SATIRE IV.

FOOTNOTES:[1336]Nempe hÃ¦c.A passage in Gellius exactly describes the opening scene of this Satire. "Nunc videre est philosophos ultrÃ² currere ut doceant, ad foras juvenum divitÃ»m, eosque ibi sedere atque operiri prope ad meridiem, donec discipuli nocturnum omne vinum edormiant." x., 6.[1337]Fenestras.So Virg., Ã†n., iii., 151, "Multo manifesti lumine, quÃ 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, forstertis. 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 MeroÃ« 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."Despumareis, 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; thefirstbeginning 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 ClepsydrÃ¦, "water-clocks," by Scipio Nasica.[1342]Canicula.Hor., iii., Od. xiii., 9, "Te flagrantis atrox hora CaniculÃ¦ 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, á½‘Î±Î»ÏŽÎ´Î·Ï‚ Ï‡Î¿Î»Î®.[1345]ArcadiÃ¦.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 "croceÃ¦ membrana tabellÃ¦," 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; hencefoliaandliber: 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.Pappareis said of children either calling for food or eating pap (papparium). Hence the male-nurse is called Pappas. Juv., iv., 632, "timidus prÃ¦gustet pocula Pappas." Plaut., Epid., v., 2, 62. It is here put by enallage for the pap itself; aslallare, in the next line, for the "lullaby" of the nurse, which Ausonius callslallum. Epist. xvi., 90, "Nutricis inter lemmata lallique somniferos modos." Cf. Hieron., Epist. xiv., 8, "Antiquum referens mammÃ¦ lallare." Shakspeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, Act ii., sc. 3.[1349]Effluisis said of a leaky vessel, and refers to his illustration of the ill-baked pottery in the following lineâ€”sonat vitium. Cf. v. 25, "Quid solidum crepet."[1350]Udum et molle lutum.Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 7, "Idoneus arti cuilibet; argillÃ¢ quidvis imitaberis udÃ¢." A. P., 163, "Cereus in vitium flecti." Plat., de Legg., i., p. 633, Î¸Ï‰Ï€Îµá¿–Î±Î¹ ÎºÎ¿Î»Î±ÎºÎ¹ÎºÎ±á½¶ Î±á¼³ Ï„Î¹Î½á½°Ï‚ ÎºÎ·ÏÎ¯Î½Î¿Ï…Ï‚ Ï€Î¿Î¹Î¿á¿¦ÏƒÎ¹ Ï€Ïá½¸Ï‚ Ï„Î±á¿¦Ï„Î± Î¾ÏÎ¼Ï€Î±Î½Ï„Î±.[1351]RotÃ¢.So Hor., A. P., 21, "Currente rotÃ¢ 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 mensÃ¢ 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 causÃ¢ habere possint." Cf. Val. Max., IV., iv., 3, "In C. Fabricii et Q. Ã†milii 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 knightsrodefrom 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 thecensio, which took place every five years only, the equiteswalkedin 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 NattÃ¦ 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 seeE'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." á½„ÏˆÎ¹Ï‚ Î³Î¬Ï á½‘Î¼á¿–Î½ á½€Î¾Ï…Ï„Î¬Ï„Î· Ï„á¿¶Î½ Î´Î¹á½° Ï„Î¿á¿¦ ÏƒÏŽÎ¼Î±Ï„Î¿Ï‚ á¼”ÏÏ‡ÎµÏ„Î±Î¹ Î±á¼°ÏƒÎ¸Î®ÏƒÎµÏ‰Î½, á¾— Ï†ÏÏŒÎ½Î·ÏƒÎ¹Ï‚ Î¿á½Ï‡ á½Ïá¾¶Ï„Î±Î¹ Î´ÎµÎ¹Î½Î¿á½ºÏ‚ Î³Î¬Ï á¼‚Î½ Ï€Î±ÏÎµá¿–Ï‡ÎµÎ½ á¼”ÏÏ‰Ï„Î±Ï‚ Îµá¼´ Ï„Î¹ Ï„Î¿Î¹Ïá¿¦Ï„Î¿Î½ á¼‘Î±Ï…Ï„á¿†Ï‚ á¼Î½Î±ÏÎ³á½²Ï‚ Îµá¼´Î´Ï‰Î»Î¿Î½ Ï€Î±ÏÎµÎ¯Ï‡ÎµÏ„Î¿ Îµá¼°Ï‚ á½„ÏˆÎ¹Î½ á¼°ÏŒÎ½ ÎºÎ±á½¶ Ï„á¼†Î»Î»Î± á½…ÏƒÎ± á¼ÏÎ±ÏƒÏ„Î¬. PhÃ¦dr., 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 quÃ¦ nunc magna, magnorum ignorantia credimus." So Epist. 115. Shaftesbury's Characteristics. The Moralists. Part iii., Â§ 2.[1358]Intabescant.Hor., Epod. v., 40. Ov., Met., ii., 780; iii., Od. xxiv., 31, "Virtutem incolumem odimus, Sublatam ex oculis quÃ¦rimus invidi." Pers., Sat. v., 61, "Et sibi jam seri vitam ingemuero relictam."[1359]Siculi.Alluding to the bull of Phalaris, made for him by Perillus. Cf. ad Juv., viii., 81, "Admoto dictet perjuria tauro." Plin., xxxiv., 8. Cic., Off., ii., 7. Ov., Ib., 439, "Ã†re PerillÃ¦o veros imitere juvencos, ad formam tauri conveniente sono." A. Am., i., 653, "Et Phalaris tauro violenti membra Perilli Torruit infelix imbuit auctor opus." Ov., Trist., III., xi., 40-52. Claud., B. Gild., 186. Phalaris and Perillus were both burnt in it themselves.[1360]Ensisrefers to the entertainment of Damocles by Dionysius of Syracuse. Vid. Cic., Tusc. Qu., v., 21. Plat, de Rep., iii., p. 404. Hor., iii., Od. i., 17, "Destrictus ensis cui super impia Cervice pendet non SiculÃ¦ dapes Dulcem elaborabunt vaporem."[1361]Tangebam.Cf. Ov., A. Am., i., 662, "Put oil on my eyes to make my master believe they were sore."[1362]Catonis.Either some high-flown speech put into Cato's mouth, like that of Addison, or a declamation on the subject written by the boy himself. Cf. Juv., i., 16; vii., 151.[1363]Damnosa Canicula.Cf. Propert., IV., viii., 45, "Me quoque per talos Venerem quÃ¦rente secundos, semperdamnosisubsiluereCanes." Juv., xiv., 4, "Damnosasenem juvat alea," The talus had four flat sides, the two ends being rounded. The numbers marked on the sides were the ace, "canis" or "unio" (Isid., Or. xviii., 65, only in later writers), the trey, "ternio," the quater, "quaternio," and the sice, "senio," opposite the ace. They played with fourtali, and the best throw was when each die presented a different face (Î¼Î·Î´ÎµÎ½á½¸Ï‚ á¼€ÏƒÏ„ÏÎ±Î³Î¬Î»Î¿Ï… Ï€ÎµÏƒÏŒÎ½Ï„Î¿Ï‚ á¼´Ïƒá¿³ ÏƒÏ‡Î®Î¼Î±Ï„Î¹, Lucian, Am. Mart., xiv., Ep. 14, "Cum steterit nullus tibi vultu talus eÃ´dem"), i. e., when one was canis, another ternio, another quaternio, and the fourth senio. This throw was called Venus, or jactus Venereus, because Venus was supposed to preside over it. The worst throw was when all came out aces; and there appears to have been something in the make of the dice to render this the most common throw. This was called Canis, or Canicula; as Voss says, because "like a dog it ate up the unfortunate gambler who threw it." Ovid, A. Am., ii., 205, "Seu jacies talos, victam ne pÅ“na sequatur, Damnosi facito stent tibi sÃ¦pe Canes." One way of playing is described (in Suet., Vit. August, c. 71) is letter of Augustus to Tiberius. Each player put a denarius into the pool for every single ace or sice he threw, and he who threw Venus swept away the whole. There were probably many other modes of playing. Cf. Cic., de Div., i., 13. ThetesserÃ¦were like our dice with six sides, numbered from one to six, so that the numbers on the two opposite sides always equaled seven. Cf. Bekker's Gallus, p. 499. Lucil., i., fr. 27.[1364]OrcÃ¦.This refers to a game played by Roman boys, which consisted in throwing nuts into a narrow-necked jar. This game was called Ï„ÏÏŒÏ€Î± by the Greeks; who used dates, acorns, and dibs for the same purpose. Poll., Onom., IX., vii., 203. Ovid refers to it in his "Nux." "Vas quoque sÃ¦pe cavum, spatio distante, locatur In quod missa levi nux cadat una manu." Orca (the Greek á½•ÏÏ‡Î± Arist., Vesp., 676) was an earthen vessel used for holding wine, figs, and salted fish. Cf. 1. 73, "MÃ¦naque quod primÃ¢ nondum defecerit orcÃ¢." Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 66, "Quod pingui miscere mero muriÃ¢que decebit non aliÃ quam quÃ¢ Byzantia putruit orca." Colum., xii., 15. Plin., xv., 19. Varro, R. R., i., 13. The dibs used for playing were called taxilli, Pompon. in Prisc., iii., 615.[1365]Buxum."Volubile buxum." Cf. Virg., Ã†n., vii., 378-384. Tibull., I., v. 3.[1366]Porticus.á¼¡ Ï€Î¿Î¹ÎºÎ¯Î»Î· Î£Ï„Î¿Î¬. The PÅ“cile, or "Painted Hall," at Athens. It was covered with frescoes representing the battle of Marathon, executed gratuitously by Polygnotus the Thasian and Mycon. Plin., xxxv., 9. Corn. Nep., Milt., vi. This "porch" was the favorite resort of Zeno and his disciples, who were hence called Stoics. Diog. Laert., VII., i., 6.[1367]Samios diduxit litera ramos.The letter Y was taken by Pythagoras as the symbol of human life. The stem of the letter symbolizes the early part of life, when the character is unformed, and the choice of good or evil as yet undetermined. The right-hand branch, which is the narrower one, represents the "steep and thorny path" of virtue. The left-hand branch is the broad and easy road to vice. Compare the beautiful Episode of Prodicus in Xenophon's Memorabilia. Servius ad Virg., Ã†n., vi., 540, "Huic literÃ¦ dicebat Pythagoras humanÃ¦ vitÃ¦ cursum esse similem, quia unusquisque hominum, cum primum adolescentiÃ¦ limen attigerit, et in eum locum venerit 'partes ubi se via findit in ambas,' hÃ¦reat nutabandus, et nesciat in quam se partem potius inclinet." Auson., Idyll., xii., 9, "PythagorÃ¦ bivium ramis pateo ambiguis Y." Shakspeare, Hamlet, Act i., sc. 3. Cic., de Off., i., 32. Hesiod, Op. et Di., 288, Î¼Î±ÎºÏá½¸Ï‚ Î´á½² ÎºÎ±á½¶ á½„ÏÎ¸Î¹Î¿Ï‚ Î¿á¼¶Î¼Î¿Ï‚. Pers., Sat., v., 35.[1368]Cratero, a famous physician in Cicero's time. Cic. ad Att., xii., 13, 14. He is also mentioned by Horace, Sat., II., iii., 161, "Non est cardiacus, Craterum dixisse putato."[1369]Flexus."There are many periods of life as critical as the end of the stadium in the chariot-race, where the nicest judgment is required in turning the corner." Adrian Turnebe. The reading of D'Achaintre is followed.[1370]Asper Numus.Cf. ad Juv., xiv., 62.[1371]Defensis pinguibus Umbris.For the presents which lawyers received from their clients, cf. Juv., vii., 119, "Vas pelamidum."[1372]Orca.Cf. sup., 1. 50. TheMÅ“nawas a common coarse kind of fish (Cic., Fin., ii., 28), commonly used for salting.[1373]Arcesilaswas a native of Pitane, in Ã†olis. After studying at Sardis under Autolycus, the mathematician, he came to Athens, and became a disciple of Theophrastus, and afterward of Crantor. He was the founder of the Middle Academy. Diog. Laert., ProÅ“m., x., 14. Liv., iv., c. vi. He maintained that "nothing can be known," and is hence called "IgnorantiÃ¦ Magister." Lactant., III., v., 6. His doctrine is stated, Cic., de Orat., iii, 18. Acad., i, 12.[1374]Obstipo capiteimplies "the head rigidly fixed in one position." Sometimes in an erect one, as in an arrogant and haughty person. (Suet., Tib., 68, "Cervix rigida et obstipa.") Sometimes bent forward, which is the characteristic of a slavish and cringing person. (Î´Î¿Ï…Î»Î¿Ï€ÏÎÏ€ÎµÏ‚. Cf. Orell. ad Hor., ii., Sat. v., 92, "Davus sis Comicus atque Stes capite obstipo multum similis metuenti.") Sometimes in the attitude of a meditative person in deep reflection, "with leaden eye that loves the ground."[1375]Torosa.Applied properly to the broad muscles in the breast of a bull. Ov., Met., vii., 428, "Feriuntque secures Colla torosa boÃ¼m."[1376]Surrentina.Surrentum, now "Sorrento," on the coast of Campania, was famous for its wines. Ov., Met., xv., 710, "Et Surrentino generosos palmite colles." Pliny assigns it the third place in wines, ranking it immediately after the Setine and Falernian. He says it was peculiarly adapted to persons recovering from sickness. XIV., vi., 8; XXIII., i., 20. Surrentum was also famous for its drinking-cups of pottery-ware. XIV., ii, 4. Mart., xiv., Ep. 102; xiii., 110.[1377]Tremor.So Hor., i, Epist. xvi., 22, "Occultam febrem sub tempus edendi dissimules, donec manibus tremor incidat unctis."[1378]Trientem, ortriental, a cup containing the third part of the sextarius (which is within a fraction of a pint), equal to four cyathi Cf. Mart., vi., Ep. 86, "Setinum, dominÃ¦que nives, densique trientes, Quando ego vos medico non prohibente bibam?"[1379]Amomis.Juv., iv., 108, "Et matutino sudans Crispinusamomo, Quantum vix redolent duo funera." Theamomumwas an Assyrian shrub with a white flower, from which a very costly perfume was made. Plin., xiii., 1.[1380]Rigidos calces.Vid. Plin., vii., 8. The dead body was always carried out with the feet foremost.[1381]Hesterni Quirites.Slaves, when manumitted, shaved their heads, to show that, like shipwrecked mariners (Juv., xii., 81), they had escaped the storms of slavery, and then received a pileus (v., 82) in the temple of Feronia. Cf. Plaut., Amph., I., i., 306. The temple, according to one legend, was founded by some LacedÃ¦monians who quitted Sparta to escape from the severity of Lycurgus' laws. Many persons freed all their slaves at their death, out of vanity, that they might have a numerous body of freedmen to attend their funeral.[1382]Visa est.So iv., 47, "Viso si palles improbe numo."[1383]Cribro.The coarse sieve of the common people would let through much of the bran. The Romans were very particular about the quality of their bread. Cf. Juv., v., 67,seq.[1384]Beta.Martial calls themfatuÃ¦, from their insipid flavor without some condiment, and "fabrorum prandia." xiii., Ep. xiii.[1385]Orestes.Cf. Juv., xiv., 285.

[1336]Nempe hÃ¦c.A passage in Gellius exactly describes the opening scene of this Satire. "Nunc videre est philosophos ultrÃ² currere ut doceant, ad foras juvenum divitÃ»m, eosque ibi sedere atque operiri prope ad meridiem, donec discipuli nocturnum omne vinum edormiant." x., 6.

[1337]Fenestras.So Virg., Ã†n., iii., 151, "Multo manifesti lumine, quÃ 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, forstertis. 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 MeroÃ« 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."Despumareis, 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; thefirstbeginning 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 ClepsydrÃ¦, "water-clocks," by Scipio Nasica.

[1342]Canicula.Hor., iii., Od. xiii., 9, "Te flagrantis atrox hora CaniculÃ¦ 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, á½‘Î±Î»ÏŽÎ´Î·Ï‚ Ï‡Î¿Î»Î®.

[1345]ArcadiÃ¦.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 "croceÃ¦ membrana tabellÃ¦," 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; hencefoliaandliber: 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.Pappareis said of children either calling for food or eating pap (papparium). Hence the male-nurse is called Pappas. Juv., iv., 632, "timidus prÃ¦gustet pocula Pappas." Plaut., Epid., v., 2, 62. It is here put by enallage for the pap itself; aslallare, in the next line, for the "lullaby" of the nurse, which Ausonius callslallum. Epist. xvi., 90, "Nutricis inter lemmata lallique somniferos modos." Cf. Hieron., Epist. xiv., 8, "Antiquum referens mammÃ¦ lallare." Shakspeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, Act ii., sc. 3.

[1349]Effluisis said of a leaky vessel, and refers to his illustration of the ill-baked pottery in the following lineâ€”sonat vitium. Cf. v. 25, "Quid solidum crepet."

[1350]Udum et molle lutum.Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 7, "Idoneus arti cuilibet; argillÃ¢ quidvis imitaberis udÃ¢." A. P., 163, "Cereus in vitium flecti." Plat., de Legg., i., p. 633, Î¸Ï‰Ï€Îµá¿–Î±Î¹ ÎºÎ¿Î»Î±ÎºÎ¹ÎºÎ±á½¶ Î±á¼³ Ï„Î¹Î½á½°Ï‚ ÎºÎ·ÏÎ¯Î½Î¿Ï…Ï‚ Ï€Î¿Î¹Î¿á¿¦ÏƒÎ¹ Ï€Ïá½¸Ï‚ Ï„Î±á¿¦Ï„Î± Î¾ÏÎ¼Ï€Î±Î½Ï„Î±.

[1351]RotÃ¢.So Hor., A. P., 21, "Currente rotÃ¢ 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 mensÃ¢ 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 causÃ¢ habere possint." Cf. Val. Max., IV., iv., 3, "In C. Fabricii et Q. Ã†milii 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 knightsrodefrom 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 thecensio, which took place every five years only, the equiteswalkedin 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 NattÃ¦ 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 seeE'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." á½„ÏˆÎ¹Ï‚ Î³Î¬Ï á½‘Î¼á¿–Î½ á½€Î¾Ï…Ï„Î¬Ï„Î· Ï„á¿¶Î½ Î´Î¹á½° Ï„Î¿á¿¦ ÏƒÏŽÎ¼Î±Ï„Î¿Ï‚ á¼”ÏÏ‡ÎµÏ„Î±Î¹ Î±á¼°ÏƒÎ¸Î®ÏƒÎµÏ‰Î½, á¾— Ï†ÏÏŒÎ½Î·ÏƒÎ¹Ï‚ Î¿á½Ï‡ á½Ïá¾¶Ï„Î±Î¹ Î´ÎµÎ¹Î½Î¿á½ºÏ‚ Î³Î¬Ï á¼‚Î½ Ï€Î±ÏÎµá¿–Ï‡ÎµÎ½ á¼”ÏÏ‰Ï„Î±Ï‚ Îµá¼´ Ï„Î¹ Ï„Î¿Î¹Ïá¿¦Ï„Î¿Î½ á¼‘Î±Ï…Ï„á¿†Ï‚ á¼Î½Î±ÏÎ³á½²Ï‚ Îµá¼´Î´Ï‰Î»Î¿Î½ Ï€Î±ÏÎµÎ¯Ï‡ÎµÏ„Î¿ Îµá¼°Ï‚ á½„ÏˆÎ¹Î½ á¼°ÏŒÎ½ ÎºÎ±á½¶ Ï„á¼†Î»Î»Î± á½…ÏƒÎ± á¼ÏÎ±ÏƒÏ„Î¬. PhÃ¦dr., 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 quÃ¦ nunc magna, magnorum ignorantia credimus." So Epist. 115. Shaftesbury's Characteristics. The Moralists. Part iii., Â§ 2.

[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 seeE'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." á½„ÏˆÎ¹Ï‚ Î³Î¬Ï á½‘Î¼á¿–Î½ á½€Î¾Ï…Ï„Î¬Ï„Î· Ï„á¿¶Î½ Î´Î¹á½° Ï„Î¿á¿¦ ÏƒÏŽÎ¼Î±Ï„Î¿Ï‚ á¼”ÏÏ‡ÎµÏ„Î±Î¹ Î±á¼°ÏƒÎ¸Î®ÏƒÎµÏ‰Î½, á¾— Ï†ÏÏŒÎ½Î·ÏƒÎ¹Ï‚ Î¿á½Ï‡ á½Ïá¾¶Ï„Î±Î¹ Î´ÎµÎ¹Î½Î¿á½ºÏ‚ Î³Î¬Ï á¼‚Î½ Ï€Î±ÏÎµá¿–Ï‡ÎµÎ½ á¼”ÏÏ‰Ï„Î±Ï‚ Îµá¼´ Ï„Î¹ Ï„Î¿Î¹Ïá¿¦Ï„Î¿Î½ á¼‘Î±Ï…Ï„á¿†Ï‚ á¼Î½Î±ÏÎ³á½²Ï‚ Îµá¼´Î´Ï‰Î»Î¿Î½ Ï€Î±ÏÎµÎ¯Ï‡ÎµÏ„Î¿ Îµá¼°Ï‚ á½„ÏˆÎ¹Î½ á¼°ÏŒÎ½ ÎºÎ±á½¶ Ï„á¼†Î»Î»Î± á½…ÏƒÎ± á¼ÏÎ±ÏƒÏ„Î¬. PhÃ¦dr., 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 quÃ¦ nunc magna, magnorum ignorantia credimus." So Epist. 115. Shaftesbury's Characteristics. The Moralists. Part iii., Â§ 2.

[1358]Intabescant.Hor., Epod. v., 40. Ov., Met., ii., 780; iii., Od. xxiv., 31, "Virtutem incolumem odimus, Sublatam ex oculis quÃ¦rimus invidi." Pers., Sat. v., 61, "Et sibi jam seri vitam ingemuero relictam."

[1359]Siculi.Alluding to the bull of Phalaris, made for him by Perillus. Cf. ad Juv., viii., 81, "Admoto dictet perjuria tauro." Plin., xxxiv., 8. Cic., Off., ii., 7. Ov., Ib., 439, "Ã†re PerillÃ¦o veros imitere juvencos, ad formam tauri conveniente sono." A. Am., i., 653, "Et Phalaris tauro violenti membra Perilli Torruit infelix imbuit auctor opus." Ov., Trist., III., xi., 40-52. Claud., B. Gild., 186. Phalaris and Perillus were both burnt in it themselves.

[1360]Ensisrefers to the entertainment of Damocles by Dionysius of Syracuse. Vid. Cic., Tusc. Qu., v., 21. Plat, de Rep., iii., p. 404. Hor., iii., Od. i., 17, "Destrictus ensis cui super impia Cervice pendet non SiculÃ¦ dapes Dulcem elaborabunt vaporem."

[1361]Tangebam.Cf. Ov., A. Am., i., 662, "Put oil on my eyes to make my master believe they were sore."

[1362]Catonis.Either some high-flown speech put into Cato's mouth, like that of Addison, or a declamation on the subject written by the boy himself. Cf. Juv., i., 16; vii., 151.

[1363]Damnosa Canicula.Cf. Propert., IV., viii., 45, "Me quoque per talos Venerem quÃ¦rente secundos, semperdamnosisubsiluereCanes." Juv., xiv., 4, "Damnosasenem juvat alea," The talus had four flat sides, the two ends being rounded. The numbers marked on the sides were the ace, "canis" or "unio" (Isid., Or. xviii., 65, only in later writers), the trey, "ternio," the quater, "quaternio," and the sice, "senio," opposite the ace. They played with fourtali, and the best throw was when each die presented a different face (Î¼Î·Î´ÎµÎ½á½¸Ï‚ á¼€ÏƒÏ„ÏÎ±Î³Î¬Î»Î¿Ï… Ï€ÎµÏƒÏŒÎ½Ï„Î¿Ï‚ á¼´Ïƒá¿³ ÏƒÏ‡Î®Î¼Î±Ï„Î¹, Lucian, Am. Mart., xiv., Ep. 14, "Cum steterit nullus tibi vultu talus eÃ´dem"), i. e., when one was canis, another ternio, another quaternio, and the fourth senio. This throw was called Venus, or jactus Venereus, because Venus was supposed to preside over it. The worst throw was when all came out aces; and there appears to have been something in the make of the dice to render this the most common throw. This was called Canis, or Canicula; as Voss says, because "like a dog it ate up the unfortunate gambler who threw it." Ovid, A. Am., ii., 205, "Seu jacies talos, victam ne pÅ“na sequatur, Damnosi facito stent tibi sÃ¦pe Canes." One way of playing is described (in Suet., Vit. August, c. 71) is letter of Augustus to Tiberius. Each player put a denarius into the pool for every single ace or sice he threw, and he who threw Venus swept away the whole. There were probably many other modes of playing. Cf. Cic., de Div., i., 13. ThetesserÃ¦were like our dice with six sides, numbered from one to six, so that the numbers on the two opposite sides always equaled seven. Cf. Bekker's Gallus, p. 499. Lucil., i., fr. 27.

[1364]OrcÃ¦.This refers to a game played by Roman boys, which consisted in throwing nuts into a narrow-necked jar. This game was called Ï„ÏÏŒÏ€Î± by the Greeks; who used dates, acorns, and dibs for the same purpose. Poll., Onom., IX., vii., 203. Ovid refers to it in his "Nux." "Vas quoque sÃ¦pe cavum, spatio distante, locatur In quod missa levi nux cadat una manu." Orca (the Greek á½•ÏÏ‡Î± Arist., Vesp., 676) was an earthen vessel used for holding wine, figs, and salted fish. Cf. 1. 73, "MÃ¦naque quod primÃ¢ nondum defecerit orcÃ¢." Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 66, "Quod pingui miscere mero muriÃ¢que decebit non aliÃ quam quÃ¢ Byzantia putruit orca." Colum., xii., 15. Plin., xv., 19. Varro, R. R., i., 13. The dibs used for playing were called taxilli, Pompon. in Prisc., iii., 615.

[1365]Buxum."Volubile buxum." Cf. Virg., Ã†n., vii., 378-384. Tibull., I., v. 3.

[1366]Porticus.á¼¡ Ï€Î¿Î¹ÎºÎ¯Î»Î· Î£Ï„Î¿Î¬. The PÅ“cile, or "Painted Hall," at Athens. It was covered with frescoes representing the battle of Marathon, executed gratuitously by Polygnotus the Thasian and Mycon. Plin., xxxv., 9. Corn. Nep., Milt., vi. This "porch" was the favorite resort of Zeno and his disciples, who were hence called Stoics. Diog. Laert., VII., i., 6.

[1367]Samios diduxit litera ramos.The letter Y was taken by Pythagoras as the symbol of human life. The stem of the letter symbolizes the early part of life, when the character is unformed, and the choice of good or evil as yet undetermined. The right-hand branch, which is the narrower one, represents the "steep and thorny path" of virtue. The left-hand branch is the broad and easy road to vice. Compare the beautiful Episode of Prodicus in Xenophon's Memorabilia. Servius ad Virg., Ã†n., vi., 540, "Huic literÃ¦ dicebat Pythagoras humanÃ¦ vitÃ¦ cursum esse similem, quia unusquisque hominum, cum primum adolescentiÃ¦ limen attigerit, et in eum locum venerit 'partes ubi se via findit in ambas,' hÃ¦reat nutabandus, et nesciat in quam se partem potius inclinet." Auson., Idyll., xii., 9, "PythagorÃ¦ bivium ramis pateo ambiguis Y." Shakspeare, Hamlet, Act i., sc. 3. Cic., de Off., i., 32. Hesiod, Op. et Di., 288, Î¼Î±ÎºÏá½¸Ï‚ Î´á½² ÎºÎ±á½¶ á½„ÏÎ¸Î¹Î¿Ï‚ Î¿á¼¶Î¼Î¿Ï‚. Pers., Sat., v., 35.

[1368]Cratero, a famous physician in Cicero's time. Cic. ad Att., xii., 13, 14. He is also mentioned by Horace, Sat., II., iii., 161, "Non est cardiacus, Craterum dixisse putato."

[1369]Flexus."There are many periods of life as critical as the end of the stadium in the chariot-race, where the nicest judgment is required in turning the corner." Adrian Turnebe. The reading of D'Achaintre is followed.

[1370]Asper Numus.Cf. ad Juv., xiv., 62.

[1371]Defensis pinguibus Umbris.For the presents which lawyers received from their clients, cf. Juv., vii., 119, "Vas pelamidum."

[1372]Orca.Cf. sup., 1. 50. TheMÅ“nawas a common coarse kind of fish (Cic., Fin., ii., 28), commonly used for salting.

[1373]Arcesilaswas a native of Pitane, in Ã†olis. After studying at Sardis under Autolycus, the mathematician, he came to Athens, and became a disciple of Theophrastus, and afterward of Crantor. He was the founder of the Middle Academy. Diog. Laert., ProÅ“m., x., 14. Liv., iv., c. vi. He maintained that "nothing can be known," and is hence called "IgnorantiÃ¦ Magister." Lactant., III., v., 6. His doctrine is stated, Cic., de Orat., iii, 18. Acad., i, 12.

[1374]Obstipo capiteimplies "the head rigidly fixed in one position." Sometimes in an erect one, as in an arrogant and haughty person. (Suet., Tib., 68, "Cervix rigida et obstipa.") Sometimes bent forward, which is the characteristic of a slavish and cringing person. (Î´Î¿Ï…Î»Î¿Ï€ÏÎÏ€ÎµÏ‚. Cf. Orell. ad Hor., ii., Sat. v., 92, "Davus sis Comicus atque Stes capite obstipo multum similis metuenti.") Sometimes in the attitude of a meditative person in deep reflection, "with leaden eye that loves the ground."

[1375]Torosa.Applied properly to the broad muscles in the breast of a bull. Ov., Met., vii., 428, "Feriuntque secures Colla torosa boÃ¼m."

[1376]Surrentina.Surrentum, now "Sorrento," on the coast of Campania, was famous for its wines. Ov., Met., xv., 710, "Et Surrentino generosos palmite colles." Pliny assigns it the third place in wines, ranking it immediately after the Setine and Falernian. He says it was peculiarly adapted to persons recovering from sickness. XIV., vi., 8; XXIII., i., 20. Surrentum was also famous for its drinking-cups of pottery-ware. XIV., ii, 4. Mart., xiv., Ep. 102; xiii., 110.

[1377]Tremor.So Hor., i, Epist. xvi., 22, "Occultam febrem sub tempus edendi dissimules, donec manibus tremor incidat unctis."

[1378]Trientem, ortriental, a cup containing the third part of the sextarius (which is within a fraction of a pint), equal to four cyathi Cf. Mart., vi., Ep. 86, "Setinum, dominÃ¦que nives, densique trientes, Quando ego vos medico non prohibente bibam?"

[1379]Amomis.Juv., iv., 108, "Et matutino sudans Crispinusamomo, Quantum vix redolent duo funera." Theamomumwas an Assyrian shrub with a white flower, from which a very costly perfume was made. Plin., xiii., 1.

[1380]Rigidos calces.Vid. Plin., vii., 8. The dead body was always carried out with the feet foremost.

[1381]Hesterni Quirites.Slaves, when manumitted, shaved their heads, to show that, like shipwrecked mariners (Juv., xii., 81), they had escaped the storms of slavery, and then received a pileus (v., 82) in the temple of Feronia. Cf. Plaut., Amph., I., i., 306. The temple, according to one legend, was founded by some LacedÃ¦monians who quitted Sparta to escape from the severity of Lycurgus' laws. Many persons freed all their slaves at their death, out of vanity, that they might have a numerous body of freedmen to attend their funeral.

[1382]Visa est.So iv., 47, "Viso si palles improbe numo."

[1383]Cribro.The coarse sieve of the common people would let through much of the bran. The Romans were very particular about the quality of their bread. Cf. Juv., v., 67,seq.

[1384]Beta.Martial calls themfatuÃ¦, from their insipid flavor without some condiment, and "fabrorum prandia." xiii., Ep. xiii.

[1385]Orestes.Cf. Juv., xiv., 285.

ARGUMENT.

Had Persius livedafterinstead of before Juvenal we might have imagined that he had taken for the theme the noble lines in his eighth Satire,

"Omne animi vitium tanto conspectius in seCrimen habet quanto Major qui peccat habetur." viii., 140."For still more public scandal Vice extends,As he is great and noble who offends."â€”Dryden.

"Omne animi vitium tanto conspectius in seCrimen habet quanto Major qui peccat habetur." viii., 140.

"For still more public scandal Vice extends,As he is great and noble who offends."â€”Dryden.

Or had he drawn from the fountains of inspired wisdom, that he had had in his eye a passage of still more solemn import: "A sharp judgment shall be to them that be in high places. For mercy will soon pardon the meanest; but mighty men shall be mightily tormented." Wisdom, vi., 5. Either of these passages might fairly serve as the argument of this Satire. What, however, Persius really took as his model is the First Alcibiades of Plato, and the imitation of it is nearly as close as is that of the Second Alcibiades in the Second Satire. And the subject of his criticism is no less a personage than Nero himself. The close analogy between Nero and Alcibiades will be further alluded to in the notes. We must remember that Nero was but seventeen years old when he was called to take the reins of government, and was but three years younger than Persius himself. The Satire was probably written before Nero had entirely thrown off the mask; at all events, before he had given the full evidence which he afterward did of the savage ferocity and gross licentiousness of his true nature. There was enough indeed for the stern Satirist to censure; but still a spark of something noble remaining, to kindle the hope that the reproof might work improvement. In his First Satire he had ridiculed his pretensions to the name of Poet; in this he exposes his inability as a Politician. The Satire naturally and readily divides itself into three parts. In the first he ridicules the misplaced ambition of those who covet exalted station, and aspire to take the lead in state affairs, without possessing those qualifications of talent, education, and experience, which alone could fit them to take the helm of government; and who hold that the adventitious privileges of high birth and ancient lineage can countervail the enervating effects of luxurious indolence and vicious self-indulgence. The second division of the subject turns on the much-neglected duty of self-examination; and enforces the duty of uprightness and purity of conduct from the consideration, that while it is hopeless in all to escape the keen scrutiny that all men exercise in their neighbor's failings, while they are at the same time utterly blind to their own defects, yet that men of high rank and station must necessarily provoke the more searching criticism, in exact proportion to the elevation of their position. He points out also the policy of checking all tendency to satirize the weakness of others, to which Nero was greatly prone, and in fact had already aspired to the dignity of a writer of Satire; as such sarcasm only draws down severer recrimination on ourselves. In the third part he reverts to the original subject; and urges upon the profligate nobles of the day the duty of rigid self-scrutiny, by reminding them of the true character of that worthless rabble, on whose sordid judgment and mercenary applause theyground their claims to approbation. This love of the "aura popularis" was Nero's besetting vice; and none could doubt for whom the advice was meant. Yet the allusions to Nero throughout the Satire, transparent as they must have been to his contemporaries, are so dexterously covered that Persius might easily have secured himself from all charge of personally attacking the emperor under the plea that his sole object was a declamatory exercise in imitation of the Dialogue cf Plato.

"Dost thou wield the affairs of the state?"[1386]â€”(Imagine the bearded[1387]master, whom the fell draught of hemlock[1388]took off, to be saying this:)â€”Relying on what? Speak, thou ward[1389]of great Pericles. Has talent, forsooth, and precocious knowledge of the world, come before thy beard? Knowest thou what must be spoken, and what kept back? And, therefore, when the populace is boiling with excited passion, does your spirit move you to impose silence on the crowd by the majesty of your hand?[1390]and what will you say then? "I think, Quirites, this is not just! That is bad! This is the properer course?" For you know how to weigh the justice of the case in the double scale of the doubtful balance. You can discern the straight line when it lies between curves,[1391]or when the rule misleads by its distorted foot; and you are competent to affix the Theta[1392]of condemnation to a defect.

Why do you not then (adorned in vain with outer skin[1393])cease to display your tail[1394]before the day to the fawning rabble, more fit to swallow down undiluted Anticyras?[1395]

What is your chief good? to have lived always on rich dishes; and a skin made delicate by constant basking in the sun?[1396]Stay: this old woman would scarce give a different answerâ€”"Go now! I am son of Dinomache!"[1397]Puff yourself up!â€”"I am beautiful." Granted! Still Baucis, though in tatters, has no worse philosophy, when she has cried her herbs[1398]to good purpose to some slovenly slave.

How is it that not a man tries to descend into himself? Not a man! But our gaze is fixed on the wallet[1399]on the back in front of us! You may ask, "Do you know Vectidius' farms!" Whose? The rich fellow that cultivates more land at Cures than a kite[1400]can fly over! Him do you mean? Him, born under the wrath of Heaven, and an inauspicious Genius,who whenever he fixes his yoke at the beaten cross ways,[1401]fearing to scrape off the clay incrusted on the diminutive vessel, groans out, "May this be well!" and munching an onion in its hull, with some salt, and a dish of frumety (his slaves applauding the while), sups up the mothery dregs of vapid vinegar.

But if, well essenced, you lounge away your time and bask in the sun, there stands by you one, unkenned, to touch you with his elbow, and spit out his bitter detestation on your moralsâ€”onyou, who by vile arts make your body delicate! While you comb the perfumed hair[1402]on your cheeks, why areyou closely shorn elsewhere? when, though five wrestlers pluck out the weeds, the rank fern will yield to no amount of toil.

"We strike;[1403]and in our turn expose our limbs to the arrows. It is thus we live. Thus we know it to be. You have a secret wound, though the baldric hides it with its broad gold. As you please! Impose upon your own powers; deceivethemif you can!"

"While the whole neighborhood pronounces me to be super-excellent, shall I not credit[1404]them?"

If you grow pale, vile wretch, at the sight of money; if you execute all that suggests itself to your lust; if you cautiously lash the forum with many a stroke,[1405]in vain you presentto the rabble your thirsty[1406]ears. Cast off from you that which you are not. Let the cobbler[1407]bear off his presents. Dwell with yourself,[1408]and you will know how short your household stuff is.

FOOTNOTES:[1386]Rem populi tractas?from the Greek Ï€ÎµÏá½¶ Ï„á¿¶Î½ Ï„Î¿á¿¦ Î´Î®Î¼Î¿Ï… Ï€ÏÎ±Î³Î¼Î¬Ï„Ï‰Î½ Î²Î¿Ï…Î»ÎµÏÎµÏƒÎ¸Î±Î¹. The imitations of the First Alcibiades are very close throughout the Satire. Even in our own day, in looking back upon ancient history, it would be difficult to find two persons so nearly counterparts of each other as Nero and Alcibiades; not only in their personal character but in the adventitious circumstances of their life. Both came into public life at a very early age. Nero was emperor before he was seventeen years old, and Alcibiades was barely twenty at the siege of PotidÃ¦a. Seneca was to Nero what Socrates was to Alcibiades. Both derived their claims to pre-eminence from themother'sside: Nero through Agrippina, from the Julian gens; Alcibiades through Dinomache, from the AlemÃ¦onidÃ¦. The public influence of both extended through nearly the same period, thirteen years. Both were notorious for the same vices: love of self-indulgence, ambition of pre-eminence, personal vanity, lawless insolence toward others, lavish expenditure, and utter disregard of all principle. It would be very easy to carry out the parallel into greater detail. Comp. Suet., Nero, c. 26, with Grote's Greece, vol. vii., ch. 55.[1387]Barbatum.Cf. Juv., xiv., 12, "Barbatos licet admoveas mille inde magistros." Cic., Fin., iv., "Barba sylvosa et pulcrÃ¨ alita inter hominis eruditi insignia recensetur." Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 34, "Tempore quo me solatus jussit sapientem pascere barbam."[1388]CicutÃ¦.Cf. ad Juv., vii, 206.[1389]Pupille.Alcibiades was left an orphan at the age of five years, his father, Clinias, having been killed at the battle of Coronea; when he was placed with his younger brother Clinias, under the guardianship of Pericles and his brother Ariphron, to whom his ungovernable passions, even in his boyhood, were a source of great grief. Of this connection Alcibiades was very proud. Cf. Plat., Alc., c. 1. Nero lost his father when scarcely three years old; and at the age of eleven, he was adopted by Claudius and placed under the care of AnnÃ¦us Seneca. It is curious that the first public act of both was an act of liberality to the people. Compare the account of Nero's proposing the Congiarium (Suet., Nero, c. 7), with the anecdote of the quail of Alcibiades told by Plutarch (in Vit., c. 10). There is probably also a bitter sarcasm in the word "pupille," as it was the term of contempt applied to Nero by PoppÃ¦a, who was impatient to be married to him, which the control of his mother Agrippina, and the influence of Seneca and Burrhus, delayed. Cf. Tac., Ann., xiv., I, "QuÃ¦ (PoppÃ¦a) aliquando per facetias incusaret Principem etpupillumvocaret qui jussis alienis obnoxius non modo imperii sed libertatis etiam indigeret." Some imaginepericlito be intended as a pun, "One that would provedangeroushereafter;" as Alcibiades was compared to a lion's whelp, Arist., Ran., 1431, Î¿á½ Ï‡Ïá½´ Î»ÎÎ¿Î½Ï„Î¿Ï‚ ÏƒÎºÏÎ¼Î½Î¿Î½ á¼Î½ Ï€ÏŒÎ»ÎµÎ¹ Ï„ÏÎÏ†ÎµÎ¹Î½ á¼¤Î½ Î´' á¼ÎºÏ„ÏÎÏ†á¿ƒ Ï„Î¹Ï‚, Ï„Î¿á¿–Ï‚ Ï„ÏÏŒÏ€Î¿Î¹Ï‚ á½‘Ï€Î·ÏÎµÏ„Îµá¿–Î½.[1390]Majestate manÃ»s.Ov., Met., i., 205, "Quam fuit illa Jovi: qui postquam voce,manuqueMurmura compressit, tenuere silentia cuncti." So Lucan says of CÃ¦sar, "Utque satis trepidum turbÃ¢ coeunte tumultum Composuit vultu,dextrÃ¢quesilentia jussit." Cf. Acts, xiii. 16.[1391]Curva.The Stoic notion that virtue is a straight line; vices, curved: the virtues occasionally approaching nearer to one curve than the other. Cf. Arist., Eth., II., vii. and viii.; and Sat., iii., 52, "Haud tibi inexpertumcurvosdeprendere mores, QuÃ¦que docet sapiens braccatis illita Medis Porticus."[1392]Nigrum Theta.The Î˜, the first letter of Î¸Î¬Î½Î±Ï„Î¿Ï‚, was set by the Judices against the names of those whom they adjuged worthy of death, and was hence used by critics to obelize passages they condemned or disapproved of; the contrary being marked with Î§, for Ï‡ÏÎ·ÏƒÏ„ÏŒÎ½. Cf. Mart., vii., Ep. xxxvii., 1, "Nosti mortiferum quÃ¦storis, Castrice, signum, Est operÃ¦ pretium discere theta novum." Auson., Ep. 128, "Tuumque nomen theta sectilis signet." Sidon., Carm., ix., 335, "Isti qui valet exarationi Districtum bonus applicare theta." (It was also used on tomb-stones, and as a mark to tick off the dead on the muster-roll of soldiers.)[1393]SummÃ¢ pella decorus.The personal beauty of Alcibiades is proverbial. Suetonius does not give a very unfavorable account of Nero's exterior, "StaturÃ¢ fuit prope justÃ¢, sufflavo capillo, vultu pulchro magis quam venusto, oculis cÃ¦siis." The rest of the picture is not quite so flattering. It should be observed, by the way, that Suetonius speaks in terms by no means disparaging of Nero's verses, which, he says, flowed easily and naturally: he discards the insinuation that they were mere translations, or plagiarisms, as he says he had ocular proof to the contrary. Suet., Vit., c. 51, 2.[1394]Caudam jactare, a metaphor either from "a dog fawning," or "a peacock displaying its tail." Hor., ii., Sat. ii., 26, "Rara avis et pictÃ¢ pandat spectacula caudÃ¢."[1395]Anticyras.Cf. ad Juv., xiii., 97. Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 137, "Expulit helleboro morbum bilemque meraco." Lucian, á¼Î½ Î Î»Î¿Î¯á¿³, 45, ÎºÎ±á½¶ á½ á¼‘Î»Î»ÎÎ²Î¿ÏÎ¿Ï‚ á¼±ÎºÎ±Î½á½¸Ï‚ Ï€Î¿Î¹á¿†ÏƒÎ±Î¹ Î¶Ï‰ÏÏŒÏ„ÎµÏÎ¿Ï‚ Ï€Î¿Î¸ÎµÎ¯Ï‚.Meracusis properly applied to unmixedwine;merus, to anyotherliquid.[1396]Curata cuticula sole.Cf. ad Juv., xi., 203, "Nostra bibat vernum contracta cuticula solem." Alluding to theapricatio, or "sunning themselves," of which old men are so fond. Line 33. Sat. v., 179. Cic., de Senect., xvi. Mart., x., Ep. xii., 7, "I precor et totos avida cute combibe soles, Quam formosus eris, dum peregrinus eris." Plin., Ep. iii., 1. "Ubi hora balinei nuntiata est, in sole, si caret vento, ambulat nudus." iv., Ep. 5, "Post cibum sÃ¦pe Ã¦state si quod otii, jacebat in sole." Cic., Att., vii., 11. Mart., i., Ep. lxxviii., 4. Juv., ii., 105, "Et curare cutem summi constantia civis." Hor., i., Ep. iv., 29, "In cute curandÃ¢ plus Ã¦quo operata juventus." iv., 15, "Me pinguem et nitidum bene curatÃ¢ cute vises." Cf. Sat. ii., 37, "Pelliculam curare jube."[1397]Dinomaches.Vid. line 1. Plut., Alc., 1. It appears from Plat., Alc., cxviii., that it was a name Alcibiades delighted in.[1398]Ocima.Properly the herb "Basil,"ocimum Basilicum, either from á½ Îºá½ºÏ‚, from its "rapid growth," or from á½„Î¶ÎµÎ¹Î½, from its "fragrance."[1399]Mantica.From PhÃ¦drus, lib. iv., Fab. x., "Peras imposuit Jupiter nobis duas: propriis repletam vitiis post tergum dedit: Alienis ante pectus suspendit gravem. HÃ¢c re videre nostra mala non possumus: alii simul delinquunt, censores sumus." So Petr., Frag. Traj., 57, "In alio peduclum vides: in te ricinum non vides." Cat., xxii., 20, "Suus quoique attributus est error: Sed non videmus manticÃ¦ quod in tergo est."[1400]Quantum non milvus.Cf. Juv., ix., 55, "Tot milvos intra tua pascua lassos."[1401]Pertusa ad compita."Compita" are places where three or more roads meet, from the old verb bito or beto. At these places altars, or little chapels, were erected with as many sides as there were ways meeting. (Jani bifrontes.) Cf. v., 35, "Ramosa in compita." Hence they are called "pertusa," i. e.,pervia, "open in all directions." At these chapels it was the custom for the rustics to suspend the worn-out implements of husbandry. Though some think this was more especially done at the Compitalia. This festival was one of those which the Romans called FeriÃ¦ ConceptivÃ¦, being fixed annually by the PrÃ¦tor. They generally followed close upon the Saturnalia, and were held sometimes three days before the kalends of January, sometimes on the kalends themselves. Vid. Cic., Pis., iv. Auson., Ecl. de Fev., "Et nunquam certis redeuntia festa diebus, Compita per vicos quum sua quisque colit." According to Servius, they are described, though not by name, by Virgil, Ã†n., viii., 717. Like the Quinquatrus, they lasted only one day, and on that occasion additional wooden chapels were erected, the sacrificial cakes were provided by different houses, and slaves, not freedmen, presided at the sacrifices. Vid. Plin., XXXVI., xxvii., 70. The gods whom they worshiped are said to have been the Lares Compitales, of whom various legends are current. But this is doubtful. Augustus appointed certain rites in their honor, twice in the year. Suet., Vit., c. xxxi., "Compitales Lares ornari bis anno instituit vernis floribus et Ã¦stivis." It seems to have been a season of rustic revelry and feasting, and of license for slaves, like the Saturnalia. The avarice of the miser, therefore, on such an occasion, is the more conspicuous. His vessel is but a small one (seriola), and its contents woolly (pannosam) with age (veterem); yet he grudges scraping off the clay (limum) with which they used to stop their vessels, in order to pour a libation of his sour wine.[1402]Balanatum gausape.The Balanus, or "Arabian Balsam," was considered one of the most expensive perfumes. Ï€Ïá½¸Ï‚ Ï„á½° Ï€Î¿Î»Ï…Ï„ÎµÎ»á¿† Î¼ÏÏÎ± á¼€Î½Ï„' á¼Î»Î±Î¯Î¿Ï… á¼”Ï‡ÏÏ‰Î½Ï„Î¿. Dioscor., iv., 160. Cf. Hor., iii., Od. xxix., 4, "Pressa tuisbalanuscapillis Jamdudum apud me est." The gausape is properly a thick shaggy kind of stuff. Hence Sen., Ep. 53, "FrigidÃ¦ cultor mitto me in mare quomodo psychrolutam decet, gausapatus." Lucil., xx., Fr. 9, "Purpureo tersit tunc latas gausape mensas." From whom Horace copies, ii., Sat. viii., 10, "Puer alte cinctus acernam gausape purpureo mensam pertersit." It is here used for "a very thick, bushy beard."[1403]CÃ¦dimus.A metaphor from gladiators, which is continued through the next three lines. "While we are intent on wounding our adversaries, we leave our own weak points unguarded;" i. e., while satirizing others, we are quite forgetful of and blind to our own defects. There is here also a covert allusion to Nero, who, though so open to sarcasm, yet took upon him to satirize others. Cf. ad Juv., iv., 106, "Et tamen improbior satiram scribente cinÃ¦do."[1404]Non credam.Sen., Ep. lix., 11, "Cito nobis placemus: si invenimus qui nos bonos viros dicat, qui prudentes, qui sanctos, agnoscimus. Nec sumus modicÃ¢ laudatione contenti: quidquid in nos adulatio sine pudore congessit, tanquam debitum prendimus: optimos nos esse sapientissimos affirmantibus assentimur."[1405]Puteal flagellas."This line," Casaubon says, "was purposely intended to be obscure; that while all would apply it in one sense to Nero, Persius, if accused, might maintain that he intended only the other sense, which the words at first sight bear." Puteal is put for the forum itself by synecdoche. It is properly the "puteal Libonis," a place which L. Scribonius Libo caused to be inclosed (perhaps cir.A.U.C.604). It had been perhaps a bidental (cf. ad Sat. ii., 27), or, as others say, the place where the razor of the augur NÃ¦vius was deposited. Near it was the prÃ¦tor's chair, and the benches frequented by persons who had private suits, among whom the class of usurers would be most conspicuous. (Hence Hor., i., Epist. xix., 8, "Forum putealque Libonis Mandabo siccis." ii., Sat. vi., 35.)Puteal flagellare, therefore, is taken in its primitive sense to mean, "to frequent the forum for the purpose of enforcing rigorous payment from those to whom youhavelent money; or the benches of the usurers, in quest of persons to whom youmaylend it on exorbitant interest." Cf. Ov., Remed., Am., 561, "QuiputealJanumque timet, celeresque Kalendas." Cic., Sext., 8. In its secondary sense, it may apply to the nightly atrocities of Nero, who used to frequent the forum, violently assaulting those he met, and outrageously insulting females, not unfrequently committing robberies and even murder; but having been soundly beaten one night by a nobleman whose wife he had outraged, he went ever after attended by gladiators, as a security for his personal safety; who kept aloof until their services were required. Nero might well, therefore, be called the "scourge of the Forum," and be said to leave scars and wales behind him in the scenes of his enormities. Juvenal (Sat. iii., 278,seq.) alludes to the same practices. A description of them at full length may be found in Tacitus (Ann., xiii., 26) and Suetonius (Vit. Neron., c. 26).[1406]Bibulas."Those ears which are as prone to drink in the flattery of the mob as a sponge to imbibe water."[1407]Cerdo, Put here for the lower orders generally, whose applause Nero always especially courted. So Juv., iv., 153, "Sed periit postquam cerdonibus esse timendus cÅ“perat." viii., 182, "Et quÃ¦ turpia cerdoni volesos Brutosque decebunt." "Give back the rabble their tribute of applause. Let them bear their vile presents elsewhere!"[1408]Tecum habita."Retire into yourself; examine yourself thoroughly; your abilities and powers of governing: and you will find how little fitted you are for the arduous task you have undertaken." Compare the end of the Alcibiades. Juv., xi., 33, "Te consule, die tibi qui sis." Hor., i., Sat. iii., 34, "Te ipsum concute." Sen., Ep. 80,fin., "Si perpendere te voles, sepone pecuniam, domum, dignitatem: intus te ipse considera. Nunc qualis sis, aliis credis."

[1386]Rem populi tractas?from the Greek Ï€ÎµÏá½¶ Ï„á¿¶Î½ Ï„Î¿á¿¦ Î´Î®Î¼Î¿Ï… Ï€ÏÎ±Î³Î¼Î¬Ï„Ï‰Î½ Î²Î¿Ï…Î»ÎµÏÎµÏƒÎ¸Î±Î¹. The imitations of the First Alcibiades are very close throughout the Satire. Even in our own day, in looking back upon ancient history, it would be difficult to find two persons so nearly counterparts of each other as Nero and Alcibiades; not only in their personal character but in the adventitious circumstances of their life. Both came into public life at a very early age. Nero was emperor before he was seventeen years old, and Alcibiades was barely twenty at the siege of PotidÃ¦a. Seneca was to Nero what Socrates was to Alcibiades. Both derived their claims to pre-eminence from themother'sside: Nero through Agrippina, from the Julian gens; Alcibiades through Dinomache, from the AlemÃ¦onidÃ¦. The public influence of both extended through nearly the same period, thirteen years. Both were notorious for the same vices: love of self-indulgence, ambition of pre-eminence, personal vanity, lawless insolence toward others, lavish expenditure, and utter disregard of all principle. It would be very easy to carry out the parallel into greater detail. Comp. Suet., Nero, c. 26, with Grote's Greece, vol. vii., ch. 55.

[1387]Barbatum.Cf. Juv., xiv., 12, "Barbatos licet admoveas mille inde magistros." Cic., Fin., iv., "Barba sylvosa et pulcrÃ¨ alita inter hominis eruditi insignia recensetur." Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 34, "Tempore quo me solatus jussit sapientem pascere barbam."

[1388]CicutÃ¦.Cf. ad Juv., vii, 206.

[1389]Pupille.Alcibiades was left an orphan at the age of five years, his father, Clinias, having been killed at the battle of Coronea; when he was placed with his younger brother Clinias, under the guardianship of Pericles and his brother Ariphron, to whom his ungovernable passions, even in his boyhood, were a source of great grief. Of this connection Alcibiades was very proud. Cf. Plat., Alc., c. 1. Nero lost his father when scarcely three years old; and at the age of eleven, he was adopted by Claudius and placed under the care of AnnÃ¦us Seneca. It is curious that the first public act of both was an act of liberality to the people. Compare the account of Nero's proposing the Congiarium (Suet., Nero, c. 7), with the anecdote of the quail of Alcibiades told by Plutarch (in Vit., c. 10). There is probably also a bitter sarcasm in the word "pupille," as it was the term of contempt applied to Nero by PoppÃ¦a, who was impatient to be married to him, which the control of his mother Agrippina, and the influence of Seneca and Burrhus, delayed. Cf. Tac., Ann., xiv., I, "QuÃ¦ (PoppÃ¦a) aliquando per facetias incusaret Principem etpupillumvocaret qui jussis alienis obnoxius non modo imperii sed libertatis etiam indigeret." Some imaginepericlito be intended as a pun, "One that would provedangeroushereafter;" as Alcibiades was compared to a lion's whelp, Arist., Ran., 1431, Î¿á½ Ï‡Ïá½´ Î»ÎÎ¿Î½Ï„Î¿Ï‚ ÏƒÎºÏÎ¼Î½Î¿Î½ á¼Î½ Ï€ÏŒÎ»ÎµÎ¹ Ï„ÏÎÏ†ÎµÎ¹Î½ á¼¤Î½ Î´' á¼ÎºÏ„ÏÎÏ†á¿ƒ Ï„Î¹Ï‚, Ï„Î¿á¿–Ï‚ Ï„ÏÏŒÏ€Î¿Î¹Ï‚ á½‘Ï€Î·ÏÎµÏ„Îµá¿–Î½.

[1390]Majestate manÃ»s.Ov., Met., i., 205, "Quam fuit illa Jovi: qui postquam voce,manuqueMurmura compressit, tenuere silentia cuncti." So Lucan says of CÃ¦sar, "Utque satis trepidum turbÃ¢ coeunte tumultum Composuit vultu,dextrÃ¢quesilentia jussit." Cf. Acts, xiii. 16.

[1391]Curva.The Stoic notion that virtue is a straight line; vices, curved: the virtues occasionally approaching nearer to one curve than the other. Cf. Arist., Eth., II., vii. and viii.; and Sat., iii., 52, "Haud tibi inexpertumcurvosdeprendere mores, QuÃ¦que docet sapiens braccatis illita Medis Porticus."

[1392]Nigrum Theta.The Î˜, the first letter of Î¸Î¬Î½Î±Ï„Î¿Ï‚, was set by the Judices against the names of those whom they adjuged worthy of death, and was hence used by critics to obelize passages they condemned or disapproved of; the contrary being marked with Î§, for Ï‡ÏÎ·ÏƒÏ„ÏŒÎ½. Cf. Mart., vii., Ep. xxxvii., 1, "Nosti mortiferum quÃ¦storis, Castrice, signum, Est operÃ¦ pretium discere theta novum." Auson., Ep. 128, "Tuumque nomen theta sectilis signet." Sidon., Carm., ix., 335, "Isti qui valet exarationi Districtum bonus applicare theta." (It was also used on tomb-stones, and as a mark to tick off the dead on the muster-roll of soldiers.)

[1393]SummÃ¢ pella decorus.The personal beauty of Alcibiades is proverbial. Suetonius does not give a very unfavorable account of Nero's exterior, "StaturÃ¢ fuit prope justÃ¢, sufflavo capillo, vultu pulchro magis quam venusto, oculis cÃ¦siis." The rest of the picture is not quite so flattering. It should be observed, by the way, that Suetonius speaks in terms by no means disparaging of Nero's verses, which, he says, flowed easily and naturally: he discards the insinuation that they were mere translations, or plagiarisms, as he says he had ocular proof to the contrary. Suet., Vit., c. 51, 2.

[1394]Caudam jactare, a metaphor either from "a dog fawning," or "a peacock displaying its tail." Hor., ii., Sat. ii., 26, "Rara avis et pictÃ¢ pandat spectacula caudÃ¢."

[1395]Anticyras.Cf. ad Juv., xiii., 97. Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 137, "Expulit helleboro morbum bilemque meraco." Lucian, á¼Î½ Î Î»Î¿Î¯á¿³, 45, ÎºÎ±á½¶ á½ á¼‘Î»Î»ÎÎ²Î¿ÏÎ¿Ï‚ á¼±ÎºÎ±Î½á½¸Ï‚ Ï€Î¿Î¹á¿†ÏƒÎ±Î¹ Î¶Ï‰ÏÏŒÏ„ÎµÏÎ¿Ï‚ Ï€Î¿Î¸ÎµÎ¯Ï‚.Meracusis properly applied to unmixedwine;merus, to anyotherliquid.

[1396]Curata cuticula sole.Cf. ad Juv., xi., 203, "Nostra bibat vernum contracta cuticula solem." Alluding to theapricatio, or "sunning themselves," of which old men are so fond. Line 33. Sat. v., 179. Cic., de Senect., xvi. Mart., x., Ep. xii., 7, "I precor et totos avida cute combibe soles, Quam formosus eris, dum peregrinus eris." Plin., Ep. iii., 1. "Ubi hora balinei nuntiata est, in sole, si caret vento, ambulat nudus." iv., Ep. 5, "Post cibum sÃ¦pe Ã¦state si quod otii, jacebat in sole." Cic., Att., vii., 11. Mart., i., Ep. lxxviii., 4. Juv., ii., 105, "Et curare cutem summi constantia civis." Hor., i., Ep. iv., 29, "In cute curandÃ¢ plus Ã¦quo operata juventus." iv., 15, "Me pinguem et nitidum bene curatÃ¢ cute vises." Cf. Sat. ii., 37, "Pelliculam curare jube."

[1397]Dinomaches.Vid. line 1. Plut., Alc., 1. It appears from Plat., Alc., cxviii., that it was a name Alcibiades delighted in.

[1398]Ocima.Properly the herb "Basil,"ocimum Basilicum, either from á½ Îºá½ºÏ‚, from its "rapid growth," or from á½„Î¶ÎµÎ¹Î½, from its "fragrance."

[1399]Mantica.From PhÃ¦drus, lib. iv., Fab. x., "Peras imposuit Jupiter nobis duas: propriis repletam vitiis post tergum dedit: Alienis ante pectus suspendit gravem. HÃ¢c re videre nostra mala non possumus: alii simul delinquunt, censores sumus." So Petr., Frag. Traj., 57, "In alio peduclum vides: in te ricinum non vides." Cat., xxii., 20, "Suus quoique attributus est error: Sed non videmus manticÃ¦ quod in tergo est."

[1400]Quantum non milvus.Cf. Juv., ix., 55, "Tot milvos intra tua pascua lassos."

[1401]Pertusa ad compita."Compita" are places where three or more roads meet, from the old verb bito or beto. At these places altars, or little chapels, were erected with as many sides as there were ways meeting. (Jani bifrontes.) Cf. v., 35, "Ramosa in compita." Hence they are called "pertusa," i. e.,pervia, "open in all directions." At these chapels it was the custom for the rustics to suspend the worn-out implements of husbandry. Though some think this was more especially done at the Compitalia. This festival was one of those which the Romans called FeriÃ¦ ConceptivÃ¦, being fixed annually by the PrÃ¦tor. They generally followed close upon the Saturnalia, and were held sometimes three days before the kalends of January, sometimes on the kalends themselves. Vid. Cic., Pis., iv. Auson., Ecl. de Fev., "Et nunquam certis redeuntia festa diebus, Compita per vicos quum sua quisque colit." According to Servius, they are described, though not by name, by Virgil, Ã†n., viii., 717. Like the Quinquatrus, they lasted only one day, and on that occasion additional wooden chapels were erected, the sacrificial cakes were provided by different houses, and slaves, not freedmen, presided at the sacrifices. Vid. Plin., XXXVI., xxvii., 70. The gods whom they worshiped are said to have been the Lares Compitales, of whom various legends are current. But this is doubtful. Augustus appointed certain rites in their honor, twice in the year. Suet., Vit., c. xxxi., "Compitales Lares ornari bis anno instituit vernis floribus et Ã¦stivis." It seems to have been a season of rustic revelry and feasting, and of license for slaves, like the Saturnalia. The avarice of the miser, therefore, on such an occasion, is the more conspicuous. His vessel is but a small one (seriola), and its contents woolly (pannosam) with age (veterem); yet he grudges scraping off the clay (limum) with which they used to stop their vessels, in order to pour a libation of his sour wine.

[1402]Balanatum gausape.The Balanus, or "Arabian Balsam," was considered one of the most expensive perfumes. Ï€Ïá½¸Ï‚ Ï„á½° Ï€Î¿Î»Ï…Ï„ÎµÎ»á¿† Î¼ÏÏÎ± á¼€Î½Ï„' á¼Î»Î±Î¯Î¿Ï… á¼”Ï‡ÏÏ‰Î½Ï„Î¿. Dioscor., iv., 160. Cf. Hor., iii., Od. xxix., 4, "Pressa tuisbalanuscapillis Jamdudum apud me est." The gausape is properly a thick shaggy kind of stuff. Hence Sen., Ep. 53, "FrigidÃ¦ cultor mitto me in mare quomodo psychrolutam decet, gausapatus." Lucil., xx., Fr. 9, "Purpureo tersit tunc latas gausape mensas." From whom Horace copies, ii., Sat. viii., 10, "Puer alte cinctus acernam gausape purpureo mensam pertersit." It is here used for "a very thick, bushy beard."

[1403]CÃ¦dimus.A metaphor from gladiators, which is continued through the next three lines. "While we are intent on wounding our adversaries, we leave our own weak points unguarded;" i. e., while satirizing others, we are quite forgetful of and blind to our own defects. There is here also a covert allusion to Nero, who, though so open to sarcasm, yet took upon him to satirize others. Cf. ad Juv., iv., 106, "Et tamen improbior satiram scribente cinÃ¦do."

[1404]Non credam.Sen., Ep. lix., 11, "Cito nobis placemus: si invenimus qui nos bonos viros dicat, qui prudentes, qui sanctos, agnoscimus. Nec sumus modicÃ¢ laudatione contenti: quidquid in nos adulatio sine pudore congessit, tanquam debitum prendimus: optimos nos esse sapientissimos affirmantibus assentimur."

[1405]Puteal flagellas."This line," Casaubon says, "was purposely intended to be obscure; that while all would apply it in one sense to Nero, Persius, if accused, might maintain that he intended only the other sense, which the words at first sight bear." Puteal is put for the forum itself by synecdoche. It is properly the "puteal Libonis," a place which L. Scribonius Libo caused to be inclosed (perhaps cir.A.U.C.604). It had been perhaps a bidental (cf. ad Sat. ii., 27), or, as others say, the place where the razor of the augur NÃ¦vius was deposited. Near it was the prÃ¦tor's chair, and the benches frequented by persons who had private suits, among whom the class of usurers would be most conspicuous. (Hence Hor., i., Epist. xix., 8, "Forum putealque Libonis Mandabo siccis." ii., Sat. vi., 35.)Puteal flagellare, therefore, is taken in its primitive sense to mean, "to frequent the forum for the purpose of enforcing rigorous payment from those to whom youhavelent money; or the benches of the usurers, in quest of persons to whom youmaylend it on exorbitant interest." Cf. Ov., Remed., Am., 561, "QuiputealJanumque timet, celeresque Kalendas." Cic., Sext., 8. In its secondary sense, it may apply to the nightly atrocities of Nero, who used to frequent the forum, violently assaulting those he met, and outrageously insulting females, not unfrequently committing robberies and even murder; but having been soundly beaten one night by a nobleman whose wife he had outraged, he went ever after attended by gladiators, as a security for his personal safety; who kept aloof until their services were required. Nero might well, therefore, be called the "scourge of the Forum," and be said to leave scars and wales behind him in the scenes of his enormities. Juvenal (Sat. iii., 278,seq.) alludes to the same practices. A description of them at full length may be found in Tacitus (Ann., xiii., 26) and Suetonius (Vit. Neron., c. 26).

[1406]Bibulas."Those ears which are as prone to drink in the flattery of the mob as a sponge to imbibe water."

[1407]Cerdo, Put here for the lower orders generally, whose applause Nero always especially courted. So Juv., iv., 153, "Sed periit postquam cerdonibus esse timendus cÅ“perat." viii., 182, "Et quÃ¦ turpia cerdoni volesos Brutosque decebunt." "Give back the rabble their tribute of applause. Let them bear their vile presents elsewhere!"

[1408]Tecum habita."Retire into yourself; examine yourself thoroughly; your abilities and powers of governing: and you will find how little fitted you are for the arduous task you have undertaken." Compare the end of the Alcibiades. Juv., xi., 33, "Te consule, die tibi qui sis." Hor., i., Sat. iii., 34, "Te ipsum concute." Sen., Ep. 80,fin., "Si perpendere te voles, sepone pecuniam, domum, dignitatem: intus te ipse considera. Nunc qualis sis, aliis credis."

ARGUMENT.

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