actium viewed.
Nor reverence for the table here is found; 155
But brutal mirth and jests obscene go round:
They lisp, they squeal, and the rank language use
Of Cybele's lewd votaries, or the stews:
Some wild enthusiast, silvered o'er with age,
Yet fired by lust's ungovernable rage, 160
Of most insatiate throat, is named the priest,
And sits fit umpire of th' unhallowed feast;
Why pause they here? Phrygians long since in heart,
Whence this delay to lop a useless part?
Gracchus admired a cornet or a fife, 165
And, with an ample dower, became his wife.
The contract signed, the wonted bliss implored,
A costly supper decks the nuptial board;
And the new bride, amid the wondering room,
Lies in the bosom of the accursed groom!-- 170
Say now, ye nobles, claims this monstrous deed,
The Aruspex or the Censor? Can we need
More expiations?--sacrifices?--vows?
For calving women, or for lambing cows?
The lusty priest, whose limbs dissolved with heat, 175
What time he danced beneath the Ancilia's weight,
Now flings the ensigns of his god aside,
And takes the stole and flammea of a bride!
Father of Rome! from what pernicious clime,
Did Latian swains derive so foul a crime? 180
Tell where the poisonous nettle first arose,
Whose baneful juice through all thy offspring flows.
Behold! a man for rank and power renowned,
Marries a man!--and yet, with thundering sound,
Thy brazen helmet shakes not! earth yet stands, 185
Fixed on its base, nor feels thy wrathful hands!
Is thy arm shortened? Raise to Jove thy prayer--
But Rome no longer knows thy guardian care;
Quit, then, the charge to some severer Power,
Of strength to punish in the obnoxious hour. 190
"To-morrow, with the dawn, I must attend
In yonder valley!" Why so soon? "A friend
Takes HIM a husband there, and bids a few"--
FEW, yet: but wait awhile; and we shall view
Such contracts formed without or shame or fear, 195
And entered on THE RECORDS OF THE YEAR!
Meanwhile, one pang these passive monsters find,
One ceaseless pang, that preys upon the mind;
They can not shift their sex, and pregnant prove
With the dear pledges of a husband's love: 200
Wisely confined by Nature's steady plan,
Which counteracts the wild desires of man.
For them, no drugs prolific powers retain,
And the Luperci strike their palms in vain.
And yet these prodigies of vice appear, 205
Less monstrous, Gracchus, than the net and spear,
With which equipped, you urged the unequal fight,
And fled, dishonored, in a nation's sight;
Though nobler far than each illustrious name
That thronged the pit (spectators of your shame), 210
Nay, than the Prætor, who the SHOW supplied,
At which your base dexterity was tried.
That angry Justice formed a dreadful hell,
That ghosts in subterraneous regions dwell,
That hateful Styx his sable current rolls, 215
And Charon ferries o'er unbodied souls,
Are now as tales or idle fables prized;
By children questioned, and by men despised:
YET THESE, DO THOU BELIEVE. What thoughts, declare,
Ye Scipios, once the thunderbolts of war! 220
Fabricius, Curius, great Camillus' ghost!
Ye valiant Fabii, in yourselves an host!
Ye dauntless youths at fatal Cannæ slain!
Spirits of many a brave and bloody plain!
What thoughts are yours, whene'er, with feet unblest, 225
An UNBELIEVING SHADE invades your rest?
--Ye fly, to expiate the blasting view; }
Fling on the pine-tree torch the sulphur blue, }
And from the dripping bay, dash round the lustral dew. }
And yet--to these abodes we all must come, 230
Believe, or not, these are our final home;
Though now Iërne tremble at our sway,
And Britain, boastful of her length of day;
Though the blue Orcades receive our chain,
And isles that slumber in the frozen main. 235
But why of conquest boast? the conquered climes
Are free, O Rome, from thy detested crimes.
No;--one Armenian all our youth outgoes,
And, with cursed fires, for a base tribune glows.
True: such thy power, Example! He was brought 240
An hostage hither, and the infection caught.--
O, bid the striplings flee! for sensual art
Here lurks to snare the unsuspecting heart;
Then farewell, simple nature!--Pleased no more,
With knives, whips, bridles (all they prized of yore), 245
Thus taught, and thus debauched, they hasten home,
To spread the morals of Imperial Rome!

SATIRE III.

Grieved though I am to see the man depart,
Who long has shared, and still must share, my heart,
Yet (when I call my better judgment home)
I praise his purpose; to retire from Rome,
And give, on Cumæ's solitary coast, 5
The Sibyl--one inhabitant to boast!
Full on the road to Baiæ, Cumæ lies,
And many a sweet retreat her shore supplies--
Though I prefer ev'n Prochyta's bare strand
To the Suburra:--for, what desert land, 10
What wild, uncultured spot, can more affright,
Than fires, wide blazing through the gloom of night,
Houses, with ceaseless ruin, thundering down,
And all the horrors of this hateful town?
Where poets, while the dog-star glows, rehearse, 15
To gasping multitudes, their barbarous verse!
Now had my friend, impatient to depart,
Consigned his little all to one poor cart:
For this, without the town he chose to wait;
But stopped a moment at the Conduit-gate.-- 20
Here Numa erst his nightly visits paid,
And held high converse with the Egerian maid:
Now the once-hallowed fountain, grove, and fane,
Are let to Jews, a wretched, wandering train,
Whose furniture's a basket filled with hay-- 25
For every tree is forced a tax to pay;
And while the heaven-born Nine in exile rove,
The beggar rents their consecrated grove!
Thence slowly winding down the vale, we view
The Egerian grots--ah, how unlike the true! 30
Nymph of the Spring; more honored hadst thou been,
If, free from art, an edge of living green,
Thy bubbling fount had circumscribed alone,
And marble ne'er profaned the native stone.
Umbritius here his sullen silence broke, 35
And turned on Rome, indignant, as he spoke.
Since virtue droops, he cried, without regard,
And honest toil scarce hopes a poor reward;
Since every morrow sees my means decay,
And still makes less the little of to-day; 40
I go, where Dædalus, as poets sing,
First checked his flight, and closed his weary wing:
While something yet of health and strength remains,
And yet no staff my faltering step sustains;
While few gray hairs upon my head are seen, 45
And my old age is vigorous still, and green.
Here, then, I bid my much-loved home farewell--
Ah, mine no more!--there let Arturius dwell,
And Catulus; knaves, who, in truth's despite,
Can white to black transform, and black to white, 50
Build temples, furnish funerals, auctions hold,
Farm rivers, ports, and scour the drains for gold!
ONCE they were trumpeters, and always found,
With strolling fencers, in their annual round,
While their puffed cheeks, which every village knew, 55
Called to "high feats of arms" the rustic crew:
Now they give SHOWS themselves; and, at the will
Of the base rabble, raise the sign--to kill,
Ambitious of their voice: then turn, once more,
To their vile gains, and farm the common shore! 60
And why not every thing?--since Fortune throws
Her more peculiar smiles on such as those,
Whene'er, to wanton merriment inclined,
She lifts to thrones the dregs of human kind!
But why, my friend, should I at Rome remain? 65
I can not teach my stubborn lips to feign;
Nor, when I hear a great man's verses, smile,
And beg a copy, if I think them vile.
A sublunary wight, I have no skill
To read the stars; I neither can, nor will, 70
Presage a father's death; I never pried,
In toads, for poison, nor--in aught beside.
Others may aid the adulterer's vile design,
And bear the insidious gift, and melting line,
Seduction's agents! I such deeds detest; 75
And, honest, let no thief partake my breast.
For this, without a friend, the world I quit;
A palsied limb, for every use unfit.
Who now is loved, but he whose conscious breast
Swells with dark deeds, still, still to be supprest? 80
He pays, he owes, thee nothing (strictly just),
Who gives an honest secret to thy trust;
But, a dishonest!--there, he feels thy power,
And buys thy friendship high from hour to hour.
But let not all the wealth which Tagus pours 85
In Ocean's lap, not all his glittering stores,
Be deemed a bribe, sufficient to requite
The loss of peace by day, of sleep by night:--
Oh take not, take not, what thy soul rejects,
Nor sell the faith, which he, who buys, suspects! 90
The nation, by the GREAT, admired, carest,
And hated, shunned by ME, above the rest,
No longer, now, restrained by wounded pride,
I haste to show (nor thou my warmth deride),
I can not rule my spleen, and calmly see, 95
A GRECIAN CAPITAL, IN ITALY!
Grecian? O no! with this vast sewer compared,
The dregs of Greece are scarcely worth regard:
Long since, the stream that wanton Syria laves
Has disembogued its filth in Tiber's waves, 100
Its language, arts; o'erwhelmed us with the scum
Of Antioch's streets, its minstrel, harp, and drum.
Hie to the Circus! ye who pant to prove
A barbarous mistress, an outlandish love;
Hie to the Circus! there, in crowds they stand, 105
Tires on their head, and timbrels in their hand.
Thy rustic, Mars, the trechedipna wears,
And on his breast, smeared with ceroma, bears
A paltry prize, well-pleased; while every land,
Sicyon, and Amydos, and Alaband, 110
Tralles, and Samos, and a thousand more,
Thrive on his indolence, and daily pour
Their starving myriads forth: hither they come, }
And batten on the genial soil of Rome; }
Minions, then lords, of every princely dome! } 115
A flattering, cringing, treacherous, artful race,
Of torrent tongue, and never-blushing face;
A Protean tribe, one knows not what to call,
Which shifts to every form, and shines in all:
Grammarian, painter, augur, rhetorician, 120
Rope-dancer, conjurer, fiddler, and physician,
All trades his own, your hungry Greekling counts;
And bid him mount the sky--the sky he mounts!
You smile--was't a barbarian, then, that flew?
No, 'twas a Greek! 'twas an ATHENIAN, too! 125
--Bear with their state who will: for I disdain
To feed their upstart pride, or swell their train:
Slaves, that in Syrian lighters stowed, so late,
With figs and prunes (an inauspicious freight),
Already see their faith preferred to mine, 130
And sit above me! and before me sign!--
That on the Aventine I first drew air,
And, from the womb, was nursed on Sabine fare,
Avails me not! our birthright now is lost,
And all our privilege, an empty boast! 135
For lo! where versed in every soothing art,
The wily Greek assails his patron's heart,
Finds in each dull harangue an air, a grace,
And all Adonis in a Gorgon face;
Admires the voice that grates upon the ear, 140
Like the shrill scream of amorous chanticleer;
And equals the crane neck, and narrow chest,
To Hercules, when, straining to his breast
The giant son of Earth, his every vein
Swells with the toil, and more than mortal pain. 145
We too can cringe as low, and praise as warm,
But flattery from the Greeks alone can charm.
See! they step forth, and figure to the life,
The naked nymph, the mistress, or the wife,
So just, you view the very woman there, 150
And fancy all beneath the girdle bare!
No longer now, the favorites of the stage
Boast their exclusive power to charm the age:
The happy art with them a nation shares,
GREECE IS A THEATRE, WHERE ALL ARE PLAYERS. 155
For lo! their patron smiles,--they burst with mirth;
He weeps--they droop, the saddest souls on earth;
He calls for fire--they court the mantle's heat;
'Tis warm, he cries--and they dissolve in sweat.
Ill-matched!--secure of victory they start, 160
Who, taught from youth to play a borrowed part,
Can, with a glance, the rising passion trace,
And mould their own, to suit their patron's face;
At deeds of shame their hands admiring raise,
And mad debauchery's worst excesses praise. 165
Besides, no mound their raging lust restrains,
All ties it breaks, all sanctity profanes;
Wife, virgin-daughter, son unstained before--
And, where these fail, they tempt the grandam hoar:
They notice every word, haunt every ear, 170
Your secrets learn, and fix you theirs from fear.
Turn to their schools:--yon gray professor see,
Smeared with the sanguine stains of perfidy!
That tutor most accursed his pupil sold!
That Stoic sacrificed his friend to gold! 175
A true-born Grecian! littered on the coast,
Where the Gorgonian hack a pinion lost.
Hence, Romans, hence! no place for you remains,
Where Diphilus, where Erimanthus reigns;
Miscreants, who, faithful to their native art, 180
Admit no rival in a patron's heart:
For let them fasten on his easy ear,
And drop one hint, one secret slander there,
Sucked from their country's venom, or their own,
That instant they possess the man alone; 185
While we are spurned, contemptuous, from the door,
Our long, long slavery thought upon no more.
'Tis but a client lost!--and that, we find,
Sits wondrous lightly on a patron's mind:
And (not to flatter our poor pride, my friend) 190
What merit with the great can we pretend,
Though, in our duty we prevent the day,
And, darkling, run our humble court to pay;
When the brisk prætor, long before, is gone,
And hastening, with stern voice, his lictors on, 195
Lest his colleagues o'erpass him in the street,
And first the rich and childless matrons greet,
Alba and Modia, who impatient wait,
And think the morning homage comes too late!
Here freeborn youths wait the rich servant's call, 200
And, if they walk beside him, yield the wall;
And wherefore? this, forsooth, can fling away,
On one voluptuous night, a legion's pay,
While those, when some Calvina, sweeping by,
Inflames the fancy, check their roving eye, 205
And frugal of their scanty means, forbear,
To tempt the wanton from her splendid chair.
Produce, at Rome, your witness: let him boast,
The sanctity of Berecynthia's host,
Of Numa, or of him, whose zeal divine 210
Snatched pale Minerva from her blazing shrine:
To search his rent-roll, first the bench prepares,
His honesty employs their latest cares:
What table does he keep, what slaves maintain,
And what, they ask, and where, is his domain? 215
These weighty matters known, his faith they rate,
And square his probity to his estate.
The poor may swear by all the immortal Powers,
By the Great Gods of Samothrace, and ours,
His oaths are false, they cry; he scoffs at heaven, 220
And all its thunders; scoffs--and is forgiven!
Add, that the wretch is still the theme of scorn,
If the soiled cloak be patched, the gown o'erworn;
If, through the bursting shoe, the foot be seen,
Or the coarse seam tell where the rent has been. 225
O Poverty, thy thousand ills combined }
Sink not so deep into the generous mind, }
As the contempt and laughter of mankind! }
"Up! up! these cushioned benches," Lectius cries,
"Befit not your estates: for shame! arise." 230
For "shame!"--but you say well: the pander's heir,
The spawn of bulks and stews, is seated there;
The crier's spruce son, fresh from the fencer's school,
And prompt the taste to settle and to rule.--
So Otho fixed it, whose preposterous pride 235
First dared to chase us from their Honors' side.
In these cursed walls, devote alone to gain,
When do the poor a wealthy wife obtain?
When are they named in Wills? when called to share
The Ædile's council, and assist the chair?-- 240
Long since should they have risen, thus slighted, spurned,
And left their home, but--not to have returned!
Depressed by indigence, the good and wise,
In every clime, by painful efforts rise;
HERE, by more painful still, where scanty cheer, 245
Poor lodging, mean attendance--all is dear.
In earthen-ware HE scorns, at Rome, to eat,
WHO, called abruptly to the Marsian's seat,
From such, well pleased, would take his simple food,
Nor blush to wear the cheap Venetian hood. 250
There's many a part of Italy, 'tis said,
Where none assume the toga but the dead:
There, when the toil foregone and annual play,
Mark, from the rest, some high and solemn day,
To theatres of turf the rustics throng, 255
Charmed with the farce that charmed their sires so long;
While the pale infant, of the mask in dread,
Hides, in his mother's breast, his little head.
No modes of dress high birth distinguish THERE;
All ranks, all orders, the same habit wear, 260
And the dread Ædile's dignity is known,
O sacred badge! by his white vest alone.
But HERE, beyond our power arrayed we go,
In all the gay varieties of show;
And when our purse supplies the charge no more, 265
Borrow, unblushing, from our neighbor's store:
Such is the reigning vice; and so we flaunt,
Proud in distress, and prodigal in want!
Briefly, my friend, here all are slaves to gold,
And words, and smiles, and every thing is sold. 270
What will you give for Cossus' nod? how high
The silent notice of Veiento buy?
--One favorite youth is shaved, another shorn;
And, while to Jove the precious spoil is borne,
Clients are taxed for offerings, and, (yet more 275
To gall their patience), from their little store,
Constrained to swell the minion's ample hoard,
And bribe the page, for leave to bribe his lord.
Who fears the crash of houses in retreat?
At simple Gabii, bleak Præneste's seat, 280
Volsinium's craggy heights, embowered in wood,
Or Tibur, beetling o'er prone Anio's flood?
While half the city here by shores is staid,
And feeble cramps, that lend a treacherous aid:
For thus the stewards patch the riven wall, 285
Thus prop the mansion, tottering to its fall;
Then bid the tenant court secure repose,
While the pile nods to every blast that blows.
O! may I live where no such fears molest,
No midnight fires burst on my hour of rest! 290
For here 'tis terror all; mid the loud cry
Of "water! water!" the scared neighbors fly,
With all their haste can seize--the flames aspire,
And the third floor is wrapt in smoke and fire,
While you, unconscious, doze: Up, ho! and know, 295
The impetuous blaze which spreads dismay below,
By swift degrees will reach the aerial cell,
Where, crouching, underneath the tiles you dwell,
Where your tame doves their golden couplets rear,
"And you could no mischance, but drowning, fear!" 300
"Codrus had but one bed, and that too short
For his short wife;" his goods, of every sort,
Were else but few:--six little pipkins graced
His cupboard head, a little can was placed
On a snug shelf beneath, and near it lay 305
A Chiron, of the same cheap marble--clay.
And was this all? O no: he yet possest
A few Greek books, shrined in an ancient chest,
Where barbarous mice through many an inlet crept,
And fed on heavenly numbers, while he slept.-- 310
"Codrus, in short, had nothing." You say true;
And yet poor Codrus lost that nothing too!
One curse alone was wanting, to complete
His woes: that, cold and hungry, through the street,
The wretch should beg, and, in the hour of need, 315
Find none to lodge, to clothe him, or to feed!
But should the raging flames on grandeur prey,
And low in dust Asturius' palace lay,
The squalid matron sighs, the senate mourns,
The pleaders cease, the judge the court adjourns; 320
All join to wail the city's hapless fate,
And rail at fire with more than common hate.
Lo! while it burns, the obsequious courtiers haste,
With rich materials, to repair the waste:
This, brings him marble, that, a finished piece, 325
The far-famed boast of Polyclete and Greece;
This, ornaments, which graced of old the fane
Of Asia's gods; that, figured plate and plain;
This, cases, books, and busts the shelves to grace,
And piles of coin his specie to replace-- 330
So much the childless Persian swells his store,
(Though deemed the richest of the rich before,)
That all ascribe the flames to thirst of pelf,
And swear, Asturius fired his house himself.
O, had you, from the Circus, power to fly, 335
In many a halcyon village might you buy
Some elegant retreat, for what will, here,
Scarce hire a gloomy dungeon through the year!
There wells, by nature formed, which need no rope,
No laboring arm, to crane their waters up, 340
Around your lawn their facile streams shall shower,
And cheer the springing plant and opening flower.
There live, delighted with the rustic's lot,
And till, with your own hands, the little spot;
The little spot shall yield you large amends, 345
And glad, with many a feast, your Samian friends.
And, sure,--in any corner we can get,
To call one lizard ours, is something yet!
Flushed with a mass of indigested food,
Which clogs the stomach and inflames the blood, 350
What crowds, with watching wearied and o'erprest,
Curse the slow hours, and die for want of rest!
For who can hope his languid lids to close,
Where brawling taverns banish all repose?
Sleep, to the rich alone, "his visits pays:" 355
And hence the seeds of many a dire disease.
The carts loud rumbling through the narrow way,
The drivers' clamors at each casual stay,
From drowsy Drusus would his slumber take,
And keep the calves of Proteus broad awake! 360
If business call, obsequious crowds divide.
While o'er their heads the rich securely ride,
By tall Illyrians borne, and read, or write, }
Or (should the early hour to rest invite), }
Close the soft litter, and enjoy the night. } 365
Yet reach they first the goal; while, by the throng
Elbowed and jostled, scarce we creep along;
Sharp strokes from poles, tubs, rafters, doomed to feel;
And plastered o'er with mud, from head to heel:
While the rude soldier gores us as he goes, 370
Or marks, in blood, his progress on our toes!
See, from the Dole, a vast tumultuous throng,
Each followed by his kitchen, pours along!
Huge pans, which Corbulo could scarce uprear,
With steady neck a puny slave must bear, 375
And, lest amid the way the flames expire,
Glide nimbly on, and gliding, fan the fire;
Through the close press with sinuous efforts wind,
And, piece by piece, leave his botched rags behind.
Hark! groaning on, the unwieldy wagon spreads 380
Its cumbrous load, tremendous! o'er our heads,
Projecting elm or pine, that nods on high,
And threatens death to every passer by.
Heavens! should the axle crack, which bears a weight
Of huge Ligurian stone, and pour the freight 385
On the pale crowd beneath, what would remain,
What joint, what bone, what atom of the slain?
The body, with the soul, would vanish quite,
Invisible as air, to mortal sight!--
Meanwhile, unconscious of their fellow's fate, 390
At home, they heat the water, scour the plate,
Arrange the strigils, fill the cruse with oil,
And ply their several tasks with fruitless toil:
For he who bore the dole, poor mangled ghost,
Sits pale and trembling on the Stygian coast, 395
Scared at the horrors of the novel scene,
At Charon's threatening voice, and scowling mien;
Nor hopes a passage, thus abruptly hurled,
Without his farthing, to the nether world.
Pass we these fearful dangers, and survey 400
What other evils threat our nightly way.
And first, behold the mansion's towering size,
Where floors on floors to the tenth story rise;
Whence heedless garreteers their potsherds throw,
And crush the unwary wretch that walks below! 405
Clattering the storm descends from heights unknown.
Plows up the street, and wounds the flinty stone!
'Tis madness, dire improvidence of ill,
To sup abroad, before you sign your Will;
Since fate in ambush lies, and marks his prey, 410
From every wakeful window in the way:
Pray, then--and count your humble prayer well sped,
If pots be only--emptied on your head.
The drunken bully, ere his man be slain,
Frets through the night, and courts repose in vain; 415
And while the thirst of blood his bosom burns,
From side to side, in restless anguish, turns,
Like Peleus' son, when, quelled by Hector's hand,
His loved Patroclus prest the Phrygian strand.
There are, who murder as an opiate take, 420
And only when no brawls await them wake:
Yet even these heroes, flushed with youth and wine,
All contest with the purple robe decline;
Securely give the lengthened train to pass,
The sun-bright flambeaux, and the lamps of brass.-- 425
Me, whom the moon, or candle's paler gleam,
Whose wick I husband to the last extreme,
Guides through the gloom, he braves, devoid of fear:
The prelude to our doughty quarrel hear,
If that be deemed a quarrel, where, heaven knows, 430
He only gives, and I receive, the blows!
Across my path he strides, and bids me STAND!
I bow, obsequious to the dread command;
What else remains, where madness, rage, combine
With youth, and strength superior far to mine? 435
"Whence come you, rogue?" he cries; "whose beans to-night
Have stuffed you thus? what cobbler clubbed his mite,
For leeks and sheep's-head porridge? Dumb! quite dumb!
Speak, or be kicked.--Yet, once again! your home?
Where shall I find you? At what beggar's stand 440
(Temple, or bridge) whimp'ring with outstretched hand?"
Whether I strive some humble plea to frame,
Or steal in silence by, 'tis just the same;
I'm beaten first, then dragged in rage away:
Bound to the peace, or punished for the fray! 445
Mark here the boasted freedom of the poor!
Beaten and bruised, that goodness to adore,
Which, at their humble prayer, suspends its ire,
And sends them home, with yet a bone entire!
Nor this the worst; for when deep midnight reigns, 450
And bolts secure our doors, and massy chains,
When noisy inns a transient silence keep,
And harassed nature woos the balm of sleep,
Then, thieves and murderers ply their dreadful trade;
With stealthy steps our secret couch invade:-- 455
Roused from the treacherous calm, aghast we start,
And the fleshed sword--is buried in our heart!
Hither from bogs, from rocks, and caves pursued
(The Pontine marsh, and Gallinarian wood),
The dark assassins flock, as to their home, 460
And fill with dire alarms the streets of Rome.
Such countless multitudes our peace annoy,
That bolts and shackles every forge employ,
And cause so wide a waste, the country fears
A want of ore for mattocks, rakes, and shares. 465
O! happy were our sires, estranged from crimes;
And happy, happy, were the good old times,
Which saw, beneath their kings', their tribunes' reign,
One cell the nation's criminals contain!
Much could I add, more reasons could I cite, 470
If time were ours, to justify my flight;
But see! the impatient team is moving on,
The sun declining; and I must be gone:
Long since, the driver murmured at my stay,
And jerked his whip, to beckon me away. 475
Farewell, my friend! with this embrace we part!
Cherish my memory ever in your heart;
And when, from crowds and business, you repair,
To breathe at your Aquinum freer air,
Fail not to draw me from my loved retreat, 480
To Elvine Ceres, and Diana's seat:
For your bleak hills my Cumæ I'll resign,
And (if you blush not at such aid as mine)
Come well equipped, to wage, in angry rhymes,
Fierce war, with you, on follies and on crimes. 485

SATIRE IV.

Again Crispinus comes! and yet again,
And oft, shall he be summoned to sustain
His dreadful part:--the monster of the times,
Without ONE virtue to redeem his crimes!
Diseased, emaciate, weak in all but lust, 5
And whom the widow's sweets alone disgust.
Avails it, then, in what long colonnades
He tires his mules? through what extensive glades
His chair is borne? what vast estates he buys,
What splendid domes, that round the Forum rise? 10
Ah! no--Peace visits not the guilty mind,
Least his, who incest to adultery joined,
And stained thy priestess, Vesta;--whom, dire fate!
The long dark night and living tomb await.
Turn we to slighter vices:--yet had these, 15
In others, Seius, Titius, whom you please,
The Censor roused; for what the good would shame,
Becomes Crispinus, and is honest fame.
But when the actor's person far exceeds,
In native loathsomeness, his loathsom'st deeds, 20
Say, what can satire? For a fish that weighed
Six pounds, six thousand sesterces he paid!
As those report, who catch, with greedy ear,
And magnify the mighty things they hear.
Had this expense been meant, with well-timed skill, 25
To gull some childless dotard of a Will;
Or bribe some rich and fashionable fair,
Who flaunts it in a close, wide-windowed chair;
'Twere worth our praise:--but no such plot was here.
'Twas for HIMSELF he bought a treat so dear! 30
This, all past gluttony from shame redeems,
And even Apicius poor and frugal seems.
What! You, Crispinus, brought to Rome, erewhile,
Lapt in the rushes of your native Nile,
Buy scales, at such a price! you might, I guess, 35
Have bought the fisherman himself for less;
Bought, in some countries, manors at this rate,
And, in Apulia, an immense estate!
How gorged the emperor, when so dear a fish,
Yet, of his cheapest meals, the cheapest dish, 40
Was guttled down by this impurpled lord,
Chief knight, chief parasite, at Cæsar's board,
Whom Memphis heard so late, with ceaseless yell,
Clamoring through all her streets--"Ho! shads to sell!"
Pierian MAIDS, begin;--but, quit your lyres, 45
The fact I bring no lofty chord requires:
Relate it, then, and in the simplest strain,
Nor let the poet style you MAIDS, in vain.
When the last Flavius, drunk with fury, tore
The prostrate world, which bled at every pore, 50
And Rome beheld, in body as in mind,
A bald-pate Nero rise, to curse mankind;
It chanced, that where the fane of Venus stands,
Reared on Ancona's coast by Grecian hands,
A turbot, wandering from the Illyrian main, 55
Fill'd the wide bosom of the bursting seine.
Monsters so bulky, from its frozen stream,
Mæotis renders to the solar beam,
And pours them, fat with a whole winter's ease,
Through the bleak Euxine, into warmer seas. 60
The mighty draught the astonished boatman eyes,
And to the Pontiff's table dooms his prize:
For who would dare to sell it? who to buy?
When the coast swarmed with many a practiced spy,
Mud-rakers, prompt to swear the fish had fled 65
From Cæsar's ponds, ingrate! where long it fed,
And thus recaptured, claimed to be restored
To the dominion of its ancient lord!
Nay, if Palphurius may our credit gain,
Whatever rare or precious swims the main, 70
Is forfeit to the crown, and you may seize
The obnoxious dainty, when and where you please.
This point allowed, our wary boatman chose
To give--what, else, he had not failed to lose.
Now were the dogstar's sickly fervors o'er, 75
Earth, pinched with cold, her frozen livery wore;
The old began their quartan fits to fear,
And wintry blasts deformed the beauteous year,
And kept the turbot sweet: yet on he flew,
As if the sultry South corruption blew.-- 80
And now the lake, and now the hill he gains,
Where Alba, though in ruins, still maintains
The Trojan fire, which, but for her, were lost,
And worships Vesta, though with less of cost.
The wondering crowd, that gathered to survey 85
The enormous fish, and barred the fisher's way,
Satiate, at length retires; the gates unfold!--
Murmuring, the excluded senators behold
The envied dainty enter:--On the man
To great Atrides pressed, and thus began. 90
"This, for a private table far too great,
Accept, and sumptuously your Genius treat:
Haste to unload your stomach, and devour
A turbot, destined to this happy hour.
I sought him not;--he marked the toils I set, 95
And rushed, a willing victim, to my net."
Was flattery e'er so rank! yet he grows vain,
And his crest rises at the fulsome strain.
When, to divine, a mortal power we raise,
He looks for no hyperboles in praise. 100
But when was joy unmixed? no pot is found,
Capacious of the turbot's ample round:
In this distress, he calls the chiefs of state,
At once the objects of his scorn and hate,
In whose pale cheeks distrust and doubt appear, 105
And all a tyrant's friendship breeds of fear.
Scarce was the loud Liburnian heard to say,
"He sits," ere Pegasus was on his way;
Yes:--the new bailiff of the affrighted town,
(For what were Præfects more?) had snatched his gown, 110
And rushed to council: from the ivory chair,
He dealt out justice with no common care;
But yielded oft to those licentious times,
And where he could not punish, winked at crimes.
Then old, facetious Crispus tript along, 115
Of gentle manners, and persuasive tongue:
None fitter to advise the lord of all,
Had that pernicious pest, whom thus we call,
Allowed a friend to soothe his savage mood,
And give him counsel, wise at once and good. 120
But who shall dare this liberty to take,
When, every word you hazard, life's at stake?
Though but of stormy summers, showery springs--
For tyrants' ears, alas! are ticklish things.
So did the good old man his tongue restrain; 125
Nor strove to stem the torrent's force in vain.
Not one of those, who, by no fears deterred,
Spoke the free soul, and truth to life preferred.
He temporized--thus fourscore summers fled,
Even in that court, securely, o'er his head. 130
Next him, appeared Acilius hurrying on,
Of equal age--and followed by his son;
Who fell, unjustly fell, in early years,
A victim to the tyrant's jealous fears:
But long ere this were hoary hairs become 135
A prodigy, among the great, at Rome;
Hence, had I rather owe my humble birth,
Frail brother of the giant-brood, to earth.
Poor youth! in vain the ancient sleight you try;
In vain, with frantic air, and ardent eye, 140
Fling every robe aside, and battle wage
With bears and lions, on the Alban stage.
All see the trick: and, spite of Brutus' skill,
There are who count him but a driveler still;
Since, in his days, it cost no mighty pains 145
To outwit a prince, with much more beard than brains.
Rubrius, though not, like these, of noble race,
Followed with equal terror in his face;
And, laboring with a crime too foul to name,
More, than the pathic satirist, lost to shame. 150
Montanus' belly next, and next appeared
The legs, on which that monstrous pile was reared.
Crispinus followed, daubed with more perfume,
Thus early! than two funerals consume.
Then bloodier Pompey, practiced to betray, 155
And hesitate the noblest lives away.
Then Fuscus, who in studious pomp at home,
Planned future triumphs for the Arms of Rome.
Blind to the event! those arms, a different fate,
Inglorious wounds, and Dacian vultures, wait. 160
Last, sly Veiento with Catullus came,
Deadly Catullus, who, at beauty's name
Took fire, although unseen: a wretch, whose crimes
Struck with amaze even those prodigious times.
A base, blind parasite, a murderous lord, 165
From the bridge-end raised to the council-board;
Yet fitter still to dog the traveler's heels,
And whine for alms to the descending wheels!
None dwelt so largely on the turbot's size,
Or raised with such applause his wondering eyes; 170
But to the left (O, treacherous want of sight)
He poured his praise;--the fish was on the right!
Thus would he at the fencer's matches sit,
And shout with rapture, at some fancied hit;
And thus applaud the stage-machinery, where 175
The youths were rapt aloft, and lost in air.
Nor fell Veiento short:--as if possest
With all Bellona's rage, his laboring breast
Burst forth in prophecy; "I see, I see
The omens of some glorious victory! 180
Some powerful monarch captured!--lo, he rears,
Horrent on every side, his pointed spears!
Arviragus hurled from the British car:
The fish is foreign, foreign is the war."
Proceed, great seer, and what remains untold, 185
The turbot's age and country, next unfold;
So shall your lord his fortunes better know,
And where the conquest waits and who the foe.
The emperor now the important question put,
"How say ye, Fathers, SHALL THE FISH BE CUT?" 190
"O, far be that disgrace," Montanus cries;
"No, let a pot be formed, of amplest size,
Within whose slender sides the fish, dread sire,
May spread his vast circumference entire!
Bring, bring the tempered clay, and let it feel 195
The quick gyrations of the plastic wheel:--
But, Cæsar, thus forewarned, make no campaign,
Unless your potters follow in your train!"
Montanus ended; all approved the plan,
And all, the speech, so worthy of the man! 200
Versed in the old court luxury, he knew
The feasts of Nero, and his midnight crew;
Where oft, when potent draughts had fired the brain,
The jaded taste was spurred to gorge again.--
And, in my time, none understood so well 205
The science of good eating: he could tell,
At the first relish, if his oysters fed
On the Rutupian, or the Lucrine bed;
And from a crab, or lobster's color, name
The country, nay, the district, whence it came. 210
Here closed the solemn farce. The Fathers rise,
And each, submissive, from the presence hies:--
Pale, trembling wretches, whom the chief, in sport,
Had dragged, astonished, to the Alban court;
As if the stern Sicambri were in arms, 215
Or the fierce Catti threatened new alarms;
As if ill news by flying posts had come,
And gathering nations sought the fall of Rome!
O! that such scenes (disgraceful at the most)
Had all those years of cruelty engrost, 220
Through which his rage pursued the great and good,
Unchecked, while vengeance slumbered o'er their blood!
And yet he fell!--for when he changed his game,
And first grew dreadful to the vulgar name,
They seized the murderer, drenched with Lamian gore, 225
And hurled him, headlong, to the infernal shore!

SATIRE V.

TO TREBIUS.

If--by reiterated scorn made bold,
Your mind can still its shameless tenor hold,
Still think the greatest blessing earth can give,
Is, solely at another's cost to live;
If--you can brook, what Galba would have spurned, 5
And mean Sarmentus with a frown returned,
At Cæsar's haughty board, dependents both,
I scarce would take your evidence on oath.
The belly's fed with little cost: yet grant
You should, unhappily, that little want, 10
Some vacant bridge might surely still be found,
Some highway side; where, groveling on the ground,
Your shivering limbs compassion's sigh might wake,
And gain an alms for "Charity's sweet sake!"
What! can a meal, thus sauced, deserve your care? 15
Is hunger so importunate? when THERE,
THERE, in your tattered rug, you may, my friend,
On casual scraps more honestly depend;
With chattering teeth toil o'er your wretched treat,
And gnaw the crusts, which dogs refuse to eat!-- 20
For, first, of this be sure: whene'er your lord
Thinks proper to invite you to his board,
He pays, or thinks he pays, the total sum
Of all your pains, past, present, and to come.
Behold the meed of servitude! the great 25
Reward their humble followers with a treat,
And count it current coin:--they count it such,
And, though it be but little, think it much.
If, after two long months, he condescend
To waste a thought upon an humble friend, 30
Reminded by a vacant seat, and write,
"You, Master Trebius, sup with me to-night,"
'Tis rapture all! Go now, supremely blest,
Enjoy the meed for which you broke your rest,
And, loose and slipshod, ran your vows to pay, 35
What time the fading stars announced the day;
Or at that earlier hour, when, with slow roll,
Thy frozen wain, Boötes, turned the pole;
Yet trembling, lest the levee should be o'er,
And the full court retiring from the door! 40
And what a meal at last! such ropy wine,
As wool, which takes all liquids, would decline;
Hot, heady lees, to fire the wretched guests,
And turn them all to Corybants, or beasts.--
At first, with sneers and sarcasms, they engage, 45
Then hurl the jugs around, with mutual rage;
Or, stung to madness by the household train,
With coarse stone pots a desperate fight maintain;
While streams of blood in smoking torrents flow,
And my lord smiles to see the battle glow! 50
Not such his beverage: he enjoys the juice
Of ancient days, when beards were yet in use,
Pressed in the Social War!--but will not send
One cordial drop, to cheer a fainting friend.
To-morrow, he will change, and, haply, fill 55
The mellow vintage of the Alban hill,
Or Setian; wines, which can not now be known,
So much the mould of age has overgrown
The district, and the date; such generous bowls,
As Thrasea and Helvidius, patriot souls! 60
While crowned with flowers, in sacred pomp, they lay,
To FREEDOM quaffed, on Brutus' natal day.
Before your patron, cups of price are placed,
Amber and gold, with rows of beryls graced:
Cups, you can only at a distance view, 65
And never trusted to such guests as you!
Or, if they be--a faithful slave attends,
To count the gems, and watch your fingers' ends.
You'll pardon him; but lo! a jasper there,
Of matchless worth, which justifies his care: 70
For Virro, like his brother peers, of late,
Has stripped his fingers to adorn his plate;
And jewels now emblaze the festive board, }
Which decked with nobler grace the hero's sword, }
Whom Dido prized, above the Libyan lord. } 75
From such he drinks: to you the slaves allot
The Beneventine cobbler's four-lugged pot,
A fragment, a mere shard, of little worth,
But to be trucked for matches--and so forth.
If Virro's veins with indigestion glow, 80
They bring him water cooled in Scythian snow:
What! did I late complain a different wine
Fell to thy share? A different water's thine!
Getulian slaves your vile potations pour,
Or the coarse paws of some huge, raw-boned Moor, 85
Whose hideous form the stoutest would affray,
If met, by moonlight, near the Latian way:
On him a youth, the flower of Asia, waits,
So dearly purchased, that the joint estates
Of Tullus, Ancus, would not yield the sum, 90
Nor all the wealth--of all the kings of Rome!
Bear this in mind; and when the cup you need,
Look to your own Getulian Ganymede;
A page who cost so much, will ne'er, be sure,
Come at your beck: he heeds not, he, the poor; 95
But, of his youth and beauty justly vain,
Trips by them, with indifference and disdain.
If called, he hears not, or, with rage inflamed--
Indignant, that his services are claimed
By an old client, who, ye gods! commands, 100
And sits at ease, while his superior stands!
Such proud, audacious minions swarm in Rome,
And trample on the poor, where'er they come.
Mark with what insolence another thrusts
Before your plate th' impenetrable crusts, 105
Black mouldy fragments, which defy the saw,
The mere despair of every aching jaw!
While manchets, of the finest flour, are set
Before your lord; but be you mindful, yet,
And taste not, touch not: of the pantler stand 110
In trembling awe, and check your desperate hand--
Yet, should you dare--a slave springs forth, to wrest
The sacred morsel from you. "Saucy guest,"
He frowns, and mutters, "wilt thou ne'er divine
What's for thy patron's tooth, and what for thine? 115
Never take notice from what tray thou'rt fed,
Nor know the color of thy proper bread?"
Was it for this, the baffled client cries,
The tears indignant starting from his eyes,
Was it for this I left my wife ere day, 120
And up the bleak Esquilian urged my way,
While the wind howled, the hail-storm beat amain,
And my cloak smoked beneath the driving rain!
But lo, a lobster, introduced in state,
Stretches, enormous, o'er the bending plate; 125
Proud of a length of tail, he seems to eye
The humbler guests with scorn, as, towering by,
He takes the place of honor at the board,
And crowned with costly pickles, greets his lord!
A crab is yours, ill garnished and ill fed, 130
With half an egg--a supper for the dead!
He pours Venafran oil upon his fish,
While the stale coleworts, in your wooden dish,
Stink of the lamp; for such to you is thrown,
Such rancid grease, as Afric sends to town; 135
So strong, that when her factors seek the bath,
All wind, and all avoid, the noisome path;
So pestilent! that her own serpents fly
The horrid stench, or meet it but to die.
See! a sur-mullet now before him set, 140
From Corsica, or isles more distant yet,
Brought post to Rome; since Ostia's shores no more
Supply the insatiate glutton, as of yore,
Thinned by the net, whose everlasting throw
Allows no Tuscan fish in peace to grow. 145
Still luxury yawns, unfilled; the nations rise,
And ransack all their coasts for fresh supplies:
Thence come your presents; thence, as rumor tells,
The dainties Lenas buys, Aurelia sells.
A lamprey next, from the Sicilian straits, 150
Of more than common size, on Virro waits--
For oft as Auster seeks his cave, and flings
The cumbrous moisture from his dripping wings,
Forth flies the daring fisher, lured by gain,
While rocks oppose, and whirlpools threat in vain. 155
To you an eel is brought, whose slender make
Speaks him a famished cousin to the snake;
Or some frost-bitten pike, who, day by day,
Through half the city's ordure sucked his way!
Would Virro deign to hear me, I could give 160
A few brief hints:--We look not to receive
What Seneca, what Cotta used to send,
What the good Piso, to an humble friend:--
For bounty once preferred a fairer claim,
Than birth or power, to honorable fame: 165
No; all we ask (and you may this afford)
Is, simply, civil treatment at your board;
Indulge us here; and be, like numbers more,
Rich to yourself, to your dependents poor!
Vain hope! Near him a goose's liver lies; 170
A capon, equal to a goose in size;
A boar, too, smokes, like that which fell, of old,
By the famed hero with the locks of gold.
Last, if the spring its genial influence shed,
And welcome thunders call them from their bed, 175
Large mushrooms enter; ravished with their size,
"O Libya, keep thy grain!" Alledius cries,
"And bid thy oxen to their stalls retreat,
Nor, while thou grow'st such mushrooms, think of wheat!"
Meanwhile, to put your patience to the test, 180
Lo! the spruce carver, to his task addrest,
Skips, like a harlequin, from place to place,
And waves his knife with pantomimic grace,
Till every dish be ranged, and every joint
Severed, by nicest rules, from point to point. 185
You think this folly--'tis a simple thought--
To such perfection, now, is carving brought,
That different gestures, by our curious men,
Are used for different dishes, hare and hen.
But think whate'er you may, your comments spare; 190
For should you, like a free-born Roman, dare
To hint your thoughts, forth springs some sturdy groom,
And drags you straight, heels foremost, from the room!
Does Virro ever pledge you? ever sip
The liquor touched by your unhallowed lip? 195
Or is there one of all your tribe so free,
So desperate, as to say--"Sir, drink to me?"
O, there is much, that never can be spoke
By a poor client in a threadbare cloak!
But should some godlike man, more kind than fate, 200
Some god, present you with a knight's estate,
Heavens, what a change! how infinitely dear
Would Trebius then become! How great appear,
From nothing! Virro, so reserved of late,
Grows quite familiar: "Brother, send your plate. 205
Dear brother Trebius! you were wont to say
You liked this trail, I think--Oblige me, pray."--
O Riches!--this "dear brother" is your own,
To you this friendship, this respect is shown.
But would you now your patron's patron be? 210
Let no young Trebius wanton round your knee,
No Trebia, none: a barren wife procures
The kindest, truest friends! such then be yours.--
Yet, should she breed, and, to augment your joys,
Pour in your lap, at once, three bouncing boys, 215
Virro will still, so you be wealthy, deign
To toy and prattle with the lisping train;
Will have his pockets too with farthings stored,
And when the sweet young rogues approach his board,
Bring out his pretty corselets for the breast, 220
His nuts, and apples, for each coaxing guest.
You champ on spongy toadstools, hateful treat!
Fearful of poison in each bit you eat;
He feasts secure on mushrooms, fine as those
Which Claudius, for his special eating chose, 225
Till one more fine, provided by his wife,
Finished at once his feasting, and his life!
Apples, as fragrant, and as bright of hue,
As those which in Alcinoüs' gardens grew,
Mellowed by constant sunshine; or as those, 230
Which graced the Hesperides, in burnished rows;
Apples, which you may smell, but never taste,
Before your lord and his great friends are placed:
While you enjoy mere windfalls, such stale fruit,
As serves to mortify the raw recruit, 235
When, armed with helm and shield, the lance he throws,
And trembles at the shaggy master's blows.
You think, perhaps, that Virro treats so ill
To save his gold; no, 'tis to vex you still:
For, say, what comedy such mirth can raise, 240
As hunger, tortured thus a thousand ways?
No (if you know it not), 'tis to excite
Your rage, your phrensy, for his mere delight;
'Tis to compel you all your gall to show,
And gnash your teeth in agonies of woe. 245
You deem yourself (such pride inflates your breast),
Forsooth, a freeman, and your patron's guest;
He thinks you a vile slave, drawn, by the smell
Of his warm kitchen, there; and he thinks well:
For who so low, so wretched as to bear 250
Such treatment twice, whose fortune 'twas to wear
The golden boss; nay, to whose humbler lot,
The poor man's ensign fell, the leathern knot!
Your palate still beguiles you: Ah, how nice
That smoking haunch! NOW we shall have a slice! 255
Now that half hare is coming! NOW a bit
Of that young pullet! NOW--and thus you sit,
Thumbing your bread in silence; watching still,
For what has never reached you, never will!
No more of freedom! 'tis a vain pretense: 260
Your patron treats you like a man of sense:
For, if you can, without a murmur, bear,
You well deserve the insults which you share.
Anon, like voluntary slaves, you'll throw
Your humbled necks beneath the oppressor's blow, 265
Nay, with bare backs, solicit to be beat,
And merit SUCH A FRIEND, and SUCH A TREAT!

SATIRE VI.

TO URSIDIUS POSTHUMUS.

Yes, I believe that CHASTITY was known,
And prized on earth, while Saturn filled the throne;
When rocks a bleak and scanty shelter gave,
When sheep and shepherds thronged one common cave,
And when the mountain wife her couch bestrewed 5
With skins of beasts, joint tenants of the wood,
And reeds, and leaves plucked from the neighboring tree:--
A woman, Cynthia, far unlike to thee,
Or thee, weak child of fondness and of fears,
Whose eyes a sparrow's death suffused with tears: 10
But strong, and reaching to her burly brood
Her big-swollen breasts, replete with wholesome food,
And rougher than her husband, gorged with mast,
And frequent belching from the coarse repast.
For when the world was new, the race that broke, 15
Unfathered, from the soil or opening oak,
Lived most unlike the men of later times,
The puling brood of follies and of crimes.
Haply some trace of Chastity remained,
While Jove, but Jove as yet unbearded, reigned: 20
Before the Greek bound, by another's head,
His doubtful faith; or men, of theft in dread,
Had learned their herbs and fruitage to immure,
But all was uninclosed, and all secure!
At length Astrea, from these confines driven, 25
Regained by slow degrees her native heaven;
With her retired her sister in disgust,
And left the world to rapine, and to lust.
'Tis not a practice, friend, of recent date,
But old, established, and inveterate, 30
To climb another's couch, and boldly slight
The sacred Genius of the nuptial rite:
All other crimes the Age of Iron curst;
But that of Silver saw adulterers first.
Yet thou, it seems, art eager to engage 35
Thy witless neck, in this degenerate age!
Even now, thy hair the modish curl is taught,
By master-hands; even now, the ring is bought;
Even now--thou once, Ursidius, hadst thy wits,
But thus to talk of wiving!--O, these fits! 40
What more than madness has thy soul possest?
What snakes, what Furies, agitate thy breast?
Heavens! wilt thou tamely drag the galling chain,
While hemp is to be bought, while knives remain?
While windows woo thee so divinely high, 45
And Tiber and the Æmilian bridge are nigh?--
"O, but the law," thou criest, "the Julian law,
Will keep my destined wife from every flaw;
Besides, I die for heirs." Good! and for those,
Wilt thou the turtle and the turbot lose, 50
And all the dainties, which the flatterer, still
Heaps on the childless, to secure his Will?
But what will hence impossible be held,
If thou, old friend, to wedlock art impelled?
If thou, the veriest debauchee in town, 55
With whom wives, widows, every thing went down,
Shouldst stretch the unsuspecting neck, and poke
Thy foolish nose into the marriage yoke?
Thou, famed for scapes, and, by the trembling wife,
Thrust in a chest so oft, to save thy life!-- 60
But what! Ursidius hopes a mate to gain,
Frugal, and chaste, and of the good old strain:
Alas, he's frantic! ope a vein with speed,
And bleed him copiously, good doctor, bleed.
Jewel of men! thy knees to Jove incline, 65
And let a heifer fall at Juno's shrine,
If thy researches for a wife be blest,
With one, who is not--need I speak the rest?
Ah! few the matrons Ceres now can find,
Her hallowed fillets, with chaste hands, to bind; 70
Few whom their fathers with their lips can trust,
So strong their filial kisses smack of lust!
Go then, prepare to bring your mistress home,
And crown your doors with garlands, ere she come.--
But will one man suffice, methinks, you cry, 75
For all her wants and wishes? Will one eye!
And yet there runs, 'tis said, a wondrous tale,
Of some pure maid, who lives--in some lone vale.
There she MAY live; but let the phœnix, placed
At Gabii or Fidenæ, prove as chaste 80
As at her father's farm!--Yet who will swear,
That naught is done in night and silence there?
Time was, when Jupiter and Mars, we're told, }
With many a nymph in woods and caves made bold; }
And still, perhaps, they may not be too old. } 85
Survey our public places; see you there
One woman worthy of your serious care?
See you, through all the crowded benches, one
Whom you might take securely for your own?--
Lo! while Bathyllus, with his flexile limbs, 90
Acts Leda, and through every posture swims,
Tuccia delights to realize the play,
And in lascivious trances melts away;
While rustic Thymele, with curious eye,
Marks the quick pant, the lingering, deep-drawn sigh, 95
And while her cheeks with burning blushes glow,
Learns this--learns all the city matrons know.
Others, when of the theatres bereft,
When nothing but the wrangling bar is left,
In the long tedious months which interpose 100
'Twixt the Cybelian and Plebeian shows,
Sicken for action, and assume the airs,
The mask and thyrsus, of their favorite players.
--Midst peals of mirth, see Urbicus advance
(Poor Ælia's choice), and, in a wanton dance, 105
Burlesque Autonoë's woes! the rich engage
In higher frolics, and defraud the stage;
Take from Chrysogonus the power to sing,
Loose, at vast prices, the comedian's ring,
Tempt the tragedian--but I see you moved-- 110
Heavens! dreamed you that QUINTILIAN would be loved!
Then hie thee, Lentulus, and boldly wed,
That the chaste partner of thy fruitful bed
May kindly single from this motley race
Some sturdy Glaphyrus, thy brows to grace: 115
Haste; in the narrow streets long scaffolds raise,
And deck thy portals with triumphant bays;
That in thy heir, as swathed in state he lies,
The guests may trace Mirmillo's nose and eyes!
Hippia, who shared a rich patrician's bed, 120
To Egypt with a gladiator fled,
While rank Canopus eyed, with strong disgust,
This ranker specimen of Roman lust.
Without one pang, the profligate resigned
Her husband, sister, sire; gave to the wind 125
Her children's tears; yea, tore herself away
(To strike you more)--from PARIS and the PLAY!
And though, in affluence born, her infant head
Had pressed the down of an embroidered bed,
She braved the deep (she long had braved her fame; 130
But this is little--to the courtly dame),
And, with undaunted breast, the changes bore,
Of many a sea, the swelling and the roar.
Have they an honest call, such ills to bear?
Cold shiverings seize them, and they shrink with fear; 135
But set illicit pleasure in their eye,
Onward they rush, and every toil defy!
Summoned by duty, to attend her lord,
How, cries the lady, can I get on board?
How bear the dizzy motion? how the smell? 140
But--when the adulterer calls her, all is well!
She roams the deck, with pleasure ever new,
Tugs at the ropes, and messes with the crew;
But with her husband--O, how changed the case!
Sick! sick! she cries, and vomits in his face. 145
But by what youthful charms, what shape, what air,
Was Hippia won, the opprobrious name to bear
Of FENCER'S TRULL? The wanton well might dote!
For the sweet Sergius long had scraped his throat,
Long looked for leave to quit the public stage, 150
Maimed in his limbs, and verging now to age.
Add, that his face was battered and decayed;
The helmet on his brow huge galls had made,
A wen deformed his nose, of monstrous size,
And sharp rheum trickled from his bloodshot eyes: 155
But then he was a SWORDSMAN! that alone
Made every charm and every grace his own;
That made him dearer than her nuptial vows,
Dearer than country, sister, children, spouse.--
'TIS BLOOD THEY LOVE: Let Sergius quit the sword, 160
And he'll appear, at once--so like her lord!
Start you at wrongs that touch a private name,
At Hippia's lewdness, and Veiento's shame?
Turn to the rivals of the immortal Powers,
And mark how like their fortunes are to ours! 165
Claudius had scarce begun his eyes to close,
Ere from his pillow Messalina rose
(Accustomed long the bed of state to slight
For the coarse mattress, and the hood of night);
And with one maid, and her dark hair concealed 170
Beneath a yellow tire, a strumpet veiled!
She slipt into the stews, unseen, unknown,
And hired a cell, yet reeking, for her own.
There, flinging off her dress, the imperial whore
Stood, with bare breasts and gilded, at the door, 175
And showed, Britannicus, to all who came,
The womb that bore thee, in Lycisca's name!
Allured the passers by with many a wile,
And asked her price, and took it, with a smile.
And when the hour of business now was spent, 180
And all the trulls dismissed, repining went;
Yet what she could, she did; slowly she past,
And saw her man, and shut her cell, the last,
--Still raging with the fever of desire,
Her veins all turgid, and her blood all fire, 185
With joyless pace, the imperial couch she sought,
And to her happy spouse (yet slumbering) brought
Cheeks rank with sweat, limbs drenched with poisonous dews,
The steam of lamps, and odor of the stews!
'Twere long to tell what philters they provide, 190
What drugs, to set a son-in-law aside.
Women, in judgment weak, in feeling strong,
By every, gust of passion borne along,
Act, in their fits, such crimes, that, to be just,
The least pernicious of their sins is lust. 195
But why's Cesennia then, you say, adored,
And styled the first of women, by her lord?
Because she brought him thousands: such the price
It cost the lady to be free from vice!--
Not for her charms the wounded lover pined, 200
Nor felt the flame which fires the ardent mind,
Plutus, not Cupid, touched his sordid heart;
And 'twas her dower that winged the unerring dart.
She brought enough her liberty to buy,
And tip the wink before her husband's eye. 205
A wealthy wanton, to a miser wed,
Has all the license of a widowed bed.
But yet, Sertorius what I say disproves,
For though his Bibula is poor, he loves.
True! but examine him; and, on my life, 210
You'll find he loves the beauty, not the wife.
Let but a wrinkle on her forehead rise,
And time obscure the lustre of her eyes;
Let but the moisture leave her flaccid skin,
And her teeth blacken, and her cheeks grow thin; 215
And you shall hear the insulting freedman say,
"Pack up your trumpery, madam, and away!
Nay, bustle, bustle; here you give offense,
With sniveling night and day;--take your nose hence!"--
But, ere that hour arrives, she reigns indeed! 220
Shepherds, and sheep of Canusinian breed,
Falernian vineyards (trifles these), she craves,
And store of boys, and troops of country slaves;
Briefly, for all her neighbor has, she sighs,
And plagues her doting husband, till he buys. 225
In winter, when the merchant fears to roam,
And snow confines the shivering crew at home;
She ransacks every shop for precious ware,
Here cheapens myrrh and crystal vases; there,
That far-famed gem which Berenice wore, 230
The hire of incest, and thence valued more;
A brother's present, in that barbarous State,
Where kings the sabbath, barefoot, celebrate;
And old indulgence grants a length of life
To hogs, that fatten fearless of the knife. 235
What! and is none of all this numerous herd
Worthy your choice? not one, to be preferred?
Suppose her nobly born, young, rich, and fair,
And (though a coal-black swan be far less rare)
Chaste as the Sabine wives, who rushed between 240
The kindred hosts, and closed the unnatural scene;
Yet who could bear to lead an humbled life,
Cursed with that veriest plague, a faultless wife!--
Some simple rustic at Venusium bred,
O let me, rather than Cornelia, wed, 245
If, to great virtues, greater pride she join,
And count her ancestors as current coin.
Take back, for mercy's sake, thy Hannibal!
Away with vanquished Syphax, camp and all!
Troop, with the whole of Carthage! I'd be free 250
From all this pageantry of worth--and thee.
"O let, Apollo, let my children live,
And thou, Diana, pity, and forgive;"
Amphion cries; "they, they are guiltless all!
The mother sinned, let then the mother fall." 255
In vain he cries; Apollo bends his bow,
And, with the children, lays the father low?
They fell; while Niobe aspired to place
Her birth and blood above Latona's race;
And boast her womb--too fruitful, to be named 260
With that WHITE SOW, for thirty sucklings famed.
Beauty and worth are purchased much too dear,
If a wife force them hourly on your ear;
For, say, what pleasure can you hope to find,
Even in this boast, this phœnix of her kind, 265
If, warped by pride, on all around she lour,
And in your cup more gall than honey pour?
Ah! who so blindly wedded to the state,
As not to shrink from such a perfect mate,
Of every virtue feel the oppressive weight, 270
And curse the worth he loves, seven hours in eight?
Some faults, though small, no husband yet can bear:
'Tis now the nauseous cant, that none is fair,
Unless her thoughts in Attic terms she dress;
A mere Cecropian of a Sulmoness! 275
All now is Greek: in Greek their souls they pour,
In Greek their fears, hopes, joys;--what would you more?
In Greek they clasp their lovers. We allow
These fooleries to girls: but thou, O thou,
Who tremblest on the verge of eighty-eight, 280
To Greek it still!--'tis, now, a day too late.
Foh! how it savors of the dregs of lust,
When an old hag, whose blandishments disgust,
Affects the infant lisp, the girlish squeak,
And mumbles out, "My life!" "My soul!" in Greek! 285
Words, which the secret sheets alone should hear,
But which she trumpets in the public ear.
And words, indeed, have power--But though she woo
In softer strains than e'er Carpophorus knew,
Her wrinkles still employ her favorite's cares; 290
And while she murmurs love, he counts her years!
But tell me;--if thou CANST NOT love a wife,
Made thine by every tie, and thine for life,
Why wed at all? why waste the wine and cakes,
The queasy-stomached guest, at parting, takes? 295
And the rich present, which the bridal right
Claims for the favors of the happy night?
The charger, where, triumphantly inscrolled,
The Dacian Hero shines in current gold!
If thou CANST love, and thy besotted mind 300
Is, so uxoriously, to one inclined,
Then bow thy neck, and with submissive air
Receive the yoke--thou must forever wear.
To a fond spouse a wife no mercy shows:--
Though warmed with equal fires, she mocks his woes, 305
And triumphs in his spoils: her wayward will
Defeats his bliss, and turns his good to ill!
Naught must be given, if she opposes; naught,
If she opposes, must be sold or bought;
She tells him where to love, and where to hate, } 310
Shuts out the ancient friend, whose beard his gate }
Knew, from its downy to its hoary state: }
And when pimps, parasites, of all degrees
Have power to will their fortunes as they please,
She dictates his; and impudently dares 315
To name his very rivals for his heirs!
"Go, crucify that slave." For what offense?
Who the accuser? Where the evidence?
For when the life of MAN is in debate,
No time can be too long, no care too great; 320
Hear all, weigh all with caution, I advise--
"Thou sniveler! is a slave a MAN?" she cries.
"He's innocent! be't so:--'tis my command,
My will; let that, sir, for a reason stand."
Thus the virago triumphs, thus she reigns: 325
Anon she sickens of her first domains,
And seeks for new; husband on husband takes,
Till of her bridal veil one rent she makes.
Again she tires, again for change she burns,
And to the bed she lately left returns, 330
While the fresh garlands, and unfaded boughs,
Yet deck the portal of her wondering spouse.
Thus swells the list; EIGHT HUSBANDS IN FIVE YEARS:
A rare inscription for their sepulchres!
While your wife's mother lives, expect no peace. 335
She teaches her, with savage joy, to fleece
A bankrupt spouse: kind creature! she befriends
The lover's hopes, and, when her daughter sends
An answer to his prayer, the style inspects,
Softens the cruel, and the wrong corrects: 340
Experienced bawd! she blinds, or bribes all eyes,
And brings the adulterer, in despite of spies.
And now the farce begins; the lady falls
"Sick, sick, oh! sick;" and for the doctor calls:
Sweltering she lies, till the dull visit's o'er, 345
While the rank lecher, at the closet door
Lurking in silence, maddens with delay,
And in his own impatience melts away.
Nor count it strange: What mother e'er was known
To teach severer morals than her own?-- 350
No;--with their daughters' lusts they swell their stores,
And thrive as bawds when out of date as whores!
Women support the BAR; they love the law,
And raise litigious questions for a straw;
They meet in private, and prepare the Bill, 355
Draw up the Instructions with a lawyer's skill,
Suggest to Celsus where the merits lie,
And dictate points for statement or reply.
Nay, more, they FENCE! who has not marked their oil,
Their purple rugs, for this preposterous toil? 360
Room for the lady--lo! she seeks the list,
And fiercely tilts at her antagonist,
A post! which, with her buckler, she provokes,
And bores and batters with repeated strokes;
Till all the fencer's art can do she shows, 365
And the glad master interrupts her blows.
O worthy, sure, to head those wanton dames,
Who foot it naked at the Floral games;
Unless, with nobler daring, she aspire,
And tempt the arena's bloody field--for hire! 370
What sense of shame is to that female known,
Who envies our pursuits, and hates her own?
Yet would she not, though proud in arms to shine
(True woman still), her sex for ours resign;
For there's a thing she loves beyond compare, 375
And we, alas! have no advantage there.--
Heavens! with what glee a husband must behold
His wife's accoutrements, in public, sold;
And auctioneers displaying to the throng
Her crest, her belt, her gauntlet, and her thong! 380
Or, if in wilder frolics she engage,
And take her private lessons for the stage,
Then three-fold rapture must expand his breast,
To see her greaves "a-going" with the rest.
Yet these are they, the tender souls! who sweat 385
In muslin, and in silk expire with heat.--
Mark, with what force, as the full blow descends,
She thunders "hah!" again, how low she bends
Beneath the opposer's stroke; how firm she rests,
Poised on her hams, and every step contests: 390
How close tucked up for fight, behind, before,
Then laugh--to see her squat, when all is o'er!
Daughters of Lepidus, and Gurges old,
And blind Metellus, did ye e'er behold
Asylla (though a fencer's trull confess'd) 395
Tilt at a stake, thus impudently dress'd!
'Tis night; yet hope no slumbers with your wife;
The nuptial bed is still the scene of strife:
There lives the keen debate, the clamorous brawl,
And quiet "never comes, that comes to all." 400
Fierce as a tigress plundered of her young,
Rage fires her breast, and loosens all her tongue,
When, conscious of her guilt, she feigns to groan,
And chides your loose amours, to hide her own;
Storms at the scandal of your baser flames, 405
And weeps her injuries from imagined names,
With tears that, marshaled, at their station stand,
And flow impassioned, as she gives command.
You think those showers her true affection prove,
And deem yourself--so happy in her love! 410
With fond caresses strive her heart to cheer,
And from her eyelids suck the starting tear:
--But could you now examine the scrutore
Of this most loving, this most jealous whore,
What amorous lays, what letters would you see, 415
Proofs, damning proofs, of her sincerity!
But these are doubtful--Put a clearer case:
Suppose her taken in a loose embrace,
A slave's or knight's. Now, my Quintilian, come,
And fashion an excuse. What! are you dumb? 420
Then, let the lady speak. "Was't not agreed
The MAN might please himself?" It was; proceed.
"Then, so may I"--O, Jupiter! "No oath:
MAN is a general term, and takes in both."
When once surprised, the sex all shame forego; 425
And more audacious, as more guilty, grow.
Whence shall these prodigies of vice be traced?
From wealth, my friend. Our matrons then were chaste,
When days of labor, nights of short repose,
Hands still employed the Tuscan wool to tose, 430
Their husbands armed, and anxious for the State,
And Carthage hovering near the Colline gate,
Conspired to keep all thoughts of ill aloof,
And banished vice far from their lowly roof.
Now, all the evils of long peace are ours; 435
Luxury, more terrible than hostile powers,
Her baleful influence wide around has hurled,
And well avenged the subjugated world!
--Since Poverty, our better Genius, fled,
Vice, like a deluge, o'er the State has spread. 440
Now, shame to Rome! in every street are found
The essenced Sybarite, with roses crowned,
The gay Miletan, and the Tarentine,
Lewd, petulant, and reeling ripe with wine!
Wealth first, the ready pander to all sin, 445
Brought foreign manners, foreign vices in;
Enervate wealth, and with seductive art,
Sapped every homebred virtue of the heart;
Yes, every:--for what cares the drunken dame
(Take head or tail, to her 'tis just the same), 450
Who, at deep midnight, on fat oysters sups,
And froths with unguents her Falernian cups;
Who swallows oceans, till the tables rise,
And double lustres dance before her eyes!
Thus flushed, conceive, as Tullia homeward goes, 455
With what contempt she tosses up her nose
At Chastity's hoar fane! what impious jeers
Collatia pours in Maura's tingling ears!
Here stop their litters, here they all alight,
And squat together in the goddess' sight:-- 460
You pass, aroused at dawn your court to pay,
The loathsome scene of their licentious play.
Who knows not now, my friend, the secret rites
Of the GOOD GODDESS; when the dance excites
The boiling blood; when, to distraction wound, 465
By wine, and music's stimulating sound,
The mænads of Priapus, with wild air,
Howl horrible, and toss their flowing hair!
Then, how the wine at every pore o'erflows!
How the eye sparkles! how the bosom glows! 470
How the cheek burns! and, as the passions rise,
How the strong feeling bursts in eager cries!--
Saufeia now springs forth, and tries a fall
With the town prostitutes, and throws them all;
But yields, herself, to Medullina, known 475
For parts, and powers, superior to her own.
Maids, mistresses, alike the contest share,
And 'tis not always birth that triumphs there.
Nothing is feigned in this accursed game:
'Tis genuine all; and such as would inflame 480
The frozen age of Priam, and inspire
The ruptured, bedrid Nestor with desire.
Stung with their mimic feats, a hollow groan
Of lust breaks forth; the sex, the sex is shown!
And one loud yell re-echoes through the den, 485
"Now, now, 'tis lawful! now admit the men!"
There's none arrived. "Not yet! then scour the street,
And bring us quickly, here, the first you meet."
There's none abroad. "Then fetch our slaves." They're gone.
"Then hire a waterman." There's none. "Not one!"-- 490
Nature's strong barrier scarcely now restrains
The baffled fury in their boiling veins!
And would to heaven our ancient rites were free!--
But Africa and India, earth and sea,
Have heard, what singing-wench produced his ware, 495
Vast as two Anti Catos, there, even there,
Where the he-mouse, in reverence, lies concealed,
And every picture of a male is veiled.
And who was THEN a scoffer? who despised
The simple rites by infant Rome devised, 500
The wooden bowl of pious Numa's day,
The coarse brown dish, and pot of homely clay?
Now, woe the while! religion's in its wane;
And daring Clodii swarm in every fane.
I hear, old friends, I hear you: "Make all sure: 505
Let spies surround her, and let bolts secure."
But who shall KEEP THE KEEPERS? Wives contemn
Our poor precautions, and begin with THEM.
Lust is the master passion; it inflames,
Alike, both high and low; alike, the dames, 510
Who, on tall Syrians' necks, their pomp display,
And those who pick, on foot, their miry way.
Whene'er Ogulnia to the Circus goes,
To emulate the rich, she hires her clothes,
Hires followers, friends, and cushions; hires a chair, 515
A nurse, and a trim girl, with golden hair,
To slip her billets:--prodigal and poor,
She wastes the wreck of her paternal store
On smooth-faced wrestlers; wastes her little all,
And strips her shivering mansion to the wall! 520
There's many a woman knows distress at home;
Not one who feels it, and, ere ruin come,
To her small means conforms. Taught by the ant,
Men sometimes guard against the extreme of want,
And stretch, though late, their providential fears, 525
To food and raiment for their future years:
But women never see their wealth decay;
With lavish hands they scatter night and day,
As if the gold, with vegetative power,
Would spring afresh, and bloom from hour to hour; 530
As if the mass its present size would keep,
And no expense reduce the eternal heap.
Others there are, who centre all their bliss
In the soft eunuch, and the beardless kiss:
They need not from his chin avert their face, 535
Nor use abortive drugs, for his embrace.
But oh! their joys run high, if he be formed,
When his full veins the fire of love has warmed;
When every part's to full perfection reared,
And naught of manhood wanting, but the beard. 540
But should the dame in music take delight,
The public singer is disabled quite:
In vain the prætor guards him all he can;
She slips the buckle, and enjoys her man.
Still in her hand his instrument is found, 545
Thick set with gems, that shed a lustre round;
Still o'er his lyre the ivory quill she flings,
Still runs divisions on the trembling strings,
The trembling strings, which the loved Hedymel
Was wont to strike--so sweetly, and so well! 550
These still she holds, with these she soothes her woes,
And kisses on the dear, dear wire bestows.
A noble matron of the Lamian line
Inquired of Janus (offering meal and wine)
If Pollio, at the Harmonic Games, would speed, 555
And wear the oaken crown, the victor's meed!
What could she for a husband, more, have done,
What for an only, an expiring son?
Yes; for a harper, the besotted dame
Approached the altar, reckless of her fame, 560
And veiled her head, and, with a pious air,
Followed the Aruspex through the form of prayer;
And trembled, and turned pale, as he explored
The entrails, breathless for the fatal word!
But, tell me, father Janus, if you please, 565
Tell me, most ancient of the deities,
Is your attention to such suppliants given?
If so--there is not much to do in heaven!
For a comedian, this consults your will,
For a tragedian, that; kept standing, still, 570
By this eternal route, the wretched priest
Feels his legs swell, and dies to be releas'd.
But let her rather sing, than roam the streets,
And thrust herself in every crowd she meets;
Chat with great generals, though her lord be there, 575
With lawless eye, bold front, and bosom bare.
She, too, with curiosity o'erflows,
And all the news of all the world she knows;
Knows what in Scythia, what in Thrace is done;
The secrets of the step-dame and the son; 580
Who speeds, and who is jilted: and can swear, }
Who made the widow pregnant, when and where, }
And what she said, and how she frolicked there.-- }
She first espied the star, whose baleful ray,
O'er Parthia, and Armenia, shed dismay: 585
She watches at the gates, for news to come,
And intercepts it, as it enters Rome;
Then, fraught with full intelligence, she flies
Through every street, and, mingling truth with lies,
Tells how Niphates bore down every mound, 590
And poured his desolating flood around;
How earth, convulsed, disclosed its caverns hoar,
And cities trembled, and--were seen no more!
And yet this itch, though never to be cured,
Is easier, than her cruelty, endured. 595
Should a poor neighbor's dog but discompose
Her rest a moment, wild with rage she grows;
"Ho! whips," she cries, "and flay that brute accurs'd;"
"But flay that rascal there, who owns him, first."
Dangerous to meet while in these frantic airs, 600
And terrible to look at, she prepares
To bathe at night; she issues her commands,
And in long ranks forth poor the obedient bands,
With tubs, cloths, oils:--for 'tis her dear delight
To sweat in clamor, tumult, and affright. 605
When her tired arms refuse the balls to ply,
And the lewd bath-keeper has rubbed her dry,
She calls to mind each miserable guest,
Long since with hunger, and with sleep oppress'd,
And hurries home; all glowing, all athirst, 610
For wine, whole flasks of wine! and swallows, first,
Two quarts, to clear her stomach, and excite
A ravenous, an unbounded appetite!
Huisch! up it comes, good heavens! meat, drink, and all,
And flows in purple torrents round the hall; 615
Or a gilt ewer receives the foul contents,
And poisons all the house with vinous scents.
So, dropp'd into a vat, a snake is said
To drink and spew:--the husband turns his head,
Sick to the soul, from this disgusting scene, 620
And struggles to suppress his rising spleen.
But she is more intolerable yet,
Who plays the critic when at table set;
Calls Virgil charming, and attempts to prove
Poor Dido right, in venturing all for love. 625
From Maro, and Mæonides, she quotes
The striking passages, and, while she notes
Their beauties and defects, adjusts her scales,
And accurately weighs which bard prevails.
The astonished guests sit mute: grammarians yield, 630
Loud rhetoricians, baffled, quit the field;
Even auctioneers and lawyers stand aghast,
And not a woman speaks!--So thick, and fast,
The wordy shower descends, that you would swear
A thousand bells were jangling in your ear, 635
A thousand basins clattering. Vex no more
Your trumpets and your timbrels, as of yore,
To ease the laboring moon; her single yell
Can drown their clangor, and dissolve the spell.
She lectures too in Ethics, and declaims 640
On the CHIEF GOOD!--but, surely, she who aims
To seem too learn'd, should take the male array;
A hog, due offering, to Sylvanus slay,
And, with the Stoic's privilege, repair
To farthing baths, and strip in public there! 645
Oh, never may the partner of my bed
With subtleties of logic stuff her head;
Nor whirl her rapid syllogisms around,
Nor with imperfect enthymemes confound!
Enough for me, if common things she know, 650
And boast the little learning schools bestow.
I hate the female pedagogue, who pores
O'er her Palæmon hourly; who explores
All modes of speech, regardless of the sense,
But tremblingly alive to mood and tense: 655
Who puzzles me with many an uncouth phrase,
From some old canticle of Numa's days;
Corrects her country friends, and can not hear
Her husband solecize without a sneer!
A woman stops at nothing, when she wears 660
Rich emeralds round her neck, and in her ears
Pearls of enormous size; these justify
Her faults, and make all lawful in her eye.
Sure, of all ills with which mankind are curs'd,
A wife who brings you money is the worst. 665
Behold! her face a spectacle appears,
Bloated, and foul, and plastered to the ears
With viscous paste:--the husband looks askew,
And sticks his lips in this detested glue.
She meets the adulterer bathed, perfumed, and dress'd, 670
But rots in filth at home, a very pest!
For him she breathes of nard; for him alone
She makes the sweets of Araby her own;
For him, at length, she ventures to uncase,
Scales the first layer of roughcast from her face, 675
And, while the maids to know her now begin,
Clears, with that precious milk, her frouzy skin,
For which, though exiled to the frozen main,
She'd lead a drove of asses in her train!
But tell me yet; this thing, thus daubed and oiled, 680
Thus poulticed, plastered, baked by turns and boiled,
Thus with pomatums, ointments, lackered o'er,
Is it a FACE, Ursidius, or a SORE?
'Tis worth a little labor to survey
Our wives more near and trace 'em through the day. 685
If, dreadful to relate! the night foregone,
The husband turned his back, or lay alone,
All, all is lost; the housekeeper is stripped,
The tiremaid chidden, and the chairman whipped:
Rods, cords, and thongs avenge the master's sleep, 690
And force the guiltless house to wake and weep.
There are, who hire a beadle by the year,
To lash their servants round; who, pleased to hear
The eternal thong, bid him lay on, while they,
At perfect ease, the silkman's stores survey, 695
Chat with their female gossips, or replace
The cracked enamel on their treacherous face.
No respite yet:--they leisurely hum o'er
The countless _items_ of the day before,
And bid him still lay on; till, faint with toil, 700
He drops the scourge; when, with a rancorous smile,
"Begone!" they thunder in a horrid tone,
"Now your accounts are settled, rogues, begone!"
But should she wish with nicer care to dress,
And now the hour of assignation press 705
(Whether the adulterer for her coming wait
In Isis' fane, to bawdry consecrate,
Or in Lucullus' walks), the house appears
A true Sicilian court, all gloom and tears.
The wretched Psecas, for the whip prepared, 710
With locks disheveled, and with shoulders bared,
Attempts her hair: fire flashes from her eyes,
And, "Strumpet! why this curl so high?" she cries.
Instant the lash, without remorse, is plied,
And the blood stains her bosom, back, and side. 715
But why this fury?--Is the girl to blame,
If your air shocks you, or your features shame?
Another, trembling, on the left prepares
To open and arrange the straggling hairs
In ringlets trim: meanwhile, the council meet: 720
And first the nurse, a personage discreet,
Late from the toilet to the wheel removed
(The effect of time), yet still of taste approved,
Gives her opinion: then the rest, in course,
As age, or practice, lends their judgment force. 725
So warm they grow, and so much pains they take,
You'd think her honor or her life at stake!
So high they build her head, such tiers on tiers,
With wary hands, they pile, that she appears,
Andromache, before:--and what behind? 730
A dwarf, a creature of a different kind.--
Meanwhile, engrossed by these important cares,
She thinks not on her lord's distress'd affairs,
Scarce on himself; but leads a separate life,
As if she were his neighbor, not his wife? 735
Or, but in this--that all control she braves;
Hates where he loves, and squanders where he saves.
Room for Bellona's frantic votaries! room
For Cybele's mad enthusiasts! lo, they come!
A lusty semivir, whose part obscene, 740
A broken shell has severed smooth and clean,
A raw-boned, mitred priest, whom the whole choir
Of curtailed priestlings reverence and admire,
Enters, with his wild rout; and bids the fair
Of autumn, and its sultry blasts, beware, 745
Unless she lustrate, with an hundred eggs,
Her household straight:--then, impudently begs
Her cast-off clothes, that every plague they fear
May enter them, and expiate all the year!
But lo! another tribe! at whose command, 750
See her, in winter, near the Tiber stand,
Break the thick ice, and, ere the sun appears,
Plunge in the crashing eddy to the ears;
Then, shivering from the keen and eager breeze,
Crawl round the banks, on bare and bleeding knees. 755
Should milkwhite Iö bid, from Meroë's isle
She'd fetch the sunburnt waters of the Nile,
To sprinkle in her fane; for she, it seems,
Has heavenly visitations in her dreams--
Mark the pure soul, with whom the gods delight 760
To hold high converse at the noon of night!
For this she cherishes, above the rest,
Her Iö's favorite priest, a knave profess'd,
A holy hypocrite, who strolls abroad,
With his Anubis, his dog-headed god! 765
Girt by a linen-clad, a bald-pate crew
Of howling vagrants, who their cries renew
In every street, as up and down they run,
To find OSIRE, fit father to fit son!
He sues for pardon, when the liquorish dame 770
Abstains not from the interdicted game
On high and solemn days; for great the crime,
To stain the nuptial couch at such a time,
And great the atonement due;--the silver snake,
Abhorrent of the deed, was seen to quake! 775
Yet he prevails:--Osiris hears his prayers,
And, softened by a goose, the culprit spares.
Without her badge, a Jewess now draws near,
And, trembling, begs a trifle in her ear.
No common personage! she knows full well 780
The laws of Solyma, and she can tell
The dark decrees of heaven; a priestess she,
An hierarch of the consecrated tree!
Moved by these claims thus modestly set forth,
She gives her a few coins of little worth; 785
For Jews are moderate, and, for farthing fees,
Will sell what fortune, or what dreams you please.
The prophetess dismissed, a Syrian sage
Now enters, and explores the future page,
In a dove's entrails: there he sees express'd 790
A youthful lover: there, a rich bequest,
From some kind dotard: then a chick he takes,
And in its breast, and in a puppy's, rakes,
And sometimes in--an infant's: he will teach
The art to others, and, when taught, impeach! 795
But chiefly in Chaldeans she believes:
Whate'er they say, with reverence she receives,
As if from Hammon's secret fount it came;
Since Delphi now, if we may credit fame,
Gives no responses, and a long dark night 800
Conceals the future hour from mortal sight.
Of these, the chief (such credit guilt obtains!)
Is he, who, banished oft, and oft in chains,
Stands forth the veriest knave; he who foretold
The death of Galba--to his rival sold! 805
No juggler must for fame or profit hope,
Who has not narrowly escaped the rope;
Begged hard for exile, and, by special grace,
Obtained confinement in some desert place.--
To him your Tanaquil applies, in doubt 810
How long her jaundiced mother may hold out;
But first, how long her husband: next, inquires,
When she shall follow, to their funeral pyres,
Her sisters, and her uncles; last, if fate
Will kindly lengthen out the adulterer's date 815
Beyond her own;--content, if he but live,
And sure that heaven has nothing more to give!
Yet she may still be suffered; for, what woes
The louring aspect of old Saturn shows;
Or in what sign bright Venus ought to rise, 820
To shed her mildest influence from the skies;
Or what fore-fated month to gain is given,
And what to loss (the mysteries of heaven),
She knows not, nor pretends to know: but flee
The dame, whose Manual of Astrology 825
Still dangles at her side, smooth as chafed gum,
And fretted by her everlasting thumb!--
Deep in the science now, she leaves her mate
To go, or stay; but will not share his fate,
Withheld by trines and sextiles; she will look, 830
Before her chair be ordered, in the book,
For the fit hour; an itching eye endure,
Nor, till her scheme be raised, attempt the cure;
Nay, languishing in bed, receive no meat,
Till Petosyris bid her rise and eat. 835
The curse is universal: high and low
Are mad alike the future hour to know.
The rich consult a Babylonian seer,
Skilled in the mysteries of either sphere;
Or a gray-headed priest, hired by the state, 840
To watch the lightning, and to expiate.
The middle sort, a quack, at whose command
They lift the forehead, and make bare the hand;
While the sly lecher in the table pries,
And claps it wantonly, with gloating eyes. 845
The poor apply to humbler cheats, still found
Beside the Circus wall, or city mound;
While she, whose neck no golden trinket bears,
To the dry ditch, or dolphin's tower, repairs,
And anxiously inquires which she shall choose, 850
The tapster, or old-clothes man? which refuse?
Yet these the pangs of childbirth undergo,
And all the yearnings of a mother know;
These, urged by want, assume the nurse's care,
And learn to breed the children which they bear. 855
Those shun both toil and danger; for, though sped,
The wealthy dame is seldom brought to bed:
Such the dire power of drugs, and such the skill
They boast, to cause miscarriages at will!
Weep'st thou? O fool! the blest invention hail, 860
And give the potion, if the gossips fail;
For, should thy wife her nine months' burden bear,
An Æthiop's offspring might thy fortunes heir;
A sooty thing, fit only to affray,
And, seen at morn, to poison all the day! 865
Supposititious breeds, the hope and joy
Of fond, believing husbands, I pass by;
The beggars' bantlings, spawned in open air,
And left by some pond side, to perish there.--
From hence your Flamens, hence your Salians come; 870
Your Scauri, chiefs and magistrates of Rome!
Fortune stands tittering by, in playful mood,
And smiles, complacent, on the sprawling brood;
Takes them all naked to her fostering arms,
Feeds from her mouth, and in her bosom warms: 875
Then, to the mansions of the great she bears
The precious brats, and, for herself, prepares
A secret farce; adopts them for her own:
And, when her nurslings are to manhood grown,
She brings them forth, rejoiced to see them sped, 880
And wealth and honors dropping on their head!
Some purchase charms, some, more pernicious still,
Thessalian philters, to subdue the will
Of an uxorious spouse, and make him bear
Blows, insults, all a saucy wife can dare. 885
Hence that swift lapse to second childhood; hence
Those vapors which envelop every sense;
This strange forgetfulness from hour to hour;
And well, if this be all:--more fatal power,
More terrible effects, the dose may have, 890
And force you, like Caligula, to rave,
When his Cæsonia squeezed into the bowl
The dire excrescence of a new-dropp'd foal.--
Then Uproar rose; the universal chain
Of Order snapped, and Anarchy's wild reign 895
Came on apace, as if the queen of heaven
Had fired the Thunderer, and to madness driven.
Thy mushroom, Agrippine! was innocent,
To this accursed draught; that only sent
One palsied, bedrid sot, with gummy eyes, 900
And slavering lips, heels foremost to the skies:
This, to wild fury roused a bloody mind,
And called for fire and sword; this potion joined
In one promiscuous slaughter high and low,
And leveled half the nation at a blow. 905
Such is the power of philters! such the ill,
One sorceress can effect by wicked skill!
They hate their husband's spurious issue:--this,
If this were all, were not, perhaps, amiss:
But they go farther; and 'tis now some time 910
Since poisoning sons-in-law scarce seemed a crime.
Mark then, ye fatherless! what I advise,
And trust, O, trust no dainties, if you're wise:
Ye heirs to large estates! touch not that fare,
Your mother's fingers have been busy there; 915
See! it looks livid, swollen:--O check your haste,
And let your wary fosterfather taste,
Whate'er she sets before you: fear her meat,
And be the first to look, the last to eat.
But this is fiction all! I pass the bound 920
Of Satire, and encroach on Tragic ground!
Deserting truth, I choose a fabled theme,
And, like the buskined bards of Greece, declaim,
In deep-mouthed tones, in swelling strains, on crimes
As yet unknown to our Rutulian climes! 925
Would it were so! but Pontia cries aloud,
"No, I performed it." See! the fact's avowed--
"I mingled poison for my children, I;
'Twas found upon me, wherefore then deny?"
What, two at once, most barbarous viper! two! 930
"Nay, seven, had seven been mine: believe it true!"
Now let us credit what the tragic stage
Displays of Progne and Medea's rage;
Crimes of dire name, which, disbelieved of yore,
Become familiar, and revolt no more; 935
Those ancient dames in scenes of blood were bold,
And wrought fell deeds, but not, as ours, for gold:--
In every age, we view, with less surprise,
Such horrors as from bursts of fury rise,
When stormy passions, scorning all control, 940
Rend the mad bosom, and unseat the soul.
As when impetuous winds, and driving rain,
Mine some huge rock that overhangs the plain,
The cumbrous mass descends with thundering force,
And spreads resistless ruin in its course. 945
Curse on the woman, who reflects by fits,
And in cold blood her cruelties commits!--
They see, upon the stage, the Grecian wife
Redeeming with her own her husband's life;
Yet, in her place, would willingly deprive 950
Their lords of breath to keep their dogs alive!
Abroad, at home, the Belides you meet,
And Clytemnestras swarm in every street;
But here the difference lies:--those bungling wives,
With a blunt axe hacked out their husbands' lives; 955
While now, the deed is done with dexterous art,
And a drugged bowl performs the axe's part.
Yet, if the husband, prescient of his fate,
Have fortified his breast with mithridate,
She baffles him e'en there, and has recourse 960
To the old weapon for a last resource.

SATIRE VII.

TO TELESINUS.

Yes, all the hopes of learning, 'tis confess'd,
And all the patronage, on CÆSAR rest:
For he alone the drooping Nine regards--
When, now, our best, and most illustrious bards,
Quit their ungrateful studies, and retire, 5
Bagnios and bakehouses, for bread, to hire;
With humbled views, a life of toil embrace,
And deem a crier's business no disgrace;
Since Clio, driven by hunger from the shade,
Mixes in crowds, and bustles for a trade. 10
And truly, if (the bard's too frequent curse)
No coin be found in your Pierian purse,
'Twere not ill done to copy, for the nonce,
Machæra, and turn auctioneer at once.
Hie, my poetic friend; in accents loud, 15
Commend your precious lumber to the crowd,
Old tubs, stools, presses, wrecks of many a chest,
Paccius' damned plays, Thebes, Tereus, and the rest.--
And better so--than haunt the courts of law,
And swear, for hire, to what you never saw: 20
Leave this resource to Cappadocian knights,
To Gallogreeks, and such new-fangled wights,
As want, or infamy, has chased from home,
And driven, in barefoot multitudes, to Rome.
Come, my brave youths!--the genuine sons of rhyme, 25
Who, in sweet numbers, couch the true sublime,
Shall, from this hour, no more their fate accuse,
Or stoop to pains unworthy of the Muse.
Come, my brave youths! your tuneful labors ply,
Secure of favor; lo! the imperial eye 30
Looks round, attentive, on each rising bard,
For worth to praise, for genius to reward!
But if for other patronage you look,
And therefore write, and therefore swell your book,
Quick, call for wood, and let the flames devour 35
The hapless produce of the studious hour;
Or lock it up, to moths and worms a prey,
And break your pens, and fling your ink away:--
Or pour it rather o'er your epic flights,
Your battles, sieges (fruit of sleepless nights), 40
Pour it, mistaken men, who rack your brains
In dungeons, cocklofts, for heroic strains;
Who toil and sweat to purchase mere renown,
A meagre statue, and an ivy crown!
Here bound your expectations: for the great, 45
Grown, wisely, covetous, have learned, of late,
To praise, and ONLY praise, the high-wrought strain,
As boys, the bird of Juno's glittering train.
Meanwhile those vigorous years, so fit to bear
The toils of agriculture, commerce, war, 50
Spent in this idle trade, decline apace,
And age, unthought of, stares you in the face:--
O then, appalled to find your better days
Have earned you naught but poverty and praise,
At all your barren glories you repine, 55
And curse, too late, the unavailing Nine!
Hear, now, what sneaking ways your patrons find,
To save their darling gold:--they pay in kind!
Verses, composed in every Muse's spite,
To the starved bard, they, in their turn, recite; 60
And, if they yield to Homer, let him know,
'Tis--that he lived a thousand years ago!
But if, inspired with genuine love of fame,
A dry rehearsal only be your aim,
The miser's breast with sudden warmth dilates, 65
And lo! he opes his triple-bolted gates;
Nay, sends his clients to support your cause,
And rouse the tardy audience to applause:
But will not spare one farthing to defray
The numerous charges of this glorious day, 70
The desk where, throned in conscious pride, you sit,
The joists and beams, the orchestra and the pit.
Still we persist; plow the light sand, and sow
Seed after seed, where none can ever grow:
Nay, should we, conscious of our fruitless pain, 75
Strive to escape, we strive, alas! in vain;
Long habit and the thirst of praise beset,
And close us in the inextricable net.
The insatiate itch of scribbling, hateful pest,
Creeps like a tetter, through the human breast, 80
Nor knows, nor hopes a cure; since years, which chill
All other passions, but inflame the ill!
But HE, the bard of every age and clime,
Of genius fruitful, ardent and sublime,
Who, from the glowing mint of fancy, pours 85
No spurious metal, fused from common ores,
But gold, to matchless purity refined,
And stamped with all the godhead in his mind;
He whom I feel, but want the power to paint,
Springs from a soul impatient of restraint, 90
And free from every care; a soul that loves
The Muse's haunts, clear founts and shady groves.
Never, no never, did He wildly rave,
And shake his thyrsus in the Aonian cave,
Whom poverty kept sober, and the cries 95
Of a lean stomach, clamorous for supplies:
No; the wine circled briskly through the veins,
When Horace poured his dithyrambic strains!--
What room for fancy, say, unless the mind,
And all its thoughts, to poesy resigned, 100
Be hurried with resistless force along,
By the two kindred Powers of Wine and Song!
O! 'tis the exclusive business of a breast
Impetuous, uncontrolled--not one distress'd
With household cares, to view the bright abodes, 105
The steeds, the chariots, and the forms of gods:
And the fierce Fury, as her snakes she shook,
And withered the Rutulian with a look!
Those snakes, had Virgil no Mæcenas found, }
Had dropp'd, in listless length, upon the ground; } 110
And the still slumbering trump, groaned with no mortal sound. }
Yet we expect, from Lappa's tragic rage,
Such scenes as graced, of old, the Athenian stage;
Though he, poor man, from hand to mouth be fed,
And driven to pawn his furniture for bread! 115
When Numitor is asked to serve a friend,
"He can not; he is poor." Yet he can send
Rich presents to his mistress! he can buy
Tame lions, and find means to keep them high!
What then? the beasts are still the lightest charge; 120
For your starved bards have maws so devilish large!
Stretched in his marble palace, at his ease,
Lucan may write, and only ask to please;
But what is this, if this be all you give,
To Bassus and Serranus? They must live! 125
When Statius fixed a morning, to recite
His Thebaid to the town, with what delight
They flocked to hear! with what fond rapture hung
On the sweet strains, made sweeter by his tongue!
Yet, while the seats rung with a general peal 130
Of boisterous praise, the bard had lacked a meal,
Unless with Paris he had better sped,
And trucked a virgin tragedy for bread.
Mirror of men! he showers, with liberal hands,
On needy poets, honors and commands:-- 135
An actor's patronage a peer's outgoes,
And what the last withholds, the first bestows!
--And will you still on Camerinus wait,
And Bareas? will you still frequent the great?
Ah, rather to the player your labors take, 140
And at one lucky stroke your fortune make!
Yet envy not the man who earns hard bread
By tragedy: the Muses' friends are fled!--
Mæcenas, Proculeius, Fabius, gone,
And Lentulus, and Cotta--every one! 145
THEN worth was cherished, then the bard might toil,
Secure of favor, o'er the midnight oil;
Then all December's revelries refuse,
And give the festive moments to the Muse.
So fare the tuneful race: but ampler gains 150
Await, no doubt, the grave HISTORIANS' pains!
More time, more study they require, and pile
Page upon page, heedless of bulk the while,
Till, fact conjoined to fact with thought intense,
The work is closed, at many a ream's expense! 155
Say now, what harvest was there ever found,
What golden crop, from this long-labored ground?
'Tis barren all; and one poor plodding scribe
Gets more by framing pleas than all the tribe.
True:--'tis a slothful breed, that, nursed in ease, 160
Soft beds, and whispering shades, alone can please.
Say then, what gain the LAWYER'S toil affords,
His sacks of papers, and his war of words?
Heavens! how he bellows in our tortured ears;
But then, then chiefly, when the client hears, 165
Or one prepared, with vouchers, to attest
Some desperate debt, more anxious than the rest,
Twitches his elbow: then, his passions rise!
Then, forth he puffs the immeasurable lies
From his swollen lungs! then, the white foam appears, 170
And, driveling down his beard, his vest besmears!
Ask you the profit of this painful race?
'Tis quickly summed: Here, the joint fortunes place
Of five-score lawyers; there, Lacerta's sole--
And that one charioteer's, shall poise the whole! 175
The Generals take their seats in regal wise.
You, my pale Ajax, watch the hour, and rise,
In act to plead a trembling client's cause,
Before Judge Jolthead--learned in the laws.
Now stretch your throat, unhappy man! now raise 180
Your clamors, that, when hoarse, a bunch of bays,
Stuck in your garret window, may declare,
That some victorious pleader nestles there!
O glorious hour! but what your fee, the while?
A rope of shriveled onions from the Nile, 185
A rusty ham, a jar of broken sprats,
And wine, the refuse of our country vats;
Five flagons for four causes! if you hold,
Though this indeed be rare, a piece of gold;
The brethren, _as per contract_, on you fall, 190
And share the prize, solicitors and all!
Whate'er he asks, Æmilius may command,
Though more of law be ours: but lo! there stand
Before his gate, conspicuous from afar,
Four stately steeds, yoked to a brazen car: 195
And the great pleader, looking wary round,
On a fierce charger that disdains the ground,
Levels his threatening spear, in act to throw,
And seems to meditate no common blow.
Such arts as these, to beggary Matho brought, 200
And such the ruin of Tongillus wrought,
Who, with his troop of slaves, a draggled train,
Annoyed the baths, of his huge oil-horn vain;
Swept through the Forum, in a chair of state,
To every auction--villas, slaves, or plate; 205
And, trading on the credit of his dress,
Cheapened whate'er he saw, though penniless!
And some, indeed, have thriven by tricks like these:
Purple and violet swell a lawyer's fees;
Bustle and show above his means conduce 210
To business, and profusion proves of use.
The vice is universal: Rome confounds
The wealthiest;--prodigal beyond all bounds!
Could our old pleaders visit earth again,
Tully himself would scarce a brief obtain, 215
Unless his robe were purple, and a stone,
Diamond or ruby, on his finger shone.
The wary plaintiff, ere a fee he gives,
Inquires at what expense his counsel lives;
Has he eight slaves, ten followers? chairs to wait, 220
And clients to precede his march in state?
This Paulus knows full well, and, therefore, hires
A ring to plead in; therefore, too, acquires
More briefs than Cossus:--preference not unsound,
For how should eloquence in rags be found? 225
Who gives poor Basilus a cause of state?
When, to avert a trembling culprit's fate,
Shows he a weeping mother? or who heeds
How close he argues, and how well he pleads?
Unhappy Basilus!--but he is wrong: 230
Would he procure subsistence by his tongue,
Let him renounce the forum, and withdraw
To Gaul, or Afric, the dry-nurse of law.
But Vectius, yet more desperate than the rest,
Has opened (O that adamantine breast!) 235
A RHETORIC school; where striplings rave and storm
At tyranny, through many a crowded form.--
The exercises lately, sitting, read,
Standing, distract his miserable head,
And every day and every hour affords 240
The selfsame subjects, in the selfsame words;
Till, like hashed cabbage served for each repast,
The repetition--kills the wretch at last!
Where the main jet of every question lies,
And whence the chief objections may arise, 245
All wish to know; but none the price will pay.
"The price," retorts the scholar, "do you say!
What have I learned?" There go the master's pains,
Because, forsooth, the Arcadian brute lacks brains!
And yet this oaf, every sixth morn, prepares 250
To split my head with Hannibal's affairs,
While he debates at large, "Whether 'twere right
To take advantage of the general fright,
And march to Rome; or, by the storm alarmed,
And all the elements against him armed, 255
The dangerous expedition to delay,
And lead his harassed troops some other way."
--Sick of the theme, which still returns, and still
The exhausted wretch exclaims, Ask what you will,
I'll give it, so you on his sire prevail, 260
To hear, thus oft, the booby's endless tale!
So Vectius speeds: his brethren, wiser far,
Have shut up school, and hurried to the bar.
Adieu the idle fooleries of Greece,
The soporific drug, the golden fleece, 265
The faithless husband, and the abandoned wife,
And Æson, coddled to new light and life,
A long adieu! on more productive themes,
On actual crimes, the sophist now declaims:
Thou too, my friend, would'st thou my counsel hear, 270
Should'st free thyself from this ungrateful care;
Lest all be lost, and thou reduced, poor sage,
To want a tally in thy helpless age!
Bread still the lawyer earns; but tell me yet,
What your Chrysogonus and Pollio get 275
(The chief of rhetoricians), though they teach
Our youth of quality, THE ART OF SPEECH?
Oh, no! the great pursue a nobler end:--
Five thousand on a bath they freely spend;
More on a portico, where, while it lours, 280
They ride, and bid defiance to the showers.
Shall they, for brighter skies, at home remain,
Or dash their pampered mules through mud and rain?
No: let them pace beneath the stately roof,
For there no mire can soil the shining hoof. 285
See next, on proud Numidian columns rise
An eating-room, that fronts the eastern skies,
And drinks the cooler sun. Expensive these!
But (cost whate'er they may), the times to please,
Sewers for arrangement of the board admired, 290
And cooks of taste and skill must yet be hired.
Mid this extravagance, which knows no bounds,
Quintilian gets, and hardly gets, ten pounds:--
On education all is grudged as lost,
And sons are still a father's lightest cost. 295
Whence has Quintilian, then, his vast estate?
Urge not an instance of peculiar fate:
Perhaps, by luck. The lucky, I admit,
Have all advantages; have beauty, wit,
And wisdom, and high blood: the lucky, too, 300
May take, at will, the senatorial shoe;
Be first-rate speakers, pleaders, every thing;
And, though they croak like frogs, be thought to sing.
O, there's a difference, friend, beneath what sign
We spring to light, or kindly or malign! 305
FORTUNE IS ALL: She, as the fancy springs,
Makes kings of pedants, and of pedants kings.
For, what were Tullius, and Ventidius, say,
But great examples of the wondrous sway
Of stars, whose mystic influence alone, 310
Bestows, on captives triumphs, slaves a throne?
He, then, is lucky; and, amid the clan,
Ranks with the milk-white crow, or sable swan:
While all his hapless brethren count their gains,
And execrate, too late, their fruitless pains. 315
Witness thy end, Thrasymachus! and thine,
Unblest Charinas!--Thou beheld'st him pine,
Thou, Athens! and would'st naught but bane bestow;
The only charity--thou seem'st to know!
Shades of our sires! O, sacred be your rest, 320
And lightly lie the turf upon your breast!
Flowers round your urns breathe sweets beyond compare,
And spring eternal shed its influence there!
You honored tutors, now a slighted race,
And gave them all a parent's power and place. 325
Achilles, grown a man, the lyre assayed
On his paternal hills, and, while he played,
With trembling eyed the rod;--and yet, the tail
Of the good Centaur, scarcely, then, could fail
To force a smile: such reverence now is rare, 330
And boys with bibs strike Rufus on his chair,
Fastidious Rufus, who, with critic rage,
Arraigned the purity of Tully's page!
Enough of these. Let the last wretched band,
The poor GRAMMARIANS, say, what liberal hand 335
Rewards their toil: let learned Palæmon tell,
Who proffers what his skill deserves so well.
Yet from this pittance, whatsoe'er it be
(Less, surely, than the rhetorician's fee),
The usher snips off something for his pains, 340
And the purveyor nibbles what remains.
Courage, Palæmon! be not over-nice,
But suffer some abatement in your price;
As those who deal in rugs, will ask you high,
And sink by pence and half-pence, till you buy. 345
Yes, suffer this; while something's left to pay
Your rising hours before the dawn of day,
When e'en the laboring poor their slumbers take,
And not a weaver, not a smith's awake:
While something's left to pay you for the stench 350
Of smouldering lamps, thick spread o'er every bench,
Where ropy vapors Virgil's pages soil,
And Horace looks one blot, all soot and oil!
Even then, the stipend thus reduced, thus small,
Without a lawsuit, rarely comes at all. 355
Add yet, ye parents, add to the disgrace,
And heap new hardships on this wretched race.
Make it a point that all, and every part,
Of their own science, be possessed by heart;
That general history with our own they blend, 360
And have all authors at their fingers' end:
Still ready to inform you, should you meet,
And ask them at the bath, or in the street,
Who nursed Anchises; from what country came
The step-dame of Archemorus, what her name; 365
How long Acestes flourished, and what store
Of generous wine the Phrygians from him bore--
Make it a point too, that, like ductile clay,
They mould the tender mind, and day by day
Bring out the form of Virtue; that they prove 370
A father to the youths, in care and love;
And watch that no obscenities prevail--
And trust me, friend, even Argus' self might fail,
The busy hands of schoolboys to espy,
And the lewd fires which twinkle in their eye. 375
All this, and more, exact; and, having found
The man you seek, say--When the year comes round,
We'll give thee for thy twelve months' anxious pains,
As much--as, IN AN HOUR, A FENCER GAINS!

SATIRE VIII.

TO PONTICUS.

"Your ancient house!" no more.--I can not see
The wondrous merits of a pedigree:
No, Ponticus;--nor of a proud display
Of smoky ancestors, in wax or clay;
Æmilius, mounted on his car sublime, 5
Curius, half wasted by the teeth of time,
Corvinus, dwindled to a shapeless bust,
And high-born Galba, crumbling into dust.
What boots it, on the LINEAL TREE to trace,
Through many a branch, the founders of our race, 10
Time-honored chiefs; if, in their sight, we give
A loose to vice, and like low villains live?
Say, what avails it, that, on either hand,
The stern Numantii, an illustrious band,
Frown from the walls, if their degenerate race 15
Waste the long night at dice, before their face?
If, staggering, to a drowsy bed they creep,
At that prime hour when, starting from their sleep,
Their sires the signal of the fight unfurled,
And drew their legions forth, and won the world? 20
Say, why should Fabius, of the Herculean name,
To the GREAT ALTAR vaunt his lineal claim,
If, softer than Euganean lambs, the youth,
His wanton limbs, with Ætna's pumice, smooth,
And shame his rough-hewn sires? if greedy, vain, 25
If, a vile trafficker in secret bane,
He blast his wretched kindred with a bust,
For public vengeance to--reduce to dust!
Fond man! though all the heroes of your line
Bedeck your halls, and round your galleries shine 30
In proud display; yet, take this truth from me,
VIRTUE ALONE IS TRUE NOBILITY.
Set Cossus, Drusus, Paulus, then, in view,
The bright example of their lives pursue;
Let these precede the statues of your race, 35
And these, when Consul, of your rods take place.
O give me inborn worth! dare to be just,
Firm to your word, and faithful to your trust:
These praises hear, at least deserve to hear,
I grant your claim, and recognize the peer. 40
Hail! from whatever stock you draw your birth,
The son of Cossus, or the son of Earth,
All hail! in you, exulting Rome espies
Her guardian Power, her great Palladium rise;
And shouts like Egypt, when her priests have found, 45
A new Osiris, for the old one drowned!
But shall we call those noble, who disgrace
Their lineage, proud of an illustrious race?
Vain thought!--but thus, with many a taunting smile,
The dwarf an Atlas, Moor a swan, we style; 50
The crookbacked wench, Europa; and the hound,
With age enfeebled, toothless, and unsound,
That listless lies, and licks the lamps for food,
Lord of the chase, and tyrant of the wood!
You, too, beware, lest Satire's piercing eye 55
The slave of guilt through grandeur's blaze espy,
And, drawing from your crime some sounding name,
Declare at once your greatness and your shame.
Ask you for whom this picture I design?
Plautus, thy birth and folly make it thine. 60
Thou vaunt'st thy pedigree, on every side
To noble and imperial blood allied;
As if thy honors by thyself were won,
And thou hadst some illustrious action done,
To make the world believe thee Julia's heir, 65
And not the offspring of some easy fair,
Who, shivering in the wind, near yon dead wall,
Plies her vile labor, and is all to all.
"Away, away! ye slaves of humblest birth,
Ye dregs of Rome, ye nothings of the earth, 70
Whose fathers who shall tell! my ancient line
Descends from Cecrops." Man of blood divine!
Live, and enjoy the secret sweets which spring
In breasts, affined to so remote a king!--
Yet know, amid these "dregs," low grandeur's scorn, 75
Will those be found whom arts and arms adorn:
Some, skilled to plead a noble blockhead's cause,
And solve the dark enigmas of the laws;
Some, who the Tigris' hostile banks explore,
And plant our eagles on Batavia's shore: 80
While thou, in mean, inglorious pleasure lost,
With "Cecrops! Cecrops!" all thou hast to boast,
Art a full brother to the crossway stone,
Which clowns have chipped the head of Hermes on:
For 'tis no bar to kindred, that thy block 85
Is formed of flesh and blood, and theirs of rock.
Of beasts, great son of Troy, who vaunts the breed,
Unless renowned for courage, strength, or speed?
'Tis thus we praise the horse, who mocks our eyes,
While, to the goal, with lightning's speed, he flies! 90
Whom many a well-earned palm and trophy grace,
And the Cirque hails, unrivaled in the race!
--Yes, he is noble, spring from whom he will,
Whose footsteps, in the dust, are foremost still;
While Hirpine's stock are to the market led, 95
If Victory perch but rarely on their head:
For no respect to pedigree is paid,
No honor to a sire's illustrious shade.
Flung cheaply off, they drag the cumbrous wain,
With shoulders bare and bleeding from the chain; 100
Or take, with some blind ass in concert found,
At Nepo's mill, their everlasting round.
That Rome may, therefore, YOU, not YOURS, admire,
By virtuous actions, first, to praise aspire;
Seek not to shine by borrowed light alone, 105
But with your father's glories blend your own.
THIS to the youth, whom Rumor brands as vain,
And swelling--full of his Neronian strain;
Perhaps, with truth:--for rarely shall we find
A sense of modesty in that proud kind. 110
But were my Ponticus content to raise
His honors thus, on a forefather's praise,
Worthless the while--'twould tinge my cheeks with shame--
'Tis dangerous building on another's fame,
Lest the substructure fail, and on the ground 115
Your baseless pile be hurled, in fragments, round.--
Stretched on the plain, the vine's weak tendrils try
To clasp the elm they drop from; fail--and die!
Be brave, be just; and when your country's laws
Call you to witness in a dubious cause, 120
Though Phalaris plant his bull before your eye,
And, frowning, dictate to your lips the lie,
Think it a crime no tears can e'er efface,
To purchase safety with compliance base,
At honor's cost a feverish span extend, 125
AND SACRIFICE FOR LIFE, LIFE'S ONLY END!
LIFE! 'tis not life--who merits death is dead;
Though Gauran oysters for his feasts be spread,
Though his limbs drip with exquisite perfume,
And the late rose around his temples bloom! 130
O, when the province, long desired, you gain,
Your boiling rage, your lust of wealth, restrain,
And pity our allies: all Asia grieves--
Her blood, her marrow, drained by legal thieves.
Revere the laws, obey the parent state; 135
Observe what rich rewards the good await.
What punishments the bad: how Tutor sped,
While Rome's whole thunder rattled round his head!
And yet what boots it, that one spoiler bleed,
If still a worse, and still a worse succeed; 140
If neither fear nor shame control their theft,
And Pansa seize the little Natta left?
Haste then, Chærippus, ere thy rags be known,
And sell the few thou yet canst call thine own,
And O, conceal the price! 'tis honest craft; 145
Thou could'st not keep the hatchet--save the haft.
Not such the cries of old, nor such the stroke,
When first the nations bowed beneath our yoke.
Wealth, then, was theirs, wealth without fear possess'd,
Full every house, and bursting every chest-- 150
Crimson, in looms of Sparta taught to glow,
And purple, deeply dyed in grain of Co;
Busts, to which Myro's touch did motion give,
And ivory, taught by Phidias' skill to live;
On every side a Polyclete you viewed, 155
And scarce a board without a Mentor stood.
These, these, the lust of rapine first inspired,
These, Antony and Dolabella fired.
And sacrilegious Verres:--so, for Rome
They shipped their secret plunder; and brought home 160
More treasures from our friends, in peace obtained,
Than from our foes, in war, were ever gained!
Now all is gone! the stallion made a prey,
The few brood mares and oxen swept away,
The Lares--if the sacred hearth possess'd } 165
One little god, that pleased above the rest-- }
Mean spoils, indeed! but such were now their best }
Perhaps you scorn (and may securely scorn)
The essenced Greek, whom arts, not arms, adorn:
Soft limbs, and spirits by refinement broke, 170
Would feebly struggle with the oppressive yoke.
But spare the Gaul, the fierce Illyrian spare,
And the rough Spaniard, terrible in war;
Spare too the Afric hind, whose ceaseless pain
Fills our wide granaries with autumnal grain, 175
And pampers Rome, while weightier cares engage
Her precious hours--the Circus and the Stage!
For, should you rifle them, O think in time,
What spoil would pay the execrable crime,
When greedy Marius fleeced them all so late, 180
And bare and bleeding left the hapless state!
But chief the brave, and wretched--tremble there;
Nor tempt too far the madness of despair:
For, should you all their little treasures drain,
Helmets, and spears, and swords, would still remain; 185
THE PLUNDERED NE'ER WANT ARMS. What I foretell }
Is no trite apophthegm, but--mark me well-- }
True as a Sibyl's leaf! fixed as an oracle! }
If men of worth the posts beneath you hold,
And no spruce favorite barter law for gold; 190
If no inherent stain your wife disgrace,
Nor, harpy-like, she flit from place to place,
A fell Celæno, ever on the watch,
And ever furious, all she sees to snatch;
Then choose what race you will: derive your birth 195
From Picus, or those elder sons of earth,
Who shook the throne of heaven; call him your sire,
Who first informed our clay with living fire;
Or single from the songs of ancient days,
What tale may suit you, and what parent raise. 200
But--if rash pride, and lust, your bosom sway,
If, with stern joy, you ply, from day to day
The ensanguined rods, and head on head demand,
Till the tired axe drop from the lictor's hand;
Then, every honor, by your father won, 205
Indignant to be borne by such a son,
Will, to his blood, oppose your daring claim,
And fire a torch to blaze upon your shame!--
Vice glares more strongly in the public eye,
As he who sins, in power or place is high. 210
SEE! by his great progenitors' remains
Fat Damasippus sweeps, with loosened reins.
Good Consul! he no pride of office feels,
But stoops, himself, to clog his headlong wheels.
"But this is all by night," the hero cries. 215
Yet the MOON sees! yet the STARS stretch their eyes,
Full on your shame!--A few short moments wait,
And Damasippus quits the pomp of state:
Then, proud the experienced driver to display,
He mounts his chariot in the face of day, 220
Whirls, with bold front, his grave associate by,
And jerks his whip, to catch the senior's eye:
Unyokes his weary steeds, and, to requite
Their service, feeds and litters them, at night.
Meanwhile, 'tis all he can, what time he stands 225
At Jove's high altar, as the law commands,
And offers sheep and oxen, he forswears
The Eternal King, and gives his silent prayers
To thee, Hippona, goddess of the stalls,
And gods more vile, daubed on the reeking walls! 230
At night, to his old haunts he scours, elate
(The tavern by the Idumean gate),
Where, while the host, bedrenched with liquid sweets,
With many a courteous phrase his entrance greets,
And many a smile; the hostess nimbly moves, 235
And gets the flagon ready, which he loves.
Here some, perhaps, my growing warmth may blame:
"In youth's wild hours," they urge, "we did the same."
'Tis granted, friends; but then we stopped in time,
Nor hugged our darling faults beyond our prime. 240
Brief let our follies be! and youthful sin
Fall, with the firstlings of the manly chin!--
Boys we may pity, nay, perhaps, excuse:
But Damasippus STILL frequents the stews,
Though now mature in vigor, ripe in age, 245
Of Cæsar's foes to check the headlong rage,
On Tigris' banks, in burnished arms, to shine,
And sternly guard the Danube, or the Rhine.
"The East revolts." Ho! let the troops repair
To Ostium, quick! "But where's the General?" Where! 250
Go, search the taverns; there the chief you'll find,
With cut-throats, plunderers, rogues of every kind,
Bier-jobbers, bargemen, drenched in fumes of wine,
And Cybele's priests, mid their loose drums, supine!
There none are less, none greater than the rest, 255
There my lord gives, and takes the scurvy jest;
There all who can, round the same table sprawl.
And there one greasy tankard serves for all.
Blessings of birth!--but, Ponticus, a word:
Owned you a slave like this degenerate lord, 260
What were his fate? your Lucan farm to till,
Or aid the mules to turn your Tuscan mill.
But Troy's great sons dispense with being good,
And boldly sin by courtesy of blood;
Wink at each other's crimes, and look for fame 265
In what would tinge a cobbler's cheek with shame.
And have I wreaked on such foul deeds my rage,
That worse should yet remain to blot my page!--
See Damasippus, all his fortune lost,
Compelled, for hire, to play a squealing ghost! 270
While Lentulus, his brother in renown,
Performs, with so much art, the perjured clown,
And suffers with such grace, that, for his pains,
I hold him worthy of--the CROSS he feigns.
Nor deem the heedless rabble void of blame:-- 275
Strangers alike to decency and shame,
They sit with brazen front, and calmly see
The hired patrician's low buffoonery;
Laugh at the Fabii's tricks, and grin to hear
The cuffs resound from the Mamerci's ear! 280
Who cares how low their blood is sold, how high?--
No Nero drives them, now, their fate to try:
Freely they come, and freely they expose
Their lives for hire, to grace the public shows!
But grant the worst: suppose the arena here, 285
And there the stage; on which would you appear?
The first: for who of death so much in dread,
As not to tremble more, the stage to tread,
Squat on his hams, in some blind nook to sit,
And watch his mistress, in a jealous fit!-- 290
But 'tis not strange, that, when the Emperor tunes
A scurvy harp, the lords should turn buffoons;
The wonder is, they turn not fencers too,
Secutors, Retiarians--AND THEY DO!
Gracchus steps forth: No sword his thigh invests-- 295
No helmet, shield--such armor he detests,
Detests and spurns; and impudently stands,
With the poised net and trident in his hands.
The foe advances--lo! a cast he tries,
But misses, and in frantic terror flies 300
Round the thronged Cirque; and, anxious to be known,
Lifts his bare face, with many a piteous moan.
"'Tis he! 'tis he!--I know the Salian vest,
With golden fringes, pendent from the breast;
The Salian bonnet, from whose pointed crown 305
The glittering ribbons float redundant down.
O spare him, spare!"--The brave Secutor heard,
And, blushing, stopped the chase; for he preferred
Wounds, death itself, to the contemptuous smile,
Of conquering one so noble, and--so vile! 310
Who, Nero, so depraved, if choice were free,
To hesitate 'twixt Seneca and thee?
Whose crimes, so much have they all crimes outgone,
Deserve more serpents, apes, and sacks, than one.
Not so, thou say'st; there are, whom I could name, 315
As deep in guilt, and as accursed in fame;
Orestes slew HIS mother. True; but know,
The same effects from different causes flow:
A father murdered at the social board,
And heaven's command, unsheathed his righteous sword. 320
Besides, Orestes, in his wildest mood,
Poisoned no cousin, shed no consort's blood,
Buried no poniard in a sister's throat,
Sung on no public stage, NO TROICS WROTE.--
THIS topped his frantic crimes! THIS roused mankind! 325
For what could Galba, what Virginius find,
In the dire annals of that bloody reign,
Which called for vengeance in a louder strain?
Lo here, the arts, the studies that engage
The world's great master! on a foreign stage, 330
To prostitute his voice for base renown,
And ravish, from the Greeks, a parsley crown!
Come then, great prince, great poet! while we throng
To greet thee, recent from triumphant song,
Come, place the unfading wreath, with reverence meet, 335
On the Domitii's brows! before their feet
The mask and pall of old Thyestes lay,
And Menalippé; while, in proud display,
From the colossal marble of thy sire,
Depends, the boast of Rome, thy conquering lyre! 340
Cethegus! Catiline! whose ancestors
Were nobler born, were higher ranked, than yours?
Yet ye conspired, with more than Gallic hate,
To wrap in midnight flames this hapless state;
On men and gods your barbarous rage to pour, 345
And deluge Rome with her own children's gore:
Horrors, which called, indeed, for vengeance dire,
For the pitched coat and stake, and smouldering fire!
But Tully watched--your league in silence broke,
And crushed your impious arms, without a stroke. 350
Yes he, poor Arpine, of no name at home,
And scarcely ranked among the knights at Rome,
Secured the trembling town, placed a firm guard
In every street, and toiled in every ward:--
And thus, within the walls, the GOWN obtained, 355
More fame, for Tully, than Octavius gained
At Actium and Philippi, from a SWORD,
Drenched in the eternal stream by patriots poured!
For Rome, free Rome, hailed him, with loud acclaim,
THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY--glorious name! 360
Another Arpine, trained the ground to till,
Tired of the plow, forsook his native hill,
And joined the camp; where, if his adze was slow,
The vine-twig whelked his back with many a blow:
And yet, when the fierce Cimbri threatened Rome 365
With swift, and scarcely evitable doom,
This man, in the dread hour, to save her rose,
And turned the impending ruin on her foes!
For which, while ravening birds devoured the slain,
And their huge bones lay whitening on the plain, 370
His high-born colleague to his worth gave way,
And took, well pleased, the secondary bay.
The Decii were plebeians! mean their name,
And mean the parent stock from which they came:
Yet they devoted, in the trying hour, 375
Their heads to Earth, and each infernal Power;
And by that solemn act, redeemed from fate, }
Auxiliars, legions, all the Latian state; }
More prized than those they saved, in heaven's just estimate! }
And him, who graced the purple which he wore 380
(The last good king of Rome), a bondmaid bore.
The Consul's sons (while storms yet shook the state,
And Tarquin thundered vengeance at the gate),
Who should, to crown the labors of their sire,
Have dared what Cocles, Mutius, might admire, 385
And she, who mocked the javelins whistling round,
And swam the Tiber, then the empire's bound;
Had to the tyrant's rage the town exposed,
But that a slave their dark designs disclosed.--
For Him, when stretched upon his honored bier, 390
The grateful matrons shed the pious tear,
While, with stern eye, the patriot and the sire
Saw, by the axe, the high-born pair expire:
They fell--just victims to the offended laws,
And the first sacrifice to FREEDOM'S cause! 395
For me, who naught but innate worth admire,
I'd rather vile Thersites were thy sire,
So thou wert like Achilles, and could'st wield
Vulcanian arms, the terror of the field,
Than that Achilles should thy father be, 400
And, in his offspring, vile Thersites see.
And yet, how high soe'er thy pride may trace
The long-forgotten founders of thy race,
Still must the search with that Asylum end,
From whose polluted source we all descend. 405
Haste then, the inquiry haste; secure to find
Thy sire some vagrant slave, some bankrupt hind,
Some--but I mark the kindling glow of shame,
And will not shock thee with a baser name.

SATIRE IX.

JUVENAL, NÆVOLUS.

Juv. still drooping, Nævolus! What, prithee, say,
Portends this show of grief from day to day,
This copy of flayed Marsyas? what dost thou
With such a rueful face, and such a brow,
As Ravola wore, when caught--Not so cast down 5
Looked Pollio, when, of late, he scoured the town,
And, proffering treble rate, from friend to friend,
Found none so foolish, none so mad, to lend!
But, seriously, for thine's a serious case,
Whence came those sudden wrinkles in thy face? 10
I knew thee once, a gay, light-hearted slave,
Contented with the little fortune gave;
A sprightly guest, of every table free,
And famed for modish wit and repartee.
Now all's reversed: dejected is thy mien, 15
Thy locks are like a tangled thicket seen;
And every limb, once smoothed with nicest care,
Rank with neglect, a shrubbery of hair!
What dost thou with that dull, dead, withered look,
Like some old debauchee, long ague-shook? 20
All is not well within; for, still we find
The face the unerring index of the mind,
And as THIS feels or fancies joys or woes,
THAT pales with sorrow, or with rapture glows.
What should I think? Too sure the scene is changed, 25
And thou from thy old course of life estranged:
For late, as I remember, at all haunts,
Where dames of fashion flock to hire gallants,
At Isis and at Ganymede's abodes,
At Cybele's, dread mother of the gods, 30
Nay, at chaste Ceres' (for at shame they spurn,
And even her temples now to brothels turn),
None was so famed: the favorites of the town,
Baffled alike in business and renown,
Murmuring retired; wives, daughters, were thy own, 35
And--if the truth MUST come--not THEY alone.
NÆV. Right: and to some this trade has answered yet;
But not to me: for what is all I get?
A drugget cloak, to save my gown from rain, }
Coarse in its texture, dingy in its grain, } 40
And a few pieces of the "second vein!" }
FATE GOVERNS ALL. Fate, with full sway, presides
Even o'er those parts, which modest nature hides;
And little, if her genial influence fail,
Will vigor stead, or boundless powers avail: 45
Though Virro, gloating on your naked charms,
Foam with desire, and woo you to his arms,
With many a soothing, many a flattering phrase--
For your cursed pathics have such winning ways!
Hear now this prodigy, this mass impure, 50
Of lust and avarice! "Let us, friend, be sure:
I've given thee this, and this;--now count the sums:"
(He counts, and woos the while), "behold! it comes
To five sestertia, five!--now, look again,
And see how much it overpays thy pain:" 55
What! "overpays?"--but you are formed for love,
And worthy of the cup and couch of Jove!
--Will those relieve a client!--those, who grudge
A wretched pittance to the painful drudge
That toils in their disease?--O mark, my friend, 60
The blooming youth, to whom we presents send,
Or on the Female Calends, or the day
Which gave him birth! in what a lady-way
He takes our favors as he sits in state,
And sees adoring crowds besiege his gate! 65
Insatiate sparrow! whom do your domains,
Your numerous hills await, your numerous plains?
Regions, that such a tract of land embrace,
That kites are tired within the unmeasured space!
For you the purple vine luxuriant glows, 70
On Trifoline's plain, and on Misenus' brows;
And hollow Gaurus, from his fruitful hills,
Your spacious vaults with generous nectar fills:
What were it, then, a few poor roods to grant
To one so worn with lechery and want? 75
Sure yonder female, with the child she bred,
The dog their playmate, and their little shed,
Had, with more justice, been conferred on me,
Than on a cymbal-beating debauchee!
"I'm troublesome," you say, when I apply, 80
"And give! give! give! is my eternal cry."--
But house-rent due solicits to be sped,
And my sole slave, importunate for bread,
Follows me, clamoring in as loud a tone
As Polyphemus, when his prey was flown. 85
Nor will this one suffice, the toil's so great!
Another must be bought; and both must eat.
What shall I say, when cold December blows,
And their bare limbs shrink at the driving snows,
What shall I say, their drooping hearts to cheer? 90
"Be merry, boys, the spring will soon be here!"
But though my other merits you deny,
One yet must be allowed--that had not I,
I, your devoted client, lent my aid,
Your wife had to this hour remained a maid. 95
You know what motives urged me to the deed,
And what was promised, could I but succeed:--
Oft in my arms the flying fair I caught,
And back to your cold bed, reluctant, brought,
Even when she'd canceled all her former vows, 100
And now was signing to another spouse.
What pains it cost to set these matters right,
While you stood whimpering at the door all night,
I spare to tell:--a friend like me has tied
Full many a knot, when ready to divide. 105
Where will you turn you now, sir? whither fly?
What, to my charges, first, or last, reply?
Is it no merit, speak, ungrateful! none,
To give you thus a daughter, or a son,
Whom you may breed with credit at your board, 110
And prove yourself a man upon record?--
Haste, with triumphal wreaths your gates adorn,
You're now a father, now no theme for scorn;
My toils have ta'en the opprobrium from your name,
And stopp'd the babbling of malicious fame. 115
A parent's rights you now may proudly share,
Now, thank my industry, be named an heir;
Take now the whole bequest, with what beside,
From lucky windfalls, may in time betide;
And other blessings, if I but repeat 120
My pains, and make the number THREE complete.
JUV. Nay, thou hast reason to complain, I feel:
But, what says Virro?
NÆV. Not a syllable;
But, while my wrongs and I unnoticed pass,
Hunts out some other drudge, some two-legged ass. 125
Enough;--and never, on your life, unfold
The secret thus to you, in friendship told;
But let my injuries, undivulged, still rest
Within the closest chamber of your breast:
How the discovery might be borne, none knows-- 130
And your smooth pathics are such fatal foes!
Virro, who trusts me yet, may soon repent,
And hate me for the confidence he lent;
With fire and sword my wretched life pursue,
As if I'd blabbed already all I knew. 135
Sad situation mine! for, in your ear,
The rich can never buy revenge too dear;
And--but enough: be cautious, I entreat,
And secret as the Athenian judgment-seat.
JUV. And dost thou seriously believe, fond swain, 140
The actions of the great unknown remain?
Poor Corydon! even beasts would silence break,
And stocks and stones, if servants did not, speak.
Bolt every door, stop every cranny tight,
Close every window, put out every light; 145
Let not a whisper reach the listening ear,
No noise, no motion; let no soul be near;
Yet all that passed at the cock's second crow,
The neighboring vintner shall, ere daybreak, know;
With what besides the cook and carver's brain, 150
Subtly malicious, can in vengeance feign!
For thus they glory, with licentious tongue,
To quit the harsh command and galling thong.
Should these be mute, some drunkard in the streets
Will pour out all he knows to all he meets, 155
Force them, unwilling, the long tale to hear,
And with his stories drench their hapless ear.
Go now, and earnestly of those request,
To lock, like me, the secret in their breast:
Alas! they hear thee not; and will not sell 160
The dear, dear privilege--to see and tell,
For more stolen wine than late Saufeia boused,
When, for the people's welfare, she--caroused!
LIVE VIRTUOUSLY:--thus many a reason cries,
But chiefly this, that so thou may'st despise 165
Thy servant's tongue; for, lay this truth to heart,
The tongue is the vile servant's vilest part:
Yet viler he, who lives in constant dread
Of the domestic spies that--eat his bread.
NÆV. Well have you taught, how we may best disdain 170
The envenomed babbling of our household train;
But this is general, and to all applies:--
What, in my proper case, would you advise?
After such flattering expectations cross'd,
And so much time in vain dependence lost? 175
For youth, too transient flower! of life's short day
The shortest part, but blossoms--to decay.
Lo! while we give the unregarded hour
To revelry and joy, in Pleasure's bower,
While now for rosy wreaths our brows to twine, 180
And now for nymphs we call, and now for wine,
The noiseless foot of Time steals swiftly by,
And ere we dream of manhood, age is nigh!
JUV. Oh, fear not: thou canst never seek in vain
A pathic friend, while these seven hills remain. 185
Hither in crowds the master-misses come,
From every point, as to their proper home:
One hope has failed, another may succeed;
Meanwhile do thou on hot eringo feed.
NÆV. Tell this to happier men; the Fates ne'er meant 190
Such luck for me: my Clotho is content,
When all my oil a bare subsistence gains,
And fills my belly, by my back and reins.
O, my poor Lares! dear, domestic Powers!
To whom I come with incense, cakes, and flowers, 195
When shall my prayers, so long preferred in vain,
Acceptance find? O, when shall I obtain
Enough to free me from the constant dread
Of life's worst ill, gray hairs and want of bread?
On mortgage, six-score pounds a year, or eight, 200
A little sideboard, which, for overweight,
Fabricius would have censured; a stout pair
Of hireling Mæsians, to support my chair,
In the thronged Circus: add to these, one slave
Well skilled to paint, another to engrave; 205
And I--but let me give these day-dreams o'er--
Wish as I may, I ever shall be poor;
For when to Fortune I prefer my prayers,
The obdurate goddess stops at once her ears;
Stops with that wax which saved Ulysses' crew, } 210
When by the Syrens' rocks and songs they flew, }
False songs and treacherous rocks, that all to ruin drew. }

SATIRE X.

In every clime, from Ganges' distant stream
To Gades, gilded by the western beam,
Few, from the clouds of mental error free,
In its true light or good or evil see.
For what, with reason, do we seek or shun? 5
What plan, how happily soe'er begun,
But, finished, we our own success lament,
And rue the pains, so fatally misspent?--
To headlong ruin see whole houses driven,
Cursed with their prayers, by too indulgent heaven! 10
Bewildered thus by folly or by fate,
We beg pernicious gifts in every state,
In peace, in war. A full and rapid flow
Of eloquence, lays many a speaker low:
Even strength itself is fatal; Milo tries 15
His wondrous arms, and--in the trial dies!
But avarice wider spreads her deadly snare,
And hoards amassed with too successful care,
Hoards, which o'er all paternal fortunes rise,
As o'er the dolphin towers the whale in size. 20
For this, in other times, at Nero's word,
The ruffian bands unsheathed the murderous sword,
Rushed to the swelling coffers of the great,
Chased Lateranus from his lordly seat,
Besieged too-wealthy Seneca's wide walls, 25
And closed, terrific, round Longinus' halls:
While sweetly in their cocklofts slept the poor,
And heard no soldier thundering at their door.
The traveler, freighted with a little wealth,
Sets forth at night, and wins his way by stealth: 30
Even then, he fears the bludgeon and the blade,
And starts and trembles at a rush's shade;
While, void of care, the beggar trips along,
And, in the spoiler's presence, trolls his song.
The first great wish, that all with rapture own, 35
The general cry, to every temple known,
Is, gold, gold, gold!--"and let, all-gracious Powers,
The largest chest the Forum boasts be ours!"
Yet none from earthen bowls destruction sip:
Dread then the draught, when, mantling, at your lip, 40
The goblet sparkles, radiant from the mine,
And the broad gold inflames the ruby wine.
And do we, now, admire the stories told
Of the two Sages, so renowned of old;
How this forever laughed, whene'er he stepp'd 45
Beyond the threshold; that, forever wept?
But all can laugh:--the wonder yet appears,
What fount supplied the eternal stream of tears!
Democritus, at every step he took,
His sides with unextinguished laughter shook, 50
Though, in his days, Abdera's simple towns
No fasces knew, chairs, litters, purple gowns.--
What! had he seen, in his triumphal car,
Amid the dusty Cirque, conspicuous far,
The Prætor perched aloft, superbly dress'd 55
In Jove's proud tunic, with a trailing vest
Of Tyrian tapestry, and o'er him spread
A crown, too bulky for a mortal head,
Borne by a sweating slave, maintained to ride
In the same car, and mortify his pride! 60
Add now the bird, that, with expanded wing,
From the raised sceptre seems prepared to spring;
And trumpets here; and there the long parade
Of duteous friends, who head the cavalcade;
Add, too, the zeal of clients robed in white, } 65
Who hang upon his reins, and grace the sight, }
Unbribed, unbought--save by the dole, at night! }
Yes, in those days, in every varied scene,
The good old man found matter for his spleen:
A wondrous sage! whose story makes it clear 70
That men may rise in folly's atmosphere,
Beneath Bœotian fogs, of soul sublime,
And great examples to the coming time.--
He laughed aloud to see the vulgar fears,
Laughed at their joys, and sometimes at their tears: 75
Secure the while, he mocked at Fortune's frown,
And when she threatened, bade her hang or drown!
Superfluous then, or fatal, is the prayer,
Which, to the Immortals' knees, we fondly bear.
Some, POWER hurls headlong from her envied height, 80
Some, the broad tablet, flashing on the sight,
With titles, names: the statues, tumbled down,
Are dragged by hooting thousands through the town;
The brazen cars torn rudely from the yoke,
And, with the blameless steeds, to shivers broke-- 85
Then roar the flames! the sooty artist blows,
And all Sejanus in the furnace glows;
Sejanus, once so honored, so adored,
And only second to the world's great lord,
Runs glittering from the mould, in cups and cans, 90
Basins and ewers, plates, pitchers, pots, and pans.
"Crown all your doors with bay, triumphant bay!
Sacred to Jove, the milk-white victim slay,
For lo! where great Sejanus by the throng,
A joyful spectacle! is dragged along. 95
What lips! what cheeks! ha, traitor!--for my part,
I never loved the fellow--in my heart."
"But tell me; Why was he adjudged to bleed?
And who discovered? and who proved the deed?"
"Proved!--a huge, wordy letter came to-day 100
From Capreæ." Good! what think the people? They!
They follow fortune, as of old, and hate,
With their whole souls, the victim of the state.
Yet would the herd, thus zealous, thus on fire,
Had Nurscia met the Tuscan's fond desire, 105
And crushed the unwary prince, have all combined,
And hailed Sejanus, MASTER OF MANKIND!
For since their votes have been no longer bought,
All public care has vanished from their thought;
And those who once, with unresisted sway, 110
Gave armies, empire, every thing, away,
For two poor claims have long renounced the whole,
And only ask--the Circus and the Dole.
"But there are more to suffer." "So I find;
A fire so fierce for one was ne'er designed. 115
I met my friend Brutidius, and I fear,
From his pale looks, he thinks there's danger near.
What if this Ajax, in his phrensy, strike,
Suspicious of our zeal, at all alike!"
"True: fly we then, our loyalty to show; 120
And trample on the carcass of his foe,
While yet exposed on Tiber's banks it lies"--
"But let our slaves be there," another cries:
"Yes; let them (lest our ardor they forswear,
And drag us, pinioned, to the Bar) be there." 125
Thus of the favorite's fall the converse ran,
And thus the whisper passed from man to man.
Lured by the splendor of his happier hour,
Would'st thou possess Sejanus' wealth and power;
See crowds of suppliants at thy levee wait, 130
Give this to sway the army, that the state;
And keep a prince in ward, retired to reign
O'er Capreæ's crags, with his Chaldean train?
Yes, yes, thou would'st (for I can read thy breast)
Enjoy that favor which he once possess'd, 135
Assume all offices, grasp all commands,
The Imperial Horse, and the Prætorian Bands.
'Tis nature, this; even those who want the will,
Pant for the dreadful privilege to kill:
Yet what delight can rank and power bestow, 140
Since every joy is balanced by its woe!
--STILL would'st thou choose the favorite's purple, say?
Or, thus forewarned, some paltry hamlet sway?
At Gabii, or Fidenæ, rules propound,
For faulty measures, and for wares unsound; 145
And take the tarnished robe, and petty state,
Of poor Ulubræ's ragged magistrate?--
You grant me then, Sejanus grossly erred,
Nor knew what prayer his folly had preferred:
For when he begged for too much wealth and power, 150
Stage above stage, he raised a tottering tower,
And higher still, and higher; to be thrown,
With louder crash, and wider ruin down!
What wrought the Crassi, what the Pompeys' doom,
And his, who bowed the stubborn neck of Rome? 155
What but the wild, the unbounded wish to rise,
Heard, in malignant kindness, by the skies!
Few kings, few tyrants, find a bloodless end,
Or to the grave, without a wound, descend.
The child, with whom a trusty slave is sent, 160
Charged with his little scrip, has scarcely spent
His mite at school, ere all his bosom glows
With the fond hope he never more foregoes,
To reach Demosthenes' or Tully's name,
Rival of both in eloquence and fame!-- 165
Yet by this eloquence, alas! expired
Each orator, so envied, so admired!
Yet by the rapid and resistless sway
Of torrent genius, each was swept away!
Genius, for that, the baneful potion sped, 170
And lopp'd, from this, the hands and gory head:
While meaner pleaders unmolested stood,
Nor stained the rostrum with their wretched blood.
"_How fortuNATE A NATAL day was thine,_
_In that LATE conSULATE, O Rome, of mine!_" 175
Oh, soul of eloquence! had all been found
An empty vaunt, like this, a jingling sound,
Thou might'st, in peace, thy humble fame have borne,
And laughed the swords of Antony to scorn!
Yet this would I prefer, the common jest, 180
To that which fired the fierce triumvir's breast,
That second scroll, where eloquence divine
Burst on the ear from every glowing line.
And he too fell, whom Athens, wondering, saw
Her fierce democracy, at will, o'erawe, 185
And "fulmine over Greece!" some angry Power
Scowled, with dire influence, on his natal hour.--
Bleared with the glowing mass, the ambitious sire,
From anvils, sledges, bellows, tongs, and fire,
From tempting swords, his own more safe employ, 190
To study RHETORIC, sent his hopeful boy.
The spoils of WAR; the trunk in triumph placed
With all the trophies of the battle graced,
Crushed helms, and battered shields; and streamers borne
From vanquished fleets, and beams from chariots torn; 195
And arcs of triumph, where the captive foe
Bends, in mute anguish, o'er the pomp below,
Are blessings, which the slaves of glory rate
Beyond a mortal's hope, a mortal's fate!
Fired with the love of these, what countless swarms, 200
Barbarians, Romans, Greeks, have rushed to arms,
All danger slighted, and all toil defied,
And madly conquered, or as madly died!
So much the raging thirst of fame exceeds
The generous warmth, which prompts to worthy deeds, 205
That none confess fair virtue's genuine power,
Or woo her to their breast, without a dower.
Yet has this wild desire, in other days,
This boundless avarice of a few for praise,
This frantic rage for names to grace a tomb, 210
Involved whole countries in one general doom;
Vain "rage!" the roots of the wild fig-tree rise,
Strike through the marble, and their memory dies!
For, like their mouldering tenants, tombs decay,
And, with the dust they hide, are swept away. 215
Produce the urn that Hannibal contains,
And weigh the mighty dust, which yet remains:
AND IS THIS ALL! Yet THIS was once the bold,
The aspiring chief, whom Afric could not hold,
Though stretched in breadth from where the Atlantic roars, 220
To distant Nilus, and his sun-burnt shores;
In length, from Carthage to the burning zone,
Where other moors, and elephants are known.
--Spain conquered, o'er the Pyrenees he bounds:
Nature opposed her everlasting mounds, 225
Her Alps, and snows; o'er these, with torrent force,
He pours, and rends through rocks his dreadful course.
Already at his feet, Italia lies;--
Yet thundering on, "Think nothing done," he cries,
"Till Rome, proud Rome, beneath my fury falls, 230
And Afric's standards float along her walls!"
Big words!--but view his figure! view his face!
O, for some master-hand the lines to trace,
As through the Etrurian swamps, by floods increas'd,
The one-eyed chief urged his Getulian beast! 235
But what ensued? Illusive Glory, say.
Subdued on Zama's memorable day,
He flies in exile to a petty state,
With headlong haste! and, at a despot's gate,
Sits, mighty suppliant! of his life in doubt, 240
Till the Bithynian's morning nap be out.
No swords, nor spears, nor stones from engines hurled,
Shall quell the man whose frown alarmed the world:
The vengeance due to Cannæ's fatal field,
And floods of human gore, a ring shall yield!-- 245
Fly, madman, fly! at toil and danger mock,
Pierce the deep snow, and scale the eternal rock,
To please the rhetoricians, and become
A DECLAMATION for the boys of Rome!
One world, the ambitious youth of Pella found 250
Too small; and tossed his feverish limbs around,
And gasped for breath, as if immured the while
In Gyaræ, or Seripho's rocky isle:
But entering Babylon, found ample room
Within the narrow limits of a tomb! 255
Death, the great teacher, Death alone proclaims
The true dimensions of our puny frames.
The daring tales, in Grecian story found,
Were once believed:--of Athos sailed around,
Of fleets, that bridges o'er the waves supplied, 260
Of chariots, rolling on the steadfast tide,
Of lakes exhausted, and of rivers quaff'd,
By countless nations, at a morning's draught,
And all that Sostratus so wildly sings,
Besotted poet, of the king of kings. 265
But how returned he, say? this soul of fire,
This proud barbarian, whose impatient ire
Chastised the winds, that disobeyed his nod,
With stripes, ne'er suffered from the Æolian god;
Fettered the Shaker of the sea and land-- 270
But, in pure clemency, forbode to brand!
And sure, if aught can touch the Powers above,
This calls for all their service, all their love!
But how returned he? say;--His navy lost,
In a small bark he fled the hostile coast, 275
And, urged by terror, drove his laboring prore,
Through floating carcasses, and floods of gore.
So Xerxes sped, so speed the conquering race;
They catch at glory, and they clasp disgrace!
"LIFE! LENGTH OF LIFE!" For this, with earnest cries, 280
Or sick or well, we supplicate the skies.
Pernicious prayer! for mark what ills attend,
Still, on the old, as to the grave they bend:
A ghastly visage, to themselves unknown,
For a smooth skin, a hide with scurf o'ergrown, 285
And such a cheek, as many a grandam ape,
In Tabraca's thick woods, is seen to scrape.
Strength, beauty, and a thousand charms beside,
With sweet distinction, youth from youth divide;
While age presents one universal face: 290
A faltering voice, a weak and trembling pace,
An ever-dropping nose, a forehead bare,
And toothless gums to mumble o'er its fare.
Poor wretch, behold him, tottering to his fall,
So loathsome to himself, wife, children, all, 295
That those who hoped the legacy to share,
And flattered long--disgusted, disappear.
The sluggish palate dulled, the feast no more
Excites the same sensations as of yore;
Taste, feeling, all, a universal blot, 300
And e'en the rites of love remembered not:
Or if--through the long night he feebly strives
To raise a flame where not a spark survives;
While Venus marks the effort with distrust,
And hates the gray decrepitude of lust. 305
Another loss!--no joy can song inspire,
Though famed Seleucus lead the warbling quire:
The sweetest airs escape him; and the lute,
Which thrills the general ear, to him is mute.--
He sits, perhaps, too distant: bring him near; 310
Alas! 'tis still the same: he scarce can hear
The deep-toned horn, the trumpet's clanging sound,
And the loud blast which shakes the benches round.
Even at his ear, his slave must bawl the hour,
And shout the comer's name, with all his power! 315
Add that a fever only warms his veins,
And thaws the little blood which yet remains;
That ills of every kind, and every name,
Rush in, and seize the unresisting frame.
Ask you how many? I could sooner say 320
How many drudges Hippia kept in pay,
How many orphans Basilus beguiled,
How many pupils Hæmolus defiled,
How many men long Maura overmatched,
How many patients Themison dispatched 325
In one short autumn; nay, perhaps, record,
How many villas call my quondam barber lord!
These their shrunk shoulders, those their hams bemoan;
This hath no eyes, and envies that with one:
This takes, as helpless at the board he stands, 330
His food, with bloodless lips, from others' hands;
While that, whose eager jaws, instinctive, spread
At every feast, gapes feebly to be fed,
Like Progne's brood, when, laden with supplies,
From bill to bill, the fasting mother flies. 335
But other ills, and worse, succeed to those:
His limbs long since were gone; his memory goes.
Poor driveler! he forgets his servants quite,
Forgets, at morn, with whom he supped at night;
Forgets the children he begot and bred; 340
And makes a strumpet heiress in their stead.--
So much avails it the rank arts to use,
Gained, by long practice, in the loathsome stews!
But grant his senses unimpaired remain;
Still woes on woes succeed, a mournful train! 345
He sees his sons, his daughters, all expire,
His faithful consort on the funeral pyre,
Sees brothers, sisters, friends, to ashes turn,
And all he loved, or loved him, in their urn.
Lo here, the dreadful fine we ever pay 350
For life protracted to a distant day!
To see our house by sickness, pain pursued,
And scenes of death incessantly renewed:
In sable weeds to waste the joyless years,
And drop, at last, mid solitude and tears! 355
The Pylian's (if we credit Homer's page)
Was only second to the raven's age.
"O happy, sure, beyond the common rate,
Who warded off, so long, the stroke of fate!
Who told his years by centuries, who so oft 360
Quaffed the new must! O happy, sure"--But, soft.
This "happy" man of destiny complained,
Cursed his gray hairs, and every god arraigned;
What time he lit the pyre, with streaming eyes,
And, in dark volumes, saw the flames arise 365
Round his Antilochus:--"Tell me," he cried,
To every friend who lingered at his side,
"Tell me what crimes have roused the Immortals' hate,
That thus, in vengeance, they protract my date?"
So questioned heaven Laertes--Peleus so-- 370
(Their hoary heads bowed to the grave with woe)
While this bewailed his son, at Ilium slain;
That his, long wandering o'er the faithless main.
While Troy yet flourished, had her Priam died,
With what solemnity, what funeral pride, 375
Had he descended, every duty paid,
To old Assaracus, illustrious shade!--
Hector himself, bedewed with many a tear,
Had joined his brothers to support the bier;
While Troy's dejected dames, a numerous train, 380
Followed, in sable pomp, and wept amain,
As sad Polyxena her pall had rent,
And wild Cassandra raised the loud lament:
Had he but fallen, ere his adulterous boy
Spread his bold sails, and left the shores of Troy. 385
But what did lengthened life avail the sire?
To see his realm laid waste by sword and fire.
Then too, too late, the feeble soldier tried
Unequal arms, and flung his crown aside;
Tottered, his children's murderer to repel, 390
With trembling haste, and at Jove's altar fell,
Fell without effort; like the steer, that, now,
Time-worn and weak, and, by the ungrateful plow,
Spurned forth to slaughter, to the master's knife
Yields his shrunk veins and miserable life. 395
His end, howe'er, was human; while his mate,
Doomed, in a brute, to drain the dregs of fate,
Pursued the foes of Troy from shore to shore,
And barked and howled at those she cursed before.
I pass, while hastening to the Roman page, 400
The Pontic king, and Crœsus, whom the Sage
Wisely forbade in fortune to confide,
Or take the name of HAPPY, till he died.
That Marius, exiled from his native plains,
Was hid in fens, discovered, bound in chains; 405
That, bursting these, to Africa he fled,
And, through the realms he conquered, begged his bread,
Arose from age, from treacherous age alone:
For what had Rome, or earth, so happy known,
Had he, in that bless'd moment, ceased to live, 410
When, graced with all that Victory could give,
"Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war,"
He first alighted from his Cimbrian car!
Campania, prescient of her Pompey's fate,
Send a kind fever to arrest his date: 415
When lo! a thousand suppliant altars rise,
And public prayers obtain him of the skies.
Ill done! that head, thus rescued from the grave,
His Evil Fate and ours, by Nilus' wave,
Lopp'd from the trunk:--such mutilation dire } 420
Cornelius 'scaped; Cethegus fell entire; }
And Catiline pressed, whole, the funeral pyre. }
Whene'er the fane of Venus meets her eye,
The anxious mother breathes a secret sigh
For handsome boys; but asks, with bolder prayer, 425
That all her girls be exquisitely fair!
"And wherefore not? Latona, in the sight
Of Dian's beauty, took unblamed delight."
True; but Lucretia cursed her fatal charms,
When spent with struggling in a Tarquin's arms; 430
And poor Virginia would have changed her grace
For Rutila's crooked back and homely face.
"But boys may still be fair?" No; they destroy
Their parents' peace, and murder all their joy;
For rarely do we meet, in one combined, 435
A beauteous body and a virtuous mind,
Though, through the rugged line, there still has run
A Sabine sanctity, from sire to son.--
Besides, should Nature, in her kindest mood,
Confer the ingenuous flush of modest blood, 440
The disposition chaste as unsunned snow--
(And what can Nature more than these bestow,
These, which no art, no care can give)?--even then,
They can not hope, they must not, to be men!
Smit with their charms, the imps of hell appear, 445
And pour their proffers in a parent's ear,
For prostitution!--infamously bold,
And trusting to the almighty power of gold:
While youths in shape and air less formed to please
No tyrants mutilate, no Neros seize. 450
Go now, and triumph in your beauteous boy,
Your Ganymede! whom other ills annoy,
And other dangers wait: his graces known,
He stands professed, the favorite of the town;
And dreads, incessant dreads, on every hand, 455
The vengeance which a husband's wrongs demand:
For sure detection follows soon or late;
Born under Mars, he can not scape his fate.
Oft on the adulterer, too, the furious spouse
Inflicts worse evils than the law allows; 460
By blows, stripes, gashes some are robbed of breath
And others, by the mullet, racked to death.
"But my Endymion will more lucky prove,
And serve a beauteous mistress, all for love."
No; he will soon to ugliness be sold, 465
And serve a toothless grandam, all for gold.
Servilia will not lose him; jewels, clothes,
All, all she sells, and all on him bestows;
For women naught to the dear youth deny,
Or think his labors can be bought too high: 470
When love's the word, the naked sex appear,
And every niggard is a spendthrift here.
"But if my boy with virtue be endued,
What harm will beauty do him?" Nay, what good?
Say, what availed, of old, to Theseus' son, 475
The stern resolve? what to Bellerophon?--
O, then did Phædra redden, then her pride
Took fire, to be so steadfastly denied!
Then, too, did Sthenobœa glow with shame,
And both burst forth with unextinguished flame! 480
A woman scorned is pitiless as fate,
For, there, the dread of shame adds stings to hate.
But Silius comes.--Now, be thy judgment tried:
Shall he accept, or not, the proffered bride,
And marry Cæsar's wife? hard point, in truth: 485
Lo! this most noble, this most beauteous youth,
Is hurried off, a helpless sacrifice
To the lewd glance of Messalina's eyes!
--Haste, bring the victim: in the nuptial vest
Already see the impatient Empress dress'd; 490
The genial couch prepared, the accustomed sum
Told out, the augurs and the notaries come.
"But why all these?" You think, perhaps, the rite
Were better, known to few, and kept from sight;
Not so the lady; she abhors a flaw, 495
And wisely calls for every form of law.
But what shall Silius do? refuse to wed?
A moment sees him numbered with the dead.
Consent, and gratify the eager dame?
He gains a respite, till the tale of shame, 500
Through town and country, reach the Emperor's ear,
Still sure the last--his own disgrace to hear.
Then let him, if a day's precarious life
Be worth his study, make the fair his wife;
For wed or not, poor youth, 'tis still the same, 505
And still the axe must mangle that fine frame!
Say then, shall man, deprived all power of choice,
Ne'er raise to heaven the supplicating voice?
Not so; but to the gods his fortunes trust:
Their thoughts are wise, their dispensations just. 510
What best may profit or delight they know,
And real good for fancied bliss bestow:
With eyes of pity they our frailties scan;
More dear to them, than to himself, is man.
By blind desire, by headlong passion driven, 515
For wife and heirs we daily weary Heaven:
Yet still 'tis Heaven's prerogative to know,
If heirs, or wife, will bring us weal or woe.
But (for 'tis good our humble hope to prove),
That thou may'st, still, ask something from above, 520
Thy pious offerings to the temple bear,
And, while the altars blaze, be this thy prayer.
O THOU, who know'st the wants of human kind,
Vouchsafe me health of body, health of mind;
A soul prepared to meet the frowns of fate, 525
And look undaunted on a future state;
That reckons death a blessing, yet can bear
Existence nobly, with its weight of care;
That anger and desire alike restrains,
And counts Alcides' toils, and cruel pains, 530
Superior far to banquets, wanton nights,
And all the Assyrian monarch's soft delights!
Here bound, at length, thy wishes. I but teach
What blessings man, by his own powers, may reach.
THE PATH TO PEACE IS VIRTUE. We should see, 535
If wise, O Fortune, naught divine in thee:
But we have deified a name alone,
And fixed in heaven thy visionary throne!

SATIRE XI.

TO PERSICUS.

If Atticus in sumptuous fare delight,
'Tis taste: if Rutilus, 'tis madness quite:
And what diverts the sneering rabble more
Than an Apicius miserably poor?
In every company, go where you will, 5
Bath, forum, theatre, the talk is still
Of Rutilus!--While fit (they cry) to wield,
With firm and vigorous arm, the spear and shield,
While his full veins beat high with youthful blood,
Forced by no tribune--yet by none withstood, 10
He cultivates the gladiator's trade,
And learns the imperious language of the blade.
What swarms we see of this degenerate kind!
Swarms whom their creditors can only find
At flesh and fish-stalls:--thither they repair, 15
Sure, though deceived at home, to catch them there.
These live but for their palate; and, of these,
The most distressed (while Ruin hastes to seize
The crumbling mansion and disparting wall),
Spread richer feasts, and riot as they fall!-- 20
Meanwhile, ere yet the last supply be spent,
They search for dainties every element,
Awed by no price; nay, making this their boast,
And still preferring that which costs them most,
Joyous, and reckless of to-morrow's fate, 25
To raise a desperate sum, they pledge their plate,
Or mother's fractured image; to prepare
Yet one treat more, though but in earthen ware!
Then to the fencer's mess they come, of course,
And mount the scaffold as a last resource. 30
No foe to sumptuous boards, I only scan,
When such are spread, the motives, and the man,
And praise or censure, as I see the feast
Or by the noble or the beggar dress'd:
In this, 'tis gluttony; in that, fit pride, 35
Sanctioned by wealth, by station dignified.--
Whip me the fool, who marks how Atlas soars
O'er every hill on Mauritania's shores,
Yet sees no difference 'twixt the coffer's hoards,
And the poor pittance a small purse affords! 40
Heaven sent us "KNOW THYSELF!"--Be this impress'd
In living characters, upon thy breast,
And still revolved; whether a wife thou choose,
Or to the SACRED SENATE point thy views.--
Or seek'st thou rather, in some doubtful cause, 45
To vindicate thy country's injured laws?
Knock at thy bosom, play the censor's part,
And note with caution what and who thou art,
An orator of force and skill profound,
Or a mere Matho, emptiness and sound! 50
Yes, KNOW THYSELF: in great concerns, in small,
Be this thy care, for this, my friend, is all:
Nor, when thy purse will scarce a gudgeon buy,
With fond intemperance for turbots sigh!
O think what end awaits thee, timely think, 55
If thy throat widens as thy pockets shrink,
Thy throat, of all thy father's thrift could save,
Flocks, herds, and fields, the insatiable grave!--
At length, when naught remains a meal to bring,
The last poor shift, off comes the knightly ring, 60
And "sad Sir Pollio" begs his daily fare,
With undistinguished hands, and finger bare!
To these, an early grave no terror brings,
"A short and merry life!" the spendthrift sings;
Death seems to him a refuge from despair, 65
And far less terrible than hoary hair.
Mark now the progress of their rapid fate!
Money (regardless of the monthly rate),
On every side, they borrow, and apace,
Waste what is borrowed before the lender's face: 70
Then, while they yet some wretched remnant hold,
And the pale usurer trembles for his gold,
They wisely sicken for the country air,
And flock to Baiæ, Ostia, Jove knows where.--
For now 'tis held (so rife the evil's grown) 75
No greater shame, for debt, to flee the town,
Than from the thronged Suburra to remove,
In dog-days, to the Esquilian shades above.
One thought alone, what time they leave behind
Friends, country, all, weighs heavy on their mind, 80
One thought alone--for twelve long months to lose
The dear delights of Rome, the public shows!
Where sleeps the modest blood! In all our veins,
No conscious drop, to form a blush, remains:
SHAME, from the town, derided, speeds her way, 85
And few, alas! solicit her to stay.
Enough: to-day my Persicus shall see
Whether my precepts with my life agree;
Whether, with feigned austerity, I prize
The spare repast, a glutton in disguise! 90
Bawl for coarse pottage, that my friends may hear,
But whisper "sweetmeats!" in my servant's ear.
For since, by promise, you are now my guest,
Know, I invite you to no sumptuous feast,
But to such simple fare, as long, long since, 95
The good Evander bade the Trojan prince.
Come then, my friend, you will not, sure, despise
The food that pleased the offspring of the skies;
Come, and while fancy brings past times to view,
I'll think myself the king, the hero you. 100
Take now your bill of fare: my simple board
Is with no dainties from the market stored,
But dishes all my own. From Tibur's stock
A kid shall come, the fattest of the flock,
The tenderest too, and yet too young to browse 105
The thistle's shoots, the willow's watery boughs,
With more of milk than blood; and pullets dress'd
With new-laid eggs, yet tepid from the nest,
And sperage wild, which, from the mountain's side,
My housemaid left her spindle to provide; 110
And grapes long kept, yet pulpy still, and fair,
And the rich Signian and the Syrian pear;
And apples, that in flavor and in smell
The boasted Picene equal, or excel:--
Nor need you fear, my friend, their liberal use, 115
For age has mellowed and improved their juice.
How homely this! and yet this homely fare
A senator would, once, have counted rare;
When the good Curius thought it no disgrace
O'er a few sticks a little pot to place, 120
With herbs by his small garden-plot supplied--
Food, which the squalid wretch would now deride,
Who digs in fetters, and, with fond regret,
The tavern's savory dish remembers yet!
Time was, when, on the rack, a man would lay 125
The seasoned flitch, against a solemn day;
And think the friends who met, with decent mirth,
To celebrate the hour which gave him birth,
On this, and what of fresh the altars spared
(For altars then were honored), nobly fared. 130
Some kinsman, who had camps and senates swayed,
Had thrice been consul, once dictator made,
From public cares retired, would gayly haste,
Before the wonted hour, to such repast,
Shouldering the spade, that, with no common toil, 135
Had tamed the genius of the mountain soil.--
Yes, when the world was filled with Rome's just fame,
And Romans trembled at the Fabian name,
The Scauran, and Fabrician; when they saw
A censor's rigor even a censor awe, 140
No son of Troy e'er thought it his concern,
Or worth a moment's serious care, to learn,
What land, what sea, the fairest tortoise bred,
Whose clouded shell might best adorn his bed.--
His bed was small, and did no signs impart 145
Or of the painter's or the sculptor's art,
Save where the front, cheaply inlaid with brass,
Showed the rude features of a vine-crowned ass;
An uncouth brute, round which his children played,
And laughed and jested at the face it made! 150
Briefly, his house, his furniture, his food,
Were uniformly plain, and simply good.
Then the rough soldier, yet untaught by Greece
To hang, enraptured, o'er a finished piece,
If haply, 'mid the congregated spoils 155
(Proofs of his power, and guerdon of his toils),
Some antique vase of master-hands were found,
Would dash the glittering bauble on the ground;
That, in new forms, the molten fragments dress'd,
Might blaze illustrious round his courser's chest, 160
Or, flashing from his burnished helmet, show
(A dreadful omen to the trembling foe)
The mighty sire, with glittering shield and spear,
Hovering, enamored, o'er the sleeping fair,
The wolf, by Rome's high destinies made mild, 165
And, playful at her side, each wondrous child.
Thus, all the wealth those simple times could boast,
Small wealth! their horses and their arms engross'd;
The rest was homely, and their frugal fare,
Cooked without art, was served in earthen ware: 170
Yet worthy all our envy, were the breast
But with one spark of noble spleen possess'd.
THEN shone the fanes with majesty divine,
A present god was felt at every shrine!
And solemn sounds, heard from the sacred walls, 175
At midnight's solemn hour, announced the Gauls,
Now rushing from the main; while, prompt to save,
Stood Jove, the prophet of the signs he gave!
Yet, when he thus revealed the will of fate,
And watched attentive o'er the Latian state, 180
His shrine, his statue, rose of humble mould,
Of artless form, and unprofaned with gold.
Those good old times no foreign tables sought;
From their own woods the walnut-tree was brought,
When withering limbs declared its pith unsound, 185
Or winds uptore, and stretched it on the ground.
But now, such strange caprice has seized the great,
They find no pleasure in the costliest treat,
Suspect the flowers a sickly scent exhale,
And think the ven'son rank, the turbot stale, 190
Unless wide-yawning panthers, towering high--
Enormous pedestals of ivory,
Formed of the teeth which Elephantis sends,
Which the dark Moor, or darker Indian, vends,
Or those which, now, too heavy for the head, 195
The beasts in Nabathea's forest shed--
The spacious ORBS support: then they can feed,
And every dish is delicate indeed!
For silver feet are viewed with equal scorn,
As iron rings upon the finger worn. 200
To me, forever be the guest unknown,
Who, measuring my expenses by his own,
Remarks the difference with a scornful leer,
And slights my humble house and homely cheer.
Look not to me for ivory; I have none: 205
My chess-board and my men are all of bone;
Nay, my knife-handles; yet, my friend, for this,
My pullets neither cut nor taste amiss.
I boast no artist, tutored in the school
Of learned Trypherus, to carve by rule; 210
Where large sow-paps of elm, and boar, and hare,
And phœnicopter, and pygargus rare,
Getulian oryx, Scythian pheasants, point,
The nice anatomy of every joint;
And dull blunt tools, severing the wooden treat, 215
Clatter around, and deafen all the street.
My simple lad, whose highest efforts rise
To broil a steak in the plain country guise,
Knows no such art; humbly content to serve,
And bring the dishes which he can not kerve. 220
Another lad (for I have two to-day),
Clad, like the first, in homespun russet gray,
Shall fill our earthen bowls: no Phrygian he,
No pampered attribute of luxury,
But a rude rustic:--when you want him, speak, 225
And speak in Latin, for he knows not Greek.
Both go alike, with close-cropp'd hair, undress'd,
But spruced to-day in honor of my guest;
And both were born on my estate, and one
Is my rough shepherd's, one, my neatherd's son. 230
Poor youth! he mourns, with many an artless tear,
His long, long absence from his mother dear;
Sighs for his little cottage, and would fain
Meet his old playfellows, the goats, again.
Though humble be his birth, ingenuous grace 235
Beams from his eye, and flushes in his face;
Charming suffusion! that would well become
The youthful offspring of the chiefs of Rome.--
He, Persicus, shall fill us wine which grew
Where first the breath of life the stripling drew, 240
On Tibur's hills;--dear hills, that many a day
Witnessed the transports of his infant play.
But you, perhaps, expect a wanton throng
Of Gaditanian girls, with dance and song,
To kindle loose desire; girls, that now bound } 245
Aloft with active grace, now, on the ground, }
Quivering, alight, while peals of praise go round. }
Lo! wives, beside their husbands placed, behold,
What could not in their ear, for shame, be told;
Expedients of the rich, the blood to fire, 250
And wake the dying embers of desire.
Behold? O heavens! they view, with keenest gust,
These strong provocatives of jaded lust;
With every gesture feel their passions rise,
And draw in pleasure both at ears and eyes! 255
Such vicious fancies are too great for me.
Let him the wanton dance unblushing see,
And hear the immodest terms which, in the stews,
The veriest strumpet would disdain to use,
Whose drunken spawlings roll, tumultuous, o'er 260
The proud expansion of a marble floor:
For there the world a large allowance make,
And spare the folly for the fortune's sake.--
Dice, and adultery, with a small estate,
Are damning crimes; but venial, with a great; 265
Venial? nay, graceful: witty, gallant, brave,
And such wild tricks "as gentlemen should have!"
My feast, to-day, shall other joys afford:
Hushed as we sit around the frugal board.
Great Homer shall his deep-toned thunder roll, 270
And mighty Maro elevate the soul;
Maro, who, warmed with all the poet's fire,
Disputes the palm of victory with his sire:
Nor fear my rustic clerks; read as they will,
The bard, the bard, shall rise superior still! 275
Come then, my friend, an hour to pleasure spare,
And quit awhile your business and your care;
The day is all our own: come, and forget
Bonds, interest, all; the credit and the debt;
Nay, e'en your wife: though, with the dawning light, 280
She left your couch, and late returned at night;
Though her loose hair in wild disorder flowed,
Her eye yet glistened, and her cheek yet glowed,
Her rumpled girdle busy hands express'd--
Yet, at my threshold, tranquilize your breast; 285
There leave the thoughts of home, and what the haste
Of heedless slaves may in your absence waste;
And, what the generous spirit most offends,
O, more than all, leave there UNGRATEFUL FRIENDS.
But see! the napkin, waved aloft, proclaims 290
The glad commencement of the Idæan games,
And the proud prætor, in triumphal state,
Ascends his car, the arbiter of fate!
Ere this, all Rome (if 'tis, for once, allowed,
To say all Rome, of so immense a crowd) 295
The Circus throngs, and--Hark! loud shouts arise--
From these, I guess the GREEN has won the prize;
For had it lost, all joy had been suppress'd,
And grief and horror seized the public breast;
As when dire Carthage forced our arms to yield, 300
And poured our noblest blood on Cannæ's field.
Thither let youth, whom it befits, repair,
And seat themselves beside some favorite fair,
Wrangle, and urge the desperate bet aloud;
While we, retired from business and the crowd, 305
Stretch our shrunk limbs by sunny bank or stream,
And drink, at every pore, the vernal beam.
Haste, then: for we may use our freedom now,
And bathe, an hour ere noon, with fearless brow--
Indulge for once:--Yet such delights as these, 310
In five short morns, would lose the power to please;
For still, the sweetest pleasures soonest cloy,
And its best flavor temperance gives to joy.

SATIRE XII.

TO CORVINUS.

Not with such joy, Corvinus, I survey
My natal hour, as this auspicious day;
This day, on which the festive turf demands
The promised victims, at my willing hands.
A snow-white lamb to Juno I decree, 5
Another to Minerva; and to thee,
Tarpeian Jove! a steer, which, from afar,
Shakes his long rope, and meditates the war.
'Tis a fierce animal, that proudly scorns
The dug, since first he tried his budding horns 10
Against an oak; free mettled, and, in fine,
Fit for the knife, and sacrificial wine.
O, were my power but equal to my love,
A nobler victim should my rapture prove!
A bull high fed, and boasting in his veins, 15
The luscious juices of Clitumnus' plains,
Fatter than fat Hispulla, huge and slow,
Should fall, but fall beneath no common blow--
Fall for my friend, who now, from danger free,
Revolves the recent perils of the sea; 20
Shrinks at the roaring waves, the howling winds,
And scarcely trusts the safety which he finds!
For not the gods' inevitable fire,
The surging billows that to heaven aspire,
Alone, perdition threat; black clouds arise, 25
And blot out all the splendor of the skies;
Loud and more loud the thunder's voice is heard,
And sulphurous fires flash dreadful on the yard.--
Trembled the crew, and, fixed in wild amaze,
Saw the rent sails burst into sudden blaze; 30
While shipwreck, late so dreadful, now appeared
A refuge from the flames, more wished than feared.
Horror on horror! earth, and sea, and skies,
Convulsed, as when POETIC TEMPESTS rise!
From the same source another danger view, 35
With pitying eye--though dire alas! not new;
But known too well, as Isis' temples show,
By many a pictured scene of votive woe;
Isis, by whom the painters now are fed,
Since our own gods no longer yield them bread!-- 40
And such befell our friend: for now a sea,
Upsurging, poured tremendous o'er the lee,
And filled the hold; while, pressed by wave and wind,
To right and left, by turns, the ship inclined:
Then, while Catullus viewed, with drooping heart, 45
The storm prevailing o'er the pilot's art,
He wisely hastened to compound the strife,
And gave his treasure to preserve his life.
The beaver thus to scape his hunter tries,
And leaves behind the medicated prize; 50
Happy to purchase with his dearest blood,
A timely refuge in the well-known flood.
"Away with all that's mine," he cries, "away!"
And plunges in the deep, without delay,
Purples, which soft Mæcenases might wear, 55
Crimsons, deep-tinctured in the Bætic air,
Where herbs, and springs of secret virtues, stain
The flocks at feed, with Nature's richest grain.
With these, neat baskets from the Britons bought,
Rare silver chargers by Parthenius wrought, 60
A huge two-handed goblet, which might strain
A Pholus, or a Fuscus' wife, to drain;
Followed by numerous services of plate,
Plain, and enchased; with cups of ancient date,
In which, while at the city's strength he laughed, 65
The wily chapman of Olynthus quaffed.
Yet show me, in this elemental strife,
Another, who would barter wealth for life!--
Few GAIN TO LIVE, Corvinus, few or none,
But, blind with avarice, LIVE TO GAIN alone. 70
Now had the deep devoured their richest store;
Nor seems their safety nearer than before:
The last resource alone was unexplored--
To cut the mast and rigging by the board;
Haply the vessel so might steadier ride 75
O'er the vexed surface of the raging tide.
Dire threats the impending blow, when, thus distress'd,
We sacrifice a part, to save the rest!
Go now, fond man, the faithless ocean brave,
Commit your fortune to the wind and wave; 80
Trust to a plank, and draw precarious breath,
At most, seven inches from the jaws of death!
Go, but forget not that a storm may rise,
And put up hatchets with your sea supplies.
But now the winds were hushed; the wearied main 85
Sunk to repose, a calm, unruffled plain;
For fate, superior to the tempest's power,
Averted from my friend the mortal hour:
A whiter thread the cheerful Sisters spun,
And lo, with favoring hands their spindles run! 90
Mild as the breeze of eve, a rising gale
Rippled the wave, and filled their only sail;
Others the crew supplied, of vests combined,
And spread to catch each vagrant breath of wind:
By aids like these, slow o'er the deep impelled, 95
The shattered bark her course for Ostia held;
While the glad sun uprose, supremely bright,
And hope returned with the returning light.
At length the heights, where, from Lavinum moved,
Iülus built the city which he loved, 100
Burst on the view; auspicious heights! whose name
From a white sow and thirty sucklings came.
And now, the port they gain; the tower, whose ray
Guides the poor wanderer o'er the watery way,
And the huge mole, whose arms the waves embrace, 105
And stretching, an immeasurable space,
Far into Ocean's bosom, leave the coast,
Till, in the distance, Italy is lost!--
Less wonderful the bays which Nature forms,
And less secure against assailing storms: 110
Here rides the wave-worn bark, devoid of fear;
For Baian skiffs might ply with safety here.
The joyful crew, with shaven crowns, relate
Their timely rescue from the jaws of fate;
On every ill a pomp of words bestow, 115
And dwell delighted on the tale of woe.
Go then, my boys--but let no boding strain
Break on the sacred silence--dress the fane
With garlands, bind the sod with ribbons gay,
And on the knives the salted offering lay: 120
This done, I'll speed, myself the rites to share,
And finish what remains, with pious care.
Then, hastening home, where chaplets of sweet flowers
Bedeck my Lares, dear, domestic Powers!
I'll offer incense there, and at the shrine 125
Of highest Jove, my father's god, and mine;
There will I scatter every bud that blows,
And every tint the various violet knows.
All savors here of joy; luxuriant bay }
O'ershades my portal, while the taper's ray } 130
Anticipates the feast, and chides the tardy day: }
Nor think, Corvinus, interest fires my breast:
Catullus, for whose sake my house is dress'd,
Has three sweet boys, who all such hopes destroy,
And nobler views excite my boundless joy. 135
Yet who besides, on such a barren friend,
Would waste a sickly pullet? who would spend
So vast a treasure, where no hopes prevail,
Or, for a FATHER, sacrifice a quail?--
But should the symptoms of a slight disease 140
The childless Paccius or Gallita seize,
Legions of flatterers to the fanes repair,
And hang in rows their votive tablets there.
Nay, some with vows of hecatombs will come--
For yet no elephants are sold at Rome; 145
The breed, to Latium and to us unknown,
Is only found beneath the burning zone:
Thence to our shore, by swarthy Moors conveyed,
They roam at large through the Rutulian shade,
Kept for the imperial pleasure, envied fate! 150
And sacred from the subject, and the state.
Though their progenitors, in days of yore,
Did worthy service, and to battle bore
Whole cohorts; taught the general's voice to know,
And rush, themselves an army, on the foe. 155
But what avails their worth! could gold obtain
So rare a creature, worth might plead in vain:
Novius, without delay, their blood would shed,
To raise his Paccius from affliction's bed;
An offering, sacred to the great design, 160
And worthy of the votary and the shrine!
Pacuvius, did our laws the crime allow,
The fairest of his numerous slaves would vow;
The blooming boy, the love-inspiring maid,
With garlands crown, and to the temple lead; 165
Nay, seize his Iphigene, prepared to wed,
And drag her to the altar, from the bed;
Though hopeless, like the Grecian sire, to find,
In happy hour, the substituted hind.
And who shall say my countryman does ill? 170
A thousand ships are trifles to a Will!
For Paccius, should the fates his health restore,
May cancel every _item_ framed before
(Won by his friend's vast merits, and beset,
On all sides, by the inextricable net), 175
And, in one line, convey plate, jewels, gold,
Lands, every thing to him, "to have and hold."
With victory crowned, Pacuvius struts along,
And smiles contemptuous on the baffled throng;
Then counts his gains, and deems himself o'erpaid 180
For the cheap murder of one wretched maid.
Health to the man! and may he THUS get more
Than Nero plundered! pile his shining store
High, mountain high; in years a Nestor prove,
And, loving none, ne'er know another's love! 185

SATIRE XIII.

TO CALVINUS.

Man, wretched man, whene'er he stoops to sin,
Feels, with the act, a strong remorse within;
'Tis the first vengeance: Conscience tries the cause,
And vindicates the violated laws;
Though the bribed Prætor at their sentence spurn, 5
And falsify the verdict of the Urn.
What says the world, not always, friend, unjust,
Of his late injury, this breach of trust?
That thy estate so small a loss can bear,
And that the evil, now no longer rare, 10
Is one of that inevitable set,
Which man is born to suffer and forget.
Then moderate thy grief: 'tis mean to show
An anguish disproportioned to the blow.
But thou, so new to crosses, as to feel 15
The slightest portion of the slightest ill,
Art tired with rage, because a friend forswears
The sacred pledge, intrusted to his cares.
What, thou, Calvinus, bear so weak a mind!
Thou, who hast left full three-score years behind! 20
Heaven, have they taught thee nothing! nothing, friend!
And art thou grown gray-headed to no end!--
Wisdom, I know, contains a sovereign charm,
To vanquish fortune, or at least disarm:
Blest they who walk in her unerring rule!-- 25
Nor those unblest, who, tutored in life's school,
Have learned of old experience to submit,
And lightly bear the yoke they can not quit.
What day so sacred, which no guilt profanes,
No secret fraud, no open rapine stains? 30
What hour, in which no dark assassins prowl,
Nor point the sword for hire, nor drug the bowl?
THE GOOD, ALAS, ARE FEW! "The valued file,"
Less than the gates of Thebes, the mouths of Nile!
For now an age is come, that teems with crimes, 35
Beyond all precedent of former times;
An age so bad, that Nature can not frame
A metal base enough to give it name!
Yet you, indignant at a paltry cheat,
Call heaven and earth to witness the deceit, 40
With cries as deafening, as the shout that breaks
From the bribed audience, when Fæsidius speaks.
Dotard in nonage! are you to be told
What loves, what graces, deck another's gold?
Are you to learn, what peals of mirth resound, 45
At your simplicity, from all around?
When you step forth, and, with a serious air, }
Bid them abstain from perjury, and beware }
To tempt the altars--for A GOD IS THERE! }
Idle old man! there was, indeed, a time, 50
When the rude natives of this happy clime
Cherished such dreams: 'twas ere the king of heaven,
To change his sceptre for a scythe was driven;
Ere Juno yet the sweets of love had tried,
Or Jove advanced beyond the caves of Ide. 55
'Twas when no gods indulged in sumptuous feasts,
No Ganymede, no Hebe served the guests;
No Vulcan, with his sooty labors foul,
Limped round, officious, with the nectared bowl;
But each in private dined: 'twas when the throng 60
Of godlings, now beyond the scope of song,
The courts of heaven, in spacious ease, possess'd,
And with a lighter load poor Atlas press'd!--
Ere Neptune's lot the watery world obtained,
Or Dis and his Sicilian consort reigned; 65
Ere Tityus and his ravening bird were known,
Ixion's wheel, or Sisyphus's stone:
While yet the shades confessed no tyrant's power,
And all below was one Elysian bower!
Vice was a phœnix in that blissful time, 70
Believed, but never seen: and 'twas a crime,
Worthy of death, such awe did years engage,
If manhood rose not up to reverend age,
And youth to manhood, though a larger hoard
Of hips and acorns graced the stripling's board. 75
Then, then was age so venerable thought,
That every day increase of honor brought;
And children, in the springing down, revered
The sacred promise of a hoary beard!
Now, if a friend, miraculously just, 80
Restore the pledge, with all its gathered rust,
'Tis deemed a portent, worthy to appear
Among the wonders of the Tuscan year;
A prodigy of faith, which threats the state,
And a ewe lamb can scarcely expiate!-- 85
Struck at the view, if now I chance to see
A man of ancient worth and probity,
To pregnant mules the MONSTER I compare,
Or fish upturned beneath the wondering share:
Anxious and trembling for the woe to come, 90
As if a shower of stones had fallen on Rome;
As if a swarm of bees, together clung,
Down from the Capitol, thick-clustering, hung;
Or Tiber, swollen to madness, burst away,
And roll'd, a milky deluge, to the sea. 95
And dost thou at a trivial loss repine!
What, if another, by a friend like thine,
Is stripp'd of ten times more! a third, again,
Of what his bursting chest would scarce contain!
For 'tis so common, in this age of ours, 100
So easy, to contemn the Immortal Powers,
That, can we but elude man's searching eyes.
We laugh to scorn the witness of the skies.
Mark, with how bold a voice, and fixed a brow,
The villain dares his treachery disavow! 105
"By the all-hallowed orb that flames above,
I HAD IT NOT! By the red bolts of Jove,
By the winged shaft that laid the Centaur low,
By Dian's arrows, by Apollo's bow,
By the strong lance that Mars delights to wield, 110
By Neptune's trident, by Minerva's shield,
And every weapon that, to vengeance given,
Stores the tremendous magazine of heaven!--
Nay, IF I HAD, I'll slay this son of mine,
And eat his head, soused in Egyptian brine." 115
There are, who think that chance is all in all,
That no First Cause directs the eternal ball;
But that brute Nature, in her blind career,
Varies the seasons, and brings round the year:
These rush to every shrine, with equal ease, 120
And, owning none, swear by what Power you please.
Others believe, and but believe, a god,
And think that punishment MAY follow fraud;
Yet they forswear, and, reasoning on the deed,
Thus reconcile their actions with their creed: 125
"Let Isis storm, if to revenge inclined,
And with her angry sistrum strike me blind,
So, with my eyes, she ravish not my ore,
But let me keep the pledge which I forswore.
Are putrid sores, catarrhs that seldom kill, 130
And crippled limbs, forsooth, so great an ill!
Ladas, if not stark mad, would change, no doubt,
His flying feet for riches and the gout;
For what do those procure him? mere renown,
And the starved honor of an olive crown." 135
"But grant the wrath of heaven be great; 'tis slow,
And days, and months, and years precede the blow.
If, then, to punish ALL, the gods decree,
When, in their vengeance, will they come to me?
But I, perhaps, their anger may appease-- 140
For they are wont to pardon faults like these:
At worst, there's hope; since every age and clime
See different fates attend the self-same crime;
Some made by villainy, and some undone,
And this ascend a scaffold, that a throne." 145
These sophistries, to fix a while suffice
The mind, yet shuddering at the thought of vice;
And, thus confirmed, at the first call they come,
Nay, rush before you to the sacred dome:
Chide your slow pace, drag you, amazed, along, 150
And play the raving Phasma, to the throng.
(For impudence the vulgar suffrage draws,
And seems the assurance of a righteous cause.)
While you, poor wretch, suspected by the crowd,
With Stentor's lungs, or Mars', exclaim aloud: 155
"Jove! Jove! will naught thy indignation rouse?
Canst thou, in silence, hear these faithless vows?
When all thy fury, on the slaves accurst,
From lips of marble or of brass should burst!--
Or else, why burn we incense at thy shrine, 160
And heap thy altars with the fat of swine,
When we might crave redress, for aught I see,
As wisely of Bathyllus as of thee!"
Rash man!--but hear, in turn, what I propose,
To mitigate, if not to heal, your woes; 165
I, who no knowledge of the schools possess,
Cynic, or Stoic, differing but in dress,
Or thine, calm Epicurus, whose pure mind
To one small garden every wish confined.
In desperate cases, able doctors fee; 170
But trust your pulse to Philip's boy--or me.
If no example of so foul a deed
On earth be found, I urge no more: proceed,
And beat your breast, and rend your hoary hair;
'Tis just:-for thus our losses we declare; 175
And money is bewailed with deeper sighs,
Than friends or kindred, and with louder cries.
There none dissemble, none, with scenic art,
Affect a sorrow, foreign from the heart;
Content in squalid garments to appear, 180
And vex their lids for one hard-gotten tear:
No, genuine drops fall copious from their eyes,
And their breasts labor with unbidden sighs.
But when you see each court of justice thronged
With crowds, like you, by faithless friendship wronged, 185
See men abjure their bonds, though duly framed,
And oft revised, by all the parties named,
While their own hand and seal, in every eye,
Flash broad conviction, and evince the lie;
Shall you alone on Fortune's smiles presume, 190
And claim exemption from the common doom?
--From a white hen, forsooth, 'twas yours to spring,
Ours, to be hatched beneath some luckless wing!
Pause from your grief, and, with impartial eyes,
Survey the daring crimes which round you rise; 195
Your injuries, then, will scarce deserve a name,
And your false friend be half absolved from blame!
What's he, poor knave! to those who stab for hire,
Who kindle, and then spread, the midnight fire?
Say, what to those, who, from the hoary shrine, 200
Tear the huge vessels age hath stamped divine,
Offerings of price, by grateful nations given,
And crowns inscribed, by pious kings, to heaven?
What to the minor thieves, who, missing these,
Abrade the gilded thighs of Hercules, 205
Strip Neptune of his silvery beard, and peel
Castor's leaf gold, where spread from head to heel?
Or what to those, who, with pernicious craft,
Mingle and set to sale the deadly draught;
Or those, who in a raw ox-hide are bound, 210
And, with an ill-starred ape, poor sufferer! drowned?
Yet these--how small a portion of the crimes,
That stain the records of those dreadful times,
And Gallicus, the city præfect, hears,
From light's first dawning, till it disappears! 215
The state of morals would you learn at Rome?
No farther seek than his judicial dome:
Give one short morning to the horrors there,
And then complain, then murmur, if you dare!
Say, whom do goitres on the Alps surprise? 220
In Meroë, whom the breast's enormous size?
Whom locks, in Germany, of golden hue,
And spiral curls, and eyes of sapphire blue?
None; for the prodigy, among them shared,
Becomes mere nature, and escapes regard. 225
When clouds of Thracian birds obscure the sky,
To arms! to arms! the desperate Pigmies cry:
But soon, defeated in the unequal fray,
Disordered flee; while, pouncing on their prey,
The victor cranes descend, and, clamoring, bear 230
The wriggling manikins aloft in air.
Here, could our climes to such a scene give birth,
We all should burst with agonies of mirth;
There, unsurprised, they view the frequent fight,
Nor smile at heroes scarce a foot in height. 235
"Shall then no ill the perjured head attend,
No punishment o'ertake this faithless friend?"
Suppose him seized, abandoned to your will,
What more would rage? to torture or to kill;
Yet still your loss, your injury would remain, 240
And draw no retribution from his pain.
"True,; but methinks the smallest drop of blood,
Squeezed from his mangled limbs, would do me good:
Revenge, THEY SAY, and I believe their words,
A pleasure sweeter far than life affords." 245
WHO SAY? the fools, whose passions, prone to ire,
At slightest causes, or at none take fire;
Whose boiling breasts, at every turn, o'erflow
With rancorous gall: Chrysippus SAID not so;
Nor Thales, to our frailties clement still; 250
Nor that old man, by sweet Hymettus' hill,
Who drank the poison with unruffled soul,
And dying, from his foes withheld the bowl.
Divine philosophy! by whose pure light
We first distinguish, then pursue the right, 255
Thy power the breast from every error frees,
And weeds out all its vices by degrees:--
Illumined by thy beam, revenge we find, }
The abject pleasure of an abject mind, }
And hence so dear to poor, weak, womankind. } 260
But why are those, Calvinus, thought to scape
Unpunished, whom, in every fearful shape,
Guilt still alarms, and conscience, ne'er asleep,
Wounds with incessant strokes, "not loud but deep,"
While the vexed mind, her own tormentor, plies 265
A scorpion scourge, unmarked by human eyes!
Trust me, no tortures which the poets feign,
Can match the fierce, the unutterable pain
He feels, who night and day, devoid of rest,
Carries his own accuser in his breast. 270
A Spartan once the Oracle besought
To solve a scruple which perplexed his thought,
And plainly tell him, if he might forswear
A purse, of old confided to his care.
Incensed, the priestess answered--"Waverer, no! 275
Nor shalt thou, for the doubt, unpunished go."
With that, he hastened to restore the trust;
But fear alone, not virtue, made him just:
Hence, he soon proved the Oracle divine,
And all the answer worthy of the shrine; 280
For plagues pursued his race without delay,
And swept them from the earth, like dust, away.
By such dire sufferings did the wretch atone
The crime of meditated fraud alone!
For, IN THE EYE OF HEAVEN, a wicked deed 285
Devised, is done: What, then, if we proceed?--
Perpetual fears the offender's peace destroy,
And rob the social hour of all its joy:
Feverish, and parched, he chews, with many a pause,
The tasteless food, that swells beneath his jaws: 290
Spits out the produce of the Albanian hill,
Mellowed by age;--you bring him mellower still,
And lo, such wrinkles on his brow appear,
As if you brought Falernian vinegar!
At night, should sleep his harassed limbs compose, 295
And steal him one short moment from his woes,
Then dreams invade; sudden, before his eyes
The violated fane and altar rise;
And (what disturbs him most) your injured shade,
In more than mortal majesty arrayed, 300
Frowns on the wretch, alarms his treacherous rest,
And wrings the dreadful secret from his breast.
These, these are they, who tremble and turn pale
At the first mutterings of the hollow gale! 305
Who sink with terror at the transient glare
Of meteors, glancing through the turbid air!
Oh, 'tis not chance, they cry; this hideous crash
Is not the war of winds; nor this dread flash
The encounter of dark clouds; but blasting fire,
Charged with the wrath of heaven's insulted sire! 310
That dreaded peal, innoxious, dies away;
Shuddering, they wait the next with more dismay,
As if the short reprieve were only sent
To add new horrors to their punishment.
Yet more; when the first symptoms of disease, 315
When feverish heats, their restless members seize,
They think the plague by wrath divine bestowed,
And feel, in every pang, the avenging God.
Racked at the thought, in hopeless grief they lie,
And dare not tempt the mercy of the sky: 320
For what can such expect! what victim slay,
That is not worthier far to live than they!
With what a rapid change of fancy roll
The varying passions of the guilty soul!--
Bold to offend, they scarce commit the offense, 325
Ere the mind labors with an innate sense
Of right and wrong;--not long, for nature still,
Incapable of change, and fixed in ill,
Recurs to her old habits:--never yet
Could sinner to his sin a period set. 330
When did the flush of modest blood inflame
The cheek, once hardened to the sense of shame?
Or when the offender, since the birth of time,
Retire, contented with a single crime?
And this false friend of ours shall still pursue 335
His dangerous course, till vengeance, doubly due,
O'ertake his guilt; then shalt thou see him cast
In chains, 'mid tortures to expire his last;
Or hurried off, to join the wretched train
Of exiled great ones in the Ægean main. 340
THIS, THOU SHALT SEE; and, while thy voice applauds
The dreadful justice of the offended gods,
Reform thy creed, and, with an humble mind,
Confess that Heaven is NEITHER DEAF NOR BLIND!

SATIRE XIV.

TO FUSCINUS.

Yes, there are faults, Fuscinus, that disgrace
The noblest qualities of birth and place;
Which, like infectious blood, transmitted, run,
In one eternal stream, from sire to son.
If, in destructive play, the senior waste 5
His joyous nights, the child, with kindred taste,
Repeats, in miniature, the darling vice,
Shakes the small box, and cogs the little dice.
Nor does that infant fairer hopes inspire,
Who, trained by the gray epicure, his sire, 10
Has learned to pickle mushrooms, and, like him,
To souse the becaficos, till they swim!--
For take him, thus to early luxury bred,
Ere twice four springs have blossomed o'er his head,
And let ten thousand teachers, hoar with age, 15
Inculcate temperance from the stoic page;
His wish will ever be, in state to dine,
And keep his kitchen's honor from decline!
Does Rutilus inspire a generous mind,
Prone to forgive, and to slight errors blind; 20
Instill the liberal thought, that slaves have powers,
Sense, feeling, all, as exquisite as ours;
Or fury? He, who hears the sounding thong
With far more pleasure than the Siren's song;
Who, the stern tyrant of his small domain, 25
The Polypheme of his domestic train,
Knows no delight, save when the torturer's hand
Stamps, for low theft, the agonizing brand.--
O, what but rage can fill that stripling's breast,
Who sees his savage sire then only blest, 30
When his stretched ears drink in the wretches' cries,
And racks and prisons fill his vengeful eyes!
And dare we hope, yon girl, from Larga sprung,
Will e'er prove virtuous; when her little tongue
Ne'er told so fast her mother's wanton train, 35
But that she stopped and breathed, and stopped again?
Even from her tender years, unnatural trust!
The child was privy to the matron's lust:--
Scarce ripe for man, with her own hand, she writes
The billets, which the ancient bawd indites, 40
Employs the self-same pimps, and looks, ere long,
To share the visits of the amorous throng!
So Nature prompts: drawn by her secret tie,
We view a parent's deeds with reverent eye;
With fatal haste, alas! the example take, 45
And love the sin, for the dear sinner's sake.--
One youth, perhaps, formed of superior clay,
And warmed, by Titan, with a purer ray,
May dare to slight proximity of blood,
And, in despite of nature, to be good: 50
One youth--the rest the beaten pathway tread,
And blindly follow where their fathers led.
O fatal guides! this reason should suffice
To win you from the slippery route of vice,
This powerful reason; lest your sons pursue 55
The guilty track, thus plainly marked by you!
For youth is facile, and its yielding will
Receives, with fatal ease, the imprint of ill:
Hence Catilines in every clime abound;
But where are Cato and his nephew found! 60
Swift from the roof where youth, Fuscinus, dwell,
Immodest sights, immodest sounds expel;
THE PLACE IS SACRED: Far, far hence, remove,
Ye venal votaries of illicit love!
Ye dangerous knaves, who pander to be fed, 65
And sell yourselves to infamy for bread!
REVERENCE TO CHILDREN, AS TO HEAVEN, IS DUE:
When you would, then, some darling sin pursue,
Think that your infant offspring eyes the deed;
And let the thought abate your guilty speed, 70
Back from the headlong steep your steps entice,
And check you, tottering on the verge of vice.
O yet reflect! for should he e'er provoke,
In riper age, the law's avenging stroke
(Since not alone in person and in face, 75
But even in morals, he will prove his race,
And, while example acts with fatal force,
Side, nay outstrip, you, in the vicious course),
Vexed, you will rave and storm; perhaps, prepare,
Should threatening fail, to name another heir! 80
--Audacious! with what front do you aspire
To exercise the license of a sire?
When all, with rising indignation, view
The youth, in turpitude, surpassed by you,
By you, old fool, whose windy, brainless head, 85
Long since required the cupping-glass's aid!
Is there a guest expected? all is haste,
All hurry in the house, from first to last.
"Sweep the dry cobwebs down!" the master cries,
Whips in his hand, and fury in his eyes, 90
"Let not a spot the clouded columns stain;
Scour you the figured silver; you, the plain!"
O inconsistent wretch! is all this coil,
Lest the front hall, or gallery, daubed with soil
(Which, yet, a little sand removes), offend 95
The prying eye of some indifferent friend?
And do you stir not, that your son may see
The house from moral filth, from vices free!
True, you have given a citizen to Rome;
And she shall thank you, if the youth become, 100
By your o'er-ruling care, or soon or late,
A useful member of the parent state:
For all depends on you; the stamp he'll take,
From the strong impress which, at first, you make;
And prove, as vice or virtue was your aim, 105
His country's glory, or his country's shame.
The stork, with snakes and lizards from the wood
And pathless wild, supports her callow brood;
And the fledged storklings, when to wing they take,
Seek the same reptiles, through the devious brake. 110
The vulture snuffs from far the tainted gale,
And, hurrying where the putrid scents exhale,
From gibbets and from graves the carcass tears,
And to her young the loathsome dainty bears;
Her young, grown vigorous, hasten from the nest, 115
And gorge on carrion, with the parent's zest.
While Jove's own eagle, bird of noble blood,
Scours the wide champaign for untainted food,
Bears the swift hare, or swifter fawn away,
And feeds her nestlings with the generous prey; 120
Her nestlings hence, when from the rock they spring,
And, pinched by hunger, to the quarry wing,
Stoop only to the game they tasted first,
When, clamorous, from the shell, to light they burst.
Centronius planned and built, and built and planned; 125
And now along Cajeta's winding strand,
And now amid Præneste's hills, and now
On lofty Tibur's solitary brow,
He reared prodigious piles, with marble brought
From distant realms, and exquisitely wrought: 130
Prodigious piles! that towered o'er Fortune's shrine,
As those of gelt Posides, Jove, o'er thine!
While thus Centronius crowded seat on seat,
He spent his cash, and mortgaged his estate;
Yet left enough his family to content: 135
Which his mad son, to the last farthing, spent,
While, building on, he strove, with fond desire,
To shame the stately structures of his sire!
Sprung from a father who the sabbath fears,
There is, who naught but clouds and skies reveres; 140
And shuns the taste, by old tradition led,
Of human flesh, and swine's, with equal dread:--
This first: the prepuce next he lays aside,
And, taught the Roman ritual to deride,
Clings to the Jewish, and observes with awe 145
All Moses bade in his mysterious law:
And, therefore, to the circumcised alone
Will point the road, or make the fountain known;
Warned by his bigot sire, who whiled away,
Sacred to sloth, each seventh revolving day. 150
But youth, so prone to follow other ills,
Are driven to AVARICE, against their wills;
For this grave vice, assuming Virtue's guise,
Seems Virtue's self, to undiscerning eyes.
The miser, hence, a frugal man, they name; 155
And hence, they follow, with their whole acclaim,
The griping wretch, who strictlier guards his store,
Than if the Hesperian dragon kept the door.--
Add that the vulgar, still a slave to gold,
The worthy, in the wealthy, man behold; 160
And, reasoning from the fortune he has made,
Hail him, A perfect master of his trade!
And true, indeed, it is--such MASTERS raise
Immense estates; no matter, by what ways;
But raise they do, with brows in sweat still dyed, 165
With forge still glowing, and with sledge still plied.
The father, by the love of wealth possest,
Convinced--the covetous alone are blest,
And that, nor past, nor present times, e'er knew
A poor man happy--bids his son pursue 170
The paths they take, the courses they affect,
And follow, at the heels, this thriving sect.
Vice boasts its elements, like other arts;
These, he inculcates first: anon, imparts
The petty tricks of saving; last, inspires, 175
Of endless wealth, the insatiable desires.--
Hungry himself, his hungry slaves he cheats,
With scanty measures, and unfaithful weights;
And sees them lessen, with increasing dread,
The flinty fragments of his vinewed bread. 180
In dog-days, when the sun, with fervent power,
Corrupts the freshest meat from hour to hour,
He saves the last night's hash, sets by a dish
Of sodden beans, and scraps of summer fish,
And half a stinking shad, and a few strings 185
Of a chopped leek--all told, like sacred things,
And sealed with caution, though the sight and smell
Would a starved beggar from the board repel.
But why this dire avidity of gain?
This mass collected with such toil and pain? 190
Since 'tis the veriest madness, to live poor,
And die with bags and coffers running o'er.
Besides, while thus the streams of affluence roll,
They nurse the eternal dropsy of the soul,
For thirst of wealth still grows with wealth increast, 195
And they desire it less, who have it least.--
Now swell his wants: one manor is too small,
Another must be bought, house, lands, and all;
Still "cribbed confined," he spurns the narrow bounds,
And turns an eye on every neighbor's grounds: 200
There all allures; his crops appear a foil
To the rich produce of their happier soil.
"And this, I'll purchase, with the grove," he cries,
"And that fair hill, where the gray olives rise."
Then, if the owner to no price will yield 205
(Resolved to keep the hereditary field),
Whole droves of oxen, starved to this intent,
Among his springing corn, by night, are sent,
To revel there, till not a blade be seen,
And all appear like a close-shaven green. 210
"Monstrous!" you say--And yet, 'twere hard to tell,
What numbers, tricks like these have forced to sell.
But, sure, the general voice has marked his name,
And given him up to infamy and shame:--
"And what of that?" he cries. "I valued more 215
A single lupine, added to my store,
Than all the country's praise; if cursed by fate
With the scant produce of a small estate."--
'Tis well! no more shall age or grief annoy,
But nights of peace succeed to days of joy, 220
If more of ground to you alone pertain,
Than Rome possessed, in Numa's pious reign!
Since then, the veteran, whose brave breast was gored,
By the fierce Pyrrhic, or Molossian sword,
Hardly received for all his service past, 225
And all his wounds, TWO ACRES at the last;
The meed of toil and blood! yet never thought
His country thankless, or his pains ill bought.
For then, this little glebe, improved with care,
Largely supplied, with vegetable fare, 230
The good old man, the wife in childbed laid,
And four hale boys, that round the cottage played,
Three free-born, one a slave: while, on the board,
Huge porringers, with wholesome pottage stored,
Smoked for their elder brothers, who were now, 235
Hungry and tired, expected from the plow.--
TWO ACRES will not now, so changed the times,
Afford a garden plot:--and hence our crimes!
For not a vice that taints the human soul,
More frequent points the sword, or drugs the bowl, 240
Than the dire lust of an "untamed estate"--
Since, he who covets wealth, disdains to wait:
Law threatens, Conscience calls--yet on he hies,
And this he silences, and that defies,
Fear, Shame--he bears down all, and, with loose rein, 245
Sweeps headlong o'er the alluring paths of gain!
"Let us, my sons, contented with our lot,
Enjoy, in peace, our hillock and our cot"
(The good old Marsian to his children said),
"And from our labor seek our daily bread. 250
So shall we please the rural Powers, whose care,
And kindly aid, first taught us to prepare
The golden grain, what time we ranged the wood,
A savage race, for acorns, savage food!
The poor who, with inverted skins, defy 255
The lowering tempest and the freezing sky,
Who, without shame, without reluctance go,
In clouted brogues, through mire and drifted snow,
Ne'er think of ill: 'tis purple, boys, alone,
Which leads to guilt--purple, to us unknown." 260
Thus, to their children, spoke the sires of yore.
Now, autumn's sickly heats are scarcely o'er,
Ere, while deep midnight yet involves the skies,
The impatient father shakes his son, and cries,
"What, ho, boy, wake! Up; pleas, rejoinders draw, 265
Turn o'er the rubric of our ancient law;
Up, up, and study: or, with brief in hand,
Petition Lælius for a small command,
A captain's!--Lælius loves a spreading chest,
Broad shoulders, tangled locks, and hairy breast: 270
The British towers, the Moorish tents destroy,
And the rich Eagle, at threescore, enjoy!"
"But if the trump, prelusive to the fight,
And the long labors of the camp affright,
Go, look for merchandise of readiest vent, 275
Which yields a sure return of cent. per cent.
Buy this, no matter what; the ware is good,
Though not allowed on this side Tiber's flood:
Hides, unguents, mark me, boy, are equal things,
And gain smells sweet, from whatsoe'er it springs. 280
This golden sentence, which the Powers of heaven,
Which Jove himself, might glory to have given,
Will never, never, from your thoughts, I trust--
NONE QUESTION WHENCE IT COMES; BUT COME IT MUST."
This, when the lisping race a farthing ask, 285
Old women set them, as a previous task;
The wondrous apophthegm all run to get,
And learn it sooner than their alphabet.
But why this haste? Without your care, vain fool!
The pupil will, ere long, the tutor school: 290
Sleep, then, in peace; secure to be outdone,
Like Telamon, or Peleus, by your son.
O, yet indulge awhile his tender years:
The seeds of vice, sown by your fostering cares,
Have scarce ta'en root; but they will spring at length, 295
"Grow with his growth, and strengthen with his strength."
Then, when the firstlings of his youth are paid,
And his rough chin requires the razor's aid,
Then he will swear, then to the altar come,
And sell deep perjuries for a paltry sum!-- 300
Believe your step-daughter already dead,
If, with an ample dower, she mount his bed:
Lo! scarcely laid, his murderous fingers creep,
And close her eyes in everlasting sleep.
For that vast wealth which, with long years of pain, 305
You thought would be acquired by land and main,
He gets a readier way: the skill's not great,
The toil not much, to make a knave complete.
But you will say hereafter, "I am free:
He never learned those practices of me." 310
Yes, all of you:--for he who, madly blind,
Imbues with avarice his children's mind,
Fires with the thirst of riches, and applauds
The attempt, to double their estate by frauds,
Unconscious, flings the headlong wheels the rein, 315
Which he may wish to stop, but wish in vain;
Deaf to his voice, with growing speed they roll,
Smoke down the steep, and spurn the distant goal!
None sin by rule; none heed the charge precise,
THUS, AND NO FARTHER, MAY YE STEP IN VICE; 320
But leap the bounds prescribed, and, with free pace,
Scour far and wide the interdicted space.
So, when you tell the youth, that FOOLS alone
Regard a friend's distresses as their own;
You bid the willing hearer riches raise, 325
By fraud, by rapine, by the worst of ways;
Riches, whose love is on your soul imprest,
Deep as their country's on the Decii's breast;
Or Thebes on his, who sought an early grave
(If Greece say true), her sacred walls to save. 330
Thebes, where, impregned with serpents' teeth, the earth
Poured forth a marshaled host, prodigious birth!
Horrent with arms, that fought with headlong rage,
Nor asked the trumpet's signal, to engage.--
But mark the end! the fire, derived, at first, 335
From a small sparkle, by your folly nurst,
Blown to a flame, on all around it preys,
And wraps you in the universal blaze.
So the young lion rent, with hideous roar,
His keeper's trembling limbs, and drank his gore. 340
"Tush! I am safe," you cry; "Chaldæan seers
Have raised my Scheme, and promised length of years."
But has your son subscribed? will he await
The lingering distaff of decrepit Fate?
No; his impatience will the work confound, 345
And snap the vital thread, ere half unwound.
Even now your long and stag-like age annoys
His future hopes, and palls his present joys.
Fly then, and bid Archigenes prepare
An antidote, if life be worth your care; 350
If you would see another autumn close,
And pluck another fig, another rose:--
Take mithridate, rash man, before your meat,
A FATHER, you? and without medicine eat!
Come, my Fuscinus, come with me, and view 355
A scene more comic than the stage e'er knew.
Lo! with what toil, what danger, wealth is sought,
And to the fane of watchful Castor brought;
Since MARS THE AVENGER slumbered, to his cost,
And, with his helmet, all his credit lost! 360
Quit then the plays! the FARCE OF LIFE supplies
A scene more comic in the sage's eyes.
For who amuses most?--the man who springs,
Light, through the hoop, and on the tight-rope swings;
Or he, who, to a fragile bark confined, 365
Dwells on the deep, the sport of wave and wind?
Fool-hardy wretch! scrambling for every bale
Of stinking merchandise, exposed to sale;
And proud to Crete, for ropy wine, to rove,
And jars, the fellow-citizens of Jove! 370
THAT skips along the rope, with wavering tread,
Dangerous dexterity, which brings him bread;
THIS ventures life, for wealth too vast to spend,
Farm joined to farm, and villas without end!
Lo! every harbor thronged and every bay, 375
And half mankind upon the watery way!
For, where he hears the attractive voice of gain,
The merchant hurries, and defies the main.--
Nor will he only range the Libyan shore,
But, passing Calpé, other worlds explore; 380
See Phœbus, sinking in the Atlantic, lave
His fiery car, and hear the hissing wave.
And all for what? O glorious end! to come,
His toils o'erpast, with purse replenished, home,
And, with a traveler's privilege, vent his boasts, 385
Of unknown monsters seen on unknown coasts.
What varying forms in madness may we trace!--
Safe in his loved Electra's fond embrace,
Orestes sees the avenging Furies rise,
And flash their bloody torches in his eyes; 390
While Ajax strikes an ox, and, at the blow,
Hears Agamemnon or Ulysses low:
And surely he (though, haply, he forbear,
Like these, his keeper and his clothes to tear)
Is just as mad, who to the water's brim 395
Loads his frail bark--a plank 'twixt death and him!
When all this risk is but to swell his store
With a few coins, a few gold pieces more.
Heaven lowers, and frequent, through the muttering air,
The nimble lightning glares, or seems to glare: 400
"Weigh! weigh!" the impatient man of traffic cries,
"These gathering clouds, this rack that dims the skies,
Are but the pageants of a sultry day;
A thunder shower, that frowns, and melts away."
Deluded wretch! dashed on some dangerous coast, 405
This night, this hour, perhaps, his bark is lost;
While he still strives, though whelmed beneath the wave,
His darling purse with teeth or hand to save.
Thus he, who sighed, of late, for all the gold
Down the bright Tagus and Pactolus rolled, 410
Now bounds his wishes to one poor request,
A scanty morsel and a tattered vest;
And shows, where tears, where supplications fail,
A daubing of his melancholy tale!
Wealth, by such dangers earned, such anxious pain, 415
Requires more care to keep it, than to gain:
Whate'er my miseries, make me not, kind Fate,
The sleepless Argus of a vast estate!
The slaves of Licinus, a numerous band,
Watch through the night, with buckets in their hand, 420
While their rich master trembling lies, afraid
Lest fire his ivory, amber, gold, invade,
The naked Cynic mocks such restless cares,
His earthen tub no conflagration fears;
If cracked, to-morrow he procures a new, 425
Or, coarsely soldering, makes the old one do.
Even Philip's son, when, in his little cell
Content, he saw the mighty master dwell,
Owned, with a sigh, that he, who naught desired,
Was happier far, than he who worlds required, 430
And whose ambition certain dangers brought,
Vast, and unbounded, as the object sought.--
Fortune, advanced to heaven by fools alone,
Would lose, were wisdom ours, her shadowy throne.
"What call I, then, ENOUGH?" What will afford 435
A decent habit, and a frugal board;
What Epicurus' little garden bore,
And Socrates sufficient thought, before:
These squared by Nature's rules their blameless life--
Nature and Wisdom never are at strife. 440
You think, perhaps, these rigid means too scant,
And that I ground philosophy on want;
Take then (for I will be indulgent now,
And something for the change of times allow),
As much as Otho for a knight requires:-- 445
If this, unequal to your wild desires,
Contract your brow; enlarge the sum, and take
As much as two--as much as three--will make.
If yet, in spite of this prodigious store,
Your craving bosom yawn, unfilled, for more, 450
Then, all the wealth of Lydia's king, increast
By all the treasures of the gorgeous East,
Will not content you; no, nor all the gold
Of that proud slave, whose mandate Rome controlled,
Who swayed the Emperor, and whose fatal word 455
Plunged in the Empress' breast the lingering sword!

SATIRE XV.

TO VOLUSIUS BITHYNICUS.

Who knows not to what monstrous gods, my friend,
The mad inhabitants of Egypt bend?--
The snake-devouring ibis, these enshrine,
Those think the crocodile alone divine;
Others, where Thebes' vast ruins strew the ground, 5
And shattered Memnon yields a magic sound,
Set up a glittering brute of uncouth shape,
And bow before the image of an ape!
Thousands regard the hound with holy fear,
Not one, Diana: and 'tis dangerous here, 10
To violate an onion, or to stain
The sanctity of leeks with tooth profane.
O holy nations! Sacro-sanct abodes!
Where every garden propagates its gods!
They spare the fleecy kind, and think it ill, 15
The blood of lambkins, or of kids, to spill:
But, human flesh--O! that is lawful fare.
And you may eat it without scandal there.
When, at the amazed Alcinous' board, of old,
Ulysses of so strange an action told, 20
He moved of some the mirth, of more the gall,
And, for a lying vagrant, passed with all.
"Will no one plunge this babbler in the waves
(Worthy a true Charybdis)--while he raves
Of monsters seen not since the world began, 25
Cyclops and Læstrigons, who feed on man!
For me--I less should doubt of Scylla's train,
Of rocks that float and jostle in the main,
Of bladders filled with storms, of men, in fine,
By magic changed, and driven to grunt with swine, 30
Than of his cannibals:--the fellow feigns,
As if he thought Phæacians had no brains."
Thus, one, perhaps, more sober than the rest,
Observed, and justly, of their traveled guest,
Who spoke of prodigies till then unknown; 35
Yet brought no attestation but his own.
--I bring my wonders, too; and I can tell,
When Junius, late, was consul, what befell,
Near Coptus' walls; tell of a people stained
With deeper guilt than tragedy e'er feigned: 40
For, sure, no buskined bard, from Pyrrha's time,
E'er taxed a whole community with crime;
Take then a scene yet to the stage unknown,
And, by a nation, acted--IN OUR OWN!
Between two neighboring towns a deadly hate, 45
Sprung from a sacred grudge of ancient date,
Yet burns; a hate no lenients can assuage,
No time subdue, a rooted, rancorous rage!
Blind bigotry, at first, the evil wrought:
For each despised the other's gods, and thought 50
Its own the true, the genuine, in a word,
The only deities to be adored!
And now the Ombite festival drew near:
When the prime Tent'rites, envious of their cheer,
Resolved to seize the occasion, to annoy 55
Their feast, and spoil the sacred week of joy.--
It came: the hour the thoughtless Ombites greet,
And crowd the porches, crowd the public street,
With tables richly spread; where, night and day,
Plunged in the abyss of gluttony, they lay: 60
(For savage as the nome appears, it vies
In luxury, if I MAY TRUST MY EYES,
With dissolute Canopus:) Six were past,
Six days of riot, and the seventh and last
Rose on the feast; and now the Tent'rites thought, 65
A cheap, a bloodless victory might be bought,
O'er such a helpless crew: nor thought they wrong,
Nor could the event be doubtful, where a throng
Of drunken revelers, stammering, reeling-ripe,
And capering to a sooty minstrel's pipe. 70
Coarse unguents, chaplets, flowers, on this side fight,
On that, keen hatred, and deliberate spite!
At first both sides, though eager to engage.
With taunts and jeers, the heralds of their rage,
Blow up their mutual fury; and anon, 75
Kindled to madness, with loud shouts rush on;
Deal, though unarmed, their vengeance blindly round,
And with clenched fists print many a ghastly wound.
Then might you see, amid the desperate fray,
Features disfigured, noses torn away, 80
Hands, where the gore of mangled eyes yet reeks,
And jaw-bones starting through the cloven cheeks!
But this is sport, mere children's play, they cry--
As yet beneath their feet no bodies lie,
And, to what purpose should such armies fight 85
The cause of heaven, if none be slain outright?
Roused at the thought, more fiercely they engage,
With stones, the weapons of intestine rage;
Yet not precisely such, to tell you true,
As Turnus erst, or mightier Ajax, threw: 90
Nor quite so large as that two-handed stone,
Which bruised Æneas on the huckle-bone;
But such as men, in our degenerate days,
Ah, how unlike to theirs! make shift to raise.
Even in his time, Mæonides could trace 95
Some diminution of the human race:
Now, earth, grown old and frigid, rears with pain
A pigmy brood, a weak and wicked train;
Which every god, who marks their passions vile,
Regards with laughter, though he loathes the while. 100
But to our tale. Enforced with armed supplies.
The zealous Tent'rites feel their courage rise,
And wave their swords, and, kindling at the sight,
Press on, and with fell rage renew the fight.
The Ombites flee; they follow:--in the rear, 105
A luckless wretch, confounded by his fear,
Trips and falls headlong; with loud yelling cries,
The pack rush in, and seize him as he lies.
And now the conquerors, none to disappoint
Of the dire banquet, tear him joint by joint, 110
And dole him round; the bones yet warm, they gnaw,
And champ the flesh that heaves beneath their jaw.
They want no cook to dress it--'twould be long,
And appetite is keen, and rage is strong.
And here, Volusius, I rejoice at least, 115
That fire was unprofaned by this cursed feast,
Fire, rapt from heaven! and you will, sure, agree
To greet the element's escape, with me.
--But all who ventured on the carcass, swore
They never tasted--aught so sweet before! 120
Nor did the relish charm the first alone--
Those who arrived too late for flesh, or bone,
Stooped down, and scraping where the wretch had lain,
With savage pleasure licked the gory plain!
The Vascons once (the story yet is rife), 125
With such dire sustenance prolonged their life;
But then the cause was different: Fortune, there,
Proved adverse: they had borne the extremes of war,
The rage of famine, the still-watchful foe,
And all the ills beleaguered cities know. 130
(And nothing else should prompt mankind to use
Such desperate means.) May this their crime excuse!
For after every root and herb were gone,
And every aliment to hunger known;
When their lean frames, and cheeks of sallow hue, 135
Struck even the foe with pity at the view,
And all were ready their own flesh to tear,
They first adventured on this horrid fare.
And surely every god would pity grant
To men so worn by wretchedness and want, 140
And even the very ghosts of those they ate,
Absolve them, mindful of their dreadful state!
True, we are wiser; and, by Zeno taught,
Know life itself may be too dearly bought;
But the poor Vascon, in that early age, 145
Knew naught of Zeno, or the Stoic page.--
Now, thanks to Greece and Rome, in wisdom's robe
The bearded tribes rush forth, and seize the globe;
Already, learned Gaul aspires to teach
Your British orators the Art of Speech, 150
And Thulé, blessings on her, seems to say,
She'll hire a good grammarian, cost what may.
The Vascons, then, who thus prolonged their breath,
And the Saguntines, true, like them, to death,
Brave too, like them, but by worse ills subdued, 155
Had some small plea for this abhorred food.
Diana first (and let us doubt no more
The barbarous rites we disbelieved of yore)
Reared her dread altar near the Tauric flood,
And asked the sacrifice of human blood: 160
Yet there the victim only lost his life,
And feared no cruelty beyond the knife.
Far, far more savage Egypt's frantic train,
They butcher first, and then devour the slain!
But say, what causa impelled them to proceed, 165
What siege, what famine, to this monstrous deed?
What could they more, had Nile refused to rise,
And the soil gaped with ever-glowing skies,
What could they more, the guilty Flood to shame,
And heap opprobrium on his hateful name! 170
Lo! what the barbarous hordes of Scythia, Thrace,
Gaul, Britain, never dared--dared by a race
Of puny dastards, who, with fingers frail,
Tug the light oar, and hoist the little sail,
In painted pans! What tortures can the mind 175
Suggest for miscreants of this abject kind,
Whom spite impelled worse horrors to pursue,
Than famine, in its deadliest form, e'er knew!
NATURE, who gave us tears, by that alone
Proclaims she made the feeling heart our own; 180
And 'tis her noblest boon: This bids us fly,
To wipe the drops from sorrowing friendship's eye,
Sorrowing ourselves; to wail the prisoner's state,
And sympathize in the wronged orphan's fate,
Compelled his treacherous guardian to accuse, 185
While many a shower his blooming cheek bedews,
And through his scattered tresses, wet with tears,
A doubtful face, or boy or girl's, appears.
As Nature bids, we sigh, when some bright maid
Is, ere her spousals, to the pyre conveyed; 190
Some babe--by fate's inexorable doom,
Just shown on earth, and hurried to the tomb.
For who, that to the sanctity aspires
Which Ceres, for her mystic torch, requires,
Feels not another's woes? This marks our birth; 195
The great distinction from the beasts of earth!
And therefore--gifted with superior powers,
And capable of things divine--'tis ours,
To learn, and practice, every useful art;
And, from high heaven, deduce that better part, 200
That moral sense, denied to creatures prone,
And downward bent, and found with man alone!--
For He, who gave this vast machine to roll,
Breathed LIFE in them, in us a REASONING SOUL;
That kindred feelings might our state improve, 205
And mutual wants conduct to mutual love;
Woo to one spot the scattered hordes of men,
From their old forest and paternal den;
Raise the fair dome, extend the social line,
And, to our mansion, those of others join, 210
Join too our faith, our confidence to theirs,
And sleep, relying on the general cares:--
In war, that each to each support might lend,
When wounded, succor, and when fallen, defend;
At the same trumpet's clangor rush to arms, 215
By the same walls be sheltered from alarms,
Near the same tower the foe's incursions wait,
And trust their safety to one common gate.
--But serpents, now, more links of concord bind:
The cruel leopard spares the spotted kind; 220
No lion spills a weaker lion's gore,
No boar expires beneath a stronger boar;
In leagues of friendship tigers roam the plain,
And bears with bears perpetual peace maintain.
While man, alas! fleshed in the dreadful trade, 225
Forges without remorse the murderous blade,
On that dire anvil, where primæval skill,
As yet untaught a brother's blood to spill,
Wrought only what meek nature would allow,
Goads for the ox, and coulters for the plow! 230
Even this is trifling: we have seen a rage
Too fierce for murder only to assuage;
Seen a whole state their victim piecemeal tear,
And count each quivering limb delicious fare.
O, could the Samian Sage these horrors see, 235
What would he say? or to what deserts flee?
He, who the flesh of beasts, like man's, declined,
And scarce indulged in pulse--of every kind!

SATIRE XVI.

TO GALLUS.

Who can recount the advantages that wait,
Dear Gallus, on the Military State?--
For let me once, beneath a lucky star,
Faint as I am of heart, and new to war,
But join the camp, and that ascendant hour 5
Shall lord it o'er my fate with happier power,
Than if a line from Venus should commend
My suit to Mars, or Juno stand my friend!
And first, of benefits which all may share:
'Tis somewhat--that no citizen shall dare 10
To strike you, or, though struck, return the blow:
But waive the wrong; nor to the Prætor show
His teeth dashed out, his face deformed with gore,
And eyes no skill can promise to restore!
A Judge, if to the camp your plaints you bear, 15
Coarse shod, and coarser greaved, awaits you there:
By antique law proceeds the cassocked sage,
And rules prescribed in old Camillus' age;
_To wit_, ~Let soldiers seek no foreign bench,~
~Nor plead to any charge without the trench~. 20
O nicely do Centurions sift the cause,
When buff-and-belt-men violate the laws!
And ample, if with reason we complain,
Is, doubtless, the redress our injuries gain!
Even so:--but the whole legion are our foes, 25
And, with determined aim, the award oppose.
"These sniveling rogues take special pleasure still
To make the punishment outweigh the ill."
So runs the cry; and he must be possest
Of more, Vagellius, than thy iron breast, 30
Who braves their anger, and, with ten poor toes,
Defies such countless hosts of hobnailed shoes.
Who so untutored in the ways of Rome,
Say, who so true a Pylades, to come
Within the camp?--no; let thy tears be dried, 35
Nor ask that kindness, which must be denied,
For, when the Court exclaims, "Your witness, here!"
Let that firm friend, that man of men, appear,
And testify but what he saw and heard;
And I pronounce him worthy of the beard 40
And hair of our forefathers! You may find
False witnesses against an honest hind,
Easier than true (and who their fears can blame?),
Against a soldier's purse, a soldier's fame!
But there are other benefits, my friend, 45
And greater, which the sons of war attend:
Should a litigious neighbor bid me yield
My vale irriguous, and paternal field;
Or from my bounds the sacred landmark tear,
To which, with each revolving spring, I bear, 50
In pious duty to the grateful soil,
My humble offerings, honey, meal, and oil;
Or a vile debtor my just claims withstand,
Deny his signet, and abjure his hand;
Term after Term I wait, till months be past, 55
And scarce obtain a hearing at the last.
Even when the hour is fixed, a thousand stays
Retard my suit, a thousand vague delays:
The cause is called, the witnesses attend,
Chairs brought, and cushions laid--and there an end: 60
Cæditius finds his cloak or gown too hot,
And Fuscus slips aside to seek the pot;
Thus, with our dearest hopes the judges sport,
And when we rise to speak, dismiss the Court!
But spear-and-shield-men may command the hour; 65
The time to plead is always in their power;
Nor are their wealth and patience worn away,
By the slow drag-chain of the law's delay.
Add that the soldier, while his father lives,
And he alone, his wealth bequeaths or gives; 70
For what by pay is earned, by plunder won,
The law declares, vests solely in the son.
Coranus therefore sees his hoary sire,
To gain his Will, by every art, aspire!--
He rose by service; rank in fields obtained, 75
And well deserved the fortune which he gained.
And every prudent chief must, sure, desire,
That still the worthiest should the most acquire;
That those who merit, their rewards should have,
Trappings, and chains, and all that decks the brave. 80

PERSIUS.

PROLOGUE.

'Twas never yet my luck, I ween,
To drench my lips in Hippocrene;
Nor, if I recollect aright,
On the forked Hill to sleep a night,
That I, like others of the trade, 5
Might wake--a poet ready made!
Thee, Helicon, with all the Nine,
And pale Pyrene, I resign,
Unenvied, to the tuneful race,
Whose busts (of many a fane the grace) 10
Sequacious ivy climbs, and spreads
Unfading verdure round their heads.
Enough for me, too mean for praise,
To bear my rude, uncultured lays
To Phœbus and the Muses' shrine, 15
And place them near their gifts divine.
Who bade the parrot χαῖρε cry;
And forced our language on the pie?
The BELLY: Master, he, of Arts,
Bestower of ingenious parts; 20
Powerful the creatures to endue
With sounds their natures never knew!
For, let the wily hand unfold
The glittering bait of tempting gold,
And straight the choir of daws and pies, 25
To such poetic heights shall rise,
That, lost in wonder, you will swear
Apollo and the Nine are there!

SATIRE I.

Alas, for man! how vain are all his cares!
And oh! what bubbles, his most grave affairs!
Tush! who will read such trite--Heavens! this to me?
Not one, by Jove. Not one? Well, two, or three;
Or rather--none: a piteous case, in truth! 5
Why piteous? _lest Polydamas_, forsooth,
_And Troy's proud dames_, pronounce my merits fall
Beneath their Labeo's! I can bear it all.
Nor should my friend, though still, as fashion sways,
The purblind town conspire to sink or raise, 10
Determine, as her wavering beam prevails,
And trust his judgment to her coarser scales.
O not abroad for vague opinion roam;
The wise man's bosom is his proper home:
And Rome is--What? Ah, might the truth be told!-- 15
And, sure it may, it must.--When I behold
What fond pursuits have formed our prime employ,
Since first we dropped the playthings of the boy,
To gray maturity, to this late hour,
When every brow frowns with censorial power, 20
Then, then--O yet suppress this carping mood.
Impossible! I could not if I would;
For nature framed me of satiric mould,
And spleen, too petulant to be controlled.
Immured within our studies, we compose; 25
Some, shackled metre; some, free-footed prose;
But all, bombast; stuff, which the breast may strain,
And the huge lungs puff forth with awkward pain.
'Tis done! and now the bard, elate and proud,
Prepares a grand rehearsal for the crowd. 30
Lo! he steps forth in birthday splendor bright,
Combed and perfumed, and robed in dazzling white;
And mounts the desk; his pliant throat he clears,
And deals, insidious, round his wanton leers;
While Rome's first nobles, by the prelude wrought, 35
Watch, with indecent glee, each prurient thought,
And squeal with rapture, as the luscious line
Thrills through the marrow, and inflames the chine.
Vile dotard! Canst thou thus consent to please!
To pander for such itching fools as these! 40
Fools--whose applause must shoot beyond thy aim,
And tinge thy cheek, bronzed as it is, with shame!
But wherefore have I learned, if, thus represt,
The leaven still must swell within my breast?
If the wild fig-tree, deeply rooted there, 45
Must never burst its bounds, and shoot in air?
Are these the fruits of study! these of age!
O times, O manners--Thou misjudging sage,
Is science only useful as 'tis shown,
And is thy knowledge nothing, if not known? 50
"But, sure, 'tis pleasant, as we walk, to see
The pointed finger, hear the loud _That's he_,
On every side:--and seems it, in your sight,
So poor a trifle, that whate'er we write
Is introduced to every school of note, 55
And taught the youth of quality by rote?
--Nay, more! Our nobles, gorged, and swilled with wine,
Call, o'er the banquet, for a lay divine.
Here one, on whom the princely purple glows,
Snuffles some musty legend through his nose; 60
Slowly distills Hypsipyle's sad fate,
And love-lorn Phillis, dying for her mate,
With what of woeful else is said or sung;
And trips up every word, with lisping tongue.
The maudlin audience, from the couches round, 65
Hum their assent, responsive to the sound.--
And are not now the poet's ashes blest!
Now lies the turf not lightly on his breast!
They pause a moment--and again, the room
Rings with his praise: now will not roses bloom, 70
Now, from his relics, will not violets spring,
And o'er his hallowed urn their fragrance fling!
"You laugh ('tis answered), and too freely here
Indulge that vile propensity to sneer.
Lives there, who would not at applause rejoice, 75
And merit, if he could, the public voice?
Who would not leave posterity such rhymes,
As cedar oil might keep to latest times;
Rhymes, which should fear no desperate grocer's hand,
Nor fly with fish and spices through the land! 80
Thou, my kind monitor, whoe'er thou art,
Whom I suppose to play the opponent's part,
Know--when I write, if chance some happier strain
(And chance it needs must be) rewards my pain,
Know, I can relish praise with genuine zest; 85
Not mine the torpid, mine the unfeeling breast:
But that I merely toil for this acclaim,
And make these eulogies my end and aim,
I must not, can not grant: for--sift them all,
Mark well their value, and on what they fall: 90
Are they not showered (to pass these trifles o'er)
On Labeo's Iliad, drunk with hellebore?
On princely love-lays driveled without thought,
And the crude trash on citron couches wrought?
You spread the table--'tis a master-stroke, 95
And give the shivering guest a threadbare cloak,
Then, while his heart with gratitude dilates
At the glad vest and the delicious cates,
Tell me, you cry--for truth is my delight,
What says the Town of me, and what I write? 100
He can not:--he has neither ears nor eyes.
But shall I tell you, who your bribes despise?
--Bald trifler! cease at once your thriftless trade;
That mountain paunch for verse was never made.
O Janus, happiest of thy happy kind!-- 105
No waggish stork can peck at thee behind:
No tongue thrust forth, expose to passing jeers;
No twinkling fingers, perked like ass's ears,
Point to the vulgar mirth:--but you, ye Great,
To a blind occiput condemned by fate, 110
Prevent, while yet you may, the rabble's glee,
And tremble at the scoff you can not see!--
"What says the Town"--precisely what it ought:
All you produce, sir, with such skill is wrought,
That o'er the polished surface, far and wide, 115
The critic nail without a jar must glide;
Since every verse is drawn as straight and fine
As if one eye had fixed the ruddled line.
--Whate'er the subject of his varied rhymes,
The humors, passions, vices of the times; 120
The pomp of nobles, barbarous pride of kings,
All, all is great, and all inspired he sings!
Lo! striplings, scarcely from the ferule freed,
And smarting yet from Greek, with headlong speed
Rush on heroics; though devoid of skill 125
To paint the rustling grove, or purling rill;
Or praise the country, robed in cheerful green,
Where hogs, and hearths, and osier frails are seen,
And happy hinds, who leap o'er smouldering hay,
In honor, Pales, of thy sacred day. 130
_--Scenes of delight!--there Remus lived, and there,_
_In grassy furrows Quinctius tired his share;_
_Quinctius, on whom his wife, with trembling haste,_
_The dictatorial robes, exulting, placed,_
_Before his team; while homeward, with his plow, 135_
_The lictors hurried_--Good! a Homer, thou!
There are, who hunt out antiquated lore;
And never, but on musty authors, pore;
These, Accius' jagged and knotty lines engage,
And those, Pacuvius' hard and horny page; 140
Where, in quaint tropes, Antiopa is seen
To--_prop her dolorific heart with teen_!
O, when you mark the sire, to judgment blind,
Commend such models to the infant mind,
Forbear to wonder whence this olio sprung, 145
This sputtering jargon which infests our tongue;
This scandal of the times, which shocks my ear,
And which our knights bound from their seats to hear!
How monstrous seems it, that we can not plead,
When called to answer for some felon deed, 150
Nor danger from the trembling head repel,
Without a wish for--_Bravo! Vastly well!_
This Pedius is a thief, the accusers cry.
You hear them, Pedius; now, for your reply?
In terse antitheses he weighs the crime, 155
Equals the pause, and balances the chime;
And with such skill his flowery tropes employs,
That the rapt audience scarce contain their joys.
_O charming! charming! he must sure prevail._
THIS, _charming_! Can a Roman wag the tail? 160
Were the wrecked mariner to chant his woe,
Should I or sympathy or alms bestow?
Sing you, when, in that tablet on your breast,
I see your story to the life exprest;
A shattered bark, dashed madly on the shore, 165
And you, scarce floating, on a broken oar!--
No, he must feel that would my pity share,
And drop a natural, not a studied tear.
But yet our numbers boast a grace unknown
To our rough sires, a smoothness all our own. 170
True: the spruce metre in sweet cadence flows,
And answering sounds a tuneful chime compose:
Blue Nereus here, the Dolphin swift divides;
And Idè there, sees Attin climb her sides:
Nor this alone--for, in some happier line, 175
We win the chine of the long Apennine!
_Arms and the man_--Here, too, perhaps, you find
A pithless branch beneath a fungous rind?
Not so;--a seasoned trunk of many a day,
Whose gross and watery parts are drawn away. 180
But what, in fine (for still you jeer me), call
For the moist eye, bowed head, and lengthened drawl,
What strains of genuine pathos?--_O'er the hill_
_The dismal slug-horn sounded, loud and shrill,_
_A Mimallonian blast: fired at the sound, 185_
_In maddening groups the Bacchants pour around,_
_Mangle the haughty calf with gory hands,_
_And scourge the indocile lynx with ivy wands;_
_While Echo lengthens out the barbarous yell,_
_And propagates the din from cell to cell!_ 190
O were not every spark of manly sense,
Of pristine vigor quenched, or banished hence,
Could this be borne! this cuckoo-spit of Rome,
Which gathers round the lips in froth and foam!
--The _haughty calf_, and _Attin's_ jangling strain, 195
Dropped, without effort, from the rheumy brain;
No savor they of bleeding nails afford,
Or desk, oft smitten for the happy word.
But why must you, alone, displeased appear,
And with harsh truths thus grate the tender ear? 200
O yet beware! think of the closing gate!
And dread the cold reception of the great:
This currish humor you extend too far,
While every word growls with that hateful gnar!
Right! From this hour (for now my fault I see) 205
All shall be charming--charming all, for me:
What late seemed base, already looks divine,
And wonders start to view in every line!
Tis well, you cry: this spot let none defile,
Or turn to purposes obscene and vile. 210
Paint, then, two snakes entwined; and write around,
URINE NOT, CHILDREN, HERE; 'TIS HOLY GROUND.
Awed, I retire: and yet--when vice appeared,
Lucilius o'er the town his falchion reared;
On Lupus, Mutius, poured his rage by name, 215
And broke his grinders on their bleeding fame.
And yet--arch Horace, while he strove to mend,
Probed all the foibles of his smiling friend;
Played lightly round and round the peccant part,
And won, unfelt, an entrance to his heart. 220
Well skilled the follies of the crowd to trace,
And sneer, with gay good humor in his face.
And I!--I must not mutter? No; nor dare--
Not to myself? No. To a ditch? Nowhere.
Yes, here I'll dig--here, to sure trust confide 225
The secret which I would, but can not, hide.
My darling book, a word;--"King Midas wears
(These eyes beheld them, these!) such ass's ears!"--
This quip of mine, which none must hear, or know,
This fond conceit, which takes my fancy so, 230
This nothing, if you will; you should not buy
With all those Iliads that you prize so high.
But thou, whom Eupolis' impassioned page,
Hostile to vice, inflames with kindred rage,
Whom bold Cratinus, and that awful sire, 235
Force, as thou readest, to tremble and admire;
O, view my humbler labors:--there, if aught
More highly finished, more maturely wrought,
Detain thy ear, and give thy breast to glow
With warmth, responsive to the inspiring flow-- 240
I seek no farther:--Far from me the rest,
Yes, far the wretch, who, with a low-born jest,
Can mock the blind for blindness, and pursue
With vulgar ribaldry the Grecian shoe:
Bursting with self-conceit, with pride elate, 245
Because, forsooth, in magisterial state,
His worship (ædile of some paltry town)
Broke scanty weights, and put false measures down.
Far too be he--the monstrous witty fool,
Who turns the numeral scale to ridicule; 250
Derides the problems traced in dust or sand,
And treads out all Geometry has planned--
Who roars outright to see Nonaria seize,
And tug the cynic's beard--To such as these
I recommend, at morn, the Prætor's bill, 255
At eve, Calirrhoë, or--what they will.

SATIRE II.

TO PLOTIUS MACRINUS (ON HIS BIRTHDAY).

Health to my friend! and while my vows I pay,
O mark, Macrinus, this auspicious day,
Which, to your sum of years already flown,
Adds yet another--with a whiter stone.
Indulge your Genius, drench in wine your cares:-- 5
It is not yours, with mercenary prayers
To ask of Heaven what you would die with shame,
Unless you drew the gods aside, to name;
While other great ones stand, with down-cast eyes,
And with a silent censer tempt the skies!-- 10
Hard, hard the task, from the low, muttered prayer,
To free the fanes; or find one suppliant there,
Who dares to ask but what his state requires,
And live to heaven and earth with known desires!
Sound sense, integrity, a conscience clear, 15
Are begged aloud, that all at hand may hear:
But prayers like these (half whispered, half supprest)
The tongue scarce hazards from the conscious breast:
_O that I could my rich old uncle see,_
_In funeral pomp!--O that some deity 20_
_To pots of buried gold would guide my share!_
_O that my ward, whom I succeed as heir,_
_Were once at rest! poor child, he lives in pain,_
_And death to him must be accounted gain.--_
_By wedlock, thrice has Nerius swelled his store, 25_
_And now--is he a widower once more!_
These blessings, with due sanctity, to crave,
Once, twice, and thrice in Tiber's eddying wave
He dips each morn, and bids the stream convey
The gathered evils of the night, away! 30
One question, friend:--an easy one, in fine--
What are thy thoughts of Jove? My thoughts! Yes; thine.
Wouldst thou prefer him to the herd of Rome?
To any individual?--But, to whom?
To Staius, for example. Heavens! a pause? 35
Which of the two would best dispense the laws?
Best shield the unfriended orphan? Good! Now move
The suit to Staius, late preferred to Jove:--
"O Jove! good Jove!" he cries, o'erwhelmed with shame,
And must not Jove himself, _O Jove!_ exclaim? 40
Or dost thou think the impious wish forgiven,
Because, when thunder shakes the vault of heaven,
The bolt innoxious flies o'er thee and thine,
To rend the forest oak and mountain pine?
--Because, yet livid from the lightning's seath, 45
Thy mouldering corpse (a monument of wrath)
Lies in no blasted grove, for public care
To expiate with sacrifice and prayer;
Must, therefore, Jove, unsceptred and unfeared,
Give to thy ruder mirth his foolish beard? 50
What bribe hast thou to win the Powers divine,
Thus, to thy nod? The lungs and lights of swine.
Lo! from his little crib, the grandam hoar,
Or aunt, well versed in superstitious lore,
Snatches the babe; in lustral spittle dips 55
Her middle finger, and anoints his lips
And forehead:--"Charms of potency," she cries,
"To break the influence of evil eyes!"
The spell complete, she dandles high in air
Her starveling hope; and breathes a humble prayer, 60
That heaven would only tender to his hands
All Crassus' houses, all Licinius' lands!--
"Let every gazer by his charms be won,
And kings and queens aspire to call him son:
Contending virgins fly his smiles to meet, 65
And roses spring where'er he sets his feet!"
Insane of soul--but I, O Jove, am free.
Thou knowest, I trust no nurse with prayers for me:
In mercy, then, reject each fond demand,
Though, robed in white, she at thy altar stand. 70
This begs for nerves to pain and sickness steeled,
A frame of body that shall slowly yield
To late old age:--'Tis well, enjoy thy wish.--
But the huge platter, and high-seasoned dish,
Day after day the willing gods withstand, 75
And dash the blessing from their opening hand.
That sues for wealth: the laboring ox is slain,
And frequent victims woo the "god of gain."
"O crown my hearth with plenty and with peace,
And give my flocks and herds a large increase!" 80
Madman! how can he, when, from day to day,
Steer after steer in offerings melt away?--
Still he persists; and still new hopes arise,
With harslet and with tripe, to storm the skies.
"Now swell my harvests! now my fields! now, now, 85
It comes--it comes--auspicious to my vow!"
While thus, poor wretch, he hangs 'twixt hope and fear,
He starts, in dreadful certainty, to hear
His chest reverberate the hollow groan
Of his last piece, to find itself alone? 90
If from my sideboard I should bid you take
Goblets of gold or silver, you would shake
With eager rapture; drops of joy would start,
And your left breast scarce hold your fluttering heart:
Hence, you presume the gods are bought and sold; 95
And overlay their busts with captured gold.
For, of the brazen brotherhood, the Power
Who sends you dreams, at morning's truer hour,
Most purged from phlegm, enjoys your best regards,
And a gold beard his prescient skill rewards! 100
Now, from the temples, GOLD has chased the plain
And frugal ware of Numa's pious reign;.
The ritual pots of brass are seen no more,
And Vesta's pitchers blaze in burnished ore.
O groveling souls! and void of things divine! 105
Why bring our passions to the Immortals' shrine,
And judge, from what this CARNAL SENSE delights,
Of what is pleasing in their purer sights?
THIS, the Calabrian fleece with purple soils,
And mingles cassia with our native oils; 110
Tears from the rocky conch its pearly store,
And strains the metal from the glowing ore.
This, this, indeed, is vicious; yet it tends
To gladden life, perhaps; and boasts its ends;
But you, ye priests (for, sure, ye can), unfold-- 115
In heavenly things, what boots this pomp of gold?
No more, in truth, than dolls to Venus paid
(The toys of childhood), by the riper maid!
No; let me bring the Immortals, what the race
Of great Messala, now depraved and base, 120
On their huge charger, can not;--bring a mind,
Where legal and where moral sense are joined
With the pure essence; holy thoughts, that dwell
In the soul's most retired and sacred cell;
A bosom dyed in honor's noblest grain, 125
Deep-dyed:--with these let me approach the fane,
And Heaven will hear the humble prayer I make,
Though all my offering be a barley cake.

SATIRE III.

What! ever thus? See! while the beams of day
In broad effulgence o'er the shutters play,
Stream through the crevice, widen on the walls,
On the fifth line the gnomon's shadow falls!
Yet still you sleep, like one that, stretched supine, 5
Snores off the fumes of strong Falernian wine.
Up! up! mad Sirius parches every blade,
And flocks and herds lie panting in the shade.
Here my youth rouses, rubs his heavy eyes,
"Is it _so_ late? so _very_ late?" he cries; 10
"Shame, shame! Who waits? Who waits there? quick, my page!
Why, when!" His bile overflows; he foams with rage,
And brays so loudly, that you start in fear,
And fancy all Arcadia at your ear.
Behold him, with his bedgown and his books, 15
His pens and paper, and his studious looks,
Intent and earnest! What arrests his speed,
Alas! the viscous liquid clogs the reed.
Dilute it. Pish! now every word I write
Sinks through the paper, and eludes the sight; 20
Now the pen leaves no mark, the point's too fine;
Now 'tis too blunt, and doubles every line!
O wretch! whom every day more wretched sees--
Are these the fruits of all your studies? these!
Give o'er at once: and like same callow dove, 25
Some prince's heir, some lady's infant love,
Call for chewed pap; and, pouting at the breast,
Scream at the lullaby that woos to rest!
"But why such warmth? See what a pen! nay, see!"--
And is this subterfuge employed on me? 30
Fond boy! your time, with your pretext, is lost;
And all your arts are at your proper cost.
While with occasion thus you madly play,
Your best of life unheeded leaks away,
And scorn flows in apace: the ill-baked ware, 35
Rung by the potter, will its fault declare;
Thus--But you yet are moist and yielding clay:
Call for some plastic hand without delay,
Nor cease the labor, till the wheel produce
A vessel nicely formed, and fit for use. 40
"But wherefore this? My father, thanks to fate,
Left me a fair, if not a large, estate:--
A salt unsullied on my table shines,
And due oblations, in their little shrines,
My household gods receive; my hearth is pure, 45
And all my means of life confirmed and sure:
What need I more?" Nay, nothing; it is well.
--And it becomes you, too, with pride to swell,
Because, the thousandth in descent, you trace
Your blood, unmixed, from some high Tuscan race; 50
Or, when the knights march by the censor's chair,
In annual pomp, can greet a kinsman there!
Away! these trappings to the rabble show:
Me they deceive not; for your soul I know,
Within, without.--And blush you not to see 55
Loose Natta's life and yours so well agree?
--But Natta's is not _life_: the sleep of sin
Has seized his powers, and palsied all within;
Huge cawls of fat envelope every part,
And torpor weighs on his insensate heart: 60
Absolved from blame by ignorance so gross,
He neither sees nor comprehends his loss;
Content in guilt's profound abyss to drop,
Nor, struggling, send one bubble to the top!
Dread sire of gods! when lust's envenomed stings 65
Stir the fierce natures of tyrannic kings;
When storms of rage within their bosoms roll,
And call, in thunder, for thy just control,
O, then relax the bolt, suspend the blow,
And thus, and thus alone, thy vengeance show, 70
In all her charms, set Virtue in their eye,
And let them see their loss, despair, and--die!
Say, could the wretch severer tortures feel,
Closed in the brazen bull?--Could the bright steel,
That, while the board with regal pomp was spread, 75
Gleamed o'er the guest, suspended by a thread,
Worse pangs inflict than he endures, who cries
(As on the rack of conscious guilt he lies,
In mental agony), "Alas! I fall,
Down, down the unfathomed steep, without recall!" 80
And withers at the heart, and dares not show
His bosom wife the secret of his woe!
Oft (I remember yet), my sight to spoil.
Oft, when a boy, I bleared my eyes with oil,
What time I wished my studies to decline, 85
Nor make great Cato's dying speeches mine;
Speeches my master to the skies had raised,
Poor pedagogue! unknowing what he praised;
And which my sire, suspense 'twixt hope and fear,
With venial pride, had brought his friends to hear. 90
For then, alas! 'twas my supreme delight
To study chances, and compute aright,
What sum the lucky sice would yield in play,
And what the fatal aces sweep away:
Anxious no rival candidate for fame 95
Should hit the long-necked jar with nicer aim;
Nor, while the whirling top beguiled the eye,
With happier skill the sounding scourge apply.
But you have passed the schools; have studied long,
And learned the eternal bounds of Right and Wrong, 100
And what the Porch (by Mycon limned, of yore,
With trowsered Medes), unfolds of ethic lore,
Where the shorn youth, on herbs and pottage fed,
Bend, o'er the midnight page, the sleepless head:
And, sure, the letter where, divergent wide, 105
The Samian branches shoot on either side,
Has to your view, with no obscure display,
Marked, on the right, the strait but better way.
And yet you slumber still! and still opprest
With last night's revels, knock your head and breast! 110
And stretching o'er your drowsy couch, produce
Yawn after yawn, as if your jaws were loose!
Is there no certain mark at which to aim?--
Still must your bow be bent at casual game?
With clods, and potsherds, must you still pursue 115
Each wandering crow that chance presents to view;
And, careless of your life's contracted span,
Live from the moment, and without a plan?
When bloated dropsies every limb invade.
In vain to hellebore you fly for aid: 120
Meet with preventive skill the young disease,
And Craterus will boast no golden fees.
Mount, hapless youths, on Contemplation's wings,
And mark the Causes and the End of things:--
Learn what we are, and for what purpose born, 125
What station here 'tis given us to adorn;
How best to blend security with ease,
And win our way through life's tempestuous seas;
What bounds the love of property requires,
And what to wish, with unreproved desires; 130
How far the genuine use of wealth extends;
And the just claims of country, kindred, friends
What Heaven would have us be, and where our stand,
In this GREAT WHOLE, is fixed by high command.
Learn these--and envy not the sordid gains 135
Which recompense the well-tongued lawyer's pains;
Though Umbrian rustics, for his sage advice,
Pour in their jars of fish, and oil, and spice,
So thick and fast, that, ere the first be o'er,
A second, and a third, are at the door. 140
"But here, some brother of the blade, some coarse
And shag-haired captain, bellows loud and hoarse;
Away with this cramp, philosophic stuff!
My learning serves my turn, and that's enough.
I laugh at all your dismal Solons, I; 145
Who stalk with downcast looks, and heads awry,
Muttering within themselves, where'er they roam,
And churning their mad silence till it foam!
Who mope o'er sick men's dreams, howe'er absurd,
And on protruded lips poise every word; 150
_Nothing can come from nothing._ Apt and plain!
_Nothing return to nothing._ Good, again!
And this it is for which they peak and pine,
This precious stuff, for which they never dine!"
Jove, how he laughs! the brawny youths around 155
Catch the contagion, and return the sound;
Convulsive mirth on every cheek appears,
And every nose is wrinkled into sneers!
"Doctor, a patient said, employ your art,
I feel a strange wild fluttering at the heart; 160
My breast seems tightened, and a fetid smell
sets my breath--feel here; all is not well,"
Medicine and rest the fever's rage compose,
And the third day his blood more calmly flows.
The fourth, unable to contain, he sends 165
A hasty message to his wealthier friends,
And _just about to bathe_--requests, in fine,
A moderate flask of old Surrentin wine.
"Good heavens! my friend, what sallow looks are here?"
Pshaw! nonsense! nothing! "Yet 'tis worth your fear, 170
Whate'er it be: the waters rise within,
And, though unfelt, distend your sickly skin."
--And yours still more! Whence springs this freedom, tro'?
Are you, forsooth, my guardian? Long ago
I buried him; and thought my nonage o'er: 175
But you remain to school me! "Sir, no more."--
Now to the bath, full gorged with luscious fare,
See the pale wretch his bloated carcass bear;
While from his lungs, that faintly play by fits,
His gasping throat sulphureous steam emits!-- 180
Cold shiverings seize him, as for wine he calls,
His grasp betrays him, and the goblet falls!
From his loose teeth the lip, convulsed, withdraws,
And the rich cates drop through his listless jaws.
Then trumpets, torches come, in solemn state; 185
And my fine youth, so confident of late,
Stretched on a splendid bier, and essenced o'er,
Lies, a stiff corpse, heels foremost at the door.
Romans of yesterday, with covered head,
Shoulder him to the pyre, and--all is said!-- 190
"But why to me? Examine every part;
My pulse:--and lay your finger on my heart;
You'll find no fever: touch my hands and feet,
A natural warmth, and nothing more, you'll meet."
'Tis well! But if you light on gold by chance, 195
If a fair neighbor cast a sidelong glance,
Still will that pulse with equal calmness flow,
And still that heart no fiercer throbbings know?
Try yet again. In a brown dish behold,
Coarse gritty bread, and coleworts stale and old: 200
Now, prove your taste. Why those averted eyes?
Hah! I perceive:--a secret ulcer lies
Within that pampered mouth, too sore to bear
The untender grating of plebeian fare!
Where dwells this _natural warmth_, when danger's near, 205
And "each particular hair" starts up with fear?
Or where resides it, when vindictive ire
Inflames the bosom; when the veins run fire,
The reddening eye-balls glare; and all you say,
And all you do, a mind so warped betray, 210
That mad Orestes, if the freaks he saw,
Would give you up at once to chains and straw!

SATIRE IV.

What! you, my Alcibiades, aspire
To sway the state!--(Suppose that bearded sire,
Whom hemlock from a guilty world removed,
Thus to address the stripling that he loved.)
On what apt talents for a charge so high, 5
Ward of great Pericles, do you rely?
Forecast on others by gray hairs conferred,
Haply, with you, anticipates the beard!
And prompts you, prescient of the public weal,
Now to disclose your thoughts, and now conceal! 10
Hence, when the rabble form some daring plan,
And factious murmurs spread from man to man,
Mute and attentive you can bid them stand,
By the majestic wafture of your hand!
Lo! all is hushed: what now, what will he speak, 15
What floods of sense from his charged bosom break!
"Romans! I think--I fear--I think, I say,
This is not well:--perhaps, the better way."--
O power of eloquence! But you, forsooth,
In the nice, trembling scale can poise the truth, 20
With even hand; can with intentive view,
Amid deflecting curves, the right pursue;
Or, where the rule deceives the vulgar eye
With its warped foot, the unerring line apply:
And, while your sentence strikes with doom precise, 25
Stamp the black Theta on the front of vice!
Rash youth! relying on a specious skin,
While all is dark deformity within,
Check the fond thought; nor, like the peacock proud,
Spread your gay plumage to the applauding crowd, 30
Before your hour arrive:--Ah, rather drain
Whole isles of hellebore, to cool your brain!
For, what is YOUR chief good? "To heap my board
With every dainty earth and sea afford;
To bathe, and bask me in the sunny ray, 35
And doze the careless hours of life away."
Hold, hold! you tattered beldame, hobbling by,
If haply asked, would make the same reply.
"But I am nobly born." Agreed. "And fair."
'Tis granted too: yet goody Baucis there, 40
Who, to the looser slaves, her pot-herbs cries,
Is just as philosophic, just as wise.--
How few, alas! their proper faults explore!
While, on his loaded back, who walks before,
Each eye is fixed.--You touch a stranger's arm, 45
And ask him if he knows Vectidius' farm?
"Whose," he replies? That rich old chuff's, whose ground
Would tire a hawk to wheel it fairly round.
"O ho! that wretch, on whose devoted head
Ill stars and angry gods their rage have shed! 50
Who on high festivals, when all is glee,
And the loose yoke hangs on the cross-way tree,
As, from the jar, he scrapes the incrusted clay,
Groans o'er the revels of so dear a day;
Champs on a coated onion dipt in brine; 55
And while his hungry hinds exulting dine
On barley broth, sucks up, with thrifty care,
The mothery dregs of his palled vinegar!"
But, if "YOU bask you in the sunny ray,
And doze the careless hours of youth away," 60
There are, who at such gross delights will spurn,
And spit their venom on your life in turn;
Expose, with eager hate, your low desires,
Your secret passions, and unhallowed fires.--
"Why, while the beard is nursed with every art, 65
Those anxious pains to bare the shameful part?
In vain:--should five athletic knaves essay
To pluck, with ceaseless care, the weeds away,
Still the rank fern, congenial to the soil,
Would spread luxuriant, and defeat their toil!" 70
Misled by rage, our bodies we expose,
And while we give, forget to ward, the blows;
This, this is life! and thus our faults are shown,
By mutual spleen: we know--and we are known!
But your defects elude inquiring eyes!-- 75
Beneath the groin the ulcerous evil lies,
Impervious to the view; and o'er the wound
The broad effulgence of the zone is bound!
But can you, thus, the inward pang restrain,
Thus cheat the sense of languor and of pain? 80
"But if the people call me wise and just,
Sure I may take the general voice on trust!"--
No:--If you tremble at the sight of gold;
Indulge lust's wildest sallies uncontrolled;
Or, bent on outrage, at the midnight hour, 85
Girt with a ruffian band, the Forum scour;
Then, wretch! in vain the voice of praise you hear,
And drink the vulgar shout with greedy ear.
Hence, with your spurious claims! Rejudge your cause
And fling the rabble back their vile applause; 90
To your own breast, in quest of worth, repair,
And blush to find how poor a stock is there!

SATIRE V.

TO ANNÆUS CORNUTUS.

PERSIUS. Poets are wont a hundred mouths to ask,
A hundred tongues--whate'er the purposed task;
Whether a tragic tale of Pelops' line
For the sad actor, with deep mouth, to whine;
Or Epic lay;--the Parthian winged with fear, 5
And wrenching from his groin the Roman spear.
CORNUTUS. Heavens! to what purpose (sure I heard thee wrong),
Tend those huge gobbets of robustious song,
Which, struggling into day, distend thy lungs,
And need a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues? 10
Let fustian bards to Helicon repair,
And suck the spongy fogs that hover there,
Bards, in whose fervid brains, while sense recoils,
The pot of Progne, or Thyestes boils,
Dull Glyco's feast!--But what canst thou propose? 15
Puffed by thy heaving lungs no metal glows;
Nor dost thou, mumbling o'er some close-spent strain,
Croak the grave nothings of an idle brain;
Nor swell, until thy cheeks, with thundering sound,
Displode, and spurt their airy froth around. 20
Confined to common life, thy numbers flow,
And neither soar too high, nor sink too low;
There strength and ease in graceful union meet,
Though polished, subtle, and though poignant, sweet;
Yet powerful to abash the front of crime, 25
And crimson error's cheek with sportive rhyme.
O still be this thy study, this thy care:
Leave to Mycenæ's prince his horrid fare,
His head and feet; and seek, with Roman taste,
For Roman food--a plain but pure repast. 30
PERSIUS. Mistake me not. Far other thoughts engage
My mind, Cornutus, than to swell my page
With air-blown trifles, impotent and vain,
And grace, with noisy pomp, an empty strain.
Oh, no: the world shut out, 'tis my design, 35
To open (prompted by the inspiring Nine)
The close recesses of my breast, and bare
To your keen eye each thought, each feeling, there;
Yes, best of friends! 'tis now my wish to prove
How much you fill my heart, engross my love. 40
Ring then--for, to your practiced ear, the sound
Will show the solid, and where guile is found
Beneath the varnished tongue: for THIS, in fine,
I dared to wish a hundred voices mine;
Proud to declare, in language void of art, 45
How deep your form is rooted in my heart,
And paint, in words--ah! could they paint the whole--
The ineffable sensations of my soul.
When first I laid the purple by, and free,
Yet trembling at my new-felt liberty, 50
Approached the hearth, and on the Lares hung
The bulla, from my willing neck unstrung;
When gay associates, sporting at my side.
And the white boss, displayed with conscious pride,
Gave me, unchecked, the haunts of vice to trace, 55
And throw my wandering eyes on every face,
When life's perplexing maze before me lay,
And error, heedless of the better way,
To straggling paths, far from the route of truth,
Woo'd, with blind confidence, my timorous youth, 60
I fled to you, Cornutus, pleased to rest
My hopes and fears on your Socratic breast,
Nor did you, gentle Sage, the charge decline:
Then, dextrous to beguile, your steady line
Reclaimed, I know not by what winning force, 65
My morals, warped from virtue's straighter course;
While reason pressed incumbent on my soul,
That struggled to receive the strong control,
And took like wax, tempered by plastic skill;
The form your hand imposed; and bears it still! 70
Can I forget how many a summer's day,
Spent in your converse, stole, unmarked, away?
Or how, while listening with increased delight,
I snatched from feasts the earlier hours of night?
--One time (for to your bosom still I grew), 75
One time of study, and of rest, we knew;
One frugal board where, every care resigned,
An hour of blameless mirth relaxed the mind.
And sure our lives, which thus accordant move
(Indulge me here, Cornutus), clearly prove 80
That both are subject to the self-same law,
And from one horoscope their fortunes draw;
And whether Destiny's unerring doom
In equal Libra poised our days to come;
Or friendship's holy hour our fates combined, 85
And to the Twins a sacred charge assigned;
Or Jove, benignant, broke the gloomy spell
By angry Saturn wove;--I know not well--
But sure some star there is, whose bland control
Subdues, to yours, the temper of my soul! 90
Countless the various species of mankind,
Countless the shades which separate mind from mind;
No general object of desire is known;
Each has his will, and each pursues his own;
With Latian wares, one roams the Eastern main, 95
To purchase spice, and cummin's blanching grain;
Another, gorged with dainties, swilled with wine,
Fattens in sloth, and snores out life, supine;
This loves the Campus; that, destructive play;
And those, in wanton dalliance melt away:-- 100
But when the knotty gout their strength has broke,
And their dry joints crack like some withered oak,
Then they look back, confounded and aghast,
On the gross days in fogs and vapors past;
With late regret the waste of life deplore, 105
No purpose gained, and time, alas! no more.
But you, my friend, whom nobler views delight,
To pallid vigils give the studious night;
Cleanse youthful breasts from every noxious weed,
And sow the tilth with Cleanthean seed. 110
There seek, ye young, ye old, secure to find
That certain end which stays the wavering mind;
Stores, which endure, when other means decay,
Through life's last stage, a sad and cheerless way.
"Right; and to-morrow this shall be our care." 115
Alas! to-morrow, like to-day, will fare.
"What! is one day, forsooth, so great a boon?"
But when it comes (and come it will too soon),
Reflect, that yesterday's to-morrow's o'er.--
Thus "one to-morrow! one to-morrow! more," 120
Have seen long years before them fade away;
And still appear no nearer than to-day!
So while the wheels on different axles roll,
In vain (though governed by the self-same pole)
The hindmost to o'ertake the foremost tries: 125
Fast as the one pursues the other flies!
FREEDOM, in truth, it steads us much to have:
Not that by which each manumitted slave,
Each Publius, with his tally, may obtain
A casual dole of coarse and damaged grain. 130
--O souls! involved in Error's thickest shade,
Who think a Roman with one turn is made!
Look on this paltry groom, this Dama here,
Who at three farthings would be prized too dear;
This blear-eyed scoundrel, who your husks would steal, 135
And outface truth to hide the starving meal;
Yet--let his master twirl this knave about,
And MARCUS DAMA in a trice steps out!
Amazing! MARCUS surety?--yet distrust!
MARCUS your judge?--yet fear a doom unjust! 140
MARCUS avouch it?--then the fact is clear.
The writings!--set your hand, good MARCUS, here."
This is mere liberty--a name, alone:
Yet this is all the cap can make our own.
"Sure, there's no other. All mankind agree 145
That those who live without control are free:
_I_ live without control; and _therefore_ hold
Myself more free than Brutus was of old."
Absurdly put; a Stoic cries, whose ear,
Rinsed with sharp vinegar, is quick to hear: 150
True;--all who live without control are free;
But that YOU live so, I can ne'er agree.
"No? From the Prætor's wand when I withdrew,
Lord of myself, why, might I not pursue
My pleasure unrestrained, respect still had 155
To what the rubric of the law forbad?"
Listen--but first your brows from anger clear,
And bid your nose dismiss that rising sneer;
Listen, while I the genuine truth impart,
And root those old wives' fables from your heart. 160
It was not, is not in the "Prætor's wand,"
To gift a fool with power, to understand
The nicer shades of duty, and educe,
From short and rapid life, its end and use;
The laboring hind shall sooner seize the quill, 165
And strike the lyre with all a master's skill.
Reason condemns the thought, with mien severe,
And drops this maxim in the secret ear,
"Forbear to venture, with preposterous toil,
On what, in venturing, you are sure to spoil." 170
In this plain sense of what is just and right
The laws of nature and of man unite;
That Inexperience should some caution show,
And spare to reach at what she does not know.
Prescribe you hellebore! without the skill 175
To weigh the ingredients, or compound the pill?--
Physic, alarmed, the rash attempt withstands,
And wrests the dangerous mixture from your hands.
Should the rude clown, skilled in no star to guide
His dubious course, rush on the trackless tide, 180
Would not Palemon at the fact exclaim,
And swear the world had lost all sense of shame!
Say, is it yours, by wisdom's steady rays,
To walk secure through life's entangled maze?
Yours to discern the specious from the true, 185
And where the gilt conceals the brass from view?
Speak, can you mark, with some appropriate sign,
What to pursue, and what, in turn, decline?
Does moderation all your wishes guide,
And temperance at your cheerful board preside? 190
Do friends your love experience? are your stores
Now dealt with closed and now with open doors,
As fit occasion calls? Can you restrain
The eager appetite of sordid gain?
Nor feel, when in the mire a doit, you note, 195
Mercurial spittle gurgle in your throat?
If you can say, and truly, "THESE ARE MINE,
And THIS I CAN:"--suffice it. I decline
All farther question; you are wise and free,
No less by Jove's than by the law's decree. 200
But if, good Marcus, you who formed so late
One of our batch, of our enslaved estate,
Beneath a specious outside, still retain
The foul contagion of your ancient strain;
If the sly fox still burrow in some part, 205
Some secret corner, of your tainted heart;
I straight retract the freedom which I gave,
And hold your Dama still, and still a slave!
Reason concedes you nothing. Let us try.
Thrust forth your finger. "See." O, heavens, awry! 210
Yet what so trifling?--But, though altars smoke,
Though clouds of incense every god invoke,
In vain you sue, one drachm of RIGHT to find,
One scruple, lurking in the foolish mind.
Nature abhors the mixture; the rude clown 215
As well may lay his spade and mattock down,
And with light foot and agile limbs prepare
To dance three steps with soft Bathyllus' air!
"Still I am free." You! subject to the sway
Of countless masters, FREE! What _datum_, pray, 220
Supports your claim? Is there no other yoke
Than that which, from your neck, the Prætor broke!
"Go, bear these scrapers to the bath with speed;
What! loitering, knave?"--Here's servitude indeed!
Yet you unmoved the angry sounds would hear; 225
You owe no duty, and can know no fear.
But if within you feel the strong control--
If stormy passions lord it o'er your soul,
Are you more free than he whom threatenings urge
To bear the strigils and escape the scourge? 230
'Tis morn; yet sunk in sloth you snoring lie.
"Up! up!" cries Avarice, "and to business hie;
Nay, stir." I will not. Still she presses, "Rise!"
I can not. "But you must and shall," she cries.
And to what purpose? "This a question! Go, 235
Bear fish to Pontus, and bring wines from Co;
Bring ebon, flax, whate'er the East supplies,
Musk for perfumes, and gums for sacrifice:
Prevent the mart, and the first pepper take
From the tired camel ere his thirst he slake. 240
Traffic forswear, if interest intervene"--
But Jove will overhear me.--"Hold, my spleen!
O dolt; but, mark--that thumb will bore and bore
The empty salt (scraped to the quick before)
For one poor grain, a vapid meal to mend, 245
If you aspire to thrive with Jove your friend!"
You rouse (for who can truths like these withstand?),
Victual your slaves, and urge them to the strand.
Prepared in haste to follow; and, ere now,
Had to the Ægean turned your vent'rous prow, 250
But that sly Luxury the process eyed,
Waylaid your desperate steps, and, taunting, cried,
"Ho, madman, whither, in this hasty plight?
What passion drives you forth? what furies fright?
Whole urns of hellebore might hope in vain 255
To cool this high-wrought fever of the brain.
What! quit your peaceful couch, renounce your ease,
To rush on hardships, and to dare the seas!
And while a broken plank supports your meat,
And a coiled cable proves your softest seat, 260
Suck from squab jugs that pitchy scents exhale,
The seaman's beverage, sour at once and stale!
And all for what? that sums, which now are lent,
At modest five, may sweat out twelve per cent.!--
"O rather cultivate the joys of sense, 265
And crop the sweets which youth and health dispense;
Give the light hours to banquets, love, and wine:
THESE are the zest of life, and THESE are mine!
Dust and a shade are all you soon must be:
Live, thou, while yet you may. Time presses.--See! 270
Even while I speak, the present is become
The past, and lessens still life's little sum."
Now, sir, decide; shall this, or that, command?
Alas, the bait, displayed on either hand,
Distracts your choice:--but, ponder as you may, 275
Of this be sure; both, with alternate sway,
Will lord it o'er you, while, with slavish fears,
From side to side your doubtful duty veers.
Nor must you, though in some auspicious hour
You spurn their mandate, and resist their power, 280
At once conclude their future influence vain:--
With struggling hard the dog may snap his chain;
Yet little freedom from the effort find,
If, as he flies, he trails its length behind.
"Yes, I am fixed; to Love a long adieu!-- 285
Nay, smile not, Davus; you will find it true."
So, while his nails, gnawn to the quick, yet bled,
The sage Chærestratus, deep-musing, said.--
"Shall I my virtuous ancestry defame,
Consume my fortune, and disgrace my name, 290
While, at a harlot's wanton threshold laid,
Darkling, I whine my drunken serenade!"
Tis nobly spoken:--Let a lamb be brought
To the Twin Powers that this deliverance wrought.
"But--if I quit her, will she not complain? 295
Will she not grieve? Good Davus, think again."
Fond trifler! you will find her "grief" too late;
When the red slipper rattles round your pate,
Vindictive of the mad attempt to foil
Her potent spell, and all-involving toil. 300
Dismissed, you storm and bluster: hark! she calls
And, at the word, your boasted manhood falls.
"Mark, Davus; of her own accord, she sues!
Mark, she invites me! Can I now refuse?"
Yes, Now, and EVER. If you left her door 305
Whole and entire, you must return no more.
Right. This is He, the man whom I demand;
This, Davus; not the creature of a wand
Waved by some foolish lictor.--And is he,
This master of himself, this truly free, 310
Who marks the dazzling lure Ambition spreads,
And headlong follows where the meteor leads?
"Watch the nice hour, and on the scrambling tribes
Pour, without stint, your mercenary bribes,
Vetches and pulse; that, many a year gone by, 315
Graybeards, as basking in the sun they lie,
May boast how much your Floral Games surpast,
In cost and splendor, those they witnessed last!"
A glorious motive! And on Herod's day,
When every room is decked in meet array, 320
And lamps along the greasy windows spread,
Profuse of flowers, gross, oily vapors shed;
When the vast tunny's tail in pickle swims,
And the crude must foams o'er the pitcher's brims;
You mutter secret prayers, by fear devised, 325
And dread the sabbaths of the circumcised!
Then a cracked egg-shell fills you with affright,
And ghosts and goblins haunt your sleepless night.
Last, the blind priestess, with her sistrum shrill,
And Galli, huge and high, a dread instill 330
Of gods, prepared to vex the human frame
With dropsies, palsies, ills of every name,
Unless the trembling victim champ, in bed,
Thrice every morn, on a charmed garlic-head.
Preach to the martial throng these lofty strains, 335
And lo! some chief more famed for bulk than brains,
Some vast Vulfenius, blessed with lungs of brass,
Laughs loud and long at the scholastic ass;
And, for a clipt cent-piece, sets, by the tale,
A hundred Greek philosophers to sale! 340

SATIRE VI.

TO CÆSIUS BASSUS.

Say, have the wintry storms, which round us beat,
Chased thee, my Bassus, to thy Sabine seat?
Does music there thy sacred leisure fill,
While the strings quicken to thy manly quill?--
O skilled, in matchless numbers, to disclose 5
How first from Night this fair creation rose;
And kindling, as the lofty themes inspire,
To smite, with daring hand, the Latian lyre!
Anon, with youth and youth's delights to toy,
And give the dancing chords to love and joy; 10
Or wake, with moral touch, to accents sage,
And hymn the heroes of a nobler age!
To me, while tempests howl and billows rise,
Liguria's coast a warm retreat supplies,
Where the huge cliffs an ample front display, 15
And, deep within, recedes the sheltering bay.
_The Port of Luna, friends, is worth your note_--
So, in his sober moments, Ennius wrote,
When, all his dreams of transmigration past,
He found himself plain Quintus at the last! 20
Here to repose I give the cheerful day,
Careless of what the vulgar think or say;
Or what the South, from Afric's burning air,
Unfriendly to the fold, may haply bear:
And careless still, though richer herbage crown 25
My neighbors' fields, or heavier crops embrown.
--Nor, Bassus, though capricious Fortune grace
Thus with her smiles a low-bred, low-born race,
Will e'er thy friend, for that, let Envy plow,
One careful furrow on his open brow; 30
Give crooked age upon his youth to steal,
Defraud his table of one generous meal;
Or, stooping o'er the dregs of mothery wine,
Touch, with suspicious nose, the sacred sign.
But inclinations vary:--and the Power 35
That beams, ascendant, on the natal hour,
Even Twins produces of discordant souls,
And tempers, wide asunder as the poles.
The one on birthdays, and on those alone,
Prepares (but with a forecast all his own) 40
On tunny-pickle, from the shops, to dine,
And dips his withered pot-herbs in the brine;
Trembles the pepper from his hands to trust,
And sprinkles, grain by grain, the sacred dust.
The other, large of soul, exhausts his hoard, 45
While yet a stripling, at the festive board.
To USE my fortune, Bassus, I intend:
Nor, therefore, deem me so profuse, my friend,
So prodigally vain, as to afford
The costly turbot for my freedmen's board; 50
Or so expert in flavors, as to show
How, by the relish, thrush from thrush I know.
"Live to your means"--'tis wisdom's voice you hear--
And freely grind the produce of the year:
What scruples check you? Ply the hoe and spade, 55
And lo! another crop is in the blade.
True; but the claims of duty caution crave.
A friend, scarce rescued from the Ionian wave,
Grasps a projecting rock, while in the deep
His treasures, with his prayers, unheeded sleep: 60
I see him stretched, desponding, on the ground.
His tutelary gods all wrecked around,
His bark dispersed in fragments o'er the tide,
And sea-mews sporting on the ruins wide.
Sell, then, a pittance ('tis my prompt advice) 65
Of this your land, and send your friend the price;
Lest, with a pictured storm, forlorn and poor,
He ask cheap charity from door to door.
"But then, my angry heir, displeased to find
His prospects lessened by an act so kind, 70
May slight my obsequies; and, in return,
Give my cold ashes to a scentless urn;
Reckless what vapid drugs he flings thereon,
Adulterate cassia, or dead cinnamon!--
Can I (bethink in time) my means impair, 75
And with impunity provoke my heir?"
--Here Bestius rails--"A plague on Greece," he cries,
"And all her pedants!--there the evil lies;
For since their mawkish, their enervate lore,
With dates and pepper, cursed our luckless shore, 80
Luxury has tainted all; and plowmen spoil
Their wholesome barley-broth with luscious oil."
Heavens! can you stretch (to fears like these a slave)
Your fond solicitude beyond the grave?
Away!--But thou, my heir, whoe'er thou art, 85
Step from the crowd, and let us talk apart.
Hearest thou the news? Cæsar has won the day
(So, from the camp, his laureled missives say),
And Germany is ours! The city wakes,
And from her altars the cold ashes shakes.-- 90
Lo! from the imperial spoils, Cæsonia brings
Arms, and the martial robes of conquered kings,
To deck the temples; while, on either hand,
Chariots of war and bulky captives stand
In long array. I, too, my joy to prove, 95
Will to the emperor's Genius, and to Jove,
Devote, in gratitude for deeds so rare,
Two hundred well-matched fencers, pair by pair.
Who blames--who ventures to forbid me? You?
Woe to your future prospects! if you do. 100
--And, sir, not this alone; for I have vowed
A supplemental largess to the crowd,
Of corn and oil. What! muttering still? draw near,
And speak aloud, for once, that I may hear.
"My means are not so low that I should care 105
For that poor pittance you may leave your heir."
Just as you please: but were I, sir, bereft
Of all my kin; no aunt, no uncle left;
No nephew, niece; were all my cousins gone,
And all my cousins' cousins, every one, 110
Aricia soon some Manius would supply,
Well pleased to take that "pittance," when I die.
"Manius! a beggar of the first degree,
A son of earth, your heir!" Nay, question me,
Ask who my grandsire's sire? I know not well, 115
And yet, on recollection, I might tell;
But urge me one step farther--I am mute:
A son of earth, like Manius, past dispute.
Thus his descent and mine are equal proved,
And we at last are cousins, though removed. 120
But why should you, who still before me run,
Require my torch ere yet the race be won?
Think me your Mercury: Lo! here I stand,
As painters represent him, purse in hand:
Will you, or not, the proffered boon receive, 125
And take, with thankfulness, whate'er I leave?
Something, you murmur, of the heap is spent.
True: as occasion called it freely went;
In life 'twas mine: but death your chance secures,
And what remains, or more or less, is yours. 130
Of Tadius' legacy no questions raise,
Nor turn upon me with a grandsire-phrase,
"Live on the interest of your fortune, boy;
To touch the principal is to destroy."
"What, after all, may I expect to have?" 135
_Expect!_--Pour oil upon my viands, slave,
Pour with unsparing hand! shall my best cheer
On high and solemn days be the singed ear
Of some tough, smoke-dried hog, with nettles drest;
That your descendant, while in earth I rest, 140
May gorge on dainties, and, when lust excites,
Give to patrician beds his wasteful nights?
Shall I, a napless figure, pale and thin,
Glide by, transparent, in a parchment skin,
That he may strut with more than priestly pride, 145
And swag his portly paunch from side to side?
Go, truck your soul for gain! buy, sell, exchange;
From pole to pole in quest of profit range.
Let none more shrewdly play the factor's part;
None bring his slaves more timely to the mart; 150
Puff them with happier skill, as caged they stand,
Or clap their well-fed sides with nicer hand.
Double your fortune--treble it--yet more--
'Tis four, six, ten-fold what it was before:
O bound the heap--You, who could yours confine, 155
Tell me, Chrysippus, how to limit mine!

THE END.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Added missing footnote anchors, e. g. p. 21.

Silently corrected simple spelling, grammar, and typographical
errors.

Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.

Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.

Enclosed distinctive font in ~tildes~.

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Satires of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and Lucilius" ***

Home