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.