The Satires of Horace and Persius

Satire II. Argument.

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.

SATIRE III.

ARGUMENT.

In this Satire, perhaps more than in any other, we detect Persius' predilection for the doctrines of the Stoics. With them the summum bonum was "the sound mind in the sound body." To attain which, man must apply himself to the cultivation of virtue, that is, to the study of philosophy. He that does not can aspire to neither. Though unknown to himself, he is laboring under a mortal disease, and though he fancies he possesses a healthy intellect, he is the victim of as deep-seated and dangerous a delusion as the recognized maniac. The object of the Satire is to reclaim the idle and profligate young nobles of his day from their enervating and pernicious habits, by the illustration of these principles.

The opening scene of the Satire presents us with the bedchamber where one of these young noblemen, accompanied by some other youths probably of inferior birth and station, is indulging in sleep many hours after the sun has risen upon the earth. The entrance of the tutor, who is a professor of the Stoical philosophy, disturbs their slumbers, and the confusion consequent upon his rebuke, and the thin disguise of their ill-assumed zeal, is graphically described. After a passionate outburst of contempt at their paltry excuses, the tutor points out the irretrievable evils that will result from their allowing the golden hours of youth to pass by unimproved: overthrows all objections which are raised as to their position in life, and competency of means rendering such vigorous application superfluous; and in a passage of solemn warning full of majesty and power, describes the unavailing remorse which will assuredly hereafter visit those who have so far quitted the rugged path that leads to virtue's heights, that all return is hopeless. He then proceeds to describe the defects of his own education; and the vices he fell into in consequence of these defects--vices however which were venial in himself, as those principles which would have taught him their folly were never inculcated in him. Whereas those whom he addresses, from the greater care that has been bestowed on their early training, are without apology for their neglect of these palpable duties. Then with great force and vigor, he briefly describes the proper pursuits of well-regulated minds; and looks down with contemptuous scorn on the sneers with which vulgar ignorance would deride these truths, too transcendent for their gross comprehension to appreciate. The Satire concludes very happily with the lively apologue of a glutton; who, in despite of all warning and friendly advice, perseveres even when his health is failing, in such vicious and unrestrained indulgence, that he falls at length a victim to his intemperance. The application of the moral is simple. The mind that is destitute of philosophical culture is hopelessly diseased, and the precepts of philosophy can alone effect a cure. He that despises these, in vain pronounces himself to be of sound mind. On the approach of any thing that can kindle the spark, his passions burst into flame; and in spite of his boasted sanity, urge him on to acts that would call forth the reprobation even of the maniac himself. The whole Satire and its moral, as Gifford says, may be fitly summed up in the solemn injunction of a wiser man than the schools ever produced: "Wisdom is the principal thing: therefore get Wisdom."

What! always thus![1336] Already the bright morning is entering the windows,[1337] and extending[1338] the narrow chinks with light. We are snoring[1339] as much as would suffice to work off the potent Falernian,[1340] while the index[1341] is touched by the fifth shadow of the gnomon. See! What are you about? The raging Dog-star[1342] is long since ripening the parched harvest, and all the flock is under the wide-spreading elm. One of the fellow-students[1343] says, "Is it really so? Come hither, some one, quickly. Is nobody coming!" His vitreous bile[1344] is swelling. He is bursting with rage: so that you would fancy whole herds of Arcadia[1345] were braying. Now his book, and the two-colored[1346] parchment cleared of the hair, and paper, and the knotty reed is taken in hand. Then he complains that the ink, grown thick, clogs in his pen; then that the black sepia[1347] vanishes altogether, if water is poured into it; then that the reed makes blots with the drops being diluted. O wretch! and every day still more a wretch! Are we come to such a pitch? Why do you not rather, like the tender ring-dove,[1348] or the sons of kings, call for minced pap, and fractiously refuse your nurse's lullaby!--Can I work with such a pen as this, then?

Whom are you deceiving? Why reiterate these paltry shifts? The stake is your own! You are leaking away,[1349] idiot! You will become an object of contempt. The ill-baked jar of half-prepared clay betrays by its ring its defect, and gives back a cracked sound. You are now clay, moist and pliant:[1350] even now you ought to be hastily moulded and fashioned unintermittingly by the rapid wheel.[1351] But, you will say, you have a fair competence from your hereditary estate; a pure and stainless salt-cellar.[1352] Why should you fear? And you have a paten free from care, since it worships your household deities.[1353] And is this enough? Is it then fitting you should puff out your lungs to bursting because you trace the thousandth in descent from a Tuscan stock;[1354] or because robed in your trabea you salute the Censor, your own kinsman? Thy trappings to the people! I know thee intimately, inside and out! Are you not ashamed to live after the manner of the dissolute Natta?[1355]

But he is besotted by vicious indulgence; the gross fat[1356] is incrusted round his heart: he is free from moral guilt; for he knows not what he is losing; and sunk in the very depth of vice, will never rise again to the surface of the wave.

O mighty father of the gods! when once fell lust, imbued with raging venom, has fired their spirits, vouchsafe to punish fierce tyrants in no other way than this. Let them see Virtue,[1357] and pine away at[1358] having forsaken her! Did the brass of the Sicilian[1359] bull give a deeper groan, or the sword[1360] suspended from the gilded ceiling over the purple-clad neck strike deeper terror, than if one should say to himself, "We are sinking, sinking headlong down," and in his inmost soul, poor wretch, grow pale at what even the wife of his bosom must not know? I remember when I was young I often used to touch[1361] my eyes with oil, if I was unwilling to learn the noble words of the dying Cato;[1362] that would win great applause from my senseless master, and which my father, sweating with anxiety, would listen to with the friends he had brought to hear me. And naturally enough. For the summit of my wishes was to know what the lucky sice would gain; how much the ruinous ace[1363] would sweep off; not to miss the neck of the narrow jar;[1364] and that none more skillfully than I should lash the top[1365] with a whip.

Whereas you are not inexperienced in detecting the obliquity of moral deflections, and all that the philosophic porch,[1366] painted over with trowsered Medes, teaches; over which the sleepless and close-shorn youth lucubrates, fed on husks and fattening polenta. To thee, besides, the letter that divides the Samian branches,[1367] has pointed out the path that rises steeply on the right-hand track.

And are you snoring still? and does your drooping head, with muscles all relaxed, and jaws ready to split with gaping, nod off your yesterday's debauch? Is there indeed an object at which you aim, at which you bend your bow? Or are you following the crows, with potsherd and mud, careless whither your steps lead you, and living only for the moment?

When once the diseased skin begins to swell, you will see men asking in vain for hellebore. Meet the disease on its way to attack you. Of what avail is it to promise mountains of gold to Craterus?[1368] Learn, wretched men, and investigate the causes of things; what we are--what course of life we are born to run--what rank is assigned to us--how delicate the turning round[1369] the goal, and whence the starting-point--what limit must be set to money--what it is right to wish for--what uses the rough coin[1370] possesses--how much you ought to bestow on your country and dear relations--what man the Deity destined you to be, and in what portion of the human commonwealth your station is assigned.

Learn: and be not envious because full many a jar grows rancid in his well-stored larder, for defending the fat Umbrians,[1371] and pepper, and hams, the remembrances of his Marsian client; or because the pilchard has not yet failed from the first jar.[1372]

Here some one of the rank brood of centurions may say, "I have philosophy enough to satisfy me. I care not to be what Arcesilas[1373] was, and woe-begone Solons, with head awry[1374] and eyes fastened on the ground, while they mumble suppressed mutterings, or idiotic silence, or balance words on their lip pouting out, pondering over the dreams of some palsied dotard, 'that nothing can be generated from nothing; nothing can return to nothing.'--Is it this over which you grow pale? Is it this for which one should go without his dinner?" At this the people laugh, and with wrinkling nose the brawny[1375] youth loudly re-echo the hearty peals of laughter.

"Examine me! My breast palpitates unusually; and my breath heaves oppressedly from my fevered jaws: examine me, pray!" He that speaks thus to his physician, being ordered to keep quiet, when the third night has seen his veins flow with steady pulse, begs from some wealthier mansion some mellow Surrentine,[1376] in a flagon of moderate capacity, as he is about to bathe. "Ho! my good fellow, you look pale!" "It is nothing!" "But have an eye to it, whatever it is! Your sallow skin is insensibly rising." "Well, you look pale too! worse than I! Don't play the guardian to me! I buried him long ago--you remain." "Go on! I will hold my peace!" So, bloated with feasting and with livid stomach he takes his bath, while his throat slowly exhales sulphureous malaria. But shivering[1377] comes on over his cups, and shakes the steaming beaker[1378] from his hands; his teeth, grinning, rattle in his head; then the rich dainties dribble from his flaccid lips.

Next follow the trumpets and funeral-torches; and at last this votary of pleasure, laid out on a lofty bier, and plastered over with thick unguents,[1379] stretches out his rigid heels[1380] to the door. Then, with head covered, the Quirites of yesterday[1381] support his bier.

"Feel my pulse, you wretch! put your hand on my breast. There is no heat here! touch the extremities of my feet and hands. They are not cold!"

If money has haply met your eye,[1382] or the fair maiden of your neighbor has smiled sweetly on you, does your heart beat steadily? If hard cabbage has been served up to you in a cold dish, or flour shaken through the people's sieve,[1383] let me examine your jaws. A putrid ulcer lurks in your tender mouth, which it would not be right to grate against with vulgar beet.[1384] You grow cold, when pallid fear has roused the bristles on your limbs. Now, when a torch is placed beneath, your blood begins to boil, and your eyes sparkle with anger; and you say and do what even Orestes[1385] himself, in his hour of madness, would swear to be proofs of madness.

FOOTNOTES:

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

[1337] Fenestras. So Virg., Æn., iii., 151, "Multo manifesti lumine, quà se plena per insertas fundebat luna fenestras." Prop., I., iii., 31, "Donec divisas percurrens luna fenestras."

[1338] Extendit, an hypallage. The light transmitted through the narrow chinks in the lattices, diverges into broader rays.

[1339] Stertimus, for stertis. The first person is employed to avoid giving offense.

[1340] Falernum. The Falernian was a fiery, full-bodied wine of Campania: hence its epithets, "Severum," Hor., i., Od. xxvii., 9; "Ardens," ii., Od. xi., 19; Mart., ix., Ep. lxxiv., 5; "Forte," ii., Sat. iv., 24 (cf. Luc., x., 163, "Indomitum Meroë cogens spumare Falernum"); "Acre," Juv., xiii., 216. To soften its austerity it was mixed with Chian wine. Tibull., II., i., 28, "Nunc mihi fumosos veteris proferte Falernos Consulis, et Chio solvite vincla cado." Hor., i., Sat. x., 24, "Suavior ut Chio nota si commista Falerni est." Despumare is, properly, "to take off the foam or scum;" "Et foliis undam trepidi despumat aheni;" then, met., "to digest."

[1341] Linea. "It wants but an hour of noon by the sun-dial." The Romans divided their day into twelve hours; the first beginning with the dawn; consequently, at the time of the equinoxes, their hours nearly corresponded with ours. According to Pliny, H. N., ii., 76, Anaximenes was the inventor of the sun-dial; whereas Diog. Laertius (II., i., 3) and Vitruvius attribute the discovery to Anaximander. They were, however, known in much earlier times in the East. Cf. 2 Kings, xx. Sun-dials were introduced at Rome in the time of the second Punic war; the use of Clepsydræ, "water-clocks," by Scipio Nasica.

[1342] Canicula. Hor., iii., Od. xiii., 9, "Te flagrantis atrox hora Caniculæ nescit tangere." III., xxix., 19, "Stella vesani Leonis."

[1343] Comitum. One of the young men of inferior fortune, whom the wealthy father has taken into his house, to be his son's companion.

[1344] Vitrea bilis. Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 141, "Jussit quod splendida bilis;" ubi v. Orell. It is called, by medical writers, ὑαλώδης χολή.

[1345] Arcadiæ. Juv., vii., 160, "Nil salit Arcadico juveni." Arcadia was famous for its broods of asses.

[1346] Bicolor. The outer side of the parchment on which the hair has been is always of a much yellower color than the inner side of the skin; hence "croceæ membrana tabellæ," Juv., vii., 23; though some think that the color was produced by the oil of citron or cedar. (Plin., xiii., 5. Cf. ad Sat. i., 43.) Leaves and the bark of trees were first used for writing on; hence folia and liber: occasionally linen, or plates of metal or stone; then paper was manufactured from the Cyperus papyrus, or Egyptian flag. Plin., xii., 23; xiii., 11. When the Ptolemies stopped the exportation of paper from Egypt, to prevent the library of Eumenes, king of Pergamus, from rivaling that of Alexandria, parchment (Pergamenum) was invented to serve as a substitute. Plin., x., 11, 21. Hieron., Ep. vii., 2. Hor., Sat., II., iii., 2. The manufacturer of it was termed Membranarius. The parchment was rendered smooth by rubbing with pumice, and flattened with lead, and was capable of being made so thin, that we read that the whole Iliad written on parchment was inclosed within a walnut-shell. Plin., VII., xxi., 21. Quintilian says, "that wax tablets were best suited for writing, as erasures could be so readily made; but that for persons of weak sight parchment was much better; but that the rapid flow of thought was checked by the constant necessity for dipping the pen in the ink." Quint., x., 3. Cf. Catull., xxii., 6. Tibull., III., i., 9. They used reeds (calamus, fistula, arundo) for writing on this, as is done to the present day in the East. The best came from Egypt. "Dat chartis habiles calamos Memphitica tellus." Mart., xiv., Ep. 38. Hor., A. P., 447.

[1347] Sepia, put here for the ink. The popular delusion was, that this fish, when pursued, discharged a black liquid (atramentum), which rendered the water turbid, and enabled it to make its escape. (Hence it is still called by the Germans "Tinten-fisch," Ink-fish.) Vid. Cic., Nat. Deor., ii., 50. Plin., ix., 29, 45. The old Schol. says that this liquid was used by the Africans; but that a preparation of lamp-black was ordinarily used.

[1348] Palumbo. The ring-dove is said to be fed by the undigested food from the crop of its mother. Pappare is said of children either calling for food or eating pap (papparium). Hence the male-nurse is called Pappas. Juv., iv., 632, "timidus prægustet pocula Pappas." Plaut., Epid., v., 2, 62. It is here put by enallage for the pap itself; as lallare, in the next line, for the "lullaby" of the nurse, which Ausonius calls lallum. Epist. xvi., 90, "Nutricis inter lemmata lallique somniferos modos." Cf. Hieron., Epist. xiv., 8, "Antiquum referens mammæ lallare." Shakspeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, Act ii., sc. 3.

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

[1350] Udum et molle lutum. Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 7, "Idoneus arti cuilibet; argillâ quidvis imitaberis udâ." A. P., 163, "Cereus in vitium flecti." Plat., de Legg., i., p. 633, θωπεῖαι κολακικαὶ αἳ τινὰς κηρίνους ποιοῦσι πρὸς ταῦτα ξύμπαντα.

[1351] Rotâ. So Hor., A. P., 21, "Currente rotâ cur urceus uxit." Plaut., Epid., III., ii., 35, "Vorsutior es quam rota figularis."

[1352] Salinum. The reverence for salt has been derived from the remotest antiquity. From its being universally used to season food, and from its antiseptic properties, it has been always associated with notions of moral purity, and, from forming a part of all sacrifices, acquired a certain degree of sanctity; so that the mere placing salt on the table was supposed, in a certain degree, to consecrate what was set on it. (Arnob., ii., 91, "Sacras facitis mensas salinorum appositu.") Hence the salt-cellar became an heir-loom, and descended from father to son. (Hor., ii., Od. xvi., 13, "Vivitur parvo bene cui paternum splendet in mensâ tenui salinum.") Even in the most frugal times, it formed part, sometimes the only piece, of family-plate. Pliny says that the "salinum and patella were the only vessels of silver Fabricius would allow," xxxiii., 12, 54; and in the greatest emergencies, as e. g., A.U.C. 542, when all were called upon to sacrifice their plate for the public service, the salt-cellar and paten were still allowed to be retained. Liv., xxvi., 36, "Ut senatores salinum, patellamque deorum causâ habere possint." Cf. Val. Max., IV., iv., 3, "In C. Fabricii et Q. Æmilii Papi domibus argentum fuisse confiteor; uterque enim patellam deorum et salinum habuit." Cf. Sat. v., 138.

[1353] Cultrix foci. A portion of the meat was cut off before they began to eat, and offered to the Lares in the patella, and then burnt on the hearth; and this offering was supposed to secure both house and inmates from harm.

[1354] Stemmate. Vid. Juv., viii., 1. The Romans were exceedingly proud of a Tuscan descent. Cf. Hor., i., Od. i., 1; iii., Od. xxix., 1; i., Sat. vi., 1. The vocatives "millesime," "trabeate," are put by antiptosis for nominatives. For the trabea, see note on Juv., viii., 259, "trabeam et diadema Quirini." It was properly the robe of kings, consuls, and augurs, but was worn by the equites on solemn processions. These were of two kinds, the transvectio and the censio. The former is referred to here. It took place annually on the 15th of July (Idibus Quinctilibus), when all the knights rode from the temple of Mars, or of Honor, to the Capitol, dressed in the trabea and crowned with olive wreaths, and saluted as they passed the censors, who were seated in front of the temple of Castor in the forum. This custom was introduced by Q. Fabius, when censor, A.U.C. 303. (Liv., ix., 46, fin. Aur. Vict., Vir. Illustr., 32.) It afterward fell into disuse, but was revived by Augustus. (Suet., Vit., 38.) In the censio, which took place every five years only, the equites walked in procession before the censors, leading their horses; all whom the censors approved of were ordered to lead along their horses (equos traducere); those who had disgraced themselves, either by immorality, or by diminishing their fortune, or neglecting to take care of their horses, were degraded from the rank of equites by being ordered to sell their horses.

[1355] Natta. We find a Pinarius Natta mentioned, Tac., Ann., iv., 34, as one of the clients of Sejanus. Cicero also speaks of the Pinarii Nattæ as patricians and nobles. De Divin., ii., xxi. (Cf. pro Mur., xxxv. Att., iv., 8.) Horace uses the name for a gross person. "Ungor olivo non quo fraudatis immundus Natta lucernis," i., Sat. vi., 124; and Juvenal for a public robber, "Quum Pansa eripiat quidquid tibi Natta reliquit," Sat. viii., 95. He is here put for one so sunk in profligacy, with heart so hardened, and moral sense so obscured by habitual vice, as to be unable even to perceive the abyss in which he is plunged. Cf. Arist., Eth., ii., 5, 8. "Reason and revelation alike teach us the awful truth, that sin exercises a deadening effect on the moral perception of right and wrong. Ignorance may be pleaded as an excuse, but not that ignorance of which man himself is the cause. Such ignorance is the result of willful sin. This corrupts the moral sense, hardens the heart, destroys the power of conscience, and afflicts us with judicial blindness, so that we actually lose at last the power of seeing the things which belong unto our peace." P. 67 of Browne's translation of the Ethics, in Bohn's Classical Library. (For discinctus, vid. Orell. ad Hor., Epod. i., 34.)

[1356] Pingue. Cf. Psalm cxix., 70, "Their heart is as fat as brawn."

[1357] Virtutem videant. This passage is beautifully paraphrased by Wyat.

"None other payne pray I for them to be, But, when the rage doth lead them from the right, That, looking backward, Vertue they may see E'en as she is, so goodly faire and bright! And while they claspe their lustes in arms acrosse, Graunt them, good Lord, as thou maist of thy might, To fret inwarde for losing such a losse!" Ep. to Poynes.

"Virtue," says Plato, "is so beautiful, that if men could but be blessed with a vision of its loveliness, they would fall down and worship." ὄψις γὰρ ὑμῖν ὀξυτάτη τῶν διὰ τοῦ σώματος ἔρχεται αἰσθήσεων, ᾗ φρόνησις οὐχ ὁρᾶται δεινοὺς γὰρ ἂν παρεῖχεν ἔρωτας εἴ τι τοιρῦτον ἑαυτῆς ἐναργὲς εἴδωλον παρείχετο εἰς ὄψιν ἰόν καὶ τἆλλα ὅσα ἐραστά. Phædr., c. 65, fin. The sentiment has been frequently repeated. Cic., de Fin., ii., 16, "Quam illa ardentes amores excitaret sui si videretur." De Off., i., 5, "Si oculis cerneretur mirabiles amores, ut ait Plato, excitaret sui." Senec., Epist. 59, 1, "Profecto omnes mortales in admirationem sui raperet, relictis his quæ nunc magna, magnorum ignorantia credimus." So Epist. 115. Shaftesbury's Characteristics. The Moralists. Part iii., § 2.

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

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

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

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

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

[1363] Damnosa Canicula. Cf. Propert., IV., viii., 45, "Me quoque per talos Venerem quærente secundos, semper damnosi subsiluere Canes." Juv., xiv., 4, "Damnosa senem juvat alea," The talus had four flat sides, the two ends being rounded. The numbers marked on the sides were the ace, "canis" or "unio" (Isid., Or. xviii., 65, only in later writers), the trey, "ternio," the quater, "quaternio," and the sice, "senio," opposite the ace. They played with four tali, and the best throw was when each die presented a different face (μηδενὸς ἀστραγάλου πεσόντος ἴσῳ σχήματι, Lucian, Am. Mart., xiv., Ep. 14, "Cum steterit nullus tibi vultu talus eôdem"), i. e., when one was canis, another ternio, another quaternio, and the fourth senio. This throw was called Venus, or jactus Venereus, because Venus was supposed to preside over it. The worst throw was when all came out aces; and there appears to have been something in the make of the dice to render this the most common throw. This was called Canis, or Canicula; as Voss says, because "like a dog it ate up the unfortunate gambler who threw it." Ovid, A. Am., ii., 205, "Seu jacies talos, victam ne pœna sequatur, Damnosi facito stent tibi sæpe Canes." One way of playing is described (in Suet., Vit. August, c. 71) is letter of Augustus to Tiberius. Each player put a denarius into the pool for every single ace or sice he threw, and he who threw Venus swept away the whole. There were probably many other modes of playing. Cf. Cic., de Div., i., 13. The tesseræ were like our dice with six sides, numbered from one to six, so that the numbers on the two opposite sides always equaled seven. Cf. Bekker's Gallus, p. 499. Lucil., i., fr. 27.

[1364] Orcæ. This refers to a game played by Roman boys, which consisted in throwing nuts into a narrow-necked jar. This game was called τρόπα by the Greeks; who used dates, acorns, and dibs for the same purpose. Poll., Onom., IX., vii., 203. Ovid refers to it in his "Nux." "Vas quoque sæpe cavum, spatio distante, locatur In quod missa levi nux cadat una manu." Orca (the Greek ὕρχα Arist., Vesp., 676) was an earthen vessel used for holding wine, figs, and salted fish. Cf. 1. 73, "Mænaque quod primâ nondum defecerit orcâ." Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 66, "Quod pingui miscere mero muriâque decebit non alià quam quâ Byzantia putruit orca." Colum., xii., 15. Plin., xv., 19. Varro, R. R., i., 13. The dibs used for playing were called taxilli, Pompon. in Prisc., iii., 615.

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

[1366] Porticus. ἡ ποικίλη Στοά. The Pœcile, or "Painted Hall," at Athens. It was covered with frescoes representing the battle of Marathon, executed gratuitously by Polygnotus the Thasian and Mycon. Plin., xxxv., 9. Corn. Nep., Milt., vi. This "porch" was the favorite resort of Zeno and his disciples, who were hence called Stoics. Diog. Laert., VII., i., 6.

[1367] Samios diduxit litera ramos. The letter Y was taken by Pythagoras as the symbol of human life. The stem of the letter symbolizes the early part of life, when the character is unformed, and the choice of good or evil as yet undetermined. The right-hand branch, which is the narrower one, represents the "steep and thorny path" of virtue. The left-hand branch is the broad and easy road to vice. Compare the beautiful Episode of Prodicus in Xenophon's Memorabilia. Servius ad Virg., Æn., vi., 540, "Huic literæ dicebat Pythagoras humanæ vitæ cursum esse similem, quia unusquisque hominum, cum primum adolescentiæ limen attigerit, et in eum locum venerit 'partes ubi se via findit in ambas,' hæreat nutabandus, et nesciat in quam se partem potius inclinet." Auson., Idyll., xii., 9, "Pythagoræ bivium ramis pateo ambiguis Y." Shakspeare, Hamlet, Act i., sc. 3. Cic., de Off., i., 32. Hesiod, Op. et Di., 288, μακρὸς δὲ καὶ ὄρθιος οἶμος. Pers., Sat., v., 35.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Satire IV. Argument.

SATIRE IV.

ARGUMENT.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FOOTNOTES:

[1386] Rem populi tractas? from the Greek περὶ τῶν τοῦ δήμου πραγμάτων βουλεύεσθαι. The imitations of the First Alcibiades are very close throughout the Satire. Even in our own day, in looking back upon ancient history, it would be difficult to find two persons so nearly counterparts of each other as Nero and Alcibiades; not only in their personal character but in the adventitious circumstances of their life. Both came into public life at a very early age. Nero was emperor before he was seventeen years old, and Alcibiades was barely twenty at the siege of Potidæa. Seneca was to Nero what Socrates was to Alcibiades. Both derived their claims to pre-eminence from the mother's side: Nero through Agrippina, from the Julian gens; Alcibiades through Dinomache, from the Alemæonidæ. The public influence of both extended through nearly the same period, thirteen years. Both were notorious for the same vices: love of self-indulgence, ambition of pre-eminence, personal vanity, lawless insolence toward others, lavish expenditure, and utter disregard of all principle. It would be very easy to carry out the parallel into greater detail. Comp. Suet., Nero, c. 26, with Grote's Greece, vol. vii., ch. 55.

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

[1388] Cicutæ. Cf. ad Juv., vii, 206.

[1389] Pupille. Alcibiades was left an orphan at the age of five years, his father, Clinias, having been killed at the battle of Coronea; when he was placed with his younger brother Clinias, under the guardianship of Pericles and his brother Ariphron, to whom his ungovernable passions, even in his boyhood, were a source of great grief. Of this connection Alcibiades was very proud. Cf. Plat., Alc., c. 1. Nero lost his father when scarcely three years old; and at the age of eleven, he was adopted by Claudius and placed under the care of Annæus Seneca. It is curious that the first public act of both was an act of liberality to the people. Compare the account of Nero's proposing the Congiarium (Suet., Nero, c. 7), with the anecdote of the quail of Alcibiades told by Plutarch (in Vit., c. 10). There is probably also a bitter sarcasm in the word "pupille," as it was the term of contempt applied to Nero by Poppæa, who was impatient to be married to him, which the control of his mother Agrippina, and the influence of Seneca and Burrhus, delayed. Cf. Tac., Ann., xiv., I, "Quæ (Poppæa) aliquando per facetias incusaret Principem et pupillum vocaret qui jussis alienis obnoxius non modo imperii sed libertatis etiam indigeret." Some imagine pericli to be intended as a pun, "One that would prove dangerous hereafter;" as Alcibiades was compared to a lion's whelp, Arist., Ran., 1431, οὐ χρὴ λέοντος σκύμνον ἐν πόλει τρέφειν ἤν δ' ἐκτρέφῃ τις, τοῖς τρόποις ὑπηρετεῖν.

[1390] Majestate manûs. Ov., Met., i., 205, "Quam fuit illa Jovi: qui postquam voce, manuque Murmura compressit, tenuere silentia cuncti." So Lucan says of Cæsar, "Utque satis trepidum turbâ coeunte tumultum Composuit vultu, dextrâque silentia jussit." Cf. Acts, xiii. 16.

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

[1392] Nigrum Theta. The Θ, the first letter of θάνατος, was set by the Judices against the names of those whom they adjuged worthy of death, and was hence used by critics to obelize passages they condemned or disapproved of; the contrary being marked with Χ, for χρηστόν. Cf. Mart., vii., Ep. xxxvii., 1, "Nosti mortiferum quæstoris, Castrice, signum, Est operæ pretium discere theta novum." Auson., Ep. 128, "Tuumque nomen theta sectilis signet." Sidon., Carm., ix., 335, "Isti qui valet exarationi Districtum bonus applicare theta." (It was also used on tomb-stones, and as a mark to tick off the dead on the muster-roll of soldiers.)

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

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

[1395] Anticyras. Cf. ad Juv., xiii., 97. Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 137, "Expulit helleboro morbum bilemque meraco." Lucian, ἐν Πλοίῳ, 45, καὶ ὁ ἑλλέβορος ἱκανὸς ποιῆσαι ζωρότερος ποθείς. Meracus is properly applied to unmixed wine; merus, to any other liquid.

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

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

[1398] Ocima. Properly the herb "Basil," ocimum Basilicum, either from ὠκὺς, from its "rapid growth," or from ὄζειν, from its "fragrance."

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

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

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

[1402] Balanatum gausape. The Balanus, or "Arabian Balsam," was considered one of the most expensive perfumes. πρὸς τὰ πολυτελῆ μύρα ἀντ' ἐλαίου ἔχρωντο. Dioscor., iv., 160. Cf. Hor., iii., Od. xxix., 4, "Pressa tuis balanus capillis Jamdudum apud me est." The gausape is properly a thick shaggy kind of stuff. Hence Sen., Ep. 53, "Frigidæ cultor mitto me in mare quomodo psychrolutam decet, gausapatus." Lucil., xx., Fr. 9, "Purpureo tersit tunc latas gausape mensas." From whom Horace copies, ii., Sat. viii., 10, "Puer alte cinctus acernam gausape purpureo mensam pertersit." It is here used for "a very thick, bushy beard."

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

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

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

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

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

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

Satire V. Argument.

SATIRE V.

ARGUMENT.

On this Satire, which is the longest and the best of all, Persius may be said to rest his claims to be considered a Philosopher and a Poet. It may be compared with advantage with the Third Satire of the second book of Horace. As the object in that is to defend what is called the Stoical paradox, "that none but the Philosopher is of sound mind,"

"Quem mala stultitia et quemcunque inscitia veri Cæecum agit, insanum Chrysippi porticus et grex Autumat:" i., 43-45,

so here, Persius maintains that other dogma of the Stoics, "that none but the Philosopher is truly a free man." Horace argues (in the person of a Stoic) that there can be but one path that leads in the right direction; all others must lead the traveler only farther astray. "Unus utrique error sed variis illudit partibus" (ἐσθλοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἁπλῶς, παντοδαπῶς δὲ κακοί. Arist., Eth., II., vi., 4). So Persius argues, whatever are the varied pursuits of different minds, he that is under the influence of some overwhelming passion, can offer no claim to be accounted a free agent. "Mille hominum species, et rerum discolor usus." (52.) In fact, if we substitute "freedom" for "wisdom," the whole argument of the last part of the Satire may be expressed in the two lines of Horace:

"Quisquis Ambitione malâ aut argenti pallet amore Quisquis Luxuria tristive Superstitione Aut alio mentis morbo calet:"

that man can neither be pronounced free or of sound mind.

The Satire consists of two parts; the first serving as a Proëm to the other. It is, in fact, the earnest expression of unbounded affection for his tutor and early friend Annæus Cornutus, from whom he had imbibed those principles of philosophy, which it is the object of the latter part of the Satire to elucidate. After a few lines of ridicule at the hackneyed prologues of the day, he puts into the mouth of Cornutus that just criticism of poetical composition which there is very little doubt Persius had in reality derived from his master; and in answer to this, he takes occasion to profess his sincere and deep-seated love and gratitude toward the preceptor, whose kind care had rescued him from the vicious courses to which a young and ardent temperament was leading him; and whose sound judgment and dexterous management had weaned him from the temptations that assail the young, by making him his own companion in those studies which expanded his intellect while they rectified the obliquity (to use the Stoics' phrase) of his moral character. Such mutual affection, he urges, could only exist between two persons whom something more than mere adventitious circumstances drew together; and he therefore concludes that the same natal star must have presided over the horoscope of both.

He then proceeds to the main subject of the Satire, viz., that all men should aim at attaining that freedom which can only result from that perfect "soundness of mind" which we have shown to be the summum bonum of the Stoics. This real freedom no mere external or adventitious circumstances can bestow. Dama, though freed at his master's behest, if he be the slave of passion, is as much a slave as if he had never felt the prætor's rod. Until he have really cast off, like the snake, the slough of his former vices, and become changed in heart and principles as he is in political standing, he is so far from being really free from bondage that he can not rightly perform even the most trivial act of daily life. True freedom consists in virtue alone; but "Virtus est vitium fugere:" and he who eradicates all other passions, but cherishes still one darling vice, has but changed his master. The dictates of the passions that sway his breast are more imperious than those of the severest task-master. Whether it be avarice, or luxury, or love, or ambition, or superstition, that is the dominant principle, so long as he can not shake himself free from the control of these, he is as much, as real a slave as the drudge that bears his master's strigil to the bath, or the dog that fancies he has burst his bonds while the long fragment of his broken chain still dangles from his neck. The last few lines contain a dignified rebuke of the sneers which such pure sentiments as these would provoke in the coarse minds of some into whose hands these lines might fall; perhaps, too, they may be meant as a gentle reproof of the sly irony in which the Epicurean Horace indulged, while professing to enunciate the Stoic doctrine, that none but the true Philosopher can be said to be of sound mind.

It is the custom of poets to pray for a hundred voices,[1409] and to wish for a hundred mouths and a hundred tongues for their verses;[1410] whether the subject proposed be one to be mouthed[1411] by a grim-visaged[1412] Tragœdian, or the wounds[1413] of a Parthian drawing his weapon from his groin.[1414]

CORNUTUS.[1415] What is the object of this? or what masses[1416] of robust song are you heaping up, so as to require the support of a hundred throats? Let those who are about to speak on grand subjects collect mists on Helicon;[1417] all those for whom the pot of Procne[1418] or Thyestes shall boil, to be often supped on by the insipid Glycon.[1419] You neither press forth the air from the panting bellows, while the mass is smelting in the furnace; nor, hoarse with pent-up murmur, foolishly croak out something ponderous, nor strive to burst your swollen cheeks with puffing.[1420] You adopt the language of the Toga,[1421] skillful at judicious combination, with moderate style, well rounded,[1422] clever at lashing depraved morals,[1423] and with well-bred sportiveness to affix the mark of censure. Draw from this source what you have to say; and leave at Mycenæ the tables, with the head[1424] and feet, and study plebeian dinners.

PERSIUS. For my part, I do not aim at this, that my page may be inflated with air-blown trifles, fit only to give weight[1425] to smoke. We are talking apart from the crowd. I am now, at the instigation of the Muse, giving you my heart to sift;[1426] and delight in showing you, beloved friend, how large a portion of my soul is yours, Cornutus! Knock then, since thou knowest well how to detect what rings sound,[1427] and the glozings of a varnished[1428] tongue. For this I would dare to pray for a hundred voices, that with guileless voice I may unfold how deeply I have fixed thee in my inmost breast; and that my words may unseal for thee all that lies buried, too deep for words, in my secret heart.

When first the guardian purple left me, its timid charge,[1429] and my boss[1430] was hung up, an offering to the short-girt[1431]

Lares; when my companions were kind, and the white centre-fold[1432] gave my eyes license to rove with impunity over the whole Suburra; at the time when the path is doubtful, and error, ignorant of the purpose of life, makes anxious minds hesitate between the branching cross-ways, I placed myself under you. You, Cornutus, cherished my tender years in your Socratic bosom. Then your rule, dexterous in insinuating itself,[1433] being applied to me, straightened my perverse morals; my mind was convinced by your reasoning, and strove to yield subjection; and formed features skillfully moulded by your plastic thumb. For I remember that many long nights I spent with you; and with you robbed our feasts of the first hours of night. Our work was one. We both alike arranged our hours of rest, and relaxed our serious studies with a frugal meal.

Doubt not, at least, this fact; that both our days harmonize by some definite compact,[1434] and are derived from the selfsame planet. Either the Fate, tenacious of truth,[1435] suspended our natal hour in the equally poised balance, or else the Hour that presides over the faithful divides between the twins the harmonious destiny[1436] of us two; and we alike correct the influence of malignant Saturn[1437] by Jupiter, auspicious to both. At all events, there is some star, I know not what, that blends my destiny with thine.

There are a thousand species of men; and equally diversified is the pursuit of objects. Each has his own desire; nor do men live with one single wish. One barters beneath an orient sun,[1438] wares of Italy for a wrinkled pepper[1439] and grains of pale cumin.[1440] Another prefers, well-gorged, to heave in dewy[1441] sleep. Another indulges in the Campus Martius. Another is beggared by gambling. Another riots in sensual[1442] pleasures. But when the stony[1443] gout has crippled his joints, like the branches of an ancient beech--then too late they mourn that their days have passed in gross licentiousness, their light has been the fitful marsh-fog; and look back upon the life they have abandoned.[1444] But your delight is to grow pale over the midnight papers; for, as a trainer of youths, you plant in their well-purged ears[1445] the corn of Cleanthes.[1446] From this source seek, ye young and old, a definite object for your mind, and a provision against miserable gray hairs.

"It shall be done to-morrow."[1447] "To-morrow, the case will be just the same!" What, do you grant me one day as so great a matter? "But when that other day has dawned, we have already spent yesterday's to-morrow. For see, another to-morrow wears away our years, and will be always a little beyond you. For though it is so near you, and under the selfsame perch, you will in vain endeavor to overtake the felloe[1448] that revolves before you, since you are the hinder wheel, and on the second axle."

It is liberty, of which we stand in need! not such as that which, when every Publius Velina[1449] has earned, he claims as his due the mouldy corn, on the production of his tally. Ah! minds barren of all truth! for whom a single twirl makes a Roman.[1450] Here is Dama,[1451] a groom,[1452] not worth three farthings![1453] good for nothing and blear-eyed; one that would lie for a feed of beans. Let his master give him but a twirl, and in the spinning of a top, out he comes Marcus Dama! Ye gods! when Marcus is security, do you hesitate to trust your money? When Marcus is judge, do you grow pale? Marcus said it: it must be so. Marcus, put your name to this deed? This is literal liberty. This it is the cap of liberty[1454] bestows on us.

"Is any one else, then, a freeman, but he that may live as he pleases? I may live as I please; am not I then a freer man than Brutus?"[1455] On this the Stoic (his ear well purged[1456] with biting vinegar) says, "Your inference is faulty; the rest I admit, but cancel 'I may,' and 'as I please.'"

"Since I left the prætor's presence, made my own master by his rod,[1457] why may I not do whatever my inclination dictates, save only what the rubric of Masurius[1458] interdicts?"

Learn then! But let anger subside from your nose, and the wrinkling sneer; while I pluck out those old wives' fables from your breast. It was not in the prætor's power to commit to fools the delicate duties of life, or transmit that experience that will guide them through the rapid course of life. Sooner would you make the dulcimer[1459] suit a tall porter.[1460]

Reason stands opposed to you, and whispers in your secret ear, not to allow any one to do that which he will spoil in the doing. The public law of men--nay, Nature herself contains this principle--that feeble ignorance should hold all acts as forbidden. Dost thou dilute hellebore, that knowest not how to confine the balance-tongue[1461] to a definite point? The very essence of medicine[1462] forbids this. If a high-shoed[1463] plowman, that knows not even the morning star, should ask for a ship, Melicerta[1464] would cry out that all modesty had vanished from the earth.[1465]

Has Philosophy granted to you to walk uprightly? and do you know how to discern the semblance of truth; lest it give a counterfeit tinkle, though merely gold laid over brass? And those things which ought to be pursued, or in turn avoided, have you first marked the one with chalk, and then the other with charcoal? Are you moderate in your desires? frugal in your household? kind to your friends? Can you at one time strictly close, at another unlock your granaries? And can you pass by the coin fixed in the mud,[1466] nor swallow down with your gullet the Mercurial saliva?

When you can say with truth, "These are my principles, this I hold;" then be free and wise too, under the auspices of the prætor and of Jove himself. But if, since you were but lately one of our batch, you preserve your old skin, and though polished on the surface,[1467] retain the cunning fox[1468] beneath your vapid breast; then I recall all that I just now granted, and draw back the rope.[1469]

Philosophy has given you nothing; nay, put forth your finger[1470]--and what act is there so trivial?--and you do wrong. But there is no incense by which you can gain from the gods this boon,[1471] that one short half-ounce of Right can be inherent in fools. To mix these things together is an impossibility; nor can you, since you are in all these things else a mere ditcher, move but three measures of the satyr Bathyllus.[1472]

"I am free." Whence do you take this as granted, you that are in subjection to so many things?[1473] Do you recognize no master, save him from whom the prætor's rod sets you free? If he has thundered out, "Go, boy, and carry my strigils to the baths of Crispinus![1474] Do you loiter, lazy scoundrel?" This bitter slavery affects not thee; nor does any thing from without enter which can set thy strings in motion.[1475] But if within, and in thy morbid breast, there spring up masters, how dost thou come forth with less impunity than those whom the lash[1476] and the terror of their master drives to the strigils?

Do you snore lazily in the morning? "Rise!" says Avarice. "Come! rise!" Do you refuse? She is urgent. "Arise!" she says. "I can not." "Rise!" "And what am I to do?" "Do you ask? Import fish[1477] from Pontus, Castoreum,[1478] tow, ebony,[1479] frankincense, purgative Coan wines.[1480]

"Be the first to unload from the thirsty camel[1481] his fresh pepper--turn a penny, swear!"

"But Jupiter will hear!" "Oh fool! If you aim at living on good terms with Jove, you must go on contented to bore your oft-tasted salt-cellar with your finger!"

Now, with girded loins, you fit the skin and wine flagon to your slaves.[1482]--"Quick, to the ship!" Nothing prevents your sweeping over the Ægæan in your big ship, unless cunning luxury should first draw you aside, and hint, "Whither, madman, are you rushing? Whither! what do you want? The manly bile has fermented in your hot breast, which not even a pitcher[1483] of hemlock could quench. Would you bound over the sea? Would you have your dinner on a thwart, seated on a coil of hemp?[1484] while the broad-bottomed jug[1485] exhales the red Veientane[1486] spoiled by the damaged pitch![1487] Why do you covet that the money you had here put out to interest at a modest five per cent., should go on to sweat a greedy eleven per cent.? Indulge your Genius![1488] Let us crop the sweets of life! That you really live is my boon! You will become ashes, a ghost, a gossip's tale! Live, remembering you must die.--The hour flies! This very word I speak is subtracted from it!"

What course, now, do you take? You are torn in different directions by a two-fold hook. Do you follow this master or that? You must needs by turns, with doubtful obedience, submit to one, by turns wander forth free. Nor, even though you may have once resisted, or once refused to obey the stern behest, can you say with truth, "I have burst my bonds!" For the dog too by his struggles breaks through his leash, yet even as he flies a long portion of the chain hangs dragging from his neck.

"Davus![1489] I intend at once--and I order you to believe me too!--to put an end to my past griefs. (So says Chærestratus, biting his nails to the quick.) Shall I continue to be a disgrace to my sober relations? Shall I make shipwreck[1490] of my patrimony, and lose my good name, before these shameless[1491] doors, while drunk, and with my torch extinguished, I sing[1492] before the reeking doors of Chrysis?"

"Well done, my boy, be wise! sacrifice a lamb to the gods who ward off[1493] evil!" "But do you think, Davus, she will weep at being forsaken?" Nonsense! boy, you will be beaten with her red slipper,[1494] for fear you should be inclined to plunge, and gnaw through your close-confining toils,[1495] now fierce and violent. But if she should call you, you would say at once, "What then shall I do?[1496] Shall I not now, when I am invited, and when of her own act she entreats me, go to her?" Had you come away from her heart-whole, you would not, even now. This, this is the man of whom we are in search. It rests not on the wand[1497] which the foolish Lictor brandishes.

Is that flatterer[1498] his own master, whom white-robed Ambition[1499] leads gaping with open mouth? "Be on the watch, and heap vetches[1500] bountifully upon the squabbling mob, that old men,[1501] as they sun themselves, may remember our Floralia.--What could be more splendid?"

But when Herod's[1502] day is come, and the lamps arranged on the greasy window-sill have disgorged their unctuous smoke, bearing violets, and the thunny's tail floats, hugging the red dish,[1503] and the white pitcher foams with wine: then in silent prayer you move your lips, and grow pale at the sabbaths of the circumcised. Then are the black goblins![1504] and the perils arising from breaking an egg.[1505] Then the huge Galli,[1506] and the one-eyed priestess with her sistrum,[1507] threaten you with the gods inflating your body, unless, you have eaten the prescribed head of garlic[1508] three times of a morning.

Were you to say all this among the brawny centurions, huge Pulfenius[1509] would immediately raise his coarse laugh, and hold a hundred Greek philosophers dear at a clipped centussis.[1510]

FOOTNOTES:

[1409] Centum voces. Homer is content with ten. Il., ii., 484, Οὐδ εἴ μοι δέκα μὲν γλῶσσαι δέκα δέ στόματ εἶεν. Virgil squares the number. Georg., ii., 43, "Non mihi si linguæ centum sint, oraque centum, Ferrea vox." Æn., vi., 625. Sil., iv., 527, "Non mihi Mæoniæ redeat si gloria linguæ, _Centenas_que pater det Phœbus fundere voces, Tot cædes proferre queam." Ov., Met., viii., 532, "Non mihi si centum Deus ora sonantia linguis." Fast., ii., 119.

[1410] In carmina. "That their style and language may be amplified and extended adequately to the greatness and variety of their subjects."

[1411] Hianda. Juv., vi., 636, "Grande Sophocleo carmen bacchamur hiatu;" alluding to the wide mouths of the tragic masks (οἱ ὑποκριταὶ μέγα κεχηνότες, Luc., Nigrin., i., p. 28, Ben.), or to the "ampullæ et sesquipedalia verba" of the tragedy itself. Hor., A. P., 96.

[1412] Mæsto. Hor., A. P., 105, "Tristia mæstum vultum verba decent."

[1413] Vulnera, i. e., "Or whether it be an epic poem on the Parthian war," which was carried on under Nero. The genitive Parthi may be either subjective or objective, probably the former, in spite of Hor., ii., Sat. i., 15, "Aut labentis equo describat vulnera Parthi."

[1414] Ab inguine. This may either mean, "drawing out the weapon from the wound he has received from the Roman," or may describe the manner in which the Parthian ("versis animosus equis," Hor., i., Od. xix., 11) draws his bow in his retrograde course. ("Miles sagittas et celerem fugam Parthi timet," ii., Od. iii., 17.) Casaubon describes, from Eustathius, three other ways of drawing the bow, παρὰ μαζον, παρ' ὦμον, and παρὰ τὸ δεξιὸν ὠτίον, "from the ear," like our English archers. So Propertius, lib. iv., says of the Gauls, "Virgatis jaculantis ab inguine braccis." El., x., 43.

[1415] Cornutus. Annæus Cornutus (of the same gens as Mela, Lucan, and Seneca) was distinguished as a tragic poet as well as a Stoic philosopher. He was a native of Leptis, in Africa, and came to Rome in the reign of Nero, where he applied himself with success to the education of young men. He wrote on Philosophy, Rhetoric, and a treatise entitled ἡ ἑλληνικὴ θεολογία. Persius, at the age of sixteen (A.D. 50), placed himself under his charge, and was introduced by him to Lucan; and at his death left him one hundred sestertia and his library. Cornutus kept the books, to the number of seven hundred, but gave back the money to Persius' sisters. Nero, intending to write an epic poem on Roman History, consulted Cornutus among others; but when the rest advised Nero to extend it to four hundred books, Cornutus said, "No one would read them." For this speech Nero was going to put him to death; but contented himself with banishing him. This took place, according to Lubinus, four years after Persius' death; more probably in A.D. 65, when so many of the Annæan gens suffered. (Cf. Clinton in Ann.) Vid. Suid., p. 2161. Dio., lxii., 29. Eus., Chron., A. 2080. Suet. in Vit. Pers.

[1416] Offas. "Huge goblets of robustious song." Gifford.

[1417] Helicone. Cf. Prol., 1. 4. Hor., A. P., 230, "Nubes et inania captet."

[1418] Procnes olla. The "pot of Procne, or Thyestes," is said to boil for them who compose tragedies on the subjects of the unnatural banquets prepared by Procne for Tereus, and by Atreus for Thyestes. Cf., Ov., Met., vi., 424-676. Senec., Thyest. Hor., A. P., 91.--Cænanda implies that these atrocities were to be actually represented on the stage, which the good taste even of Augustus' days would have rejected with horror. Hor., A. P., 182-188.

[1419] Glycon was a tragic actor, of whom one Virgilius was part owner. Nero admired him so much that he gave Virgilius three hundred thousand sesterces for his share of him, and set him free.

[1420] Stloppo. "The noise made by inflating the cheeks, and then forcibly expelling the wind by a sudden blow with the hands." It not improbably comes from λόπος in the sense of an inflated skin; as stlis for lis, stlocus for locus; stlataria from latus. Cf. ad Juv., vii., 134.

[1421] Verba togæ. Having pointed out the ordinary defects of poets of the day as to choice of subjects, style, and language, Cornutus proceeds to compliment Persius for the exactly contrary merits. First, for the use of words not removed from ordinary use, but such as were in use in the most elegant and polished society of Rome, as distinguished from the rude archaisms then in vogue, or the too familiar vulgarisms of the tunicatus popellus in the provinces, where none assumed the toga till he was carried out to burial. (Juv., Sat. iii, 172.) But then, according to Horace's precept ("Dixeris egregiè si notum callida verbum reddiderit junctura novum," A. P., 47), grace and dignity was added to these by the novelty of effect produced by judicious combination. Cf. Cic., de Orat., iii., 43. There is an allusion to the same metaphor as in Sat. i., 65, "Per leve severos effundat junctura ungues."

[1422] Ore teres modico. The second merit, "a natural and easy mode of reciting, suited to compositions in a familiar style." Cicero uses teres in the same sense. De Orat., iii., c. 52, "Plena quædam, sed tamen teres, et tenuis, non sine nervis ac viribus." Horace, A. P., 323, "Graiis dedit ore rotundo Musa loqui."

[1423] Pallentes radere mores. The next merit is in the choice of a subject. Not the unnatural horrors selected to gratify the most depraved taste, but the gentlemanly, and at the same time searching, exposure of the profligate morals of the time.

[1424] Cum capite. Cf. Senec., Thyest., Act iv., 1. 763, "Denudat artus dirus atque ossa amputat: tantum ora servat et datas fidei manus."

[1425] Pondus. So Horace, i., Epist. xix., 42, "Nugis addere pondus."

[1426] Excutienda. Seneca, Ep. lxxii., 1, "Explicandus est animus, et quæcunque apud illum deposita sunt, subinde excuti debent."

[1427] Solidum crepet. Cf. iii., 21, "Sonet vitium percussa."

[1428] Sinuoso. Cf. Hamlet, "Give me that man that is not passion's slave, and I will wear him in my heart's core; ay, in my heart of heart, as I do thee, Horatio!" Act iii., sc. 2.

[1429] Custos. The Prætexta was intended, as the robes of the priests, to serve as a protection to the youths that wore it. The purple with which the toga was bordered was to remind them of the modesty which was becoming to their early years. It was laid aside by boys at the age of seventeen, and by girls when they were married. The assumption of the toga virilis took place with great solemnities before the images of the Lares, sometimes in the Capitol. It not unfrequently happened that the changing of the toga at the same time formed a bond of union between young men, which lasted unbroken for many years. Hor., i., Od. xxxvi., 9, "Memor Actæ non alio rege puertiæ Mutatæque simul togæ. "The Liberalia, on the 16th before the Kalends of April (i. e., March 17th), were the usual festival for this ceremony. Vid. Cic. ad Att., VI., i., 12. Ovid explains the reasons for the selection. Fast., iii., 771, seq.

[1430] Bulla. Vid. Juv., v., 164.

[1431] Succinctis. So Horace, A. P., 50, "Fingere cinctutis non exaudita Cethegis." The Lares, being the original household deities, were regarded with singular affection, and were probably usually represented in the homely dress of the early ages of the republic. Perhaps, too, some superstitious feeling might tend to prevent any innovation in their costume. This method of wearing the toga, which consisted in twisting it over the left shoulder, so as to leave the right arm bare and free, was called the "Cinctus Gabinus" (cf. Ov., Fast., v., 101, 129), from the fact of its having been adopted at the sudden attack at Gabii, when they had not time to put on the sagum, but were forced to fight in the toga. Hence, in proclaiming war, the consul always appeared in this costume (Virg., Æn., vii., 612, "Ipse Quirinali trabeâ cinctuque Gabino Insignis reserat stridentia limina Consul"), and it was that in which Decius devoted himself. Liv., viii., 9; v., 46.

[1432] Umbo was the centre where all the folds of the toga met on the left shoulder; from this boss the lappet fell down and was tucked into the girdle, so as to form the sinus or fold which served as a pocket.

[1433] Fallere solers. "You showed so much skill and address in your endeavors to restore me to the right path, that I was, as it were, gradually and insensibly cheated into a reformation of my life."

[1434] Fœdere certo. Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 187, "Scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum." ii., Od. xvii., 16, "Placitumque Parcis, Seu Libra seu me Scorpius adspicit formidolosus, pars violentior Natalis horæ seu tyrannus Hesperiæ Capricornus undæ Utrumque nostrum incredibili modo consentit astrum." Manil., iv., 549, "Felix æquato genitus sub pondere Libræ."

[1435] Tenax veri. "Because the decrees pronounced by Destiny at each man's birth have their inevitable issue." So Horace, "Parca non mendax," ii., Od. xvi., 39.

[1436] Concordia. This συναστρία, as the Greeks called the being born under one Horoscopus (vi., 18), was considered to be one of the causes of the most familiar and intimate friendship.

[1437] Saturnum. Hor., ii., Od. xvii., 22, "Te Jovis impio tutela Saturno refulgens Eripuit." Both gravis and impius are probably meant to express the Κρόνος βλαβερὸς of Manetho, i., 110. Propert., iv., El. i., 105, "Felicesque Jovis stellæ Martisque rapacis, Et grave Saturni sidus in omne caput." Juv., vi., 570, "Quid sidus triste minetur Saturni." Virg., Georg., i., 336, "Frigida Saturni stella."

[1438] Sole recenti. "In the extreme east;" from Hor., i., Sat. iv., 29, "Hic mutat merces surgente à Sole ad eum quo Vespertina tepet regio."

[1439] Rugosum piper. Plin., H. N., xii., 7.

[1440] Pallentis cumini. The cumin was used as a cheap substitute for pepper, which was very expensive at Rome. It produced great paleness in those who ate much of it; and consequently many who wished to have a pallid look, as though from deep study, used to take it in large quantities. Pliny (xx., 14, "Omne cuminum pallorem bibentibus gignit") says that the imitators of Porcius Latro used to take it in order to resemble him even in his natural peculiarities. Horace alludes to this, i., Epist. xix., 17, "Quod si pallerem casu biberent exsangue cuminum." (Latro died A.U.C. 752.) Cf. Plin., xix., 6, 32.

[1441] Irriguo. Virg., Æn., i., 691," Placidam per membra quietem irrigat." iii., 511, "Fessos sopor irrigat artus."--Turgescere. Sulp., 56, "Somno moriuntur obeso."

[1442] Putris. Hor., i., Od. xxxvi., 17, "Omnes in Damalin putres deponunt oculos."

[1443] Lapidosa. "That fills his joints with chalk-stones." Hor., ii., Sat. vii., 16, "Postquam illi justa cheragra Contudit articulos." i., Ep. i., 81, "Nodosâ corpus nolis prohibere cheragrâ."

[1444] Vitam relictam. Cf. iii., 38, "Virtutem videant intabescantque relictâ."

[1445] Purgatas aures. Cf. l. 86, "Stoicus hic aurem mordaci lotus aceto." One of the remedies of deafness was holding the ear over the vapor of heated vinegar. The metaphor was very applicable to the Stoics, who were famous for their acuteness in detecting fallacies, and their keenness in debating. Cf. Plaut., Mil. Gl., III., i., 176, "Ambo perpurgatis tibi operam damus auribus." Hor., i., Epist. i., 7, "Est mihi purgatam crebrò qui personet aurem."

[1446] Cleantheâ. Vid. Juv., ii., 7. Cleanthes was a native of Assos, and began life as a pugilist. He came to Athens with only four drachmæ, and became a pupil of Zeno. He used to work at night at drawing water in the gardens, in order to raise money to attend Zeno's lectures by day; and hence acquired the nickname of φρεάντλης. He succeeded Zeno in his school, and according to some, Chrysippus became his pupil. Diog. Laërt., VII., v., 1, 2; vii., 1.

[1447] Cras hoc fiet. Cf. Mart., v., Ep. lviii., 7, "Cras vives! hodie jam vivere Postume serum est, Ille sapit, quisquis, Postume, vixit heri." Macbeth, Act v., sc. 5,

"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time: And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death."

"Our yesterday's to-morrow now is gone, And still a new to-morrow does come on. We by to-morrows draw out all our store, Till the exhausted well can yield no more." Cowley.

[1448] Canthum. "The tire of the wheel." Quintilian (i., 5) says, "The word is of Spanish or African origin. Though Persius employs it as a word in common use." But Casaubon quotes Suidas, Eustathius, and the Etym. Mag., to prove it is a pure Greek word; κανθὸς, "the corner of the eye." Hence put for the orb of the eye.

[1449] Velinâ Publius. When a slave was made perfectly free he was enrolled in one of the tribes, in order that he might enjoy the full privileges of a Roman citizen: one of the chief of these was the frumentatio, i. e., the right of receiving a ticket which entitled him to his share at the distribution of the public corn, which took place on the nones of each month. This ticket or tally was of wood or lead, and was transferable. Sometimes a small sum was paid with it. Cf. Juv., vii., 174, "Summula ne pereat quâ vilis tessera venit frumenti." The slave generally adopted the prænomen of the person who manumitted him, and the name of the tribe to which he was admitted was added. This prænomen was the distinguishing mark of a freeman, and they were proportionally proud of it. (Hor., ii., Sat. v., 32, "Quinte, puta, aut Publi--gaudent prænomine molles auriculæ." Juv., v., 127, "Si quid tentaveris unquam hiscere tanquam habeas tria nomina.") The tribe "Velina" was one of the country tribes, in the Sabine district, and called from the Lake Velinus. It was the last tribe added, with the Quirina, A.U.C. 512, to make up the thirty-five tribes, by the censors C. Aurelius Cotta and M. Fabius Buteo. Vid. Liv., Epit., xix. Cic., Att., iv., 15. The name of the tribe was always added in the ablative case, as Oppius Veientinâ, Anxius Tomentinâ.

[1450] Quiritem. Cf. Sen., Nat., iii., "Hæc res efficit non è jure Quiritium liberum, sed è jure Naturæ." There were three ways of making a slave free: 1, per Censum; 2, per Vindictam; 3, per Testamentum. The second is alluded to here. The master took the slave before the prætor or consul and said, "Hunc hominem liberum esse volo jure Quiritium." Then the prætor, laying the rod (Vindicta) on the slave's head, pronounced him free; whereupon his owner or the lictor turned him round, gave him a blow on the cheek (alapa), and let him go, with the words, "Liber esto atque ito quo voles." (Plaut., Men., V., vii., 40.)

[1451] Dama was a common name for slaves (Hor., ii., Sat. vii., 54, "Prodis ex judice Dama turpis;" and v., 18, "Utne tegam spurco Damæ latus"), principally for Syrians. It is said to be a corruption of Demetrius or Demodorus. So Manes, from Menodorus, was a common name of Phrygian slaves.

[1452] Agaso. Properly, "a slave who looks after beasts of burden" (qui agit asinos, Schell.), then put as a mark of contempt for any drudge. Hor., ii., Sat. viii., 73, "Si patinam pede lapsus frangat agaso."

[1453] Tressis. Literally, "three asses." So Sexis, Septussis, etc.

[1454] Pilea. Cf. ad iii., 106, "Hesterni capite induto subiere Quirites."

[1455] Bruto. From the three Bruti, who were looked upon by the vulgar as the champions of liberty. Lucius Junius Brutus, who expelled the Tarquins; Marcus, who murdered Cæsar; and Decimus, who opposed Antony.

[1456] Aurem lotus. Cf. ad l. 63.

[1457] Vindicta. Cf. Ov., A. A., iii., 615, "Modo quam Vindicta redemit."

[1458] Masurius, or Massurius Sabinus, a famous lawyer in the reign of Tiberius, admitted by him when at an advanced age into the Equestrian order. He is frequently mentioned by Aulus Gellius (Noctes xiv.). He wrote three books on Civil Law, five on the Edictum Prætoris Urbani, besides Commentaries and other works, quoted in the Digests.

[1459] Sambucam. "You might as well put a delicate instrument of music in the hands of a coarse clown, and expect him to make it 'discourse eloquent music,' as look for a nice discernment of the finer shades of moral duty in one wholly ignorant of the first principles of philosophy." Sambuca is from the Chaldaic Sabbecà. It was a kind of triangular harp with four strings, and according to the Greeks, was called from one Sambuces, who first used it. Others say the Sibyl was the first performer on it. Ibycus of Regium was its reputed inventor, as Anacreon of the Barbiton: but from its mention in the book of Daniel (iii., 5), it was probably of earlier date. A female performer on it was called Sambucistria. An instrument of war, consisting of a platform or drawbridge supported by ropes, to let down from a tower on the walls of a besieged town, was called, from the similarity of shape, by the same name. Cf. Athen., iv., 175; xiv., 633, 7. (Suidas, in voce, seems to derive it from ἴαμβος, quasi ἰαμβύκη, because Iambic verses were sung to it.)

[1460] Caloni. The slaves attached to the army were so called, from κᾶλα "logs," either because they carried clubs, or because they were the hewers of wood and drawers of water for the soldiers. From their being always in the camp they acquired some military knowledge, and hence we find them occasionally used in great emergencies. They are sometimes confounded with Lixæ; but the latter were not slaves. The name is then applied to any coarse and common drudge. Cf. Hor., i., Ep. xiv., 41, "Invidet usum Lignorum tibi calo." Cf. i., Sat. ii., 44; vi., 103. Tac., Hist., i., 49.--Alto refers to the old Greek proverb, ἄνοος ὁ μακρὸς, "Every tall man is a fool;" which Aristotle (in Physiogn.) confirms.

[1461] Examen. See note on Sat. i., 6.

[1462] Natura medendi. Horace has the same idea, ii., Ep. i., 114, "Navem agere ignarus navis timet; abrotonum ægro non audet nisi qui didicit dare; quod medicorum est promittunt medici."

[1463] Peronatus. Cf. Juv., xiv., 186.

[1464] Melicerta was the son of Ino, who leaped with him into the sea, to save him from her husband Athamas. Neptune, at the request of Venus, changed them into sea-deities, giving to Ino the name of Leucothea, and to Palæmon that of Melicerta, or, according to others, Portunus (à portu, as Neptunus, à nando). Vid. Ov., Met., iv., 523, seq. Fast., vi., 545. Milton's Lycidas,

"By Leucothea's golden bands, And her son that rules the sands."

[1465] Frontem. See note on Sat. i., 12. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 80, "Clament periisse pudorem cuncti."

[1466] In luto fixum. From Hor., i., Ep. xvi., 63, "Quî melior servo qui liberior sit avarus. In triviis fixum cum se demittat ob assem." The boys at Rome used to fix an as tied to a piece of string in the mud, which they jerked away, with jeers and cries of "Etiam!" as soon as any sordid fellow attempted to pick it up. Mercury being the god of luck (see note on ii., 44; Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 25), Persius uses the term "Mercurial saliva" for the miser's mouth watering at the sight of the prize (vi., 62).--Glutto expresses the gurgling sound made in the throat at the swallowing of liquids.

[1467] Fronte politus. Hor., i., Ep. xvi., 45, "Introrsus turpem, speciosum pelle decorâ."

[1468] Vulpem. Hor., A. P., 437, "Nunquam te fallant animi sub vulpe latentes." Lysander's saying is well known, "Where the lion's skin does not fit, we must don the fox's."

[1469] Funemque reduco. Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act ii. sc. 1.

"I would have thee gone, And yet no farther than a wanton's bird, Who lets it hop a little from her hand, Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves, And with a silk thread plucks it back again."

[1470] Digitum exsere. The Stoics held that none but a philosopher could perform even the most trivial act, such as putting out the finger, correctly; there being no middle point between absolute wisdom and absolute folly: consequently it was beyond even the power of the gods to bestow upon a fool the power of acting rightly.

[1471] Litabis. See note on Sat. ii., 75.

[1472] Bathylli, i. e., "Like the graceful Bathyllus, when acting the part of the satyr." Juv., Sat. vi., 63. Gifford's note.

[1473] Tot subdite rebus. "None but the philosopher can be free, because all men else are the slaves of something; of avarice, luxury, love, ambition, or superstition." Cf. Epict., Man., xiv., 2, ὅστις οὖν ἐλεύθερος εἶναι βούλεται, μήτε θελέτω τι, μήτε φευγέτω τι τῶν ἐπ' ἄλλοις· εἰ δὲ μὴ, δουλεύειν ἀνάγκη. So taught the Stoics; and inspired wisdom reads the same lesson. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?" Rom., vi., 16.

[1474] Crispinus. This "Verna Canopi," whom Juvenal mentions so often with bitter hatred and contempt, rose from the lowest position to eminence under Nero, who found him a ready instrument of his lusts and cruelties. His connection with Nero commended him to Domitian also. One of his phases may probably have been the keeping a bath. Juv., i., 27; iv., 1, 14, etc.

[1475] Nervos agitat. "A slave is no better than a puppet in the hands of his master, who pulls the strings that set his limbs in motion." The allusion is to the ἀγάλματα νευρόσπαστα, "images worked by strings." Herod., ii., 48. Xen., Sympos., iv. Lucian., de Deâ Syriâ, xvi.

[1476] Scutica. Vid. ad Juv., vi., 480.

[1477] Saperdam. From the Greek σαπέρδης (Aristot., Fr. 546), a poor insipid kind of fish caught in the Black Sea, called κορακῖνος until it was salted. Archestratus in Athenæus (iii., p. 117) calls it a φαῦλον ἀκιδνὸν ἕδεσμα.

[1478] Castoreum. Cf. Juv., xii., 34.

[1479] Ebenum. Virg., Georg., ii., 115, "Sola India nigrum fert ebenum: solis est thurea virga Sabæis."

[1480] Lubrica Coa. The grape of Cos was very sweet and luscious: a large quantity of sea-water was added to the lighter kind, called Leuco-Coum, which gave it a very purgative quality; which, in fact, most of the lighter wines of the ancients possessed. Vid. Cels., i., 1. Plin., H. N., xiv., 10. Horace alludes to this property of the Coan wine, ii., Sat. iv., 27, "Si dura morabitur aloes, Mytilus et viles pellent obstanti aconchæ Et lapathi brevis herba, sed albo non sine Coo." (May not "lubrica conchylia" in the next line be interpreted in the same way, instead of its recorded meaning, "slimy?") Casaubon explains it by λεαντικός.

[1481] Camelo. "Thirsty from its journey over the desert to Alexandria from India." Vid. Plin., H. N., xii., 7, 14, 15. Jahn's Biblical Antiquities, p. 31.

[1482] Baro is no doubt the true reading, and not varo, which some derive from varum, "an unfashioned stake" (of which vallum is the diminutive), "a log;" and hence applied to a stupid person. Baro is, as the old Scholiast tells us rightly for once, the Gallic term for a soldier's slave, his Calo; and, like Calo, became a term of reproach and contumely. It afterward was used, like homo (whence homagium, "homage"), to mean the king's "man," or vassal; and hence its use in mediæval days as an heraldic title. Compare the Norman-French terms Escuyer, Valvasseur.

[1483] Œnophorum. Hor., i., Sat. vi., 109, "Pueri lasanum portantes œnophorumque." Pellis is probably a substitute for a leathern portmanteau or valise.

[1484] Cannabe.

"And while a broken plank supports your meat, And a coil'd cable proves your softest seat, Suck from squab jugs that pitchy scents exhale, The seaman's beverage, sour at once and stale." Gifford.

[1485] Sessilis obba. Sessilis is properly applied to the broad back of a stout horse, affording a good seat ("tergum sessile," Ov., Met., xii., 401), then to any thing resting on a broad base. Obba is a word of Hebrew root, originally applied to a vase used for making libations to the dead. It is the ἄμβιξ of the Greeks (cf. Athen., iv., 152), a broad vessel tapering to the mouth, and answers to the "Caraffe" or "Barile" of the modern Italians.

[1486] Veientanum. The wine-grown at Veii. The Campagna di Roma is as notorious as ever for the mean quality of its wines. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 143, "Qui Veientanum festis potare diebus Campana solitus trullâ." Mart., i., Ep. civ., 9, "Et Veientani bibitur fax crassa rubelli." ii., Ep. 53. iii., Ep. 49.

[1487] Pice. See Hase's Ancient Greeks, chap. i., p. 16.

[1488] Indulge genio. Cf. ii., 8, "Funde merum Genio."

[1489] Dave. This episode is taken from a scene in the Eunuchus of Menander, from which Terence copied his play, but altered the names. In Terence, Chærestratus becomes Phædria, Davus Parmeno, and Chrysis Thais. There is a scene of very similar character in le Dépit Amoureux of Molière. Horace has also copied it, but not with the graphic effect of Persius. ii., Sat. iii., 260, "Amator exclusus qui distat, agit ubi secum, eat an non, Quo rediturus erat non arcessitus et hæret Invisis foribus? ne nunc, cum me vocat ultro Accedam? an potius mediter finire dolores?" et seq. Lucr., iv., 1173, seq.

[1490] Frangam. Literally, "make shipwreck of my reputation."

[1491] Udas is variously interpreted. "Dissipated and luxurious," as opposed to siccis (Hor., i., Od. xviii., 3; iv., Od. v., 38), just before, in the sense of "sober." So Mart., v., Ep. lxxxiv., 5, "Udus aleator." (Juvenal uses madidus in the same sense. See note on Sat. xv., 47.) For the drunken scenes enacted at these houses, see the last scene of the Curculio of Plautus. Or it may mean, "wet with the lover's tears." Vid. Mart, x., Ep. lxxviii., 8. Or simply "reeking with the wine and unguents poured over them." Cf. Lucr., iv., 1175, "Postesque superbos unguit amaracina." Cf. Ov., Fast., v. 339.

[1492] Cum face canto. The torch was extinguished to prevent the serenader being recognized by the passers-by. The song which lovers sang before their mistresses' doors was called παρακλαυσίθυρον. «Examples may be seen, Aristoph., Eccl., 960, seq. Plaut., Curc., sc. ult. Theoc., iii., 23. Propert., i., El. xvi., 17, seq.» Cf. Hor., iii., Od. x., and i., Od. xxv. This serenading was technically called "occentare ostium." Plaut., Curc., I., ii., 57. Pers., IV., iv., 20.

[1493] Depellentibus. The ἀποτροπαῖος and ἀλεξίκακος of the Greeks. So ἀπόλλων· quasi ἀπέλλων the Averruncus of Varro, L. L., v., 5.

[1494] Soleâ. Cf. ad Juv., vi., 612, "Et soleâ pulsare nates." Ter., Eun., Act V., vii., 4.

[1495] Casses. From Prop., ii., El. iii., 47.

[1496] Quidnam igitur faciam. These are almost the words of Terence, "Quid igitur faciam non eam ne nunc quidem cum arcessor ultro?" etc. Eun. I., i.

[1497] Festuca is properly "light stubble," or straws such as birds build their nests with. Colum., viii., 15. It is here used contemptuously for the prætor's Vindicta; as in Plautus, "Quid? ea ingenua an festuca facta è servâ libera est?" Mil., IV., i., 15; from whom it is probably taken.

[1498] Palpo is either the nominative case, "a wheedler, flatterer," πόλαξ τοῦ δήμου, or the ablative from palpum, "a bait, or lure." Plautus uses the neuter substantive twice. Amph., I., iii., 28, "Timidam palpo percutit." Pseud., IV., i., 35, "Mihi obtrudere non potes palpum," in the sense of the English saying, "Old birds are not to be caught with chaff."

[1499] Cretata ambitio. Those who aspired to any office wore a toga whose whiteness was artificially increased by rubbing with chalk. Hence the word Candidatus. Ambitio refers here to its primitive meaning: the going round, ambire et prensare, to canvass the suffrages of the voters. This was a laborious process, and required early rising to get through it Hence vigila.

[1500] Cicer. At the Floralia (cf. ad Juv., vi., 250), which were exhibited by the Ædiles, it was customary for the candidates for popularity to throw among the people tesserulæ or tallies, which entitled the bearer to a largess of corn, pulse, etc., for these there would be, of course, a great scramble.

[1501] Aprici senes. Cf. ad Juv., xi., 203.

[1502] Herodis dies. Persius now describes the tyranny of superstition; and of all forms of it, there was none which both Juvenal and Persius regarded with greater contempt and abhorrence than that of the Jews: and next to this they ranked the Egyptian. From the favor shown to the Herods by the Roman emperors, from Julius Cæsar downward, it is not wonderful that the partisans of Herod, or Herodians, should form a large body at Rome as well as in Judæa; and that consequently the birthday of Herod should be kept as "a convenient day" for displaying that regard (compare Acts, xii., 21 with Matt., xiv., 6, and Mark, vi., 21), and be celebrated with all the solemnities of a sabbath. It was the custom (as we have seen, Juv., xii., 92), on occasions of great rejoicing, to cover the door-posts and fronts of the houses with branches and flowers, among which violets were very conspicuous (Juv., u. s.), and to suspend lighted lamps even at a very early hour from the windows, and trees near the house. (So Tertull., Apol., "Lucernis diem infringere." Lactant., vi., 2, "Accendunt lumina velut in tenebris agenti.") The sordid poverty of the Jews is as much the satirist's butt as their superstition. The lamps are greasy, the fish of the coarsest kind, and of that only the worst part, the tail, serves for their banquet, which is also served in the commonest earthenware.

[1503] Fidelia. Cf. iii., 22, 73.

[1504] Lemures. After his murder by Romulus, the shade of his brother Remus was said to have appeared to Faustulus and his wife Acca Larentia, and to have desired that a propitiatory festival to his Manes should be instituted. This was therefore done, and three days were kept in May (the 7th, 5th, and 3d before the Ides) under the name of Remuria or Lemuria. They were kept at night, during which time they went with bare feet, washed their hands thrice, and threw black beans nine times behind their backs, which ceremonies were supposed to deliver them from the terrors of the Lemures. During these days all the temples of the gods were kept strictly closed, and all marriages contracted in the month of May were held inauspicious. Ov., Fast., v., 421-92. Hor., ii, Ep. ii., 208, "Somnia, terrores magicos, miracula, sagas, nocturnos Lemures portentaque Thessala rides." The Lemures seem from Apuleius to have been identical with the Larvæ, which is a cognate form to Lax. (For a good Roman ghost story, see Plin., vii., Epist. 27.)

[1505] Ovo. Eggs were much used in lustral sacrifices, probably from being the purest of all food (cf. Ov., A. Am., ii., 329, "Et veniat quæ purget anus lectumque locumque Præferat et tremulâ sulphur et ova manu." Juv., vi., 518, "Nisi se centum lustraverit ovis"); and hence in incantations and fortune-telling. Hor., Epod. v., 19. If the egg broke when placed on the fire, or was found to have been perforated, it was supposed to portend mischief to the person or property of the individual who tried the charm.

[1506] Galli. Vid. Juv., viii., 176, and vi., 512, "Ingens semivir."

[1507] Sistro lusca sacerdos. For the sistrum, see Juv., xiii., 93. "Women who have no chance of being married," as the old Scholiast says, "make a virtue of necessity, and consecrate themselves to a life of devotion." Prate suggests this one-eyed lady probably turned her deformity to good account, as she would represent it as the act of the offended goddess, and argue that if her favored votaries were thus exposed to her vengeance, what had the impious herd of common mortals to expect. Cf. Ov., Pont., i., 51. The last lines may be compared with the passage in Juvenal, Sat. vi., 511-591.

[1508] Alli. Garlic was worshiped as a deity in Egypt. Plin., xix., 6. Cf. Juv., xv., 9. A head of garlic eaten fasting was used as a charm against magical influence.

[1509] Pulfenius. Another reading is Vulpennius. These centurions considered that bodily strength was the only necessary qualification for a soldier, and that consequently all cultivation, both of mind and body, was worse than superfluous. Cf. Juv., xiv., 193. Hor., i., Sat vi., 73. Pers., iii., 77, "Aliquis de gente hircosâ Centurionum."

[1510] Curio centusse. From the Greek ούκ ἂν πριαίμην τετρημένου χαλκοῦ. Plut. adv. Col. So Synesius, πολλοῦ μέν τ' ἂν εἶεν τρεῖς τοῦ ὀβολοῦ. "They would be dear at three for a halfpenny!"--Liceri is properly "to bid at an auction," which was done by holding up the finger. Vid. Cic. in Ver., II., iii., 11. Hence "Licitator." Cic., de Off., iii, 15.

Satire VI. Argument.

SATIRE VI.

ARGUMENT.

There are few points on which men practically differ more than on the question, What is the right use of riches? On this head there was as much diversity of opinion among the philosophers of old as in the present day. Some maintaining that not only a virtuous, but also a happy life consisted in the absence of all those external aids that wealth can bestow; others as zealously arguing that a competency of means was absolutely necessary to the due performance of the higher social virtues. The source of error in most men lies in their mistaking the means for the end; and the object of this Satire, which is the most original, and perhaps the most pleasing of the whole, is to point out how a proper employment of the fortune that falls to our lot may be made to forward the best interests of man. Persius begins with a warm encomium on the genius and learning of his friend Cæsius Bassus, the lyric poet; especially complimenting him on his antiquarian knowledge, and versatility of talent: and he then proceeds to show, by setting forth his own line of conduct, how true happiness may be attained by avoiding the extremes of sordid meanness on the one hand, and ostentatious prodigality on the other; by disregarding the suggestions of envy and the dictates of ambition. A prompt and liberal regard to the necessities and distresses of others is then inculcated; for this, coupled with the maintenance of such an establishment as our fortune warrants us in keeping up, is, to use the words of the poet, "to use wealth, not to abuse it." He then proceeds with great severity and bitter sarcasm to expose the shallow artifices of those who attempt to disguise their sordid selfishness under the specious pretense of a proper prudence, a reverence for the ancient simplicity and frugality of manners, and a proper regard for the interests of those who are to succeed to our inheritance. The Satire concludes with a lively and graphic conversation between Persius and his imaginary heir, in which he exposes the cupidity of those who are waiting for the deaths of men whom they expect to succeed; and shows that the anxiety of these for the death of their friends, furnishes the strongest motive for a due indulgence in the good things of this life; which it would be folly to hoard up merely to be squandered by the spendthrift, or feed the insatiable avarice of one whom even boundless wealth could never satisfy. This Satire was probably written, as Gifford says, "while the poet was still in the flower of youth, possessed of an independent fortune, of estimable friends, dear connections, and of a cultivated mind, under the consciousness of irrecoverable disease; a situation in itself sufficiently affecting, and which is rendered still more so by the placid and even cheerful spirit which pervades every part of the poem."

Has the winter[1511] already made thee retire, Bassus,[1512] to thy Sabine hearth? Does thy harp, and its strings, now wake to life[1513] for thee with its manly[1514] quill? Of wondrous skill in adapting to minstrelsy the early forms of ancient words,[1515] and the masculine sound of the Latin lute--and then again give vent to youthful merriment; or, with dignified touch, sing of distinguished old men. For me the Ligurian[1516] shore now grows warm, and my sea wears its wintry aspect, where the cliffs present a broad side, and the shore retires with a capacious bay. "It is worth while, citizens, to become acquainted with the Port of Luna!"[1517] Such is the best of Ennius in his senses,[1518] when he ceased to dream he was Homer and sprung from a Pythagorean peacock, and woke up plain "Quintus."

Here I live, careless of the vulgar herd--careless too of the evil which malignant Auster[1519] is plotting against my flock--or that that corner[1520] of my neighbor's farm is more fruitful than my own. Nay, even though all who spring from a worse stock than mine, should grow ever so rich, I would still refuse to be bowed down double by old age[1521] on that account, or dine without good cheer, or touch with my nose[1522] the seal on some vapid flagon.

Another man may act differently from this. The star that presides over the natal hour[1523] produces even twins with widely-differing disposition. One, a cunning dog, would, only on his birthday, dip his dry cabbage in pickle[1524] which he has bought in a cup, sprinkling over it with his own hands the pepper, as if it were sacred; the other, a fine-spirited lad, runs through his large estate to please his palate. I, for my part, will use--not abuse--my property; neither sumptuous enough to serve up turbots before my freedmen, nor epicure enough to discern the delicate flavor of female thrushes.[1525]

Live up to your income, and exhaust your granaries. You have a right to do it! What should you fear? Harrow, and lo! another crop is already in the blade!

"But duty calls! My friend,[1526] reduced to beggary, with shipwrecked bark, is clutching at the Bruttian rocks, and has buried all his property, and his prayers unheard by heaven, in the Ionian sea. He himself lies on the shore, and by him the tall gods from the stern;[1527] and the ribs of his shattered vessel are a station for cormorants."[1528] Now therefore detach a fragment from the live turf; and bestow it upon him in his need, that he may not have to roam about with a painting of himself[1529] on a sea-green picture. But[1530] your heir, enraged that you have curtailed your estate, will neglect your funeral supper, he will commit your bones unperfumed to their urn, quite prepared to be careless whether the cinnamon has a scentless flavor, or the cassia be adulterated with cherry-gum. Should you then in your lifetime impair your estate?

But Bestius[1531] rails against the Grecian philosophers: "So it is--ever since this counterfeit[1532] philosophy[1533] came into the city, along with pepper and dates, the very haymakers spoil their pottage with gross unguents."

And are you afraid of this beyond the grave? But you, my heir, whoever you are to be, come apart a little from the crowd, and hear.--"Don't you know, my good friend, that a laureate[1534] letter has been sent by Cæsar on account of his glorious defeat of the flower of the German youth; and now the ashes are being swept from the altars, where they have lain cold; already Cæsonia is hiring arms for the door-posts, mantles for kings, yellow wigs for captives, and chariots, and tall Rhinelanders. Consequently I intend to contribute a hundred pair of gladiators to the gods and the emperor's Genius, in honor of his splendid exploits.--Who shall prevent me? Do you, if you dare! Woe betide you, unless you consent.--I mean to make a largess to the people of oil and meat-pies. Do you forbid it? Speak out plainly!" "Not so," you say. I have a well-cleared field[1535] close by. Well, then! If I have not a single aunt left, or a cousin, nor a single niece's daughter; if my mother's sister is barren, and none of my grandmother's stock survives--I will go to Bovillæ,[1536] and Virbius' hill.[1537] There is Manius already as my heir. "What that son of earth!" Well, ask me who my great-great-grandfather was! I could tell you certainly, but not very readily. Go yet a step farther back, and one more; you will find he is a son of earth! and on this principle of genealogy Manius turns out to be my great uncle. You, who are before me, why do you ask of me the torch[1538] in the race? I am your Mercury! I come to you as the god, in the guise in which he is painted. Do you reject the offer? Will you not be content with what is left? But there is some deficiency in the sum total! Well, I spent it on myself! But the whole of what is left is yours, whatever it is. Attempt not to inquire what is become of what Tadius once left me; nor din into my ears precepts such as fathers give.[1539] "Get interest for your principal, and live upon that."--What is the residue? "The residue!" Here, slave, at once pour oil more bountifully over my cabbage. Am I to have a nettle, or a smoky pig's cheek with a split ear, cooked for me on a festival day, that that spendthrift grandson[1540] of yours may one day stuff himself with goose-giblets, and when his froward humor urge him on, indulge in a patrician mistress? Am I to live a threadbare skeleton,[1541] that his fat paunch[1542] may sway from side to side?

Barter your soul for gain. Traffic; and with keen craft sift every quarter of the globe. Let none exceed you in the art of puffing off[1543] your sleek Cappadocian slaves, on their close-confining platform.[1544] Double[1545] your property. "I have done so"--already it returns three-fold, four-fold, ten-fold to my scrip. Mark where I am to stop. Could I do so, he were found, Chrysippus,[1546] that could put the finish to thy heap!

FOOTNOTES:

[1511] Bruma. The learned Romans, who divided their time between business and study, used to begin their lucubrations about the time of the Vulcanalia, which were held on the 23d of August (x. Kal. Sept.), and for this purpose usually returned from Rome to their country houses. Pliny, describing the studious habits of his uncle, says (iii., Ep. 5), "Sed erat acre ingenium, incredibile studium, summa vigilantia. Lucubrare a Vulcanalibus incipiebat, non auspicandi causâ sed studendi, statim a nocte." So Horace, i., Ep. vii., 10, "Quod si bruma nives Albanis illinet agris, Ad mare descendet vates tuus et sibi parcet Contractusque leget." He gives the reason, ii., Ep. ii., 77, "Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus et fugit urbem." Cf. Juv., vii., 58. Plin., i., Ep. 9.

[1512] Basse. Cæsius Bassus, a lyric poet, said to have approached most nearly to Horace. Cf. Quint., Inst., X., i., 96. Prop., I., iv., 1. He was destroyed with his country house by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, in which Pliny the elder perished. Vid. Plin., vi., Ep. 16.

[1513] Vivunt, Casaubon explains by the Greek ἐνεργεῖν "to be in active operation."

[1514] Tetrico is spelt in some editions with a capital letter. The sense is the same, as the rough, hardy, masculine virtues of the ancient Romans were attributed to Sabine training and institutions. Tetricus, or Tetrica, was a hill in the Sabine district. Virg., Æen., vii., 712, "Qui Tetricæ horrentis rupes, montemque severum Casperiamque colunt." Liv., i., 18, "Suopte igitur ingenio temperatum animum virtutibus fuisse opinor magis; instructumque non tam peregrinis artibus quam disciplina tetricâ ac tristi veterum Sabinorum: quo genere nullum quondam incorruptius fuit." Ov., Am., III., viii., 61, "Exæquet tetricas licet illa Sabinas." Hor., iii., Od. vi., 38. Cic. pro Ligar., xi.

[1515] Vocum. Another reading is "rerum," which Casaubon adopts, and supposes Bassus to have been the author of a Theogony or Cosmogony. He is said, on the authority of Terentianus Maurus and Priscian, to have written a book on Metres, dedicated to Nero. Those who read "vocum," suppose that Persius meant to imply that he successfully transferred to his Odes the nervous words of the older dialects of his country.

[1516] Ligus ora. Fulvia Sisennia, the mother of Persius, is said to have been married, after her husband's death, to a native of Liguria, or of Luna. It was to her house that Persius retired in the winter.

[1517] Lunai portum. A line from the beginning of the Annals of Ennius. The town of Luna, now Luni, is in Etruria, but only separated by the river Macra (now Magra) from Liguria. The Lunai Portus, now Golfo di Spezzia, is in Liguria, and was the harbor from which the Romans usually took shipping for Corsica and Sardinia. Ennius therefore must have known it well, from often sailing thence with the elder Cato.

[1518] Cor Ennii. "Cor" is frequently used for sense. It is here a periphrasis for "Ennius in his senses." Quintus Ennius was born B.C. 239, at Rudiæ, now Rugge, in Calabria, near Brundusium, and was brought to Rome from Sardinia by Cato when quæstor there B.C. 204. He lived in a very humble way on Mount Aventine, and died B.C. 169, of gout (morbus articularis), and was buried in Scipio's tomb on the Via Appia. He held the Pythagorean doctrine of Metempsychosis, and says himself, in the beginning of his Annals, that Homer appeared to him in a dream, and told him that he had once been a peacock, and that his soul was transferred to him. The fragment describing this is extant. "Transnavit cita per teneras Caliginis auras (anima Homeri) visus Homerus adesse poeta. Tum memini fieri me pavum." «Cf. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 50. "Ennius et sapiens et fortis et alter Homerus, Ut critici dicunt, leviter curare videtur Quo promissa cadant et somnia Pythagorea." Tertull., de An., 24, "Pavum se meminit Homerus, Ennio Somniante."» The interpretation in the text seems the most reasonable. Others take quintus as a numeral adjective, and explain the meaning to be, that the soul of a peacock transmigrated first into Euphorbus, then into Homer, then into Pythagoras, and then into Ennius, who was consequently fifth from the peacock.

[1519] Auster, the Sirocco of the modern Italians, was reckoned peculiarly unwholesome to cattle. Cf. Virg., Georg., i., 443, "Urget ab alto Arboribusque satisque Notus pecorique sinister." 462, "Quid cogitet humidus Auster." Ecl., ii., 58. Tibul., I., i., 41. Hor., ii., Sat. vi., 18, "Nec mala me ambitio perdit nec plumbeus Auster, Auctumnusque gravis, Libitinæ quæstus acerbæ." ii., Od. xiv., 15. Some derive the name from "Ardeo," others from αὐὼ, "to parch or burn up:" so Austerus, from αὐστηρός.

[1520] Angulus. Hor., ii., Sat. vi., 8, "Oh! si angulus ille proximus accedat qui nunc denormat agellum."

[1521] Senio. "The premature old age brought on by pining at another's welfare." So Plautus, "Præ mærore adeo miser æquè ægritudine consenui." Cf. Capt., I., ii., 20. Truc., ii., 5, 13.

[1522] Naso tetigisse. "I will not become such a miser as to seal up vapid wine, and then closely examine the seal when it is again produced, to see whether it is untouched." Cf. Theophr. π. αἰσχροκερδ. So Cicero says, "Lagenas etiam inanes obsignare." Fam., xiv., 26.

[1523] Horoscope. Properly, "the star that is in the ascendant at the moment of a person's birth, from which the nativity is calculated." Persius has just ridiculed the Pythagoreans, he now laughs at the Astrologers. Whatever they may say, twins born under exactly the same horoscope, have widely different characters and pursuits. "Castor gaudet equis--ovo prognatus eodem Pugnis." Hor., ii., Sat. i., 26. Cf. Diog. Laert., II., i., 3.

[1524] Muria. Either a brine made of salt and water, or a kind of fishsauce made of the liquor of the thunny. Every word is a picture. "He buys his sauce in a cup; instead of pouring it over his salad, he dips the salad in it, and then scarcely moistens it: he will not trust his servant to season it, so he does it himself; but only sprinkles the pepper like dew, not in a good shower, and as sparingly as if it were some holy thing." Cf. Theophr., π. μικρολογ, καὶ ἀπαγορεῦσαι τῇ γυναικὶ, μήτε ἅλας χρωννύειν μήτε ἐλλύχνιον, μήτε κύμινον, μήτε ὀρίγανον, μήτε οὐλὰς, μήτε στεμματα, μήτε θυηλήματα· ἀλλὰ λέγειν, ὅτι τὰ μικρὰ ταῦτα πολλά ἐστι τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ. Hor., i., Sat. i., 71, "Tanquam parcere sacris cogeris." ii., Sat. iii., 110, "Metuensque velut contingere sacrum."

[1525] Turdarum. So the best MSS. and the Scholiasts read, and Casaubon follows. Varro, L. L., viii., 38, says the feminine form is not Latin. The "turdus" (Greek κίχλη), probably like our "field-fare," was esteemed the greatest delicacy by the Greeks and Romans. In the Nubes of Aristophanes, the λόγος δίκαιος says, "In former days young men were not allowed οὐδ' ὀψοφαγεῖν, οὐδὲ κιχλίζειν." (Ubi vid. Schol.; but cf. Theoc., Id., xi., 78, cum Schol.) To be able to distinguish the sex of so small a bird by the flavor would be the acme of Epicurism. Hor., i., Ep. xv., 41, "Cum sit obeso nil melius turdo." Mart., xiii., Ep. 92, "Inter aves turdus, si quis me judice certet, Inter quadrupedes mattya prima lepus." Cf. Athen., ii., 68, D.

[1526] Prendit amicus. From Hom., Od., v., 425, τόφρα δέ μιν μέγα κῦμα φέρε τρηχεῖαν ἐπ' ἀκτήν· ἔνθα κ' ἀπὸ ῥινοὺς δρύφθη, σὺν δ' ὀστέ' ἀράχθη, and 435. Virg., Æn., vi., 360. Cf. Palimirus," Prensantemque uncis manibus capita ardua montis."

[1527] Ingentes de puppe dei. The tutelary gods were placed at the stern as well as the stem of the ship. Cf. Æsch., S. Theb., 208. Virg., Æn., x., 170, "Aurato fulgebat Apolline puppis." Ov., Trist., I., x., l. Hor., i., Od. xiv., 10. Acts, xxviii., 11. Catull., I., iv., 36. Eurip., Hel., 1664.

[1528] Mergis. Cf. Hom., Od., v., 337. The Mergus (αἴθυια of the Greeks) is put for any large sea-bird. Hor., Epod. x., 21, "Opima quodsi præda curvo litore porrecta mergos juveris."

[1529] Pictus oberret. Cf. ad Juv., xiv., 302, "Pictâ se tempestate tuetur." xii., 27.

[1530] Sed. "But perhaps you will object," etc. He now ridicules the folly of those who deny themselves all the luxuries and even the necessaries of life, in order to leave behind a splendid inheritance to their heirs. "Quum sit manifesta phrenesis Ut locuples moriaris egenti vivere fato." Juv., xiv., 186. Cf. Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 191, "Utar, et ex modico quantum res poscet acervo Tollam, nec metuam quid de me judicet hæres Quod non plura datis invenerit." i., Ep. v., 13, "Parcus ob hæredis curam, nimiumque severus assidet insano." ii., Od. xiv., 25.

[1531] Bestius, from Hor., i., Ep. xv., 37, "Diceret urendos corrector Bestius." Probably both Horace and Persius borrowed from Lucilius. Weichert, P. L., p. 420.

[1532] Maris expers. Hor., ii., Sat. viii., 15, "Chium maris expers," which is generally interpreted to mean that Nasidienus set before his guests wine which he called Chian, but which in reality had never crossed the seas, being made at home. It may be put therefore for any thing "adulterated, not genuine." Another interpretation is, "effeminate, emasculate, void of manly vigor and energy," from the supposed enervating effect of Greek philosophy on the masculine character of the Romans of other days. A third explanation is, "that which has experienced the sea," from the active sense of expers, and therefore is simply equivalent to "foreign, or imported." Casaubon seems to incline to the latter view.

[1533] Sapere. So "Scire tuum," i., 27 and 9, "Nostrum illud vivere triste." In the indiscriminate hatred of all that was Greek, philosophy and literature were often included.

[1534] Laurus. After a victory, the Roman soldiers saluted their general as Imperator. His lictors then wreathed their fasces, and his soldiers their spears, with bays, and then he sent letters wreathed with bays (literæ laureatæ) to the senate, and demanded a triumph. If the senate approved, they decreed a thanksgiving (supplicatio) to the gods. The bays were worn by himself and his soldiers till the triumph was over. (Branches of bay were set up before the gate of Augustus, by a decree of the senate, as being the perpetual conqueror of his enemies. Cf. Ov., Trist., III., i., 39.) These letters were very rare under the emperors, vid. Tac., Agric., xviii., except those sent by the emperors themselves. Mart., vii., Ep. v., 3, "Invidet hosti Roma suo veniat laurea multa licet." Caligula's mock expedition into Germany (A.D. 40) is well known. The account given by Suetonius tallies exactly with the words of Persius. "Conversus hinc ad curam triumphi præter captivos ac transfugas barbaros, Galliarum quoque procerissimum quemque et ut ipse dicebat ἀξιοθριαμβευτον legit ac seposuit ad pompam; coegitque non tantum rutilare et submittere comam, sed et sermonem Germanicum addiscere et nomina barbarica ferre." Vid. Domit., c. xlvii. Cf. Tac., German., xxxvii. (Virg., Æn., vii., 183. Mart., viii., Ep. xxxiii., 20.)

[1535] Exossatus ager. Among the Romans it was esteemed a great disgrace for a legatee to refuse to administer to the estate of the testator. Persius says, "even though you refuse to act as my heir, I shall have no great difficulty in finding some one who will. Though I have spent large sums in largesses to the mob, and in honor of the emperor, I have still a field left near the city, which many would gladly take." Such is unquestionably the drift of the passage; but "exossatus" is variously explained. It literally means that from which the bones have been taken: vid. Plaut., Aul., II., ix., 2, "Murænam exdorsua, atque omnia exossata fac sient." Amph., I., i., 163. So Lucr., iv., 1267. Ter., Ad., III., iv., 14. As stones are "the bones of the earth" (Ov., Met., i., 393, "Lapides in corpore terræ ossa reor"), it may mean "thoroughly cleared from stones;" or, as Casaubon says, so thoroughly exhausted by constant cropping, that the land is reduced to its very bones (as Juv., viii., 90, "Ossa vides regum vacuis exhausta medullis"). "Yet even this field, bad as it is, some terræ filius may be found to take." Juxta is generally explained "near Rome," and therefore parted with last. D'Achaintre takes it with exossatus in the sense of "almost."

[1536] Bovillæ, a village on the Via Appia, no great distance from Rome; hence called Suburbanæ, by Ovid (Fast., iii., 667) and Propertius (IV., i., 33). Here Clodius was killed by Milo. Like Aricia, it was infested by beggars. (Cf. Juv., iv., 117, "Dignus Aricinos qui mendicaret ad axes.") Hence the proverb "Multi Manii Ariciæ."

[1537] Virbii clivum, a hill near Aricia, by the wood sacred to Diana Nemorensis. It took its name from Hippolytus, son of Theseus, who was worshiped here under the name of Virbius (bis vir) as having been restored by Æsculapius to life. Cf. Ov., Met., xv., 543. Virg., Æn., vii., 760-782. There was also a hill within the walls of Rome called by this name (cf. Liv., i., 48, where, however, Gronovius reads Orbii), near the Vicus Sceleratus.

[1538] Lampada. The allusion is to the Torch-race λαμπαδηφόρια at Athens. There were three festivals of this kind, according to Suidas, the Panathenæan, Hephæstian, and Promethean. In the latter they ran from the altar of Prometheus through the Ceramicus to the city. The object of the runners in these races was to carry a lighted torch to the end of their courses. But the manner of the running is a disputed point among the commentators. Some say three competitors started together, and he that carried his torch unextinguished to the goal was victorious. Others say the runners were stationed at different intervals, and the first who started gave up his torch at the first station to another, who took up the running, and in turn delivering it to a third; and to this the words of Lucretius seem to refer, ii., 77, "Inque brevi spatio mutantur sæcla animantúm Et quasi cursores vitaï lampada tradunt." Others again think that several competitors started, but one only bore a torch, which, when wearied, he delivered to some better-winded rival; which view is supported by Varro, R. R., iii., 16, "In palæstra qui tædas ardentes accipit, celerior est in cursu continuo quam ille qui tradit: propterea quod defatigatus cursor dat integro facem." Cic., Heren., 4. The explanations of this line consequently are almost as various. Prate, the Delphin editor, supposes that Persius' heir was a man farther advanced in years than Persius himself. Gifford explains it, "You are in full health, and have every prospect of outstripping me in the career of life; do not then prematurely take from me the chance of extending my days a little. Do not call for the torch before I have given up the race:" and sees in it a pathetic conviction of Persius' own mind, that his health was fast failing, and that a fatal termination of the contest was inevitable and not far remote. D'Achaintre thinks, with Casaubon, that "qui prior es" means, "You are my nearer heir than the imaginary Manius, why therefore do you disturb yourself? Receive my inheritance, as all legacies should be received, i. e., as unexpected gifts of fortune; as treasures found on the road, of which Mercurius is the supposed giver. I am then your Mercury. Imagine me to be your god of luck, coming, as he is painted, with a purse in my hand." Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 68.

[1539] Dicta paterna. Not "the precepts of my father," because Persius' father was dead; but such as fathers give, inculcating lessons of thrift and money-getting; as Hor., i., Ep. i., 53, "Virtus post nummos--hæc recinunt juvenes dictata senesque." Cf. Juv., xiv., 122.

[1540] Vago. Cf. Varr. ap. Non., i., 223, "Spatale eviravit omnes Venerivaga pueros."

[1541] Trama is the "warp," according to some interpretations, the "woof," according to others. The metaphor is simply from the fact, that when the nap is worn off the cloth turns threadbare; and implies here one so worn down that his bones almost show through his skin.

[1542] Popa venter. With paunch so fat that he looks like a "popa," "the sacrificing priest," who had good opportunities of growing fat from the number of victims he got a share of; and therefore, like our butchers, grew gross and corpulent. Popa is also put for the female who sold victims for sacrifice, and probably had as many chances of growing fat. The idea of the passage is borrowed from Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 122.

[1543] Plausisse, either in the sense of jactâsse, "to praise their good qualities," or, "to clap them with the hand, to show what good condition they are in." Cf. Ov., Met., ii., 866, "Modo pectora præbet virgineâ plaudenda manu." Others read "pavisse," "clausisse," and "pausasse." (Cf. Sen., Epist. lxxx., 9.)

[1544] Catasta, from κατάστασις, "a wooden platform on which slaves were exposed to sale," in order that purchasers might have full opportunity of inspecting and examining them. These were sometimes in the forum, sometimes in the houses of the Mangones. Cf. Mart., ix., Ep. lx., 5, "Sed quos arcanæ servant tabulata Catastæ." Plin., H. N., xxxv., 17. Tib., II., iii., 59, "Regnum ipse tenet quem sæpe coëgit Barbara gypsatos ferre catasta pedes." Persius recommends his miserly friend to condescend to any low trade, even that of a slave-dealer, to get money. Cappadocia was a great emporium for slaves. Cic., Post. Red., "Cappadocem modo abreptum de grege venalium diceres." Hor., i., Ep. vi., 39, "Mancipiis locuples eget æris Cappadocum rex." The royal property, consisting chiefly in slaves, was kept in different fortresses throughout the country. The whole nation might be said to be addicted to servitude; for when they were offered a free constitution by the Romans, they declined the favor, and preferred receiving a master from the hand of their allies. Strabo, xii., p. 540. After the conquest of Pontus, Rome and Italy were filled with Cappadocian slaves, many of whom were excellent bakers and confectioners. Vid. Plutarch v. Lucullus. Athen., i, p. 20; iii., 112, 3. Cramer, Asia Minor, ii., p. 121. Mart., vi., Ep. lxvii., 4.

[1545] Depunge. A metaphor from the graduated arm of the steelyard. Cf. v., 100, "Certo compescere puncto nescius examen." The end of the fourteenth Satire of Juvenal, and of the fifteenth Epistle of Seneca, may be compared with the conclusion of this Satire. "Congeratur in te quidquid multi locupletes possederunt: Ultra privatum pecuniæ modum fortuna te provehat, auro tegat, purpurâ vestiat, ... majora cupere ab his disces. Naturalia desideria finita sunt: ex falsâ opinione nascentia ubi desinant non habent. Nullus enim terminus falso est." Sen., Ep. xvi., 7, 8; xxxix., 5; ii., 5.

[1546] Chrysippi. This refers to the σωρειτικὴ ἀπορία of the Stoics, of which Chrysippus, the disciple of Zeno or Cleanthes, was said to have been the inventor. The Sorites consisted of an indefinite number of syllogisms, according to Chrysippus; to attempt to limit which, or to bound the insatiable desires of the miser, would be equally impossible. It takes its name from σῶρος, acerbus, "a heap:" "he that could assign this limit, could also affirm with precision how many grains of corn just make a heap; so that were but one grain taken away, the remainder would be no heap." Cf. Cic., Ac. Qu., II., xxviii. Diog. Laert., VII., vii. Hor., i., Ep. ii., 4. Juv., ii., 5; xiii., 184. Of the seven hundred and fifty books said to have been written by Chrysippus, and enumerated by Diogenes Laertius, not one fragment remains. His logic was so highly thought of, that it was said "that, had the gods used logic, they would have used that of Chrysippus."

Sulpicia. Introduction.

SULPICIA.

INTRODUCTION.

The occasion of the following Satire is generally known as "the expulsion of the philosophers from Rome by Domitian." As the same thing took place under Vespasian also, it becomes worth while to inquire who are the persons intended to be included under this designation; and in what manner the fears of the two emperors could be so worked upon as to pass a sweeping sentence of banishment against persons apparently so helpless and so little formidable as the peaceful cultivators of philosophy. It seems not improbable then that the fears both of Vespasian and Domitian were of a personal as well as of a political nature. We find that in both cases the "Mathematici" are coupled with the "Philosophi." Now these persons were no more nor less than pretenders to the science of judicial astrology «cf. Juv., iii., 43; vi., 562; xiv., 248; Suet., Cal., 57; Tit., 9; Otho, 4; Gell., i., 9»; and to what an extent those who were believed to possess this knowledge were dreaded in those days of gross superstition, may be easily inferred by merely looking into Juvenal's sixth and Persius' fifth Satire. Besides the baleful effects of incantations, which were sources of terror even in Horace's days, the mere possession by another of the nativity of a person whose death might be an object of desire to the bearer, was supposed, at the time of which we are now speaking, to be a sufficient ground of serious alarm. We are not surprised therefore to find it recorded as an instance of great generosity on the part of Vespasian, that on one occasion he pardoned one Metius Pomposianus, although he was informed that he had in his possession a "Genesis Imperatoria;" or that the possession of a similar document with regard to Domitian cost the owner his life. (Cf. Suet., Vesp., 14; Domit., 10.) With regard to the philosophers, it appears that the followers of the Stoic school were those against whom the edict was especially directed. Not only did the tenets of this school inculcate that independence of thought and manners most directly at variance with the servility and submissiveness inseparable from a state of thraldom under a despot; but the cultivation of this branch of philosophy was held to be nothing more than a specious cover for an attachment to the freedom of speech and action enjoyed under the republican form of government: and philosophy was accounted only another name for revolution and rebellion.[1547]

The story told of Demetrius the Cynic, in Dio (lxvi., 13), and confirmed by Suetonius (Vesp., c. 13), illustrates this view of the subject. (Cf. Tac., Hist., iv., 40.) It appears to have been at the suggestion of Mucianus,[1548] that all philosophers, but especially the Stoics, were banished from Rome; and that the celebrated Musonius Rufus was the only one who was suffered to remain. This took place A.D. 74. Sixteen years after this we find a decree of the senate passed to a similar effect. Now, as philosophy may be studied equally well any where, there seems no reason why, if it were not in some way connected with their political creed, all these votaries of Stoicism should in the interim have taken up their abode at Rome. And though, no doubt, the unoffending may have suffered with the guilty, the history of the edict seems pretty plainly to show what particular doctrines of their philosophy were so obnoxious to Domitian. Suetonius, Tacitus, and Dio all agree in the cause assigned for the sentence: viz., that Julius Arulenus Rusticus and Herennius Senecio had been enthusiastic in their praises of Thrasea Pætus and Helvidius Priscus; and that therefore "all philosophers were removed from Rome." ("Cujus criminis occasione philosophos omnes Urbe Italiâque submovit." Suet., Domit., 10. Cf. Tac., Agric, 2; Dio, lxvii., 13.) But it was for their undisguised hatred of tyrants, and for no dogma of the schools, that the former of these was put to death by Nero, and the latter by Vespasian. Both of them, as we know, celebrated with no ordinary festivities the birthdays of the Bruti (Juv., v., 36); and Helvidius, even while prætor, went so far as to omit all titles of honor or distinction before the name of Vespasian. (Suet., Vesp., 15.) We must not therefore fall into the common error of supposing this "banishment of philosophers" to have been a mere act of wanton, senseless tyranny, or of brutal ignorance. Even by his enemies' showing, the opening scenes of Domitian's life[1549] are at direct variance with such an idea. (Cf. ad Juv., vii., 1.) And though we regret to find that men like Epictetus and Dio of Prusa were included in the disastrous sentence, it is some relief to learn that Pliny the younger, though living at the time in the house of the philosopher Artemidorus, and the intimate friend of Senecio and six or seven others of the banished, to whom he supplied money (a fact which, as he himself hints, could not but have been known to the emperor, as Pliny was prætor at the time), yet escaped unscathed. (Cf. Plin., iii., Ep. XI., vii., 19; Gell., xv., 11.)

How far Sulpicia was connected with this movement, or whether she was involved in the same sentence which overwhelmed the others, we have now no means of ascertaining. It is quite clear that all her sympathies were with the Greeks; and the passage concerning Scipio and Cato (1. 45-50) leaves little doubt that her philosophical opinions were those of the Stoics. She rivals Juvenal in her thorough hatred of Domitian; which may, perhaps, be partly also attributed to family reasons. For we must remember that she belonged to the gens which produced Servius Sulpicius Galba; and, as we have noticed on many occasions with regard to Juvenal, an attachment to that emperor seems to go hand in hand with hatred of Otho and Domitian. From the conclusion of the Satire, it is probable that her husband was not implicated.

The Sulpician gens produced many distinguished men; of whom we may mention the commissioner sent to Greece, and the conquerors of the Samnites, of Sardinia, and of Pyrrhus, besides the notorious friend of Marius. Of this illustrious stock she was no unworthy scion. Martial[1550] bears the strongest testimony to the purity of her morals and the chastity of her life, as well as to her devoted conjugal affection; which latter virtue she illustrated in a poem replete with the most lively, delicate, and virtuous sentiments; and which, had not the licentiousness of the age been beyond such a cure, might have produced a deep moral effect on the peculiar vices which especially disgraced the era of the Cæsars. Her husband's name was Calenus, who not improbably belonged to the Fufian gens,[1551] and with him she enjoyed fifteen years of the purest domestic felicity, as we learn from the Epigram addressed to him by Martial, in which, not without a tinge of envy, he congratulates Calenus on the possession of so inestimable a treasure. Both Epigrams are exceedingly beautiful, and every reader of Martial will be only too ready to say, "O si sic omnia." Of her other works we unfortunately do not possess a single fragment;[1552] and even the solitary Satire which bears her name, was at one time, as Scaliger tells us, falsely attributed to Ausonius.

Very much of the Satire is corrupt. Wernsdorf's seems, on the whole, the best approximation to a true reading; and the Commentary of Dousa is, as far as it goes, satisfactory.

FOOTNOTES:

[1547] Vid. Niebuhr's Lectures, iii., p. 212.

[1548] Licinius Mucianus, the governor of Syria. He belonged to the noble family of the Licinii, and was connected with the Mucii. For his character, see Niebuhr's Lectures, vol. iii., p. 206.

[1549] "Domitian was a man of a cultivated mind and decided talent, and is of considerable importance in the history of Roman literature. The Paraphrase of Aratus, which is usually ascribed to Germanicus, is the work of Domitian. The subject of the poem is poor, but it is executed in a very respectable manner. Domitian's taste for Roman literature produced its beneficial effects. He instituted the great pension for rhetoricians, which Quintilian, for example, enjoyed, and the Capitoline contests, in which the prize poems were crowned. During this period, Roman literature received a great impulse, to which Domitian himself must have contributed. From his poem we see that he was opposed to the false taste of the time." Niebuhr's Lectures, iii., p. 216, 7.

[1550] Lib. x., Epig. 35 and 38. There is nothing in these two Epigrams to imply that Sulpicia and Calenus were not both living peacefully and happily at Rome, at the time Martial wrote his tenth book of Epigrams. Now he says himself that he scarcely produced one book in a year, (x., 70), and lib. ix. was written A.D. 94 or 95. The second edition of his tenth book came out A.D. 99. The Epigrams to Calenus and Sulpicia were probably therefore written at least six years after the Edict of Domitian, i. e., between A.D. 90 and 99.

[1551] Vid. not. ad l. 62.

[1552] With the exception of a doubtful fragment quoted by the old Scholiast on Juvenal, Sat. vi., 538.

Sulpicia. Argument.

SULPICIA.

ARGUMENT.

The Satire opens with an Invocation of Calliope, the Muse of Heroic poetry. The dignity of the subject, which is in fact the undeserved sufferings of the good and great men whom Domitian's edict was ejecting from their homes, deserves a higher strain than is compatible with the more commonplace, and therefore less powerful, invectives of Iambic metre. The effect produced by such a measure is described as nothing less than forcing the civilized world to retrograde to a state of primæval barbarism. The cause which has led to such a perversion of taste and degradation of intellect is then examined; which are shown to be the result of a long-protracted peace. The old Roman valor which had raised the city to the proud position promised by the father of gods and men, had become gradually enervated and enfeebled, as it ceased to have an object on which to exercise itself. The stern and rigid virtue of the best period of the city's history, which had led her greatest men, even in the fierce struggles for existence against the rival republic, to appreciate and patronize the philosophy of Greece, the love of country and the ties of brotherhood which had been fostered by that "rugged nurse Adversity," were now all buried in the corpse-like lethargy induced by the enervating influence of a lengthened peace. The Satire concludes with a bitter denunciation of coming vengeance against the tyrant; and a prophetic anticipation of the lasting fame to be enjoyed by the poem.

Grant me, O Muse,[1553] to tell my little tale in a few words, in those numbers in which thou art wont to celebrate[1554] heroes and arms! For to thee I have retired; with thee revising[1555] my secret plan.[1556] For which reason, I neither trip on in the measure of Phalæcus,[1557] nor in Iambic[1558] trimeter; nor in that metre which, halting with the same foot, learned under its Clazomenæan guide boldly to give vent to its wrath. All other things[1559] moreover, in short, my thousand sportive effusions; and how I was the first that taught our Roman matrons to rival the Greeks, and to diversify their subject with wit untried before, consistently[1560] with my purpose, I pass by; and thee I invoke, in those points in which thou art chief of all, and, supreme in eloquence, art best skilled. Descend[1561] at thy votary's prayer and hear!

Tell me, O Calliope, what is it the great[1562] father of the gods purposes to do? Does he revert to earth, and his father's age; and wrest from us in death the arts that once he gave; and bid us, in silence, nay, bereft of reason, too, just as when we arose in the primæval age,[1563] stoop again[1564] to acorns,[1565] and the pure stream? Or does he guard with friendly care all other lands and cities, but thrusts away[1566] the race of Ausonia, and the nurslings of Remus?[1567]

For, what must we suppose? There are two ways by which Rome reared aloft her mighty head. Valor in war, and wisdom in peace. But valor, practiced[1568] at home and by civil warfare, passed over to the seas of Sicily and the citadels of Carthage, and swept away also all other empires and the whole world.

Then, as the victor, who, left alone in the Grecian stadium, droops, and though with valor undaunted, feels his heart sink within him--just so the Roman race, when it had ceased from its struggles, and had bridled peace in lasting trammels; then, revising at home the laws and discoveries of the Greeks,[1569] ruled with policy and gentle influence[1570] all that had been won by sea and land as the prizes of war.

By this Rome stood--nor could she indeed have maintained her ground without these. Else with vain words[1571] and lying lips would Jupiter[1572] have been proved to have said to his queen, "I have given them empire[1573] without limit!"

Therefore, now, he who sways the Roman state[1574] has commanded all studies, and the philosophic name and race of men to depart out of doors and quit the city.

What are we to do? We left the Greeks and the cities of men,[1575] that the Roman youth might be better instructed in these.

Now, just as the Gauls,[1576] abandoning their swords and scales, fled when Capitoline Camillus thrust them forth; so our aged men are said to be wandering forth,[1577] and like some deadly burden, themselves eradicating their own books. Therefore the hero of Numantia and of Libya, Scipio, erred in that point, who grew wise under the training of his Rhodian[1578] master; and that other band, fruitful in talent, in the second war;[1579] among whom the divine apophthegm[1580] of Priscus[1581] Cato[1582] held it of such deep import to determine whether the Roman stock would better be upheld[1583] by prosperity or adversity. By adversity, doubtless; for when the love of country urges them to defend[1584] themselves by arms, and their wife held prisoner together with their household gods, they combine[1585] just like wasps (a bristling band, with weapons all unsheathed along their yellow bodies), when their home and citadel is assailed. But when care-dispelling peace has returned, forgetful of labor, commons and fathers together lie buried in lethargic sleep. A long-protracted and destructive peace[1586] has therefore been the ruin of the sons of Romulus.[1587]

Thus our tale comes to a close. Henceforth, kind Muse, without whom life is no pleasure to me, I pray thee warn them that, like the Lydian of yore, when Smyrna fell,[1588] so now also they may be ready to emigrate; or else, in line, whatever thou wishest. This only I beseech thee, goddess! Present not in a pleasing light to Calenus[1589] the walls of Rome and the Sabines.

Thus much I spake. Then the goddess deigns to reply in few words, and begins:

"Lay aside thy just fears, my votary. See, the extremity of hate is menacing him, and by our mouth shall he perish! For we haunt the laurel groves of Numa,[1590] and the self-same springs, and, with Egeria for our companion,[1591] deride all vain essays. Live on! Farewell! Its destined fame awaits the grief that does thee honor. Such is the promise of the Muses' choir, and of Apollo[1592] that presides over Rome."

FOOTNOTES:

[1553] Musa. Although about to indite a Satire, Sulpicia declares her intention of not imitating the Hendecasyllabics of Phalæcus, the Iambics of Archilochus, or the Scazontics of Hipponax, but of writing in the good old Heroic metre. She therefore invokes the aid of Calliope.

[1554] Frequentas. "Celebrare" is often used in the sense of "crowding in large numbers to a place;" so here, conversely, frequentare is used in the sense of "frequently celebrating."

[1555] Detexere is properly to "finish off one's weaving." Vid. Hyg., Fab., 126, "Cum telam detexuero nubam." Plaut., Ps. I., iv., 7, "Neque ad detexundam telam certos terminos habes."

[1556] Penetrale is applied to the inmost and most sacred recesses; hence the "Penetrales Dii." Cic., Nat. D., ii., 27. Senec., Œdip., 265. So "penetrale sacrificium."--Retractans, in the sense of going over again with a view to corrections and additions. So Plin., v. Ep., 8, "Egi graves causas; has destino retractare." Senec., Ep., 46, "De libro tuo plura scribam cum illum retractavero."

[1557] Phalæco. Phalæcus is said by Diomedes (iii., 509) and Terentianus (p. 2440) to have been the inventor of the Hendecasyllabic metre, which consists of five feet; the first a Spondee or Iamb., the second a Dactyl, and the three last Trochees. Many of Catullus's pieces are in this metre. E. g. "Lugete O Veneres, Cupidinesque." Vid. Hermann, Elem. Doctr. Metr., p. 264.

[1558] Iambo. The Iambic metre was peculiarly adapted to Satire. Hence its probable etymology from ἰάπτω, jacio; and hence the epithet criminosi applied to these verses by Horace (i., Od. xvi., 2), and truces by Catullus (xxxvi., 5). Archilochus, the Parian, who flourished in the eighth century B.C. (Cic., Tusc. Q., i., 1; Bähr, ad Herod., i., 12), is said to have been the inventor of the metre, and to have employed it against Lycambes, who had promised him his daughter Neobule, but afterward retracted. Cf. Hor., A. P., 79, "Archilochum proprio rabies armavit Iambo." i., Ep. xix., 23, "Parios ego primus Iambos Ostendi Latio numeros animosque secutus Archilochi non res et agentia verba Lycamben." The allusion in the next line is to Hipponax, who flourished cir. B.C. 540; Ol. lx. He was a native of Ephesus; but being expelled from his native country by the tyrant Athenagoras, he settled at Clazomenæ, now the Isle of St. John. The common story is, that he was so hideously ugly, that the sculptors Bupalus and Athenis caricatured him. And to avenge this insult, Hipponax altered the Iambic of Archilochus into a more bitter form by making the last foot a spondee, which gave the verse a kind of halting rhythm, and was hence called Scazontic, from σκάζω· or Choliambic, from χῶλος, "lame." Diomed., iii., 503. «A specimen may be seen in Martial's bitter epigram against Cato. i., Ep. I, "Cur in Theatrum Cato severe venisti?"» In this metre he so bitterly satirized them that they hanged themselves, as Lycambes had done, in consequence of the ridicule of Archilochus. Hence Horace, vi., Epod. 13, "Qualis Lycambæ spretus infido gener Aut acer hostis Bupalo." Pliny (H. N., xxxvi., 5) treats the whole story as mythical. Cf. Mart., i., Ep. 97, for some good specimens, and Catull., xxxix. Another form of Choliambic verse is the substitution of an Antibacchius for the final Iamb.: e. g., "Remitte pallium mihi quod involasti." Catull., xxv. Two of Hipponax's verses may be seen, Strabo, lib. xiv., c. 1.

[1559] Cætera. From the high compliment paid to her chastity and poetical powers by Martial, it is probable that Sulpicia had composed many poems before the present Satire. From the metre Martial chooses for his complimentary effusion, and from the testimony of the old Scholiast, it is probable these verses were in Hendecasyllabics; or at all events in some lyrical metre. There was a poetess named Cornificia in the time of Augustus, who wrote some good Epigrams. She was the sister of Cornificius, the reputed enemy of Virgil (vid. Clinton, F. H., in ann. B.C. 41), but as she was not a lyrical poetess, Sulpicia claims the palm to herself.

[1560] Constanter. The subject is too serious and solemn for lyrical poetry; she therefore employs the dignity of Heroic verse. So Juvenal, iv., 34, "Incipe Calliope--non est cantandum, res vera agitur, narrate puellæ Pierides."

[1561] Descende. Cf. Hor., iii., Od. iv., 1, "Descende cœlo et dic age tibiâ Regina longum Calliope melos." Calliope, as the Muse of Heroic poetry, holds the chief place. (Cf. Auson., Id. xx., 7, "Carmina Calliope libris Heroïca mandat.") Hence "Princeps." So Hesiod, Theog., 79, Καλλιόπη θ' ἣ δὲ προφερεστάτη ἐστὶν ἁπασέων. Dionys., Hymn, i., 6, Μουσῶν προκαθηγέτι τερπνῶν. The poets assign different provinces to the different Muses. According to some, Calliope is the Muse of Amatory poetry.

[1562] Ille. So Virg., Æn., ii., 779, "Aut ille sinit regnator Olympi."

[1563] Patria Sæcula. The age of Saturn, when men lived in primæval barbarism, and all cultivation and refinement was unknown. Compare the first twelve lines of Juvenal's sixth Satire. Ov., Met., i., 113.

[1564] Procumbere. Cf. ad Prol. Pers., i.

[1565] Glandibus. Ov., Met., i., 106, "Et quæ deciderant patula Jovis arbore glandes." Lucret., v., 937, "Glandiferas inter curabant corpora quercus." Virg., Georg., i., 8, 148. Ov., Am., III., x., 9. Juv., vi., 10. Sulpicia had probably in view the passage in Horace, i., Sat. iii., 99," Cum prorepserunt primis animalia terris, Mutum et turpe pecus glandem atque cubilia propter," etc.

[1566] Exturbat. A technical phrase, "eject." Cf. Cic. pro Rosc., 8, "Nudum ejicit domo atque focis patriis, Diisque penatibus præcipitem exturbat." Plaut., Trin., IV., iii., 77. Ov., Met., xv., 175. Tac., Ann., xi., 12.

[1567] Remuli: the other readings are Remi, and Romi. Cf. Juv., x., 73, "Turba Remi." Alumnus is properly a "foundling." Cf. Plin., x. Epist., 71, 72.

[1568] Agitata. As though the wars carried on within the peninsula of Italy had served only to train the Romans in that military discipline by which they were to subjugate the world. This universal dominion having been attained, Rome rested from her labors, like the conqueror left alone in his glory, in the Grecian games; and having no more enemies against whom she could turn her arms, had sheathed her sword and applied herself to the arts of Peace. This seems the most probable interpretation. Dusa proposes to read Cætera quæ, for Cætera_que_, and to place the line as a parenthesis after socialibus armis: but with the sense given in the text, the substitution is unnecessary. He supposes also Victor to apply to a horse that has grown old in the contests of the circus; the allusion would surely be more simple to a conqueror in the Pentathlon. The reading exiit is followed in preference to exilit or exigit.

[1569] Graia inventa. So Livy dates the first introduction of a fondness for the products of Greek art from the taking of Syracuse by Marcellus: lib. xxv., 48, "Inde primum initium mirandi Græcarum artium opera." Cf. xxxiv., 4. Hor., ii., Epist. i., 156, "Græcia capta ferum victorem cepit et artes intulit agresti Latio."

[1570] Molli ratione. Virg., Æn., vi., 852, "Hæ tibi erunt artes: pacisque imponere morem, Parcere subjectis et debellare superbos."

[1571] Aut frustra. An anacoluthon, as the old Scholiast remarks; stabat evidently referring to Roma. Cf. 1. 50, "An magis adversis staret."

[1572] Diespiter, i. e., Diei pater. Macrob., Sat., i., 15. Hor., iii., Od. ii., 29.

[1573] Imperium. Virg., Æn., i., 279. It is in Jupiter's speech to Venus, not to Juno, that the line occurs.

[1574] Res Romanas imperat inter. A line untranslatable as it stands. Various remedies have been proposed--rex for res, temperat for imperat, impar for inter, Romanos for Romanas. Rex being, like dominus, generally used in a bad sense by the Romans, rex Romanos imperat inter would imply the excessive oppression of Domitian's tyranny. Dusa suggests rex Romanis temperat inter (taking interrex as one word divided by tmesis), and supposes Sulpicia meant to assert, that as his reign was to be so briefly brought to a close, he could only be looked upon in the light of an Interrex.

[1575] Hominum. As though the Greeks alone deserved the name of men, and the praise of humanity and refinement.

[1576] Galli. Alluding to the old legend of Brennus casting his sword into the scale, with the words "Væ victis!" in answer to the remonstrance of the tribune Q. Sulpicius. Liv., v., 48, 9. "Ensibus" is preferred to the old reading, "Lancibus." Capitolinus was properly the agnomen of M. Manlius. Camillus is probably so called here from his appointing the collegium to celebrate the Ludi Capitolini, in honor of Jupiter for his preserving the Capitol. Vid. Liv., v., 50. May there not be a bitter sarcasm in the epithet? It was only four years before he expelled the philosophers, that Domitian instituted the Capitoline games. Suet., Vit., 4. (Vid. Chronology.)

[1577] Palare dicuntur. Wernsdorf adopts this reading; but it is perhaps the only instance of the active form of palare: and dicuntur is very weak.

[1578] Rhodio. The old readings were "Rhoido," which is unintelligible, and that of the old Scholiast, "Rudio," who refers it to Ennius, born at Rudiæ in Calabria. (Cf. ad Pers., vi., 10.) The Rhodian is Panætius; he was sprung from distinguished ancestors, many of whom had served the office of general. He studied under Crates, Diogenes, and Antipater of Tarsus. The date of his birth and death are unknown. He was probably introduced by Diogenes to Scipio, who sent for him from Athens to accompany him in his embassy to Egypt, B.C. 143. His famous treatise De Officiis was the groundwork of Cicero's book; who says that he was in every way worthy of the intimate friendship with which he was honored by Scipio and Lælius. Cic., de Fin., iv., 9; Or., i., 11; De Off., pass. Hor., i., Od. xxix., 14. The title of his book is περὶ τοῦ καθήκοντος. He also wrote De Providentia, De Magistratibus.

[1579] Bello secundo, i. e., the Second Punic War (from B.C. 218-201), a period pre-eminently rich in great men. Not to mention their great generals, Marcellus, Scipio, etc., this age saw M. Porcius Cato; the historians Fabius Pictor and Cincius Alimentus; the poets Livius Andronicus, Ennius, Nævius, Pacuvius, Plautus, etc.; and among the Greeks, Archimedes, Chrysippus, Eratosthenes, Carneades, and the historians Zeno and Antisthenes.

[1580] Sententia dia. Hor., i., Sat. ii., 31, "Macte Virtute esto, inquit sententia dia."

[1581] Prisci Catonis. Priscus is, as Dusa shows on the authority of Plutarch, not the epithet, but the name of Cato, by which he was distinguished. So Horace, iii. Od., xxi., 11, "Narratur et Prisci Catonis sæpe mero caluisse virtus." (But cf. Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 117.)

[1582] Catonis. Both Horace and Sulpicia have imitated Lucilius, "Valerî sententia dia." Fr. incert., 105.

[1583] Staret. Nasica, as Sallust tells us, in spite of Cato's "Delenda est Carthago," was always in favor of the preservation of Carthage; as the existence of the rival republic was the noblest spur to Roman emulation.

[1584] Defendere. Livy shows throughout, that the only periods of respite from intestine discord were under the immediate pressure of war from without. The particular allusion here is probably to the time of Hannibal. So Juv., vi., 286, seq., "Proximus Urbi Hannibal et stantes Collinâ in turre mariti." Liv., xxvi., 10. Sil. Ital., xii., 541, seq. Sallust has the same sentiment, "Metus hostilis in bonis artibus civitatem retinebat." Bell. Jug., 41.

[1585] Convenit. The next four lines are hopelessly corrupt. The following emendations have been adopted: domus arxque movetur for Arce Monetæ: pax secura for apes secura: laborum for favorum: _patres_que for mater, or the still older reading, frater; of which last Dusa says, "Neque istud verbum emissim titivillitio."

[1586] Exitium pax. Juv., vi., 292, "Sævior armis Luxuria incubuit victumque ulciscitur orbem." Compare the beautiful passage in Claudian (de Bell. Gild., 96), "Ille diu miles populus qui præfuit orbi," etc.

[1587] Romulidarum. Cf. ad Pers., i., 31.

[1588] Smyrna peribat. Smyrna was attacked by Gyges, king of Lydia, but resisted him with success. It was compelled, however, to yield to his descendant, Alyattes, and in consequence of this event, it sunk into decay and became deserted for the space of four hundred years. Alexander formed the project of rebuilding the town in consequence of a vision. His design was executed by Antigonus and Lysimachus. Vid. Herod., i., 14-16. Paus., Bœot., 29. Strabo, xiv., p. 646. (An allusion to Phocæa or Teos would have been more intelligible. Cf. Herod., i., 165, 168. Hor., Epod. xvi., 17.) The next three lines are corrupt: the reading followed is, "Vel denique quid vis: Te, Dea, quæso illud tantum."

[1589] Caleno. Calenus, the husband of Sulpicia, probably derived his name from Cales in Campania, now Calvi. (Hor., i., Od. xx., 9. Juv., i., 69.) It was the cognomen of Q. Fufius, consul, B.C. 47. The readings in the next line vary: pariter ne obverte; pariterque averte; pariterque adverte. Dusa's explanation is followed in the text. Sulpicia prays that her husband may not be induced by the allurements of inglorious ease to remain longer in Rome or its neighborhood, now that all that is really good and estimable has been driven from it by the tyranny of the emperor. In line 66, read ecce for hæc: in ore for honore. If "dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori," Hor., iv., Od. viii., 28, so he may be said "Doubly dying to go down to the vile dust from whence he sprung," who lives only in the sarcasm of the satirist.

[1590] Laureta Numæ. Cf. ad Juv., iii., 12, seq., the description of Umbritius' departure from Rome.

[1591] Comite Ægeria. It is not impossible there may have been some allusion to Numa and Egeria in Sulpicia's lost work on conjugal affection; and hence Mart., x., Ep. xxxv., 13, "Tales Egeriæ jocos fuisse Udo crediderim Numæ sub antro."

[1592] Apollo. Hor., i., Ep. iii., 17, "Scripta Palatinus quæcunque recepit Apollo." Juv., vii., 37.

FRAGMENTS OF LUCILIUS.[1593]

Introduction.

If but little is known of the personal character and life of the other Satirists of Rome, it is unfortunately still more the case with Lucilius. Although the research and industry of modern scholars have collected nearly a hundred passages from ancient writers where his name is mentioned, the information that can be gleaned from them with respect to the events of his life is very scanty indeed; and even of these meagre statements, there is scarcely one that has not been called in question by one or more critics of later days. It will be therefore, perhaps, the most satisfactory course to present in a continuous form the few facts we can gather respecting his personal history; and to mention afterward the doubts that have been thrown on these statements, and the attempts of recent editors to reconcile them with the accredited facts of history.

Caius Lucilius, then, was born, according to the testimony of S. Hieronymus (in Euseb., Chron.), B.C. 148, in the first year of the 158th Olympiad, and the 606th of the founding of the city (Varronian Computation), in the consulship of Spurius Posthumius Albinus and Lucius Calpurnius Piso. There was a plebeian Lucilian gens, as well as a patrician, but it was to the latter that the family of the poet undoubtedly belonged. Horace says of himself (ii. Sat, i., 74), "Quidquid sum ego, quamvis infrà Lucili censum ingeniumque tamen me cum magnis vixisse invita fatebitur usque Invidia." Porphyrion, in his commentary on the passage, says Lucilius was the great uncle of Pompey the Great; Pompey's grandmother being the poet's sister. But Acron says he was Pompey's grandfather. Velleius Paterculus (ii., 29), on the other hand, says that Lucilia, the mother of Pompey, was daughter of the brother of Lucilius and of senatorian family.

His birthplace was Suessa, now Sessa, capital of the Aurunci, in Campania; hence Juvenal (Sat. i., 19) says, "Cur tamen hoc potius libeat decurrere campo, per quem magnus equos Auruncæ flexit alumnus, Si vacat et placidi rationem admittitis edam;" and Ausonius (Ep. xv.), "Rudes Camænas qui Suessæ prævenis." At the age of fifteen, B.C. 134, he accompanied his patron, L. Scipio Africanus Æmilianus, to the Numantine war, where he is said to have served as eques. Vell. Pat., ii., 9, 4. Here he met with Marius, now about in his twenty-third year, and the young Jugurtha; who were also serving under Africanus, and learning, as Velleius says, "that art of war, which they were afterward to employ against each other." In the following year Numantia was taken and razed to the ground, and Lucilius returned with his patron to Rome, shortly after the sedition and death of Tiberius Gracchus; and lived on terms of the most familiar friendship with him and C. Lælius, until the death of Scipio, B.C. 129; and even at that early age had already acquired the reputation of a distinguished Satirist. According to Pighius (in Tabulis), he held the office of quæstor, B.C. 127, two years after Scipio's death, and the prætorship, B.C. 117. Van Heusde is also of opinion that he acted as publicanus; and from a passage in Cicero (de Orat., ii., 70), some suppose he kept large flocks of sheep on the Ager publicus. Besides Africanus and Lælius (with whose father-in-law Crassus, however, he was not on very good terms, vid. Cic., de Or., i., 16) he is said to have enjoyed the friendship of the following distinguished men, Sp. Albinus, L. Ælius Stilo, Q. Vectius, Archelaus, P. Philocomus, Lælius Decimus, and Q. Granius Præco. He had a violent quarrel with C. Cælius, for acquitting a man who had libeled him. He is said to have lived under Velia, where the temple of Victory afterward stood, in a house built at the public expense for the son of king Antiochus when hostage at Rome. (Asc. Pedian. in Ciceron., Orat. c. L. Pisonem, p. 13.) He made a voyage to Sicily, but for what cause, or at what period of his life, is not stated. His closing years were spent at Naples, whither he retired to avoid, as some think, the effects of the hatred of those whom his Satire had offended; and here he died, B.C. 103, in his forty-sixth year, and was honored, according to Eusebius, with a public funeral. He had a faithful slave named Metrophanes, whose honesty and fidelity he rewarded by writing an epitaph for his tomb, quoted by Martial as an instance of antique and rugged style of writing, xi. Ep., 90.

"Carmina nulla probas molli quæ limite currunt, Sed quæ per salebras altaque saxa cadunt: Et tibi Mæonio res carmine major habetur Luceili Columella heic situ' Metrophanes."

The name of his mistress is said to have been Collyra, to whom the sixteenth book of his Satires was inscribed. He wrote thirty books of Satires, of which the first twenty and the last are in Heroic metre. The other nine in Iambics or Trochaics. He is not to be confounded with a comic poet of the same name, mentioned by the Scholiast on Horace and by Fulgentius.

Such is the traditional, and for a long time currently-believed, story of Lucilius' life. The greater accuracy, or greater skepticism, of modern scholars has called into question nearly every one of these meagre facts. Even the method of spelling his name has been a subject of fierce controversy. In the best manuscripts, especially those of Horace, Cicero, and Nonius Marcellus, the name of Lucilius is invariably spelt with one l. Yet in spite of this testimony, in order to square with some preconceived notions of orthography, the l was doubled by Hadrian Turnebe, Claude de Saumaise, Joseph Scaliger, Lambinus, Jos. Mercer, and Cortius. The propriety, however, of omitting the second l has been fully established by an appeal to MSS. and inscriptions; and to Varges and Ellendt the credit is due of successfully restoring the correct mode of spelling. (Cf. Rhenish Philolog. Museum for 1835, and Ellendt on Cicero, de Orat, iii., 43.)

Again, his prænomen is by some stated to be Lucius; whereas, not to mention others, Cicero and Quintilian always speak of him as Caius.

But far more serious doubts, and with great probability, have been cast upon the dates assigned by S. Hieronymus for his birth and death. Bayle, in his Dictionary, was the first to suggest them; and they were taken up and urged with great zeal and learning by Van Heusde (in his Studia Critica in C. Lucilium Poetam, 1842), who accused Jerome of negligence and incorrectness in the dates he assigns to many other events: e. g., the overthrow of Numantia, the deaths of Plautus, Horace, Catullus, Lucretius, and Livius the tragedian, and the birth of Messala Corvinus. The charge against the chronographer has been repeated, and with some show of truth, by Ritschel in the Rhenish Museum, 1843. Van Heusde's line of argument is simply this, that the dates of Hieron. are inconsistent with what Horace and Velleius say of Lucilius, and with what the poet says of himself--that it is absurd to suppose that a lad of fifteen could have served as an eques; or that so young a person would have been admitted to such intimate familiarity with men like Scipio Africanus and Lælius; and that at the time of Scipio's death, when, as it is said, Lucilius had already gained a great reputation as a Satirist, he could have been barely over nineteen years old; that if he had died at the age of forty-six, Horace would not have applied to him the epithet "Senex"--that the year of his birth must be therefore carried back at least six years, and his death assigned to a much later period, as he mentions the Leges Liciniæ and Calpurnia, passed some years after the time fixed by Hieron. for his death at Naples. In this view Milman coincides: "Notwithstanding the distinctness of this statement of S. Hieronymus, and the ingenuity with which many writers have attempted to explain it, it appears to me utterly irreconcilable with facts." (Personæ Horatianæ, p. 178.) Clinton also says[1594] (F. H., ann. B.C. 103), "The expression of Horace, Sat., II., i., 34, by whom Lucilius is called 'Senex,' implies that he lived to a later period."

Such are the principal objections to the common accounts. Of those who hold their accuracy, and endeavor to explain away the difficulties attaching to them, the chief are Varges and Gerlach. The principal points will be taken in the order in which they occur.

With regard to the first, Varges shows, in opposition to Bayle, that it was the custom for young Romans to serve long before the legal age, either voluntarily, that they might apply themselves sooner to civil matters, by getting over their period of military service; or compulsorily, to supply the waste of soldiers caused by the incessant wars in which Rome was engaged. Hence the necessity for the law of C. Gracchus to prevent enlistment under the age of seventeen (νεώτερον ἐτῶν ἑπτακαίδεκα μὴ καταλέγεσθαι στρατιώτην). Cf. Liv., xxv., 5. Duk. ad Liv., xxvi., 25. As the equestrian service was the more honorable, it was probably conceded to Lucilius on account of his gentle birth and early promise. Gerlach thinks that Tibullus[1595] was only thirteen when he accompanied M. Valerius Messala Corvinus in his Aquitanian campaign. Now Tibullus was only of equestrian family. There is no difficulty, therefore, in supposing that Lucilius, who was of senatorian family, might have served as eques at the age of fifteen.[1596]

As to the fact of Scipio and Lælius admitting him to their intimate friendship at so early an age, a parallel may be found in the case of Archias the poet. Besides, Scipio and Lælius were the most likely men to discover and to foster the early talent of the young poet. For the fact of the intimacy we have the testimony of Horace, Sat., II., i., 71,

"Quin ubi se a vulgo et scena in secreta remorant Virtus Scipiadæ et mitis sapientia Lælî Nugari cum illo et discincti ludere, donec Decoqueretur olus, soliti."

On which the commentator says, "That the three were on such intimate terms, that on one occasion Lælius was running round the sofas in the Triclinium, while Lucilius was chasing him with a twisted towel to hit him with." This story agrees exactly with the description given by Cicero[1597] (de Orat., ii., 6) of the conduct of Scipio and Lælius, who speaks of their retiring together to the country-house of the former, and to have descended, for the relaxation of their minds, to the most childish amusements, such as gathering shells on the shore of Caieta. Who would be more likely than such men as these to be captivated by the precocious wit and pungent sarcasm of a sprightly lad?

Again, the character of Lucilius's compositions admits of eminence at an earlier period of life than the other branches of poetry. And yet Catullus and Propertius, not to mention many others, attained great eminence as poets at a very early age; certainly long before their twentieth year.

The Satiric poetry of Lucilius depending more on a keen perception of the ludicrous, and shrewd observation of passing events and the foibles of individuals, would more readily win approbation at an early age, than compositions whose excellence would consist in the display of judgment, knowledge of the world, and elaborate finish. There is, therefore, no reason to suppose that his talent may not, like that of Cicero, have been developed at an early age, and having come under the notice, might have won the approbation, of men of such character in private life as Scipio and Lælius are reported to have been.

But Horace calls him "senex," ii. Sat., 28, seq.

"Ille (Lucilius) velut fidis arcana sodalibus olim Credebat libris: neque si male cesserat, unquam Decurrens alio, neque si bene, quo fit ut omnis Votivâ pateat veluti descripta tabellâ Vita Senis--"

To this it is answered: nothing can be more loose and vague than the employment by Roman writers of terms relating to the different periods of human life: e. g., "puer, adolescentulus, adolescens, juvenis, senex." We have seen that Tibullus at the age of forty may be called "juvenis." Hannibal, at the age of forty-four (i. e., two years younger than Lucilius at his death), calls himself senex. (Cf. Liv., xxx., 30, compared with c. 28, and Crevier's note.)[1598] So Persius (Sat. i., 124) calls Aristophanes "prægrandis senex," though, as Ranke shows in his Life (p. xc.), he was not of great age. We might add that Horace himself uses the phrase, "poetarum seniorum turba" (i. Sat., x., 67), as equivalent to priorum.

In the fourth Fragment of the twentieth book, Lucilius mentions the Calpurnian Law.

"Calpurnî sævam legem Pisoni' reprendi Eduxique animam in primoribu' naribus."

This Van Heusde holds to be the Lex Calpurnia, de ambitu, passed by C. Calpurnius Piso, when consul, A.U.C. 687, B.C. 67, at which time Lucilius would have been eighty-one years old. But there was another Lex Calpurnia, de pecuniis repetundis, passed by L. Calpurnius Piso, tribune, in A.U.C. 604, B.C. 150. Van Heusde says the former must be meant, because Lucilius applies to it the epithet sæva, and Cicero (pro Muræna, c. 46) also styles it "severissime scriptam." He explains the second line of the Fragment to mean, that Lucilius "all but paid the penalty of death for his animadversions of the law," but these words more correctly imply the "fierce snorting of an angry man." So Pers., Sat., v., 91, "Ira cadat naso." Varro, R. R., ii., 3, 5, "Spiritum naribus ducere." Mart., vi. Ep., 64, "Rabido nec perditus ore fumantem nasum vivi tentaveris ursi." And any law whatever would be naturally termed "sæva" by him who came under the influence of it.

In the 132d of the Fragmenta Incerta, we have (quoted from A. Gell., Noct. Att., ii., 24) these words, "Legem vitemus Licini." The object of this law was to give greater sanction to the provisions of the Lex Fannia, a sumptuary law, which had become nearly obsolete. If passed by P. Licinius Crassus Dives Lusitanicus, when consul, it must be referred to the year A.U.C. 657, B.C. 97, six years after the supposed date of Lucilius's death. But there is no reason why this law should not have been passed by Licinius when tribune or prætor, as well as when consul; probably during his prætorship, as nearer the consulship, though Pighius (Annal., iii., 122), though without giving any authority, assigns it to his tribuneship.

The Orchian Law was passed by C. Orchius when tribune. The Fannian and many other sumptuary laws were passed by prætors or tribunes. The argument therefore derived from the law having been passed by Licinius, when consul, falls to the ground.

Allowing, however, that Lucilius was alive during the consulship of Licinius, we have the incidental, and therefore more valuable, testimony of Cicero, that he must have died very shortly after. In his "De Oratore," he introduces the speakers in the Dialogue quoting Lucilius, as one evidently not very recently dead. Now this imaginary Dialogue is supposed to have taken place B.C. 91.

FOOTNOTES:

[1593] In the Translation, the text and arrangement of Gerlach have been principally followed. The few Fragments that have not been translated are omitted, either from their hopelessly corrupt state, their obscenity, or from their consisting of single, and those unimportant, words.

[1594] Clinton, in his new Epitome of Chronology (Oxford, 1851), says, Lucilius was about twenty years of age when serving at Numantia, B.C. 134.

[1595] But Clinton thinks that the war for which Messala triumphed was carried on B.C. 28, and that Tibullus was then about thirty. The war against the Salassi had been carried on B.C. 34. Heyne assigns his birth to B.C. 49. Voss, Passow, and Dissen, to B.C. 59. Lachman and Paldanus, to B.C. 54. He is called a "juvenis" at his death, B.C. 18. But Clinton says there is "no difficulty in this term, which may express forty years of age."

[1596] Cf. Niebuhr's Lectures, vol. i., p. 316. "Slow and gradual advancement, and a provision for officers in their old age, were things unknown to the Romans. No one could by law have a permanent appointment: every one had to give evidence of his ability. It was, moreover, not necessary to pass through a long series of subordinate offices. A young Roman noble served as eques, and the consul had in his cohort the most distinguished to act as his staff: there they learned enough, and in a few years, a young man, in the full vigor of life, became a tribune of the soldiers."

[1597] "Sæpe ex socero meo audivi, quum is diceret, socerum suum Lælium semper ferè cum Scipione solitum rusticari eosque incredibiliter repuerascere esse solitos quum rus ex urbe tanquam è vinculis evolavissent.... Solet narrare Scævola conchas eos et umbilicos ad Caietam et ad Laurentum legere consuêsse et ad omnem animi remissionem ludumque descendere." Cf. Val. Max., viii., 8, 1.

[1598] These additional authorities have been collected by Gerlach and Varges. Barth. ad Stat. Sylv., I., ii. 253. Markl. ad Stat. Sylv., 110. Drakenborch, ad Sil. Ital., i., 634. Eustath., p. 107, 14, on the word γέρων. Heyne's Homer, vol. iv., pp. 270, 606, 620.

BOOK I.[1599]

Argument.

To the first book there is said to have been annexed an Epistle to L. Ælius Stilo, the friend of the poet, to whom in all probability this book was dedicated. (Fr. 16.) We know from a note of Servius on the tenth book of the Æneid (l. 104), that the subject was a council of gods held to deliberate on the fortune of the Roman state; the result of the conference being that nothing but the death of certain obnoxious individuals could possibly rescue the city from plunging headlong to ruin. It is a kind of parody on the council of Celestials held in the first book of the Odyssey, to discuss the propriety of the return of Ulysses to Greece: and as Homer represents Neptune, the great enemy of Ulysses, to have been absent from the meeting, so here (Fr. 2) we find an allusion to some previous council, at which Jupiter, by the machinations of Juno (Fr. 15), was not present. Virgil, as Servius says, borrowed the idea of his discussion between Venus, Juno, and Jupiter from this book; only he translated the language of Lucilius into a type more suited to the dignity of Heroic verse. Lucilius's council begin with discussing the affairs of mankind at large, and then proceed to consider the best method of prolonging the Roman state (Fr. 5), which has no greater enemies than its own corrupt and licentious morals, and the wide-spreading evils of avarice and luxury. But amid the growing vices which undermined the state must especially be reckoned the study of a spurious kind of philosophy, of rhetoric, and logic, which not only was the cause of universal indolence and neglect of all serious duties, but also led men to lay snares to entrap their neighbors. (Fr. inc. 2.) A fair instance of these sophistical absurdities is given (Fr. inc. 12); and the doctrine of the Stoics, to which Horace alludes (i. Sat., iii., 124), is also ridiculed. (Fr. inc. 23.) The pernicious effects of gold are then described, as destructive of all honesty, good faith, and every religious principle (Fr. inc. 39-47); the result of which is, that the state is fast sinking into helpless ruin. (Fr. inc. 50.) Nor are the evils of luxury less baleful. (Fr. 19-21.)

All this discussion, in the previous conference, had been nugatory on account of the absence of Jupiter, and the divisions that had arisen among the gods themselves. In this debate Neptune had taken a very considerable part, since we hear that, discussing some very abstruse and difficult point, he said it could not be cleared up, even though Orcus were to permit Carneades himself to revisit earth. (Fr. 8.) Apollo also was probably one of the speakers, and expressed a particular dislike to his cognomen of "the Beautiful." (Fr. inc. 145.) Perhaps all the gods but Jove (Fr. 3) had been present; but as they could not agree, the whole matter was referred to Jupiter; who, expressing his vexation that he was not present at the first meeting, blames some and praises others. (Fr. 55, inc.)

The cause of his absence was probably the same as that described (Iliad, xiv., 307-327) by Homer: which passage Lucilius probably meant to ridicule. (Fr. 15.) The result of the deliberation is a determination on the part of the gods that the only way to save the Roman state is by requiring the expiatory sacrifice of the most flagitious and impious among the citizens: and the three fixed upon are P. Cornelius Lentulus Lupus, L. Papirius Carbo, and C. Hostilius Tubulus.

(To this book may perhaps also be referred Fr. inc. 2, 46, 61, 63.)

This book must have been published subsequently to the death of Carneades, which took place the same year as that of Scipio, B.C. 129, twenty-six years after his embassy to Rome.

1 ... held counsel about the affairs of men--

2 I could have wished, could it so have happened.... I could have wished, at that council of yours before which you mention, I could have wished, Celestials, to have been present at your previous council!

3 ... that there is none of us, but without exception is styled "Best Father of Gods," as Father Neptune, Liber, Saturn, Father Mars, Janus, Father Quirinus.[1600]

4 Had Tubulus, Lucius, Lupus, or Carbo, that son of Neptune, believed that there were gods, would he have been so perjured and impious?[1601]

5 ... in what way it might be possible to preserve longer the people and city of Rome.

6 ... though many months and days ... yet wicked men would not admire this age and time.

7 When he had spoken these words he paused--

8 Not even though Orcus should send back Carneades himself....[1602]

9 ... made ædile by a Satura; who from law may loose....[1603]

10 ... against whom, should the whole people conspire, they would be scarce a match for him--

11 ... they might, however, discharge their duty and defend the walls.

12 ... might put it off, if not longer, at least to this one lustrum.[1604]

13 I will bring them to supper; and first of all will give each of them, as they arrive, the bellies of thunny and heads of acharne.[1605]

14 ...

15 ... so that I could compare «the embraces» of Leda daughter of Thestius, and the spouse of Ixion.[1606]

16 These things we have sent, written to thee, Lucius Ælius![1607]

17 ... to creep on, as an evil gangrene, or ulcer, might.

18 A countenance too, like.... death, jaundice, poison.

19 ... to hate the infamous, vile, and disgraceful cook's shop.[1608]

20 prætextæ and tunics, and all that foul handiwork of the Lydians.[1609]

21 Velvets and double piles, soft with their thick naps.[1610]

22 ... that, like an angry cur, speaks plainer than a man.

23 ... the common herd stupidly look for a knot in a bulrush.[1611]

24 ... and legions serve for pay.

25 ... quote prodigies, elephants.

26 ... ladles and ewers.[1612]

27 Vulture.[1613]

28 ... like a fool, you came to dance among the Pathics.

29 Oh the cares of men! Oh how much vanity is there in human affairs![1614]

FOOTNOTES:

[1599] Book I. Some of the commentators suppose that the thirty Satires of Lucilius were divided into two books, and that the first of these books, and not the first Satire only, was dedicated to Ælius Stilo.

[1600] Fr. 3. "Every god that is worshiped by man must needs in all solemn rites and invocations be styled 'Father;' not only for honor's, but also for reason's sake. Since he is both more ancient than man, and provides man with life and health and food, as a father doth." Lactant., Inst. Div., iv., 3.

[1601] Tubulus. C. Hostilius Tubulus was elected prætor B.C. 210 (Liv., xxvii., 6), and was prætor peregrinus next year. (Cf. Fr. inc. 97.) He became infamous from his openly receiving bribes, so that the next year, on the motion of the tribune P. Scævola, he was impeached by Cnæus Servilius Cæpio the consul, B.C. 203. P. Cornelius Lentulus Lupus first appears as one of the persons sent to Rome, to announce the victory over Perseus. (Liv., xliv., 45.) He afterward served the offices of curule ædile (Fr. 9), and censor (Fr. 12). He was consul B.C. 156. Carbo is L. Papirius Carbo, the friend of C. Gracchus. We learn from Aulus Gellius (xv., 21), that "Son of Neptune" was applied to men of the fiercest and most blood-thirsty dispositions, who seemed to have so little humanity about them, that they might have been sprung from the sea.

[1602] Carneades (cf. Diog. Laert., IV., ix.) of Cyrene, disciple of Chrysippus, and founder of the new Academy, was celebrated for his great acuteness of intellect, which he displayed to great advantage when he came as embassador from Athens to Rome, B.C. 155.

[1603] Ædilem refers to Lupus, who was made curule ædile with L. Valerius Flaccus, A.U.C. 591 (B.C. 163), and exhibited the Ludi Megalenses the year Terence's Heauton Timorumenos was produced. A law was called Satura which contained several enactments under one bill; hence, according to Diomedes, Satire derives its name from the variety of its subjects.

A person was said to be legibus solutus who was freed from the obligation of any one law; afterward the emperors were so styled, as being above all laws; but at first there was some reservation, as we find Augustus praying to be freed from the obligation of the Voconian law. (In the year B.C. 199, C. Valerius Flaccus was created curule ædile together with C. Cornelius Cethegus. Being flamen dialis, and therefore not allowed to take an oath, he prayed, "ut legibus solveretur." The consuls, by a decree of the senate, got the tribunes to obtain a plebis-scitum, that his brother Lucius, the prætor elect, might be allowed to take the oath for him. Liv., xxxi., 50.)

[1604] Fr. 12 refers also to Lupus, for he was censor A.U.C. 607, with L. Marcius Censorinus.

[1605] Priva. Cf. Liv., xxx., 43, "Ut privos lapides silices, privasque verbenas secum ferrent." The acharne was a fish known to the Greeks, the best being caught off Ænos in Thrace. Athenæus mentions the ἄχαρνος together with θύννου κεφάλαιον, "thunny-heads" (vii., p. 620, D), in a passage from the Cyclopes of Callias. Ennius also (ap. Apul. Apolog.) has "calvaria pinguia acharnæ."

[1606] Mercer suggests "coitum" as the missing word, which Gerlach adopts. Cf. Hom., Il., xiv., 317, οὐδ' ὁπότ' ἠρασάμην Ἰξιονίης ἀλόχοιο. The lady's name was Dia, daughter of Deioneus. Contendere, "to compare." Cf. vii., Fr. 6.

[1607] L. Ælius Stilo (vid. arg.) was a Roman knight, a native of Lanuvium, and was called Stilo, "quod orationes nobilissimo cuique scribere solebat." He had also the nickname of Præconinus, because his father had exercised the office of præco. He was a distinguished grammarian, and a friend of the learned and great; and, it is said, accompanied Q. Metellus Numidicus into banishment. Vid. Suet., de Gram. Ill., II., iii. Ernest Clav. Cic.

[1608] Cf. Juv., viii., 172, "Mitte sed in magnâ legatum quære popina;" and 1. 158; xi., 81, "Qui meminit calidæ sapiat quid vulva popinæ."

[1609] Prætextæ. Cf. Pers., v., 30, "custos purpura."

[1610] Psilœ, from ψιλὸς, "rasus," with its nap shorn like our modern velvet (villus, hence vélours). Amphitapæ, from ἀμφί and τάπης, a thick brocaded dress, like a rich carpet, soft on both sides.

[1611] Nodum in scirpo facere, or quærere, "to make a difficulty where there is none." Cf. Ter., And., v., 4, 38. Enn. ap. Fest., "Quæritur in scirpo soliti quod dicere nodus." Plaut., Men., II., i., 22. The modern Italian is equally expressive, "Cercar l'osso nel fico."

[1612] ἀρύταινα, from ἀρύτω, "any vessel for drawing up water."

[1613] Vulturius is the older Latin form for vultur, which is found in the days of Virgil. (In Plaut., Curc., II., iii., 77, "Vulturios quatuor" is a bad throw at dice, like the "damnosa Canicula" of Persius, iii., 49, and is said to be called so for the same reason, because vultures devour, i. e., ruin men.)

[1614] Cf. Pers., i., 1.

Book II. Argument.

BOOK II.

ARGUMENT.

On the subject of this book the commentators differ: some supposing that it was directed against luxury and effeminacy. But the avarice and licentiousness of the times form a considerable portion of the writings of Lucilius, and there are very few of his Satires in which these are not incidentally glanced at. From the sixth Fragment, which after all is a very obscure one, Ellendt supposed it was written to expose Æmilius Scaurus. Corpet maintains that it contained the description of a sanguinary brawl, in which many persons were engaged; that one person was taken up for dead, his house purified (Fr. 22), and all preparations made for his funeral, when some one saw another lying in his bier. Fr. 1. It is quite clear that Fr. 14, 24, and perhaps 2, refer to luxury; if by Manlius, in the second Fragment, is intended Cn. Manlius Vulso. (Vid. note.)

1 ... whom, when Hortensius and Posthumius had seen, the rest, too, saw that he was not on his bier, and that another was lying there.

2 Hostilius ... against the plague and ruin which that halting Manlius, too, «introduced among» us.[1615]

3 ... which were all removed in two hours, when the sun set, and was enveloped in darkness.[1616]

4 ... that he, having been ill-treated, attacked the other's jaws, and beat the breath out of him.

5 Now for the name: next I will tell you what I have got out of the witnesses, by questioning.[1617]

6 ... which I charm and wrest and elicit from Æmilius.[1618]

7 I say not. Even though he conquer, let him go like a vagabond into exile, and roam an outlaw.[1619]

8 The prætor is now your friend; but if Gentilis die this year, he will be mine--[1620]

9 ... if he has left on his posteriors the mark of a thick and large-headed snake.[1621]

10 Of a rough-actioned, sorry, slow-paced jade--[1622]

11 ... that unclean, shameless, plundering fellow.[1623]

12 Sleeved tunics of gold tissue, scarfs, drawers, turbans.[1624]

13 What say you? Why was it done? What is that guess of yours?

14 ... who may now ruin you, Nomentanus, you rascal, in every thing else!

15 So surrounded was I with all the cakes.[1625]

16 ... to penetrate the hairy purse.[1626]

17 ... for a man scarce alive and a mere shadow.[1627]

18 ... as skilled in law.

19 ... he would lead these herds--

20 ... for what need has he of the amulet and image attached to him, in order to devour fat bacon and make rich dishes by stealth.[1628]

21 ... her that shows light by night.[1629]

22 ... purified--expiated--

23 ... a journey from the lowermost (river) to be told, and heard.

24 Long life to you, gluttons, gormandizers, belly-gods.[1630]

25 ... him that wanders through inhospitable wastes there accompanies the greater satisfaction of things conceived in his mind.[1631]

FOOTNOTES:

[1615] There are two persons of the name of Hostilius mentioned by Livy, as contemporary with Cn. Manlius Vulso. Hostilius is Gerlach's reading for the old hostilibus. Cn. Manlius got the nickname of Vulso from vellendo, plucking out superfluous hairs to make his body more delicate. (Plin., xiv., 20. Juv., viii., 114; ix., 14. Pers., iv., 36.) He was consul B.C. 189, and marched into Gallo-Græcia, and for his conquests was allowed a triumph, B.C. 186. Livy enters into great detail in describing all the various luxuries which he introduced into Rome, such as sofas, tables, sideboards, rich and costly vestments and hangings, foreign musicians, etc. Liv., xxxix., 6. Plin., H. N., xxxiv., 3, 8. Cf. Bekker's Gallus, p. 294. Catax (quasi cadax a cadendo) is explained by coxo, "one lame of the hip." There is probably an allusion to his effeminacy. Corpet considers Manlius Verna to be intended, who had the sobriquet of Pantolabus, i. e., "grasp-all."

[1616] Leg. obducto tenebris. Dusa's conjecture, adopted by Gerlach.

[1617] Exsculpo. So Fr. incert. 49, "Esurienti Leoni ex ore exsculpere prædam." Ter., Eun., IV., iv., 44, "Possumne hodie ego ex to exsculpere verum."

[1618] All the commentators agree that no sense can be elicited from this line. Ellendt (vid. sup.) supposes Æmilius Scaurus to be meant; others, Æmilius the præco, by whom Scipio, when candidate for the censorship, was conducted to the forum, for which he was ridiculed by Appius Claudius. Præcantare is applied to singing magic hymns and incantations by the bed of one sick, to charm away the disease. Cf. Tibull., I., v. 12, "Carmine cum magico præcinuisset anus." Macrob., Somn. Scip., II., iii. Excantare is "to elicit by incantation." Vid. Lucan, vi., 685, "Excantare deos."

[1619] Corpet says, this obviously refers to Scipio Africanus major. But, as Gerlach says, it may apply equally well to Scipio Nasica, or Opimius, who killed the Gracchi; perhaps even better to the latter than to Scipio Africanus, who went voluntarily into exile.

[1620] Cf. Ter., Andr., V., vi., 12, "Tuus est nunc Chremes." Gerlach's reading and punctuation are followed. Gentilis is a proper name, on the authority of Appuleius.

[1621] Natrix, properly "a venomous water-serpent." Cic., Acad., iv., 38. Hence applied by Tiberius to Caligula. (Suet., Calig., xi.) It means here a thong or whip (scutica), which twists about and stings like a snake. So Anguilla, Isidor., Orig., v. 27.

[1622] Succussatoris. Gr. ὑποσειστής, "one that shakes the rider in his seat." Caballi. Vid. Pers., Prol. i., 1.

[1623] Impuratus. Ter., Phorm., IV., iii., 64. Impuno, "one who dares all, through hope of impunity." Rapister is formed like magister, sequester, etc.

[1624] Cf. Bähr ad Herod., vii., 61 (which seems to confirm the conjecture, χειροδύται), and the quotation from Virgil below. Herod., vi., 72. Schneider's note on Xen., Hell., II., i., 8. Rica is a covering for the head, such as priestesses used to wear at sacrifices, generally of purple, square, with a border or fringe; cf. Varro, L. L., iv., 29; but worn sometimes by men, as Euclides of Megara used one. A. Gell., vi., 10.

Thoracia. Properly "a covering for the breast," then "an apron" (Juv., v., 143, "viridem thoraca jubebit afferri"), then "a covering for the abdomen or thigh," like the fasciæ. Cf. Suet., Aug., 82, "Hieme quaternis cum pingui togâ tunicis et subuculâ thorace laneo et feminalibus et tibialibus muniebatur."

Mitra was a high-peaked cap, worn by courtesans and effeminate men. Vid. Juv., iii., 66, "Ite quibus grata est pictâ lupa barbara mitrâ." Virg., Æn., ix., 616, "Et tunicæ manicas et habent redimicula mitræ." iv., 216. Ov., Met., xiv., 654.

[1625] Ferta. Rich cakes, made of flour, wine, honey, etc., which formed part of the usual offerings. Cf. Pers., ii., 48, "Attamen hic extis et opimo vincere ferto intendit."

[1626] Bulga is properly "a traveling bag of leather, carried on the arm." See the amusing Fragment, lib. vi., 1. Hence its obvious translation to the meaning in lib. xxvi., Fr. 36, and here.

[1627] Monogrammo. A metaphor from painting, "drawn only in outline." Used here for a very thin emaciated person. (Cf. lib. xxvii., 17.) Epicurus applied this epithet to the gods (Cic., Nat. Deor., ii., 23), as being "tenues sine corpore vitæ." Virg., vi., 292. Cf. Pers., vi., 73, "trama figuræ."

[1628] Mutinus, or Mutunus, is the same deity as Priapus. The form is cognate with Muto. He appears to have been also called Mutinus Tutinus, or Tutunus. The emblem was worn as a charm or phylactery against fascination, and hung round children's necks. Cf. Lactant., i., 20. August., Civ. D., iv., 7.

Lurcor is "to swallow greedily." Lardum. Cf. Juv., xi., 84, "Natalitium lardum."

Carnaria is probably the neuter plural of the adjective. Carnarius homo, is one who delights in flesh. Carnarium is either "an iron rack with hooks for hanging meat upon," or "a larder where provisions are kept."

[1629] Noctilucam. An epithet of the moon. Hor., iv., Od. vi., 38, "Rite crescentem face Noctilucam." (Cf. Var., L. L., v., 68, "Luna dicta Noctiluca in Palatio, nam ibi noctu lucet templum.") Hence used for a lantern, and then for a "minion of the moon," a strumpet, because they suspended lights over their doors or cells. (Juv., vi., 122. Hor., ii., Sat. vii., 48.) This last appears from Festus to be the sense intended here.

[1630] Lurco is derived by some from λαῦρος, "voracious;" but by Festus from Lura, an old word for "the belly." Cf. Plaut., Pers., III., iii., 16, "Lurco, edax, furax, fugax." Lurco was the cognomen of M. Aufidius, who first introduced the art of fattening peacocks, by which he made a large fortune. Varro, R. R., iii., 6. Plin., x., 20, 23.

[1631] Inhospita tesqua. Horace has copied this sentiment in his epistle to his Villicus, "Nam quæ deserta et inhospita tesqua credis, amæna vocat mecum qui sentit." i., Ep. xiv., 19. Tesqua is derived from δάσκιος, "very wooded." (Lucan, vi., 41, "nemorosa tesca.") Varro says tesca are "places inclosed and set apart as templa for the purposes of augury." L. L., vi., 2.

Book III. Argument.

BOOK III.

ARGUMENT.

We have not only much more ample and satisfactory information respecting the subject of this Satire from ancient writers, but the Fragments which have come down to us give sufficient evidence that their statements are correct. It is the description of a journey which Lucilius took from Rome to Capua, and thence to the Straits of Messina; with an account of some of the halting-places on his route, and incidents of travel. Besides this, which was the main subject, he indulged by the way in a little pleasing raillery against some of his contemporaries, Ennius, Pacuvius, Cæcilius, and Terence, according to the old Scholiast. This Satire formed the model from which Horace copied his Journey to Brundusium, i, Sat., v. The special points of imitation will be seen in the notes; from which it will appear that the particular incidents mentioned by Horace, are probably fictitious. As to the journey itself, Varges and Gerlach are both of opinion that it was a real one, and undertaken solely for purposes of pleasure; as it was not unusual for the wealthier Romans of that day to travel into Campania, or even to Lucania, and as far as the district of the Bruttii. (Cf. Hor., i., Sat. vi., 102, seq.) These journeys were occasionally performed on foot: as we hear of Cato traveling on foot through the different cities of Italy, bearing his own arms, and attended only by a single slave, who carried his baggage and libation-cup for sacrificing. But Lucilius probably on this occasion had his hackney (canterius), like Horace, which carried not only his master's saddle-bags, but himself also. (Cf. Fr. 9. Hor., i., Sat. vi., 104.)

It is not quite clear whether the scene described at Capua was a gladiatorial exhibition, or merely a drunken brawl that took place in the streets, from which one of the parties came very badly off.

Several of the "uncertain Fragments" may be fairly referred to this book; evidently Fr. inc. 27. Cf. Hor., i., Sat. v., 85. Probably Fr. inc. 77, 95, 53, 11, 10, 14, 36.

1 ... you will find twice five and eighty full miles; from Capua too, two hundred and fifty--[1632]

2 ... from the gate to the harbor, a mile; thence to Salernum.[1633]

3 ... thence to the people of the Dicæarcheans and Delos the less.[1634]

4 Campanian Capua--

5 ... three miles in length.[1635]

6 ... But there, all these things were mere play--and no odds. They were no odds, I say, all mere play--and a joke. The real hard work was, when we came near the Setine country; goat-clambered mountains; Ætnas all of them, rugged Athosès.[1636]

7 Besides, the whole of this way is toilsome and muddy--[1637]

8 Moreover, the scoundrel, like a rascally muleteer, knocked against all the stones--[1638]

9 My portmanteau galled my hackney's ribs by its weight.[1639]

10 We pass the promontory of Minerva with oars--[1640]

11 ... four from this to the river Silarus, and the Alburnian harbor.[1641]

12 Hence, I arrive at midnight, by rowing, at Palinurus--[1642]

13 And you shall see, what you have often before wished, the Straits of Messina, and the walls of Rhegium; then Lipara, and the temple of Diana Phacelitis--[1643]

14 ... here the third passes the truck on the top of the mast:[1644]

15 And you will square out the way, as the camp-measurer does....[1645]

16 ... and we will take a decent time for refreshing our bodies.[1646]

17 There was not a single oyster, or a burret, or peloris:[1647]

18 no asparagus.

19 Waking out of sleep, therefore, with the first dawn I call for the boys--

20 Bending forward at once he covers his[1648]

21 The rabbit-mouthed butcher triumphs; he with the front tooth projecting, like the Ethiopian rhinoceros--[1649]

22 ... the other, successful, returns in safety with seven feathers, and gets clear off--[1650]

23 ... the forum of old decorated with lanterns, at the Roman games.

24 ... besides, the neat-herd Symmachus, already given over, was heaving with panting lungs his last expiring breath.[1651]

25 ... like the thick sparks, as in the mass of glowing iron.[1652]

26 she did not give birth to....

27 ... whoever attacks, can confuse the mind--

28 Tantalus, who pays the penalty for his atrocious acts--

29 ... our senses are turned topsy-turvy by the wine-flagons.[1653]

30 ... when it came to extremity and utter destruction--[1654]

31 then you exhale sour belchings from your breast--

32 we raise our jaws, and indulge in a grin

33 here however is one landlady, a Syrian[1655]

34 The little old woman's flight was rough and premature

35 ... they are studying; look to the wood....

36 propped up on a cushion.

37 seeing that

38 You should receive a share of the glory; you should have partaken with me in the pleasure.

FOOTNOTES:

[1632] It is not known what the places are from which Lucilius meant to mark these distances. Nonius explains commodum by integrum, totum, "complete."

[1633] Gronovius supposes the harbor intended to be the Portus Alburnus. Varges says it is Pompeii, which was a little distance from the sea. Gerlach takes it to be Salernum itself: "and there you are at Salernum!"

[1634] This high-sounding line is supposed to be a parody of some of the "sesquipedalia verba" of Ennius. The place meant is Puteoli, now Pozzuoli, so called either from the mephitic smell of the water, or from the quantity of wells there. It became the great emporium of commerce, as Delos had been before, and hence was called Delos Minor. It was a Greek colony, and was called Dicæarcheia, from the strict justice with which its government was administered, or from the name of its founder. Plin., III., v., 9. Stat. Sylv., II., ii., 96, 110. Sil. Ital., viii., 534; xiii., 385.

[1635] Longe pro logitudine. Cf. Hor., i., Sat. v., 25, "Millia tum pransi tria repimus." What Horace says of his slow journey to Terracina, Lucilius had said of his tedious ascent to Setia. See next Fr.

[1636] Susque deque is properly applied to a thing "about which you are so indifferent that you do not care whether it is up or down." Cic., Att., xiv., 6, "de Octavio susque deque." Compare the Greek ἀδιαφορεῖ. A. Gell., xvi., 9. So "susque deque ferre," i. e., æquo animo, "to bear patiently."

Illud opus. Virg., Æn., vi., 129, "Hoc opus hic labor est," Setia, now Sezza, near the Pomptine marshes, on the Campanian hills. From its high position, Martial gives it the epithet "pendula:" xiii., Ep. 112, "Pendula Pomptinos quæ spectat Setia campos." The country round was a famous wine district. Cf. Plin., iii., 5, 5; xiv., 6, 8. Mart., vi., 86. Juv., v., 34; x., 27; xiii., 213. αἰγίλιποι. The Schol. on Hom., Il., ix., 15, explains this as "a cliff so high that even goats forsake it." Cf., Æsch., Supp., 794. But it more probably comes from λίπτομαι, than λείπομαι, therefore "eagerly sought by goats." Cf. Mart., xiii., Ep. 99.

[1637] Labosum for laboriosum.

[1638] Quartarius, "quia partem quartam questûs capiebant." "The mule-drivers were so called, because they received one fourth of the hire." Of course, as the animals were not their own, they were not very careful how they drove them; and hence might run foul of the cippi, which were either tomb-stones by the side of the road, or stones set to mark the boundaries of land. Cf. Juv., Sat. i., 171. Pers., i., 37. Hor., i., Sat. viii., 12.

[1639] Hor., i., Sat. vi., 105, "Mantica cui lumbos onere ulceret atque eques armos." Canterius (more correctly Cantherius), "a gelding."

[1640] The Promontory of Minerva, now P. di Campanella, is the southernmost extremity of the Bay of Naples, a short distance from the island of Capri.

[1641] The Portus Alburnus is the mouth of the river Silarus (now Selo), which separates Lucania from the district of the Picentini. The Mons Alburnus (now Alburno), from which it takes its name, stands near the junction of the Tanager (now Negro) with the Silarus. Virgil mentions this district as abounding in the gad-fly. Georg., iii., 146.

[1642] Palinurum (still called Capo Palinuro) is in Lucania, not far from the town of Velia, at the north of the Laus sinus, or Golfo di Policastra.

[1643] Messana, the ancient Zancle, still gives its name to the strait between it and Rhegium. The geological fact from which the latter derives its name (Rhegium, or ῥήγνυμι), is described, Virg., Æn., iii., 414, seq. Lipara (now Lipari) is the principal of the Æolian or Vulcanian Islands.

Phacelitis, from φάκελος, "a fagot." When Orestes made his escape with Pylades and Iphigenia from Taurica, he carried away with him the image of Artemis, inclosed for the purpose of concealment in a bundle of sticks. Hence her name, Phacelitis, or, according to the Latin form, Facelitis. This image he carried, according to one legend, to Aricia, near which was the grove of Diana Nemorensis; or, as others say, to Syracuse, where he built a temple and established her Cultus. Cf. Sil. Ital., xiv., 260.

[1644] Carchesium is, according to some, "the upper part of the Levantine sail," or "the lower part of the mast." Others explain it as "the cross-trees or tops of the mast, to which the sailors ascended to look out." Or it is "the hollow bowl-shaped top or truck of the mast, through which the halyards work." Hence its use as applied to a drinking-cup. (Virg., Georg., iv., 380. Athen., xi., c. 49. Müller's Archæol. of Art, § 299.) Catull., Pel. et Thet., 236. Liv., Andron. Fr. incert, 1, "Florem antlabant Liberi ex carchesiis."

[1645] Degrumor. Properly, "to mark out two lines crossing each other exactly at right angles." There was a point in the camp near the Prætorium, called Groma, at which four lines converged, which divided the camp into four equal portions.

[1646] Hor., i, Epist. ii, 29.

[1647] Purpura is properly the shell-fish from which the famous dye came. (Ostrum, cognate with ostrea.) The Peloris was a common kind of shell-fish, caught probably off Cape Pelorum, whence its name. Cf. Plin., xxxii, 9, 31. Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 32, "Muria Baiano melior Lucrina peloris." Mart., vi., Ep. xi., 5, "Tu Lucrina voras: me pascit aquosa Peloris." x., Ep. xxxvii., 9.

[1648] Cernuus is applied to one "who falls on his face." "In eam partem quâ cernimus." Virg., Æn., x., 894.

[1649] Brocchus ovat Lanius. The reading of Junius (cf. Virg., Æn., x., 500), probably part of the description of the street brawl. Brocchus is applied to one "with projecting mouth and teeth, like the jowl of a bull-dog."

[1650] Abundans. Ter., Phorm., I., iii., 11, "Amore abundas Antipho." This line either refers to an actual exhibition of gladiators, in Campania perhaps, or Lucilius applies the language of the arena to the street-fight. The Scholiast on Juvenal (iii., 158, ed. Jahn) says, the helmets of the gladiators were adorned with peacocks' feathers; others think the upper part of the helmet was so called, which the Samnis wore, and hence his opponent was denominated Pinnirapus.

[1651] Depôstus, "despaired of." So Virg., Æn., xii., 395, "Ille ut depositi proferret fata parentis."

[1652] Strictura is either "the mass of iron, generally in a glowing state, ready to be forged," or "the sparks that fly from the iron while it is being hammered." The line probably refers to Lipara, or one of the Vulcanian isles, where the Cyclops had their workshop. (Cf. Fr. 13.) Virgil uses the word also in describing the Cyclops, viii., 420, "Striduntque cavernis Stricturæ Chalybum et fornacibus ignis anhelat." Pers., ii., 66, "Stringere venas ferventis massæ."

[1653] Fundus seems to be here used almost like funditus; or it may mean "our firm solid basis."

[1654] Ad incita, from "in" and "cieo." A metaphor from chess, or some game resembling it (latrunculi or calculi), when one party has lost so many men that he has none more to move; or only in such a position that by the laws of the game they can not be moved (checkmated). The usual phrase is ad incitas. Lucilius is the only writer who uses the form ad incita.

[1655] Syrus was a common name for a slave, from his country, as Davus, "the Dacian," Geta, "the Goth," etc. Cf. Juv., viii., 159, "Obvius assiduo Syrophœnix udus amomo currit Idumeæ Syrophœnix incola portæ."

Book IV. Argument.

BOOK IV.

ARGUMENT.

The Scholiast, on the third Satire of Persius, tells us that the subject of that Satire, which is directed against the luxury and vices of the rich, was borrowed from the fourth book of Lucilius. In all probability the form of the Satire is not the same; as the dialogue between the severe censor and his pupils approaches too near the Greek form, to have suited the taste of Lucilius. No doubt there is a much closer imitation in the second Satire of Horace's second book, which also was confessedly composed upon this model; where the plain and rustic simplicity of Ofella takes the place of the grave and sententious philosophy of the more dignified Lælius. The first six Fragments are evidently to be referred to Lælius; expatiating on the praises of frugality, and exhibiting, by examples, the hollowness of all the pleasures of luxury and gluttony. We have then allusions to a combat of gladiators; and several references to women, and to the impetuous and restless anxieties attendant upon the passion of love; which are inconsistent with the character of Lælius, and were therefore put into the mouth of some other speaker.

To the first part of the Satire we may probably refer the Fragments 192, 193, 132, 133, incert.

1 * * * *

At which that wise Lælius used to give vent to railings; addressing the Epicures of our order--[1656]

2 "Oh thou glutton, Publius Gallonius! a miserable man thou art!" he says. "Thou hast never in all thy life supped well, though all thou hast thou squanderest on that lobster and gigantic sturgeon!"[1657]

3 If you ask me, we enjoy food well cooked, and seasoned and pleasing conversation--[1658]

4 ... because you prefer sumptuous living, and dainties to wholesome food--

5 ... to devise besides what each wished to be brought to him; one was attracted by sow's udder, and a dish of fatlings, another by a Tiber pike caught between the two bridges--[1659]

6 ... let there be wine poured from a full.... with the hollow of the hand for a siphon; from which the snow has abated naught, or the wine-strainer robbed--[1660]

7 ... there was Æserninus, a Samnite, at the games exhibited by the Flacci, a filthy fellow, worthy of such a life, and such a station. He is matched with Pacideianus, who was by far the very best gladiator since the world began--[1661]

8 I will kill him, and conquer, said he, if you ask that: But so I think it will be; I will smite him on the face before I plant my sword in the stomach and lungs of Furius. I hate the man! I fight in a rage! nor is there any farther delay than till some one fits a sword to my right hand; with such passion, and hatred of the man, am I transported with anger.[1662]

9 ... although he himself was a good Samnite in the games, and with the wooden swords, rough enough for any one....[1663]

10 But if no woman can be of so hardy a body, yet she may remain juicy, with soft arms, and the open hand may rest on her breast full of milk--[1664]

11 † Tisiphone devoured unguent from his lungs and fat; Erinnys most sacred of Eumenides bore off what was extracted.[1665]

12 ... pursues him, not expecting, leaps upon his head, and having encircled him, champs him all up and devours him--[1666]

13 ... remains fixed in the hinder part with vertebræ and joints, as with us the ankle and knee.

14 These carry before them huge fishes, for a present, thirty in number--

15 ... that you might not be able to shake out the door-peg with your hand, and even by yourself force out the bar with a wedge.[1667]

16 He is longer than a crane--

17 To scour the fields ... the whelps and young of wild beasts.

18 ... and when he is such a handsome man, and a youth worthy of you.

19 ... he places under this, he adds four props with nails.[1668]

20 ... who eats himself, devours me--

21 I was drunk and bloated.

FOOTNOTES:

[1656] Lapathus is the "sorrel," which, it appears, the Romans cultivated in their gardens with great care. It was called, in its wild state, Rumex. It was used at banquets, on account of its purgative qualities, together with the Coan wines, which possessed the same properties. Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 27. Pers., Sat. v., 135. Gumia is a "glutton, epicure, belly-god." (Lurco, comedo, helluo, gulæ mancipium.) The etymology is uncertain. Merula reads in all places gluvia, whence ingluvies.

[1657] There are two fish known by the name of squilla; the one apparently a small fish (perhaps a river fish, as Martial mentions their abounding in the Liris: lib. xiii., Ep. 83), used as a sauce or garnish for larger fish. Vid. Hor., ii., Sat. viii., 42, "Affertur squillas inter muræna natantes," which Orell. explains as a conger served up with crabs. The other is a large fish forming a dish of itself. Cf. Juv., v., 80, "Quam longo distendat pectore lancem quæ fertur domino squilla," etc. If it is represented by the Greek κᾶρις, it is something of the lobster or prawn kind. It appears to have been dressed sometimes with sorrel sauce. Cf. Athen., iii., 92, 66. The acipenser is probably not the sturgeon: from its etymology it is some sharp-headed fish. (Acies et penna, or pinna.) Salmas., Ex. Plin., 1316: but what it really was is not known. It was a royal fish, like the sturgeon (Mart., xiii., Ep. 91), and when brought to table was ushered in with great solemnities: the servant who bore it had a chaplet round his head, and was preceded by another playing the flute. Publius Gallonius, the præco, is said to have been the first who introduced this luxury. Macrob., Sat. ii., 12. In Pliny's time, however, he tells us, it had gone out of fashion. H. N., ix., 26.

Decumanus is used here in the same sense as "Fluctus decumanus," i. e., of extraordinary size (Ov., Trist., I., ii., 49), the Pythagorean notion being that the tenth was always the largest; which notion they extended even to eggs. (Compare the Greek τρικυμία, Æsch., P. V., 1015, with Blomfield's gloss.)

[1658] This, according to Gerlach's view, is the answer of Lælius to some petulant questionings of an epicure. The missing words are utimur and cibo, or something to that effect.

[1659] Sumen was "the sow's udder, killed the day after farrowing." Cf. ad Juv., xi., 138, 81. Pers., i., 53.

Altilis is put for any thing fattened up--oxen, hares, geese, ducks, hens, or even fish. Cf. Hor., i., Ep. vii., 35, "Satur altilium." Juv., v., 168, "Minor altilis." Athen., ix., c. 32. Woodcocks, snipes, thrushes, and even dormice, are mentioned among their fatlings.

Catillo (either from catullus or catillus, diminutive of catinus, "a dish") is applied to "a dog that runs about licking the dishes." It is then used as a term of contempt for "those who came late to the sacrifices of Hercules, and had nothing left them but the dishes to lick." It is here used for "the pike that battens on the rich products of the Roman cloacæ." (Macrob., Sat. ii., 12.) The Roman epicures distinguished between three different kinds of the Tiber pike (lupus Tiberinus). The worst were those caught quite out at sea; the second best, those caught at Ostia at the river's mouth; the finest of all were those taken in the neighborhood of the embouchures of the sewers, either between the Pons Senatorius and Pons Sublicius, where the cloaca maxima empties itself, or between the Pons Sublicius and Fabricius. Hor., ii., Sat. ii, 31, "Lupus hic Tiberinus an alto captus hiet, pontesne inter jactatus an amnis Ostia sub Tusci." Juv., v., 104, "Tiberinus, et ipse vernula riparum pinguis torrente cloacâ."

[1660] Lucilius probably refers to some rich, strong, full-bodied wine, which these epicures drank unmixed, contrary to the usual custom. Defusum seems to be the better reading, which implies "pouring from a larger vessel, as the crater, into the cyathus or drinking-cup." Diffusum is applied "to racking the wine from the wine-vat or cask into the amphora," when it was sealed down. Cf. Hor., i., Ep. v., 4, Orell. Juv., v., 30. For the use of snow in cooling wine, see note to Juv., v., 50. This wine has lost none of its strength by mixing it with snow, and none of its flavor from having been filtered through the strainer. (Cf. Plin., H. N., xiv., 27. Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 51, seq.) A great difficulty with the ancients seems to have been to clear their wine of the lees; some of the methods are mentioned in the passage of Horace just quoted. Eggs were also used for the same purpose. Besides this, the wine was poured through a colum and saccus vinarius. The former was a kind of metal sieve, of which numbers have been found at Pompeii. The latter was a filter-bag of linen. (Hence "integrum perdunt lino vitiata saporem." Hor., u. s.) The usual plan was to fill both the colum and saccus with snow, and then to pour the wine over it; and with this view the snow was carefully preserved till summer, as is still done at Naples. (Hence "æstivæ nives." Mart., v., Ep. lxiv., 2.) Nero's invention of using water that had been boiled and afterward frozen, as a substitute for snow, has been already alluded to. This process also served to moderate the intoxicating power of the stronger wines; hence the phrases "castrare, frangere, liquare, vina." (Cf. Plin., H. N., xix., 4,19; xiv., 22; xxiv., 1, 1. Mart., xii., Ep. lx., 9, "Turbida sollicito transmittere Cæcuba sacco." xiv., Ep. ciii. and civ.; ix., Ep. xxiii, 8; xci., 5.)

[1661] The magistrate who exhibited the shows of gladiators was said edere munus. The first editores were the brothers Marcus and Decimus Junius Brutus, A.U.C. 490, B.C. 264, who exhibited a munus gladiatorium in the Forum Boarium, at their father's funeral. Val. Max., II., iv., 7, Liv. Epit., xvi. The country of Samnium afterward produced many of these gladiators, though probably the name Samnis was also given to those who were armed after the old Samnite fashion (as Threx, Gallus, etc. Hor., i., Ep. xviii., 36; ii., Ep. ii., 98. Livy describes their equipment in detail, ix., 40, which tallies exactly with the paintings discovered at Pompeii. Vid. Pompeii, vol. i., p. 308, seq.). Æsernia, now Isernia, was a town in the district of the Pentri in Samnium, to which the Romans sent a colony in the year above mentioned. Æsernius was probably some famous gladiator who was a native of this place, but his name and that of Pacideianus were afterward used proverbially for any eminent men of that class. Cf. Cic., opt. gen., Or. vi. Tusc., iv., 21, ad Quint. Frat., iii., 4. Hor., ii., Sat. vii., 97. Nonius explains "spurcus" to mean "savage, blood-thirsty."

[1662] The reading and interpretation of Gerlach is followed.

[1663] Cicero (de Orat., iii., 23) quotes these lines of Lucilius, when speaking of a certain Velocius, who, when a youth, had applied himself with great success to the gladiatorial art, so as in fact to be a match for any one, but afterward never practiced it. The relative claims of the readings civis and cuivis are discussed at great length in Harles' note to the passage of Cicero (q. v., ed. Lips., 1816). The rudis was the wooden sword with which the gladiators practiced; the sica being used in the ludus. They also received a rudis as a token of their release from service. Hence "rudem poscere," "rude donatus," etc. Ov., Am., II., ix., 22. Cic., Phil., ii., 29. Hor., i., Ep. i., 2. Suet., Cal., 32.

[1664] "Even though women may not have sufficient bodily strength to endure the rougher and more laborious duties of human life, still they may so far take care of their bodies as to be enabled to discharge the womanly office of suckling children." Gerlach: who reads succosa for succussa, and explains uberior by "largior, digitis non contractis, vola manus," "the open palm." Cf. lib. xxviii., Fr. 47.

[1665] An utterly hopeless Fragment: for the second word, titene, there are eleven various readings. Gerlach's emendation is followed, who thinks it refers to the torments of love.

[1666] This Fragment also Gerlach considers descriptive of the impetuosity of unbridled lust. Van Heusde sees an allusion to the episode of the hawk and the nightingale in Hesiod. Op. et Di., 201, seq.

[1667] Pessulus was the peg or bolt by which the fastening of the door was secured on the inside. It probably refers to a lover effecting a forcible entrance into his mistress's house. Cf. Hor., i., Od. xxv., 1; iii., Od. xxvi., 7, where Horace enumerates vectes among the weapons of a lover's warfare. Cf. Lucil., xxix., Fr. 47, "Vecte atque ancipiti ferre effringam cardines."

[1668] Cf. Cels., ii., 15.

Book V. Argument.

BOOK V.

ARGUMENT.

The person to whom this book is addressed, is supposed by Scaliger to have been a professor of the art of rhetoric. Lucilius complains that this friend, though he knew he had been ill, had never come to see him; and at the same time he ridicules the affected and pedantic style of language then in vogue in the schools of the rhetoricians. He then glances slightly at the fickleness and inconstancy of his friend's attachment, contrasting the present state of his feelings with his stanch friendship in former days; at the same time assuring him that his own heart remains unchanged. He admits, however, that there is some ground for excuse for this disappointment of his hopes, as even the good Tiresias of yore was occasionally found tripping. (Fr. 10.) The causes which lead to breach of friendship are then discussed, the chief of which is avarice, that lust of gold, that nothing can satiate; while, meantime the people are lacking the common necessaries of life. With avarice, ambition springs up; as sure a divider of faithful hearts as avarice itself. Yet Lælius, that true-hearted and single-minded man, could hold the highest offices of state without losing his integrity of heart, or sacrificing the simplicity of his rugged virtues. This treachery, however, is gradual in its growth. (Fr. 3.) At first a large bribe alone has power to sever the bonds of friendship; yet soon they give way before the most paltry inducement. Yet such is the infatuation and gross folly of men, that they even aim at deceiving the gods themselves by an affectation of piety. With this depraved state of morals he contrasts the frugal simplicity of ancient days, describing by the way the plain and homely elements that composed their forefathers' rustic meal. There is supposed to be an allusion in this book to one Q. Metellus Caprarius; a man who proved the worthlessness of his character, both during his administration as prætor, and afterward when serving in the camp before Numantia. (Fr. 11, 23, 20, 21, 22, Gerl.) Horace had perhaps part of this Satire in view, when he wrote his first Satire of the first book; especially where he mentions avarice as one of the causes which make men discontented with their lot in life. Very similar sentiments to those expressed in this book may be found in Sallust also. (Bell. Cat., c. xii., init.)

1 Though you do not inquire how I find myself, I shall nevertheless let you know. Since you have remained in that class in which the greatest portion of mankind is now, that you wish that man to perish whom you would not come to see, though you should have done so. If you do not like this "would" and "should," because it is inartificial, Isocratean, and altogether turgid, and at the same time thoroughly childish, I will not waste my labor. If you....

2 For if what is really enough for man could have satisfied him, this had been enough. Now since this is not so, how can we believe that any riches whatever could satisfy desire?

3 ... just as when the dealer has produced his first fresh figs, and in the early season gives only a few for an exorbitant price.[1669]

4 For one and the same pain and distress is.... by all--

5 ... if his body remained as strong.... as the sentiments of the writer's heart continue true....

6 Say when force compels you to penetrate gradually through the seams of the crannies, in the darkness of night.[1670]

7 Since you alone, in my great sorrow and distress, and in my extremity of difficulty, proved yourself a haven of safety to me--[1671]

8 He was, I think, the only one who watched over me; and when he seemed to me to be doing that, he laid snares for me![1672]

9 ...

10 Still it is allowed that one of the ancients, an old man of the same years, Tiresias, fell.

11 Look not to the rostrum and feet of the prætor elect.[1673]

12 Lælius says, that though poor, he discharges important offices.[1674]

13 The onion-man, become blear-eyed by constantly eating acrid tear-bringing onions.[1675]

14 The Endive besides, stretching out with feet like horses--[1676]

15 The tear-producing onion also, with its lacryimose shells in due succession--[1677]

16 ... a pitcher and a long bowl with two handles--[1678]

17 Go on and prosper with your virtue, say I, and with these verses.

18 Too genial Ceres fails; nor do the people set bread.

19 ... bade the flat-nosed herd (of Nereus) frolic.[1679]

20 when he determined to lead out the guard from the camp.[1680]

21 he was the elder: we can not do all things--[1681]

22 ... the guard of the fleet, catapultas, darts, spears.[1682]

23 ... whether you may be able to get off, or the day must be further postponed.[1683]

24 ... meanwhile his breast is thick with bristles

25 ... and spreads legs beneath legs[1684]

26 ... porridge dressed with fat.[1685]

27 ... the basket with its treacherous heap.

28 ... dashed a wooden trencher on his head--[1686]

FOOTNOTES:

[1669] Read perhaps primus for primas. "He who is the first to bring his figs into the market," and therefore, as it were, forestalls others, which "propola" seems to imply.

[1670] Rimarum. Cf. Juv., iii., 97. Plaut., Cas., V., ii., 23.

[1671] The whole passage is corrupt. Gerlach's emendation is followed, with the exception of reading sanè for sanus.

Creperus is equivalent to anceps, dubius. Cf. Lucr., v., 1296, "creperi certamina belli." Pacuv., Dulorest, Fr. 19, "Non vetet animum ægritudine in re creperâ confici."

[1672] Retia. Cf. Propert., El. III., viii., 37, "qui nostro nexisti retia lecto."

[1673] See argument.

[1674] Cf. book iv., Fr. 1-6. Cic., de Off., ii., 17.

[1675] Cæparius implies "one very fond of onions," as well as the dealer in that article.

[1676] Probably alluding to the wide-spreading fibres of the Intyba. "Amaris intyba fibris." Virg., Georg., i., 120; iv., 20; where Martyn explains it as Succory in the former passage, Endive in the latter.

[1677] Tallæ are the several successive hulls or shells of the onion, κρομμύου λέπυρον. Cf. Theoc., v., 95.

[1678] Mixtarius. Any vessel in which wine and water were mixed for drinking. κρατήρ.

[1679] No doubt "dolphins" are meant; and with almost equal certainty we may assert that Lucilius is parodying a line of Pacuvius quoted by Quintilian (i., c. 5), "Nerei repandirostrum incurvicervicum pecus." But the reading of the line is very doubtful. Corpet, after Balth. Venator, reads, nasi rostrique. D'Achaintre follows the old reading, jussit. Gerlach reads nisi, but suggests simum (but without quoting Pliny, which would confirm his conjecture, vid. H. N., IX., viii., 7, "dorsum repandum, rostrum simum"). Lucil., vii., Fr. 9, "Simat nares delphinus ut olim." May not nisi, after all, be a corruption of Nerei? Cf. Hor., Od., I., ii., 7. Virg., Georg., iv., 395, "Lascivum Nerei simum pecus." Liv. Andron., Fr. 3, ed. Bothe, Lips., 1834. Pacuv., Dulorest., Fr. 26.

[1680] For cernere used for decernere, see Plaut., Cist., I., i.; 1. Varro, L. L., vi., 5. Cic, Leg., iii., 3. Catull., lxiv., 150. Senec, Ep., lviii., 2. Virg., Æn., xii., 709. See Argument.

[1681] Cf. Virg., Ecl., viii., 63.

[1682] Read Catapultas, tela. The difference between the Catapulta and the Ballista seems to have been, that the former was used for shooting bolts or short spears, the latter for projecting large stones. The Sarissa was a very long spear. (Liv., ix., 19: xxxviii., 7. Polyæn., Str., iv., 11.) It was the peculiar weapon of the Macedonians. Ov., Met., xii., 466. Lucan, viii., 298: x., 47.

[1683] Elabi is elegantly applied to those who, though really guilty, get off by some artifice or by bribery. Cic, Act., i., Verr., 11. Ver., i., 34; ii., 58.

Diem prodere. Ter., And., II., i., 13, "Impetrabo ut aliquot saltem nuptiis prodat dies." Liv., xxv., 13, "alia prodita dies."

[1684] Hor., i., Sat. ii., 126.

[1685] Puls is a mixture of coarse meal and water seasoned with salt and cheese, or with eggs and honey; the modern polenta or macaroni. Vid. Juv., vii., 185; xi., 58. Persius complains that the haymakers were grown so luxurious as to spoil it by mixing thick unguents with it: vi., 40. Adipatus. "Adipe conditus." Balbi Gloss. Cf. Juv., vi., 631, "Livida materno fervent adipata veneno."

[1686] Scutella, dimin. of Scutra. Any broad flat vessel for holding puls or vegetables, probably often square, like our trenchers. Hence the checked dresses in Juvenal are called "scutulata," ii., 97.

Book VI. Argument.

BOOK VI.

ARGUMENT.

Schoenbeck considers the subject of this book to have been an attack upon the crafty and dishonest tricks of pleaders in the forum. Gerlach sees in it little more than Lucilius' favorite theme, the exposure of vile and sordid avarice. The miser's anxious alarm for the safety of his money-bags (Hor., i., Sat. i., 70, "Congestis undique saccis indormis inhians"), which he can not bear out of his sight, and from which no earthly power can tear him away (Fr. 1, 2), the miserable appliances of his scanty furniture, and the absence of any thing approaching to luxury, or even comfort, form the first portion of the Satire. The remaining Fragments seem rather to apply to the manners of the nobles. Their insolent disregard of the feelings of others (Fr. 4), their unbridled licentiousness, their arrogance of look and bearing, and haughty contempt of all union with plebeians, are depicted in very bold language. Yet these same men are described as condescending to the most servile and fulsome flattery in courting the favor of these same plebeians, when such condescension is necessary to advance their own ambitious schemes. The extravagant gesture and overstrained language of some bad orator is then described (Fr. 3), which Gerlach considers to apply to one of these patricians when pleading his own cause. Van Heusde refers to no one in particular, but Corpet supposes there is an allusion to Caius Gracchus, who is mentioned by Plutarch as having been "the first of the Romans who used violent gesticulation in speaking, walking up and down the rostrum, and pulling his toga from his shoulder." What connection the Fragment in which Crassus and Mucius are mentioned has with the main subject, as also the allusion in Fr. 5 to some immodest female, is not known.

1 ... who has neither hackney nor slave, nor a single attendant. His bag, and all the money that he has, he carries with him. He sups with his bag, sleeps with it, bathes with it. The man's whole hope centres in his bag alone. All the rest of his existence is bound up in this bag![1687]

2 ... whom not even bulls bred in the Lucanian mountains, could draw away with their sturdy necks, in one long pull.[1688]

3 ... this, I say, he will bray and bawl out from the Rostra, running about like a courier, and loudly calling for help.[1689]

4 ... they think they can offend with impunity, and by their nobility easily keep aloof those who are not their equals.[1690]

5

6 If he has spattered his garments with mud, at that he foolishly sets up a loud and hearty laugh--

7

8 ... what you would wish him to do--

9 Lewdness fills their faces; impudence and prodigality--

10 if you know him, he is not a big man, but a big-nosed, lean fellow--

11 That alone withstood adverse fortune and circumstances.

12

13 Three beds stretched on ropes, by Deucalion.[1691]

14 ... down and velvet, or any other luxury.[1692]

15 The hair-dresser sports round the impluvium, in a circle.[1693]

16 ... this he believes some one begg'd from your bath[1694]

17 ... he makes a good bargain, who sells a cross-bred horse.[1695]

18 ... they think one of their own should enter and pass over.[1696]

19 ... they do not prevent your going farther--[1697]

20 ... to bid "All hail!" is to wish health to a friend.[1698]

21 Give round the drink, beginning from the top--[1699]

22 The Sardinian land

23 ... both the things we abound in, and those we lack.

FOOTNOTES:

[1687] Bulgam (cf. ii., Fr. 16), from the Greek μολγός, "a hide or skin" «cf. Arist., Frag. 157; Schol. ad Equit., 959», is a leathern bag suspended from the arm or girdle, and seems to have answered the purpose either of a traveling valise or purse. Compare the gypciére of the middle ages. Hor., Ep., II., ii., 40. Juv., viii., 120; xiv., 297. Suet., Vitell., xvi. It was a Tarentine word, as we learn from Pollux, x., 187. From bulga comes the Spanish bolsa, the French bourse, and our purse.

Dormit. Hor., i., Sat. i., 70. Virg., Geor., ii., 507, "Condit opes alius, defossoque incubat auro."

[1688] Protelo. The ablative of the old protelum, which is interpreted as "the continuous, unintermitting pull of oxen applied to a dead weight." Nothing could more forcibly express the hopeless task of attempting to detach the miser from his gains. Cf. xii., Fr. 2. Plin., IX., xv., 17. Lucret., ii., 532; iv., 192.

[1689] Concursans. iv., Fr. 17.

Ancarius. The ἄγγαρος, "a mounted courier of the Persians," such as were kept in readiness at regular stages for carrying the royal dispatches. (Cf. Herod., viii., 98; iii., 126. Xen., Cyr., VIII., vi., 17. Æsch., Agam., 282. Marco Polo describes the same institution as existing among the Mongol Tartars. Heeren, Ideen, i., p. 497. Cf. Welcker's Æschyl., Trilog., p. 121.) The name was then applied to any porter, or carrier of burdens, and hence specially to "an ass," which, Forcellini says, is its meaning here. Hence rudet, cf. Pers., Sat. iii., 9.

Quiritare, is to appeal to the citizens for help, by calling out "Cursum," etc. Cic. ad Div., x., 32. It was the city cry. Countrymen were said "Jubilare." Varro, L. L., v. 7. Cf. Liv., xxxix., 8. Plin., Pan., xxix. Quinctil., iii., 8, "Rogatus sententiam, si modo est sanus, non quiritet."

[1690] Facul, i. e., facilè. "Haud facul fœmina invenietur bona." Pacuv. ap. Non., ii., 331. "Difficul" is used in the same manner.

[1691] Descriptive probably of the meanness and antiquity of the miser's furniture. Grabatum, from the Macedonian word κράβατος, is used for the coarsest kind of bed. Cf. Cic., Div., ii., 63. Mart., vi., Ep. xxxix., 4; xii., Ep. xxxii., 12, "Ibat tripes grabatus et tripes mensa;" where Martial is describing a somewhat similarly luxurious establishment. Virg., Moret., 5. Sen., Epist. xviii., 5; xx., 10. These sort of beds seem to have been supported on ropes. Cf. Petr., Sat. 97. Mart., v., Ep. lxii., 6, "Putris et abrupta fascia reste jacet." S. Mark, ii., 9. (See the lines attributed to Sulpicia, quoted in the old Schol. to Juv., Sat. vi., 538. Lucil., xi., Fr. 13.)

[1692] Amphitape. Lib. i., Fr. 21.

[1693] The Atrium, which was generally the principal apartment in the house, had an opening in the centre of the roof, called Compluvium, or Cavum Ædium, toward which the roof sloped so as to throw the rainwater into a cistern in the floor (commonly made of marble), called Impluvium. (See the drawings of the houses of Pansa and Sallust, Pompeii, vol. ii., p. 108, 120. Bekker's Gallus, p. 257.) The two terms are used indifferently. The Cinerarius seems to be the same as the Ciniflo (Hor., i., Sat. ii., 98, "a cinere flando," Acron. in loc.), "the slave who heated the Calamistri, or curling pins." Bekker's Gallus, p. 440.

[1694] Latrinam, quasi lavatrinam, "the private bath;" balneum being more commonly applied to the public one. Cf. Plaut., Curc., IV., iv., 24. Turneb. It is sometimes put for a worse place, as we say "wash-house." Vid. Bekker's Gallus, p. 265.

[1695] Musimo is put for any hybrid animal, as a mule, etc. "Animal ex duobus animalibus diversæ speciei procreatum." It is applied to a cross between a goat and a sheep. So Plin., VIII., xlix., 75. Compare the Greek μούσμων.

[1696] See Argument. Suam seems to imply "one of their own order." Nonius explains innubere by "transire," because women when married pass to their husbands' houses: it generally means the same as nubere. But Cort. (ad Lucan, iii., 23, "Innupsit tepido pellex Cornelia busto") explains it "marrying beneath one's station," which is very probably its force here. See Bentley's note on the line, who suggests the emendation "transitivè," no doubt correctly.

[1697] Porcent, i. e., porro arcent, prohibent, used by Ennius, Pacuvius, and Accius.

[1698] "The conventional phrase of forced courtesy implies the familiarity of equal friendship." See Arg.

[1699] Ter., And., III., ii, 4, "Quod jussi ei dari bibere, date." Ab summo, i. e., beginning from him that sits at the top of the table. Vid. Schol. ad Hom., Il., i, 597. Cic., de Sen., xiv. Plaut., Pers., V., i., 19. As V., ii., 41, "Da, puere, ab summo: Age tu interibi ab infimo da suavium." So in Greek, ἐν κύκλῳ πίνειν.

Book VII. Argument.

BOOK VII.

ARGUMENT.

The general subject of the book seems to be agreed upon by all commentators, though they differ as to the details. Schoenbeck says it is directed against the lusts of women; particularly the occasions where those lusts had most opportunity of being exhibited and gratified, the festivals of the Matronalia and the kindred Saturnalia. Petermann considers that it refers simply to the intercourse between husbands and wives, in which view Dousa seems to coincide. Duentzer takes a wider view, and says it refers to all licentious pleasures. Van Heusde leaves the matter undecided. Gerlach coincides with the general view, but supposes that the passions and the quarrels alluded to must be referred to slaves, or at all events persons of the lowest station, for whom festivals, like the Sigillaria (alluded to in Fr. 4), were more particularly intended. The first two Fragments evidently refer to a matrimonial brawl. The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth refer to an unhallowed passion. The fifth, sixth, and thirteenth to the unnatural and effeminate refinements practiced by a class of persons too often referred to in Juvenal and Persius. The fifteenth, to the fastidious taste of those who professed to be judges of such matters. The connection of the seventh Fragment is uncertain, as it applies apparently to rewards for military service.

1 When he wishes to punish her for her misdeed, the fellow takes a Samian potsherd and straightway mutilates himself--[1700]

2 I said, I come to the main point; I had rather belabor my wife, grown old and mannish, than emasculate myself--[1701]

3 ... who would love you, prove himself the patron of your bloom and beauty, and promise to be your friend.

4 This is the slaves' holiday; a day which you evidently can not express in Hexameter verse.[1702]

5 I am shaved, plucked, scaled, pumice-stoned, bedecked, polished up and painted--[1703]

6 Did I ever compare this man with Apollo's favorite Hyacinthus.[1704]

7 Five spears: a light-armed skirmisher, with a belt of gold.[1705]

8 first glows like hot iron from the forge--

9 If he moves and flattens his nostrils as a dolphin at times.[1706]

10 The one grinds, the other winnows corn as it were....[1707]

11 ... bloom and beauty, like a go-between and kind procuress.[1708]

12 like that renowned Phryne when....[1709]

13 that no dirt settle on the ear ... no vermin--

14 ... that have no eyes, or nose....

15 We are severe; difficult to please; fastidious as to good things.

16

17 ... and the goose's neck.[1710]

18

19 ... We murmur, are ground, sink down....[1711]

20 you whimper in the same way--[1712]

21 With such passion and hatred for him am I transported.[1713]

22 Here is Macedo if Acron is too long flaccid.[1714]

FOOTNOTES:

[1700] Samos produced a particular kind of earth (Samia creta), peculiarly serviceable in the potter's art. Hence the earthenware of Samos acquired, even in very early ages, considerable celebrity; and the potters at Samos, as at Corinth, Athens, and Ægina, formed a considerable portion of the population. See the pun on "Vas Samium," Plaut., Bacch., II., ii., 23. Vid. Müller's Ancient Art, § 62. With the sharp fragments of the Samian potsherds, the Galli, or priests of Cybele, were accustomed to mutilate themselves. Plin., XXXV., xii., 46. Juv., vi., 513, "Mollia qui ruptâ secuit genitalia testâ." Mart, iii., Ep. lxxxi., 3.

[1701] Virosus, φιλανδρος, "viri appetens."

[1702] The Scholiast on Hor., i., Sat. v., 87, tells us that the allusion is to the festival of the Sigillaria. (Auson., Ecl. de Fer. Rom., 32, "Sacra Sigillorum nomine dicta colunt.") The Saturnalia were originally held on the 19th of December (xiv. Kal. Jan.), and lasted for one day only. They were instituted B.C. 497 (Liv., ii., 21; xxii., 1), and were intended to commemorate the golden days of Saturn, when slavery was unknown; hence slaves were waited on by their masters, who wore a short robe, called the Synthesis, for that purpose. It was a time of general festivity and rejoicing; and presents were interchanged between friends. The festival was afterward extended to three days by an edict of Julius Cæsar, which Augustus confirmed; and, commencing on the 17th, terminated on the 19th. (Macrob., Sat. i., 10.). Caligula added two more days (or one at least, Suet., Cal., 17), which custom Claudius revived when it had fallen into desuetude. Then the Sigillaria were added, so that the period of festivity was extended to seven days. Mart., xiv., Ep. 72. The Sigillaria were so called from sigillum, "a small image." (From the words of Macrobius, it seems that these sigilla were images of men offered to Dis, and intended as substitutes for the living sacrifices which were offered in more barbarous ages. Macrob., u. s.) The name was applied to the little figures which were sent as presents on the occasion of this festival. These not unfrequently were confectionery or sweetmeats made in this form. Senec., Ep., xii., 3. Suet., Claud., 5. The Easter cakes in Roman Catholic countries are no doubt a remnant of this custom. (Cf. Blunt's Vestiges, p. 119.)

[1703] Pumicor. Cf. Ov., A. Am., i., 506, "Nec tua mordaci pumice crura teras." Juv., viii., 16, "Si tenerum attritus Catinensi pumice lumbum." ix., 95, "res Mortifera est inimicus pumice lævis." The pumice-stone, particularly that found at the foot of Mount Ætna, was used to render the skin delicately smooth. Resin, and a kind of plaster made of pitch, was used to eradicate all superfluous hairs. Plin., xiv., 20; xxxv., 21. Cf. ad Juv., viii., 114, "Resinata juventus." ix., 14, "Bruttia præstabat calidi tibi fascia visci." ii., 12. Pers., iv., 36, 40, Plaut., Pseud., I., ii., 9. Mart., xiv., Ep. 205.

[1704] Hyacintho. Cf. ad Virg., Ecl., iii., 63. Ov., Met., x., 185, seq. Cortinipotens is an epithet of Apollo as lord of the Cortina; i. e., the egg-shaped basin on the Delphian tripod whence the oracles were echoed. Vid. Hase's Ancient Greeks, p. 144. Serv. ad Virg., Æn., iii., 92, "Mugire aditis Cortina reclusis." vi., 347, "Neque te Phœbi cortina fefellit." Suet., Aug., 52. Contendi. Cf. lib. i., Fr. 15.

[1705] Cinctus is sometimes put for a soldier. Plin., vii., Ep. 25. Juv., xvi., 48.

The Rorarii were light companies who advanced before the line, and began the battle with slings and stones; so called from ros. "Quod ante rorat quam pluit." Cf. Varro, L. L., vi., 3. Liv., viii., 8. The Velites, from vexillum.

[1706] Simat. Cf. ad lib. v., Fr. 19.

[1707] Molere. Hor., i., Sat. ii., 35. Auson., Epig., lxxi., 7. Theoc., iv., 58, μύλλει. Cf. lib. ix., Fr. 26.

[1708] Saga. Tibull., i., El. v., 59, "Sagæ præcepta rapacis desere."

[1709] Phryne. Vid. Athen., xiii., p. 591. Plin., xxxiv., 8. The name was not uncommon in the same class at Rome. Tibull., ii, El. vi., 45. Hor., Epod., xiv., 16.

[1710] 16 and 17 seem hopelessly corrupt. Gerlach supposes some "remedy for languishing love" to be intended ("irritamentum Veneris languentis"), and reads "Callosa ova et bene plena: tunc olorum atque anseris collus" (cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 14), "Hard and well-filled eggs; then swan's and goose's neck." But the emendation is too wide to be admitted into the text.

[1711] Muginor is used by Cicero in the sense of "dallying, trifling." "Nugas agere, causari, moras nectere, tarde conari." Att., xvi., 12. But its primitive meaning is conveyed by its etymology, "Mugitu moveo." It refers to the noise made by those who move heavy weights, that their efforts may be exerted in concert. Coupled with Fr. 10, its meaning is obvious here.

[1712] Ogannis, i. e., obgannis. It is properly applied to a dog. Cf. Juv., vi., 64, "Appula gannit." Compare the Greek λαγνεύειν.

[1713] Cf. lib. iv., Fr. 8.

[1714] Gerlach reads "Acron" for the old lorum, which Scaliger approved, and connected this Fragment with the second of the eighth book.

Book VIII. Argument.

BOOK VIII.

ARGUMENT.

The eighth book, as Schoenbeck supposes, consisted of an exposition of domestic life, with a discussion as to the virtues which a good wife ought to possess. Duentzer would rather connect it with the last book, and imagines unlawful love to have been the theme, and that the ancient title of the book countenanced this opinion. The second, fourth, fifth, eleventh, and thirteenth Fragments seem to confirm the conjecture; the drift of the others is not apparent.

1 When the victor cock proudly rears himself, and raises his front talons--

2 When I drink from the same cup, embrace, press lip to lip....[1715]

3 But on the river, and at the very parting of the waters, ... a merchantman ... with feet of holm-oak.[1716]

4 ... that she is slender, nimble, with clean chest, and like a youth....[1717]

5 ... then she joins side to side, and breast to breast.[1718]

6 If he achieve the whole route, and the steep stadium at an ambling pace--[1719]

7 To salt sea-eels, and bring the wares into the larder.[1720]

8 But all trades and petty gains....

9 the Hiberian island....[1721]

10 a necessary close at hand; a bake-house, store-room, kitchen[1722]

11 ... with friendly hand wipes off the tears....

12 ... giblets, or else liver....[1723]

13 ... the work flags....[1724]

14 ... wine-bibbers.[1725]

FOOTNOTES:

[1715] Nonius reads "fictrices," and explains "fingere" by "lingere." Cf. Schol. ad Aristoph., Aves, 507.

[1716] Gerlach says, "Ex his verbis vix probabilem eruas sensum."

The cercurus was a large merchant-vessel, used by the Asiatics, undecked, and capable of carrying a large freight. It was invented, according to Pliny, by the Cyprians. Plin., vii., 56, 57. Cf. Plaut., Merc., I., i., 86. Stich., II., iii., 34. It appears, however, from Livy, that the name was sometimes applied to a vessel of smaller size. Liv., xxx., 19. Ilignis pedibus. Cf. Ter., Adelph., IV., ii., 46. Virg., Georg., iii., 330. For concinat, Gerlach proposes to read "concinnat."

[1717] Pernix is the epithet Catullus applies to Atalanta: ii., 12, "Quam ferunt puellæ Pernici aureolum fuisse malum."

[1718] Cf. Lib. v., Fr. 25. Probably from this Horace takes his line, i., Sat. ii., 126.

[1719] Evadit. Cf. Virg., Æn., ii., 731; xii., 907. Ov., Met., iii., 19. Acclivis is properly applied to a "gentle ascent." Virg., Georg., ii., 276. Col., iii., 15. Tolutim, à tollendo. Pliny (viii., 42) tells us that the people of Asturias in Spain trained their jennets to a particular kind of easy pace: "mollis alterno crurum explicatu glomeratio." Varro speaks of giving a horse to a trainer, that he may teach him this pace: "ut equiso doceat tolutim incedere." Cf. Plaut., As., III., iii., 116, "Demam hercle jam hordeo tolutim ni badizas." Hence the "managed palfrey" of the Middle Ages. The pace probably resembled that now taught by the Americans to their horses, and called "racking." Cf. lib. xiv., 12, "equus gradarius, optimus vector."

[1720] The frigidarium was not only the "cold bath" (Bekker's Gallus, p. 385), but was also applied to a cool cellar or pantry for keeping provisions fresh.

[1721] All the commentators seem to give up this line in despair. Colustrum is properly the first milk that comes after parturition; which, as being apt to curdle, was esteemed unwholesome, and produced an attack called "Colustratio." Schoenbeck supposes that the inhabitants of this "Hibera insula," wherever it was, used fomenta and colustra as medical remedies. Mart., xiii., Ep. 38.

[1722] Posticum, Nonius makes equivalent to Sella. Gerlach, however, thinks "cella" the correct reading here. The pistrinum was the name both for the bake-house and the mill for grinding the corn. Vid. Bekker's Gallus, p. 265.

[1723] Gigeria are the entrails of poultry: these were sometimes served with a kind of stuffing or forcemeat called insicia. The word occurs only in Lucilius, Petronius, and Apicius.

[1724] Scaliger connects this Fragment with lib. vii., Fr. 22, and reads, "Hic est Macedo: si lorum longui' flaccet, Læna manu lacrymas mutoni absterget amicâ."

[1725] Bua was the word taught by Roman nurses to children, equivalent to our "pap." "Potio posita parvulorum." Varro. Hence Vinibuæ for vinolentæ.

Book IX. Argument.

BOOK IX.

ARGUMENT.

The subject of the ninth book is known from several notices in the old grammarians.[1726] It is said to have contained strictures on the orthography of the ancient writers; some emendations of the verses of Accius and Ennius (with especial reference to the former, who is said to have always used double vowels to express a long syllable), and a mention of the double genius, who, according to the notion of Euclides the Socratic, attends upon each individual of the human race. The exact connection of this latter topic with the foregoing, is not at present evident to us. It appears that this book had anciently the title of "Fornix" as the work of Pomponius on a cognate subject was called "Marsyas." Van Heusde supposes that it took its name from the Fabian arch on the Via Sacra, and that its subject resembled the ninth of Horace's first book of Satires. The poet, in his walk along the Via Sacra, meets with a troublesome fellow near the arch of Fabius, who pesters him with a speech which he is about to deliver, as defendant in a cause, and which he wishes Lucilius to look over and correct; and that this furnishes the poet with the groundwork for a discussion on several points in grammar, orthography, and rhetoric. With this view Gerlach so far agrees, as to suppose the subject of both Horace's and Lucilius's Satires to have been similar; especially since many similar phrases and sentiments occur in both; but he considers a detailed disquisition on single letters and syllables inconsistent with a desultory conversation, or with a cursory criticism of an oration, and considers it better to confess one's ignorance honestly than indulge in vain-glorious conjecture. Particularly, since many other Fragments of this book have come down to us, wholly irreconcilable with this view of the subject; some referring to avarice, others to the Salii; which, though they might certainly be incidentally mentioned, imply too diversified a subject to be definitely circumscribed within so limited an outline, as Van Heusde conjectures.

1 ... only let the nap of the woof stand erect within....[1727]

2 First is A. I will begin with this; and the words spelled with it. In the first place, A is either a long or short syllable; consequently we will make it one, and, as we say, write it in one and the same fashion, "Pācem, Plăcide, Jānum, Aridum, Acetum," just as the Greeks do. Ἄρες Ἄρες.[1728]

3 ... not very different from this, and badly put together, if with a burr like a dog, I say AR ... this is its name.[1729]

4 ... and there is no reason why you should make it a question or a difficulty whether you should write ACCURRERE with a D or a T.[1730]

5 But it is of great consequence whether ABBITERE have a D or B--[1731]

6 "Now come PUEREI." Put E and I at the end, to make "pueri" the plural; if you put I only, as PupillI, PuerI, LuceilI, this will become the singular number. "Hoc illi factum est unI." Being singular, you will put I only. "Hoc IllEI fecere." Add E to mark the plural. Add also E to MendacEI and FurEI, when you make it the dative case." MEIle hominum, dub MEIlia." Here too we must have both vowels, MEIles, MEIlitiam. Pila, "a ball to play with," Pilum, "a pestle to pound with," will have I simply. But to PEIla, "javelins," you must add E, to give the fuller sound.[1732]

7 Our S, and what after a semi-Greek fashion we call Sigma, admits of no mistake.

8 ... in the word PeLLiciendo.[1733]

9 For just as we see Intro (within) to be a very different word from Intus (inside), so apud se is very different from, and has not the same force as, ad se. "A man invites us to come in and join him (intro ad se). He keeps himself at home, inside his own house (intus apud se)."

10 "The water boils," may be expressed by Fervit (of the third conjugation), or Fervet (of the second conjugation). Or again, Fervit may be the present tense, Fervet the future; both of the third conjugation.

11 So Fervĕre (with the E short, of the third conjugation).

12 You do not perceive the force of this; or how this differs from the other. In the first place, this which we call "Poema" is a small portion. So also an epistle, or any distich which is of no great length, may be a "Poema." A "Poësis" is a whole work, as the whole Iliad; it is one Thesis. So also the Annals of Ennius, that is also a single work, and of much greater magnitude than what I just now styled Poëma. Wherefore I assert, that no one who finds fault with Homer, finds fault with him all through; nor does he criticise, as I said before, the whole Poesis; but simply a single verse, word, proposition, or passage.

13 ... that he is a misshapen old man, gouty in his joints and feet--that he is lame, wretched, emaciated, and ruptured--

14 I seize his beak, and smash his lips, Zopyrus-fashion, and knock out all his front teeth.[1734]

15 For he who makes bricks never has any thing more than common clay with chaff, and stubble mixed with mud.[1735]

16 If she is nothing on the score of beauty, and if in former days she was a harlot and common prostitute, you must have coin and money.

17 ... What if I see some oysters? Shall I be able to detect the very river, and mud, and slime they came from?[1736]

18 He is a corn-chandler, and brings with him his bushel-measure and his leveling-stick.[1737]

19 Study to learn: lest the fact itself and the reasoning confute you--

20 with one thousand sesterces you can gain a hundred---

21 he had scratched himself, like a boar with his sides rubbed against a tree--

22 ... hence the ancilia, and high-peaked caps, and sacrificial bowls[1738]

23 as the priest begins the solemn dance, and then the main body takes it up after him.[1739]

24 ... herself cuts all the thongs from the hide--

25 ... how he differs from him whom Apollo has rescued. So be it.

26 her motion was as though she were winnowing corn.[1740]

FOOTNOTES:

[1726] Isidorus Hispalensis, Q. Terentianus Scaurus, and Velius Longus.

[1727] Panus is explained in two ways, as "tramæ involucrum," and as "tumor inguinis." Gerlach inclines to the latter interpretation. Schmidt supposes Lucilius to employ the metaphor of weaving to express the following sentiment: "as the outer surface of the woof is of little consequence if the inner part be good, so, provided a man's internal qualities, the virtues of his heart and head, are all that we can desire, it matters little what the outer integument is that shrouds this fair inside:" and that to this Horace alludes, ii., Sat. i., 63, "Lucilius ausus Primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem Detrahere et pellem nitidus quâ quisque per ora Cederet introrsum turpis." (Lucilii Satyrarum quæ de lib. ix. supersunt disposita, c. L. F. Schmidt, p. 40.) But Gerlach thinks that panus could not be used to express pellis.

[1728] This, we learn from Terentianus, is a criticism on Accius, who used to mark long syllables by doubling the vowels, which Lucilius considers a fault, there being no more necessity in Latin to mark the quantity by the orthography than in Greek, where, though the length of the vowel be changed, as in ἄρες ἄρες, the spelling remains unaltered. Cf. Hom., Il., v., 31. Mart., ix., Ep. xii., 15.

[1729] Corpet supposes some rustic person is alluded to, who used the old-fashioned form. Cf. Plaut., Truc., II., xii., 17. Gerlach supposes it is the poet himself. Cf. Pers., Sat. i., 109, "Sonat hic de nare caninâ litera."

[1730] Gerlach thinks there may be an allusion to Plautus, who often uses this word. Cf. Capt., III., iv., 72. Rud., III., iv., 72.

[1731] Abbitere for abbire is Schmidt's reading, who also reads siet for sive, omitting habet at the end of the line.

[1732] The rule contained in this Fragment seems superfluous, especially after the opinion Lucilius has given in the second. I is equally long or short with A, nor does it appear why the genitive should not be as essentially long as the dative singular. If the insertion of the E were simply to mark the difference of number, there might be some apparent reason.

[1733] "This Fragment is simply an illustration of the rule that the preposition per in composition remains unchanged, unless it stand before the letter L, when by assimilation it is changed into the initial letter of the word: so per lacio becomes pellacio; per labor, pellabor; per luceo, pelluceo."

[1734] Alluding to the story of Zopyrus, told by Herodotus, lib. iii., 154, and by Justin, lib. iii., 10, seq., who mutilated himself to gain Babylon for Darius. Cf. lib. xxii., Fr. 3.

[1735] Acerosum, according to Nonius, is applied to coarse bread, not sufficiently cleared from chaff and husk. Cf. lib. xv., Fr. 18. Aceratum, to clay mixed with stubble and straw, fit for the brickmaker's use, the paleatum of Columella. V., vi., med. Cf. Exod., v., 16.

[1736] Juvenal borrows and enlarges upon this idea, in describing the Epicurism of Montanus. Sat. iv., 139, "Nulli majus fait usus edendi tempestati meâ. Circæ nata forent an Lucrinum ad saxum, Rutupinove edita fundo. Ostrea, callebat primo deprendere morsa, et semel aspecti litus dicebat echini."

[1737] Rutellum, the diminutive of Rutrum. "a mattock," was the stick with which the corn-dealer struck off the heaped-up corn, so as to make it level with the top of his measure. It was also called Hostorium, from the old verb Hostire, "to strike." Compare the old English "strike," used for a measure.

[1738] Capis (à capiendo, Varro, v., 121, "quod ausatæ ut prehendi possent") was a cup with a handle, generally made of earthenware, and ordinarily used in sacrifices. Vid. Liv., lib. x., 7. So also Capedo and Capula. Cf. Bekker's Gallus, p. 481. The apex is the conical cap worn by the Salii.

[1739] Præsul was the name applied to the Princeps Saliorum, because he led the sacred dance, as προορχηστὴρ, ἔξαρχος. Called also Præsultor and Præsultator. Amtruo (from am, ἀμφὶ, circum, and trua, "an implement used for stirring things round while they were being cooked") is the technical phrase for the dancing of the Salii. The Præsul danced at the head of the procession, amtruabat; the rest followed, imitating his movements; redamtruabant. This procession took place in the Comitium on the Kalends of March.

[1740] Cf. vii., Fr. 10.

Book X. Argument.

BOOK X.

ARGUMENT.

The old Scholiast, in his Life of Persius, tells us that "after he had quitted school, and the instruction of his tutors, he was so much struck with the tenth book of the Satires of Lucilius, that he was seized with a vehement desire of writing Satire, and immediately applied himself to the imitation of this book, and after first detracting from his own merits, proceeded to disparage the poetical attempts of others." Van Heusde supposes that the book contained a detailed account of the life of Lucilius; and hence the saying of the Scholiast, that "the whole life of Lucilius was as distinctly known as if it had been portrayed in pictures." (So Horace says, Sat., II., i., 30, "Quo fit ut omnis Votivâ pateat veluti descripta tabella Vita senis.") He conjectures the difference between the subjects of the ninth and tenth books to have been this: that in the ninth, Lucilius criticised the ignorance and corrected the mistakes of the Librarii; i. e., those who copied the compositions of the poets, only incidentally, and by the way, touching on the poets themselves. Whereas the tenth was intended directly as an attack upon the poets who preceded him. Jahn, in his prolegomena on Persius, imagines this imitation of the tenth book to have been carried farther than we are perhaps justified in assuming; he conjectures that the Hendecasyllabic Prologue of Persius was a direct imitation of a similar proem, and in the same metre which formed the commencement of this book. This opinion he fortifies by two quotations, one from Petronius, Sat. iv., the other from Apuleius, de Deo Socr., p. 364. In this view Gerlach does not coincide, though he is disposed to admit that Lucilius in all probability began the book with a disparagement of himself, and so far furnished an example for Persius to imitate. It is a question that must remain doubtful, and is of no great importance. It is, however, also clear that this book contained criticisms on the verses of Accius and Ennius. (Vid. Schol. ad Hor., i., Sat. x.)

Perhaps the Fragments (incert. 3, 4, and 5) on Albutius and Mucius may have belonged to this book.

1 ... as we wrote before, the judgment to be formed is concerning the honors of the Crassi ... that is, in each case let us lay down what I should choose, what not.[1741]

2 Behind stood the nimble skirmisher in his cloak.[1742]

3 ... although suddenly to bring down from three pair of stairs.[1743]

4 ... you also bind mooring-stakes to very strong cables.[1744]

5 ... might be firmly ... from waves and adverse winds.

6 ... and languor overwhelmed, and sluggishness, and the torpor of quietude.

7 ... verily, he said I cut up the ox magnificently in the temple.[1745]

8 ... would seem importunate, boastful, bad and nefarious.

FOOTNOTES:

[1741] Gerlach's reading and interpretation is followed: "Lucilius would not wish to have all the honors of that illustrious family heaped upon him, but make his own selection." Nonius also explains sumere by "eligere." Corpet reads, "Crassi" and "sicut describimus," and supposes the allusion to be to the eloquence of Crassus, son-in-law of Scævola. Cf. Cic., Brut., 38-44. But no doubt P. Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus is here meant, who, as we learn from Aulus Gellius (I., xiii., 10), was famous for five things: he was the richest man in Rome, the man of noblest birth, the most eloquent, the best lawyer, and the Pontifex Maximus. Lucilius might well be at a loss which of all these he would choose.

[1742] Cf. lib. vii., Fr. 7. Schol. ad Juv., vi., 400.

[1743] Quamvis may also imply "quamvis fæminam." Cf. Cæcilium in Asoto (ap. Nonium, p. 517), "nam ego duabus vigiliis transactis Duco desubito domum." Trinis scalis, "from the third story," the upper rooms being the residence of the poorer classes. Cf. Juv., x., 18, "rarus venit in cœnacula miles." iii., 201, "altimus ardebit quem tegula sola tuetur à pluviâ." vii., 118. Mart., i., Ep. cxviii., 7, "Et scalis habito tribus sed altis." Hor., i., Ep. i., 91. Suet., Vit., 7.

[1744] Tonsilla, according to Festus, "is a stake with an iron head, for sticking in the ground and fastening the mooring cable of a boat to." Cf. Pacuvium in Medo, "accessi eam et tonsillam pegi læto in littore." (Fr. 17, ed. Fr. H. Bothe, Lips., 1834.) The MS. reading is Consellæ, "double seats," stretched on ropes, as the beds (grabati). Lucil., vi., Fr. 13; xi., 13. Nonius explains aptare by "connectere" and "colligare."

[1745] Cf. Donat. in Terent., Andr., II., i., 24.

Book XI. Argument.

BOOK XI.

ARGUMENT.

Schoenbeck supposes this book to have been written in memory of the Iberian war; because it not only touches on military affairs, but contains also some bitter sarcasms on the morals of certain young men who served in that campaign. Petermann coincides in the same opinion. Corpet supposes that the principal object of the book was an elaborate defense of the character of Scipio Africanus; especially with regard to the salutary and strict discipline which he restored to the Roman army during the Numantine war. Gerlach admits the probability of these conjectures, though he scarcely thinks that the Fragments which have come down to us of this book are of sufficient length to enable us to pronounce definitively on the question. It is quite clear that the mention of Opimius the father, or of the elder Lucius Cotta, can bear no relation to the Numantine war, since they both lived before it began; still it is possible that their names might have been introduced, to render the morals of their sons still more conspicuous. How the Fragment (2) respecting the plebeian Caius Cassius Cephalo was connected with the main subject is not clear, unless he was introduced for the purpose of incidentally mentioning the bribery of the unjust judge, Tullius.

The fourth and ninth Fragments may clearly refer to the Numantine war; as may perhaps the seventh; as we learn from Cicero, that while Scipio Africanus was before Numantia, he received some munificent presents, which were sent to him from Asia by King Attalus, and which he accepted in the presence of his army. (Cic. pro Dei., 7.) This happened probably only a few months before the death of Attalus; and Lucilius was most likely an eye-witness of the fact. The thirteenth Fragment also may refer to the same campaign; though Duentzer supposes it to be an allusion to the miserable penuriousness of Ælius Tubero. The fifth and sixth Fragments apparently refer rather to civil than military matters.

1 Quintus Opimius, the famous father of this Jugurthinus, was both a handsome man and an infamous, both in his early youth; latterly he conducted himself more uprightly.[1746]

2 This Caius Cassius, a laborer, whom we call Cefalo--a cut-purse and thief--him, one Tullius, a judge, made his heir; while all the rest were disinherited.[1747]

3 Lucius Cotta the elder, the father of this Crassus, "the all-blazing," was a close-fisted fellow in money-matters; very slow in paying any body--[1748]

4

5 Asellus cast it in the teeth of the great Scipio, that during his censorship, the lustrum had been unfortunate and inauspicious.[1749]

6 ... and now I wished to throw into verse a saying of Granius, the præco.[1750]

7 ... a noble meeting; there glittered the drawers, the cloaks, the twisted chains of the great Datis.[1751]

8 ... and a road must be made, and a rampart thrown up here, and that kind of groundwork--[1752]

9 ... he is a wanderer now these many years; he is now a soldier in winter quarters, serving with us

10 ... thence, while still of tender age and a mere boy, comes to Rome.

11 Nor have I need of him as a lover, nor a mean fellow to bail me--

12 ... he is a jibber, a shuffler, a hard-mouthed, obstinate brute.[1753]

13 When they had taken their seats here, and the skins were extended in due order....[1754]

14 ... who in the wash-house and the pool....

FOOTNOTES:

[1746] Jugurthinus is properly the proud title of Marius. (Ov., Pont., IV., iii., 45, "Ille Jugurthino clarus Cimbroque triumpho.") It is here applied ironically to Lucius Opimius, who so notoriously received bribes from Jugurtha, when he went over, as chief of the ten commissioners, to arrange the division of the kingdom between Jugurtha and Adherbal, B.C. 117. (Sall., Bell. Jug., xvi.) He had been before honorably distinguished by the taking of Fregellæ, when in rebellion against Rome, while he was prætor. The safety of the Roman state had also been committed to him when consul (B.C. 121) during the riots of Caius Gracchus, which by his prompt measures he was the main instrument in quelling. (Hence Cicero styles him "civis præstantissimus." Brut., 34.) For this he was accused by the democratic party, but was acquitted; his defense being conducted by the same Papirius Carbo who had assailed Scipio Africanus after the death of Tiberius Gracchus ("aliâ tum mente Rempublicam capessens." Cic., de Or., ii., 25). The partisans of Gracchus, however, afterward crushed him by means of the Mamilian law, along with many other excellent men. Cic., Brut., u. s. Sall., Bell. Jug., 40. He was consul with Q. Fabius Maximus, who that year overthrew the Allobroges and Arverni. His consulship was long remembered as having been a splendid year for wine, hence called Opimianum. Cic., Brut., 83. Of his father Quintus, Cicero speaks in nearly the same terms as Lucilius does here: "Q. Opimius, consularis, qui adolescentulus malè audisset." De Orat., ii., 68.

[1747] Cephalo, like Capito, was probably a nickname from the size of his head. Sector is used by Plautus exactly in the sense of the English "cut-purse." Sector Zonarius, i. e., Crumeniseca, βαλαντιοτόμος. Trinum., IV., ii., 20. It is applied by Cicero to a mean fellow, who buys at auction the confiscated goods of proscribed persons to retail again. Cic., Rosc. Am., 29. Ascon. in Verr., II., i., 20. Cf. Nonius, s. v. Secare. Damnare, i. e., "exhæredare." Non.

[1748] παναίθου (cf. Horn., Il. xiv., 372) is an epithet applied to a helmet. Why it was given to this Cotta is not known. Gerlach supposes him to be the L. Cotta mentioned by Cicero (de Orat., iii., 11) as affecting a coarse and rustic style of speaking, "gaudere videtur gravitate linguæ, sonoque vocis agresti," and that this name was given him by way of irony. He would be most justly entitled to the epithet of Crassus, "the coarse," which was probably given for the same reason. (Crassus not being the regular cognomen of the Aurelian gens, to which Cotta belonged, but of the Licinian.) Valerius Maximus gives a story of the sordid avarice of the father, which illustrates what Lucilius says, that when tribune of the Plebs he took advantage of the "sacrosanct" character of his office to refuse paying his creditors their just claims, but was compelled to do so by his colleagues. (Pighius assigns this event to B.C. 155.) He was afterward accused by P. Corn. Scipio Africanus minor; but being defended by Q. Metellus Macedonicus, was acquitted. Cf. Cic., Brut., 21, where he gives him the epithet "veterator." He was one of the partisans of the Gracchi.

[1749] Asellus is probably the same whom Cicero mentions (de Orat., ii., 64), about whom Scipio made the pun, which is, of course, as Cicero says, untranslatable: "Cum Asellus omnes provincias stipendia merentem se peragrâsse gloriaretur, 'Agas Asellum,'" etc.

[1750] Granius, a præco, though a great favorite with the plebeians, who used to retail his witticisms with great zest, was on terms of intimate friendship with Crassus, Catulus, T. Tinca Placentinus, and other men of high rank, whom he used to criticise with the greatest severity and freedom, and hold, especially with the latter, contests in sharp repartee. (Vid. Cic., Brut., 43, 46: de Orat., ii., 60, 70, where some of his witticisms are quoted.)

[1751] Gerlach refers this Fragment to the presents sent by Attalus. "Datis" he takes to mean any common name, but would suggest "ducis."

[1752] Rudus is applied to a mixture of stones, gravel, and rubble, cemented together with lime, used by the Romans as a substratum for a path or pavement. Cat., R. R., 18. Plin., xxxvi., 25. Cf. Liv., xli., 27, "Vias sternendas silice in Urbe glareâ extra Urbem locaverunt." Tibull., I., viii., 59.

[1753] This Fragment is most probably connected with Fr. 3, as both strigosus and bovinator are applied to beasts who refuse to move; and hence to persons who use all kinds of artifices to avoid the payment of their just debts.

[1754] Cf. vi., 13; x., 4.

Book XII. Argument.

BOOK XII.

ARGUMENT.

The extant Fragments of this book are too few and too varied in their matter to enable us to form any definite idea of the general subject. From a passage in Diomedes (lib. iii, p. 483), which contains the seventh Fragment, Schoenbeck supposes it must have referred to scenic matters; which conjecture he considers farther strengthened by the first Fragment. (Cf. Plaut., Pers., I., iii, 78.) But, as Gerlach observes, "Chorage" in this passage can hardly be understood in its primitive sense, since it is coupled with the word "Quæstore;" and as the quæstors had nothing to do with the Ludi Scenici, except when it fell to them to take the place of the prætors or ædiles, this office could hardly be reckoned among their positive or regular duties.

1 ... that this man stands in need of some quæstor and choragus to furnish gold at the public expense, and from the treasury.

2 ... a hundred yoke of mules, with one strong pull, could not drag him.[1755]

3 Let this be fixed firmly and equally in your breast....

4 ... he is remarkable for bandy-legged and shriveled shanks.[1756]

5 ... of what advantages I deprived myself.[1757]

6 I agreed with the man.

7 At the Liberalia, among the Athenians on the festal day[1758] of father Liber, wine used to be given to the singers instead of a crown--

8 ... whatever had happened while I and my brother were boys.

9 ... wrinkled and full of famine.

FOOTNOTES:

[1755] Cf. vi., 2.

[1756] Petilis is derived by Dacier from πέταλον: i. e., withered and shriveled up like a dead leaf.

[1757] Decollare, in its primitive sense, is "to decapitate;" then simply "to deprive."

[1758] This Fragment is given just as it stands in Diomedes (see Arg.), without any attempt on the part of editors or commentators to reduce it to the form of a verse. The whole passage stands thus in the original: "Alii a vino tragœdiam dictam arbitrantur: proptereà quod olim dictabatur τρύξ, à quo τρύγητος hodieque vindemia est, quia 'Liberalibus, apud Atticos, die festo Liberi patris vinum cantoribus pro Corollario dabatur' cujus rei testis est Lucilius in duodecimo." "Others think that Tragedy is so called from wine, because the ancient term was τρύξ; whence even at the present day the vintage is called τρυγητός." For the Attic Dionysia see the second vol. of the Philological Museum. «Probably, like the Sigillaria in lib. vii., Fr. 4, the festival was described by some circumlocution, the whole word being inadmissible into a verse.»

Book XIII. Argument.

BOOK XIII.

ARGUMENT.

The Fragments of this book, as well as of the twelfth, are too few to admit of any opinion being satisfactorily arrived at with respect to its subject. Schoenbeck supposes it was directed against sumptuous extravagance and luxurious banquets. Petermann adopts the same view. Gerlach, though he considers the Fragments so vague that they might support any hypothesis, allows that this conjecture is tenable, as the third, fifth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh appear to "savor of the kitchen."

1 Or to conquer in war altogether by chance and fortune; if it is entirely by chance and at random, that any one arrives at the highest distinction.[1759]

2 ... to whom fortune has assigned an equal position, and chance their destiny.

3 The same thing occurs at supper. You will give oysters bought for a thousand sesterces.

4 ... sets them to engage with one another in fierce conflict.[1760]

5 In the first place, let all banquetings and company be done away with.[1761]

6 Add shoes from Syracuse, a bag of leather....[1762]

7 ... one only, out of many, who has intellect....

8 ... as he is styled skilless in whom there is no skill.[1763]

9 and not so poor as ... a chipped dish of Samian pottery.[1764]

10 ... for as soon as we recline at a table munificently heaped up at great expense....

11 ... the same food at the feast, as the banquet of almighty Jove....[1765]

FOOTNOTES:

[1759] Nonius draws this distinction between Fors and Fortuna: fors simply expresses "the accidents of temporal affairs, as opposed to providence or design." Fortuna is "the personification of these in the form of the goddess." In the text Gerlach's conjecture is followed instead of the reading of the MSS., which is quite unintelligible: "Si forte ac temerè omnino quis summum ad honorem perveniat." Cf. Pacuv. in Hermiona, "Quo impulerit fors eò cadere Fortunam autumant."

[1760] Cernit, i. e., "disponit." Nonius. Cf. v., Fr. 29, "Postquam præsidium castris educere crevit."

[1761] Dominia. As dominus is put for the "master of the feast," so dominium is used for the banquet itself (lib. vi., Fr. 7; Sall., Hist., iii., "In imo medius inter Tarquinium et dominum Perpenna;" Cic., Vatin., xiii., "Epuli dominus Q. Arrius"), or for the office of the giver of the banquet. Cicero uses Magisteria in the same sense. Senect., c. 14. It is also put for "the place where a banquet is held." Cic., Ver., II., iii., 4. Sodalitium is properly a banquet celebrated by "Sodales," i. e., persons associated in the same religious cultus.

[1762] Pasceolum, "a leathern bag or purse," marsupium, from φάσκωλον. Suid. Plaut, Rud., V., ii., 27, "prætereà centum Denaria Philippea in pasceolo seorsum." Aluta. Vid. ad Juv., xiv., 282.

[1763] Iners. Cf. Cic., de Fin., "Lustremus animo has maximas artes, quibus qui carebant inertes à majoribus nominabantur."

[1764] Cf. ad lib. vii., Fr. 1.

[1765] Epulum (i. e., edipulum) and epulæ seem to be interchanged; but epulum is probably the older form of the word.

Book XIV. Argument.

BOOK XIV.

ARGUMENT.

The fourteenth book contained, according to Schoenbeck's idea, the praises of a placid and easy life. Duentzer, on the other hand, says the subject was ambition. The two notions are not so much opposed, says Gerlach, as at first sight they seem: the object of the poet being to contrast the frugal simplicity and tranquil leisure of a rustic life, with the empty vanities and arrogant assumption of the ambitious man. Thus the Fragments 2, 4, 5, 12, 15, 16, and perhaps 1, contain the praises of frugal parsimony and an honorable leisure: 3, 6, 7, 8, and perhaps others, describe the heart-burnings and disappointments of a life devoted to ambition.

1 Is that rather the sign of a sick man that I live on bread and tripe? * * *[1766]

2 ... but you rather lead in peace a tranquil life, which you seem to hold more important than doing this.

3 Publius Pavus Tuditanus, my quæstor in the Iberian land, was a skulker, a mean fellow, one of that class, clearly.[1767]

4 ... these, I say, we may consider a sham sea-fight, and a game of backgammon ... but though you amuse yourself, you will not live one whit the better.[1768]

5 ... for that he preferred to be approved of by a few, and those wise men, than to rule over all the departed dead--[1769]

6 ... were he not associated with me as prætor, and annoyed me....[1770]

7 ... for that famous old Cato ... because he was not conscious to himself.[1771]

8 I will go as embassador to the king, to Rhodes, Ecbatana, and Babylon, I will take a ship....[1772]

9 ... no supper, he says; no portion for the god....[1773]

10 when that which we chew with our mouth, ...[1774]

11 I see the common people hold it in earnest affection--

12 The horse himself is not handsome, but an easy goer, a capital hackney.[1775]

13 ... whom oftentimes you dread; occasionally feel pleasure in his company.

14 ... In a moment, in a single hour....[1776]

15 ... the cheese has a flavor of garlic--[1777]

16 ... and scraggy wood-pigeons.[1778]

17 ... chalk....

FOOTNOTES:

[1766] Gerlach's reading is followed, "quod pane et viscere vivo." In the next line he thinks there is something of the same kind of pun as in Ovid, Met., xv., 88, "Heu quantum scelus est in viscera viscera condi."

[1767] Lucifugus, "one who shuns the light, because his deeds are evil." So Nebulo and Tenebrio are used for one who would gladly cloak his deeds of falsehood and cunning under the mist of darkness. Cic., de Fin., i., 61, "Malevoli, invidi, difficiles, lucifugi, maledici, monstrosi." Nebulo is also applied to a vain empty-headed fellow, of no more solidity than a mist; and then to a spendthrift, who had devoured all his substance and "left not a wrack behind." Vid. Ælium Stilum ap. Fest., in voc. Who this desirable person was, is doubtful. Gerlach thinks that Lucilius' quarrel with him began at the siege of Numantia, and that this Fragment is part of a speech which the poet puts into the mouth of Scipio respecting his quæstor. Tuditanus was a cognomen of the Sempronian gens, from the "mallet-shaped" head of one of the family. Pavus may have been derived from the taste shown by one of them for feeding and fattening peacocks. There was a Publius Sempronius Tuditanus consul with M. Cornelius Cethegus in B.C. 204, and a Caius Semp. Tuditanus consul B.C. 129, the year of Scipio Africanus' death. Cicero speaks highly of his eloquence (Brut., c. 25), and Dionysius Halicarnassus of his historical powers (i., p. 9).

[1768] Corpet supposes the allusion to be to the game called "duodecim scripta," which resembled our backgammon; the alveolus being a kind of table on which the dice were thrown, with a rim to prevent their rolling off. Cicero tells us P. Mutius Scævola was a great adept at this game. (Or., i., 50.) Gerlach supposes it to be a Fragment of the speech of some plain countryman, who couples all these things together, to show that they do not tend to make life happier. Calces will be the white lines marked on the stadium.

[1769] ἢ πᾶσιν, κ. τ. λ. Part of Achilles' speech to Ulysses in the shades below, where he declares he would rather submit to the most menial offices on earth, than rule over all the shades of departed heroes. Odyss., xi., 491. Cf. Attii Epinausimache, "Probis probatum potius quam multis fore."

[1770] The prætor may probably be C. Cæcilius Metellus Caprarius, with whom Scipio was so wroth at Numantia, as Cicero tells us (de Or., ii., 66); to whom Gerlach also refers Fr. incert. 96, 97.

[1771] This Fragment is hopeless. Even Gerlach does not attempt to explain it.

[1772] Cercurum. Cf. ad viii., 4.

[1773] Prosecta, the same as prosiciæ (from prosecando, as insiciæ from insecando). The gloss in Festus explains it by αἱ τῶν θυμάτων ἀπαρχαί. Cf. Arnob. adv. Gent., vii., "Quod si omnes has partes quas prosicias dicitis, accipere Dii amant, suntque illis gratæ." Scaliger reads prosiciem.

[1774] Cf. iv., Fr. 12, and Pomponius Pappo ap. Fest. in v., "Nescio quis ellam urget, quasi asinus, uxorem tuam: ita opertis oculis simul manducatur ac molet:" which is perhaps the sense here.

[1775] Gradarius is said of a horse "trained to an easy, ambling pace," like that expressed by the word tolutim, cf. ix., Fr. 6 (exactly the contrary to succussator, ii., Fr. 10), xv., Fr. 2. Hence "pugna gradaria," where the advance to the charge is made at a slow pace. So Seneca (Epist., xl.) applies the term to Cicero's style of oratory, "lentè procedens, interpungens, intermittens actionem."

[1776] Puncto. So στιγμὴ χρόνου. Cf. Terent., Phorm., act. I., iv., 7, "Tum temporis mihi punctum ad hanc rem est."

[1777] Allium olet; instead of the old reading, "allia molliet."

[1778] Macros. So Horace, "Sedulus hospes pæne macros arsit dum turdos versat in igni." i., Sat. v., 72.

Book XV. Argument.

BOOK XV.

ARGUMENT.

None of the commentators on Lucilius have ventured to give a decisive opinion on the subject of this book, with the exception of Duentzer; who says that the poet intended it as a defense of true tranquillity of mind, in opposition to the precepts and dogmas of the Stoics. In the sixth Fragment we certainly have mention made of a philosopher; but it is only to assert that many common and homely articles in daily and constant use are of more real value than any philosopher of any sect. This, however, may be supposed to be the opinion of some vulgar and ignorant plebeian, or of a woman. In the fifth Fragment we have the character of a wife portrayed, such as Juvenal describes so graphically in his sixth Satire. Indolent and slatternly in her husband's presence, she reserves all her graces of manner and elegance of ornament for the presence of strangers. We have besides a notice of the wonders in Homer's narratives, the praises of a good horse, a picture of a usurer, an account of a soldier who has seen service in Spain, a eulogy of frugality and other matters; how all these can possibly be arranged under one head, is, as Gerlach says, a matter of the greatest obscurity.

1 Men think that many wonders described in Homer's verses are prodigies; among the chief of which is Polyphemus the Cyclops, two hundred feet long: and then besides, his walking-stick, greater than the main-mast in any merchantman--[1779]

2 ... no high-actioned Campanian nag will follow him that has conquered by a mile or two * * * *[1780]

3 ... moreover, as to price, the first is half an as, the second a sestertius, and the third more than the whole bushel.

4 ... in the number of whom, first of all Trebellius ... fever, corruption, weariness, and nausea....[1781]

5 When she is alone with you, any thing is good enough. Are any strange men likely to see her? She brings out her ribbons, her robe, her fillets--[1782]

6 A good cloak, if you ask me, or a hackney, a slave, or a litter-mat, is of more service to me than a philosopher--[1783]

7 ... besides, that accursed usurer, and Syrophœnician, what used he to do?[1784]

8 ... not a single slave ... that, just as though he were a slave, no one can speak his mind freely.[1785]

9 ... since he has served as a soldier in the Iberian land, for about eighteen years of his life--....[1786]

10 ... that in the first place, with them, you are a mad, crack-brained fellow.[1787]

11 ... he knows what a tunic and toga are....

12 a huge bowl, like a muzzle, hangs from his nostrils.[1788]

13 ... a bell and twig-baskets of pot-herbs.[1789]

14 ... he sets him low, and behind....[1790]

15 ... or who with grim face, pounces upon money.[1791]

16 ... there is no flummery-maker inferior to you--[1792]

17 ... their heads are bound; and their forelocks float, high, and covering their foreheads, as their custom was.[1793]

18 ... which compelled ... to drink gall, and wrinkle the belly by coarse bread, and inferior oil, and a loaf from Cumæ.[1794]

FOOTNOTES:

[1779] Polyphemus. Hom., Odyss., ix., 319, Κύκλωπος γὰρ ἔκειτο μέγα ῥόπαλον παρὰ σηκῷ . . ὅσσον θ' ἱστὸν νηὸς ἐεικοσόροιο μελαίνης, φορτίδος εὐρείης.

Corbita, "navis oneraria," so called, according to Festus, because a basket (corbis) was suspended from the top of the mast. Cf. Plaut., Pæn., III., i., 4. The smaller swift-sailing vessels were called Celoces (a κέλης), hence "Obsecro operam celocem hanc mihi ne corbitam date." Cf. Plant., Pseud., V., ii., 12.

[1780] Sonipes. Cf. Virg., Æn., xi., 599, "Fremit æquore toto insultans sonipes, et pressis pugnat habenis." Catull., lxiii., 41, "Sol pepulit noctis umbras vegetis sonipedibus." Succussor. Cf. ii., Fr. 10. Milli is apparently an old ablative of the singular form.

[1781] The whole Fragment is so corrupt as to be hopeless. Gerlach's interpolations are scarcely tenable. Senium, we learn from Nonius, is equivalent to tædium. So Persius, "En pallor seniumque." i., 26. Vomitus seems to be applicable to a person, "an unclear, offensive fellow." So Plaut., Mostell., III., i., 119, "Absolve hunc, quæso, vomitum, ne hic nos enecet."

[1782] Cf. Juv., vi., 461, "Ad mœchum lotâ veniunt cute: quando videri vult formosa domi? mœchis foliata parantur. Interea fœda aspectu ridendaque multo pane tumet facies ... tandem aperit vultum et tectoria prima reponit, incipit agnosci." Spiram. Cf. Juv., viii., 208. Redimicula. Juv., ii., 84. Virg., Æn., ix., 614.

[1783] Pænula. Cf. Juv., v., 79. Canterius. Cf. ad lib. iii., Fr. 9. Segestre, a kind of straw mat (from seges) used in litters.

[1784] Gerlach's reading is followed. τοκογλύφος is one who calculates his interest to a farthing; a sordid usurer. Syrophœnix. Cf. iii., Fr. 33.

[1785] Ergastulum is put sometimes for the slave himself, sometimes for the under-ground dungeon where, as a punishment, he was set to work. Cf. Juv., vi., 151, "Ergastula tota." viii., 180, "Nempe in Lucanos aut Tusca ergastula mittas." xiv., 24, "Quem mire afficiunt inscripta ergastula." Nonius says that the masculine form, ergastulus, is used for the "keeper of the bridewell," custos pœnalis loci.

[1786] The war in Spain may be dated from the refusal of the Segedans to comply with the directions of the senate, and to pay their usual tribute. The failure of M. Fulvius Nobilior in Celtiberia took place B.C. 153, exactly twenty years before the fall of Numantia.

[1787] Cerebrosus. "Qui cerebro ita laborat ut facile irascatur." Plaut., Most., IV., ii., 36, "Senex hic cerebrosus est certe." Hor., i., Sat. v., 21, "Donec cerebrosus prosilit unus, ac mulæ nautæque caput lumbosque saligno fuste dolat."

[1788] Postomis (ab ἐπιστομίς), or, as some read, prostomis, is a sort of muzzle or "twitch" put upon the nose of a refractory horse. To this Lucilius compares the drinking-cup applied for so long a time to the lips of the toper, that it looks as though it were suspended from his nose. Cf. Turneb., Adversar., 17, c. ult. Trulla. Cf. Juv., iii., 107.

[1789] Sirpicula is a basket made of twigs or rushes, for carrying flowers or vegetables. By tintinnabulum Scaliger understands "genus vehiculi." But sirpiculæ (a sirpando) are also "the twigs with which bundles of fagots, etc., are bound together," which were also used in administering punishment; and the allusion may be to this, as those who were led to punishment sometimes carried bells. Vid. Turneb., Advers., xi., 21. Hence Tintinnaculus. Plaut., Truc., IV., iii., 8.

[1790] The MSS. vary between suffectus and sufferctus. The latter would come from suffercio. Cf. Suet., Ner., 20.

[1791] Inuncare is applied by Apuleius to "an eagle bearing away a lamb in its talons."

[1792] Alica (anciently halica) is a kind of grain, somewhat like spelt. The ζέα or χόνδρος of the Greeks. Of this they prepared a kind of porridge or furmety, of which the Italians were very fond; as of the polenta, and the maccaroni of the present day. Cf. ad Pers., iii., 55.

[1793] Aptari Nonius explains by nexum, illigatum. Capronæ (quasi a capite pronæ) is properly "that part of the mane which falls between the horse's ears in front." Then, like antiæ, applied to the forelocks of women. Vid. Fest. in v.

[1794] Galla is properly the gall-nut, or oak-apple, used, from its astringent qualities, in tanning and dyeing; and hence applied to any harsh, rough, inferior wine. Acerosum (cf. ad ix., Fr. 15) is applied to meal not properly cleared from the husk or bran; the αὐτόπυρος of the Greeks. Decumanus (cf. ad iv., Fr. 2) is often applied to any thing of uncommon size: here it is used for the worst kind of oil (quasi ex decimâ quâque mensurâ rejecto et projecto), or more probably "such oil as the husbandman would select in order to furnish his decimæ," i. e., the very worst. Festus says the whole fragment is an admonition to the exercise of frugality and self-denial.

Book XVI. Argument.

BOOK XVI.

ARGUMENT.

We have in the old grammarians two conflicting accounts of the subject of this book. Censorinus (de Die Natali, iii.) says that it contained a discussion on the "double genius" which the Socratic Euclides assigned to all the human race. On the other hand, Porphyrion (in a note of the twenty-second ode of Horace's first book) tells us that Horace here imitated Lucilius, who inscribed his sixteenth book to his mistress Collyra; hence this book was called Collyra, as the ninth was styled Fornix (in which also we may observe that it was stated that the double genius of Euclides was discussed). Priscian again seems to imply (III., i., 8) that it was inscribed to Fundius; and that Horace copied from it his fourteenth Epistle of the first book. Gerlach considers the 1st, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Fragments may form part of a conversation between Lucilius and his steward, on the true use of riches. The 10th Fragment may refer to Collyra, especially if we may suppose that the 13th Fragment (incert.) refers to the same person. If so, she was probably, like the Fornarina of Raffaelle, some buxom ἀρτοκόπος (cf. Herod., i., 51) or confectioner. And this her name seems to imply, Collyra being a kind of circular wheaten cake, either prepared in a frying-pan, or baked on the coals or in an oven. (Cf. Coliphium, Juv., ii., 53, and Plaut., Pers., I., iii., 12, "Collyræ facite ut madeant et coliphia.") She is therefore the "valida pistrix" who understands the whole mystery of making Mamphulæ, which, as Festus tells us, was a kind of Syrian bread or cake, made without leaven.

1 A ram went by, by chance; "now what breed?" says he. What great * *! You would think they were scarcely fastened by a single thread, and that a huge weight was suspended from the end of his hide.

2 The Jupiter of Lysippus, forty cubits high at Tarentum, surpassed that....[1795]

3 The famous King Cotus said that the only two winds he knew were Auster and Aquilo; but much more those little Austers.... nor did he think it was necessary to know....[1796]

4 A certain man bequeathed to his wife all his chattels, and his household stuff. What constitutes chattels? and what does not? For who is to decide that point at issue?[1797]

5 Fundius, ... merit delights you ... if you have turned out a somewhat more active bailiff.[1798]

6 These whom riches advance.... and they anoint their unkempt heads.

7 Why do you seek for this so lazily, especially at this time.

8 ... you sell publicly however, and lick the edge....[1799]

9 ... this is far different, says he ... who was sowing onions.

10 ... from the middle of the bake-house.

FOOTNOTES:

[1795] This Fragment Gerlach quotes as one of the most corrupt of all. The colossal statue of the sun, at Rhodes, may perhaps be referred to as being outdone. For Lysippus, cf. Cic., de Orat., iii., 7; Brut., 86. Plin., H. N., vii., 37. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 240. Athen., xi, 784, C. Müller's Archæol. of Art, § 129.

[1796] Cotys. This was as generic a name for the Thracian kings as Arsaces among the Parthians. Livy mentions a Cotys, son of Seuthes, king of the Odrysæ, who brought a thousand cavalry to the support of Perseus against the Romans, and speaks of him in the highest terms of commendation: lib. xlii., 29, 51, 67; xliii., 3. Another Cotys assisted Pompey, for which handsome presents were sent to him: cf. Lucan, Phars., v., 54. A third Cotys, or Cottus, king of the Bessi, is mentioned by Cicero as having bribed L. Calpurnius Piso, the proconsul, with three hundred talents: In Pison., xxxiv. The first of the three is probably intended here, as Livy tells us that after the termination of the Macedonian war (in which Scipio served), Bitis, the son of Cotys, was restored with other captives unransomed to his father, in consequence of the hereditary friendship existing between the Roman people and his ancestors. The sayings of Cotys, therefore, might have been current at Rome in Lucilius' time. Liv., xlv., 42.

[1797] Mundus (quasi movendus, quod moveri potest), which seems at first to have had the meaning in the text, came afterward to be applied particularly to the necessary appendages of women, unguents, cosmetics, mirrors, vessels for the bath, etc.; and hence the word muliebris is generally added. It differs from ornatus, which is applied to rings, bracelets, earrings, jewels, head-gear, ribbons, etc. (Cf. Liv., xxxiv., 7.) Hence the usual formula of wills, "Uxori meæ vestem, mundum muliebrem, ornamenta omnia, aurum, argentum, do, lego." Penus is properly applied to all "household stores laid up for future use;" hence penitus, penetro, and penates. Cf. Virg., Æn., i., 704, "Cura penum struere."

[1798] Villicus. Cf. Hor., i., Epist. xiv. The Villicus superintended the country estate, as the dispensator did the city household. They were both generally "liberti." Fundi is translated as a proper name on the authority of Priscian, III., i., 8.

[1799] Ligurris. Cf. Hor., i., Sat. iii., 80, "Servum patinam qui tollere jussus semesos pisces tepidumque ligurierit jus." ii., Sat. iv., 78, "Seu puer unctis tractavit calicem manibus dum furta ligurit." Juv., ix., 5, "Nos colaphum incutimus lambenti crustula servo."

Book XVII. Argument.

BOOK XVII.

ARGUMENT.

This book contained, according to Schoenbeck's view, a discussion on the dogma of the Stoics, "that no one could be said to possess any thing peculiarly his own." The poet therefore ridicules the creations of the older poets, who have dignified their heroines with every conceivable embellishment, and invested them with the attractions of every virtue that adorns humanity. He then goes through the list of all the greatest mythological personages that occur in the various Epic poets, in order to show the fallacy of their ideas, and establish his own theory on the subject of moral virtue. Gerlach, on the other hand, considers that the subject was merely a disparagement of the boasted virtues of the female character; by showing that even these creations of ideal perfection, elaborated by poets of the greatest genius, and endowed with every excellence both of mind and body, are not even by them represented as exempt from those passions and vices which disgrace their unromantic fellow-mortals. In this general detraction of female purity, not even the chaste Penelope herself escapes. The 6th Fragment seems to be directed against those whose verses are composed under the inspiration of sordid gain.

1 Now that far-famed lady with the "beautiful ringlets," "and beautiful ankles?" Do you think it was forbidden to touch her...? Or that Alcmena, the bedfellow of Amphytrion, and others, was knock-kneed or bandy-legged.               In fine, Leda herself; I don't like to mention her: look out yourself, and choose some dissyllable. Do you think Tyro, the nobly-born, had any thing particularly disfiguring; a wart ... a mole, or a projecting tooth?[1800]

2 All other things he despises; and lays out all at no high interest ... but that no one has aught of his own....[1801]

3 His bailiff Aristocrates, a drudge and neat-herd, he corrupted and reduced to the last extremity.[1802]

4 Do you, when married, say you will never be married, because you hope Ulysses still survives?

5 If he will not go, seize him, he says; and if he shuffles, lay hands on him....[1803]

6 ... if you sell your Muses to Laverna.[1804]

7 ... the big bones and shoulders of the man appear.[1805]

FOOTNOTES:

[1800] καλλιπλόκαμος is the epithet applied by Homer (Il., xiv., 326) to Demeter, in a passage which seems to have been a favorite one with Lucilius. Cf. book i., Fr. 15. Leda is also mentioned in connection with her. It is applied also to Thetis, Il., xviii., 407. καλλίσφυρος is applied to Danäe in the passage referred to above, and to Ino, daughter of Cadmus, Odyss., v., 333. For mammis Gerlach suggests "palmis." Compernis is also applied to one who, from having over-long feet or heels, knocks his ankles together, ἄκοιτιν. Odyss., xi., 266.

Τυρὼ εὐπατέρειαν. Odyss., xi., 235. Verruca, ἀκροχορδών. Nævus (quasi gnæus, or gnavus, Fest., because born with a person, hence sometimes called Nævus Maternus) is put for any disfiguring mark. Cf. Hor., i., Sat. vi., 67. Shaks., Cymb., act ii., sc. 2.

[1801] Proprium, equivalent to perpetuum. Nonius.

[1802] Mediastinum. Cf. Hor., i., Ep. xiv., 14, "Tu mediastinus tacitâ prece rura petebas. Nunc urbem et ludos et balnea villicus optas." Torrentius explains mediastinus by "Servus ad omnia viliora officia comparatus." The Schol. Cruq. by "Servus qui stat in medio, paratus omnium ministeriis." Commanducatus. Cf. ad iv., Fr. 12. Ad Incita. Cf. ad iii., Fr. 30.

[1803] Calvitur, from calvus, because the tricky old men, slaves especially, were always represented on the Roman comic stage (as the clowns in our pantomimes) with bald heads: hence "to frustrate, disappoint." "Calamitas plures annos arvas calvitur." Pacuv. So Plaut., Cas., II., ii., 3, "Ubi domi sola sum sopor manus calvitur." Hence Venus is called Calva, "Quod corda amantium calviat," i. e., fallat, deludat. Serv. ad Virg., Æn., i., 720.

[1804] The Fragment is very corrupt. The reading of the MSS. is, "Si messes facis, Musas si vendis Lavernæ." Dusa suggests "Semissis facient." Mercer, "Si versus facies musis." Gerlach, "Semissis facies Musas si vendis Lavernæ." Semissis, a genitive like Teruncii, i. e., "Your verses will be worthless if the only Muse that inspires you is the love of gain." Laverna was the Goddess of Thieves at Rome. Plaut., Cornic., "Mihi Laverna in furtis celebrassis manus." Hor., i., Epist. xvi., 60, "Pulchra Laverna, da mihi fallere, da justo sanctoque videri," where the old Schol. says she derived her name a Lavando, because thieves were called Lavatores. Scaliger thinks she is identical with the Greek goddess πραξιδίκη, which others deny. The word is also derived from latere, and λαβεῖν. Ausonius applies the term to a plagiarist: "Hic est ille Theo poeta falsus, Bonorum mala carminum Laverna." Ep. iv.

[1805] Cf. Virg., Æn., v., 420, "Et magnos membrorum artus, magna ossa lacertosque Exuit."

Book XVIII. Argument.

BOOK XVIII.

ARGUMENT.

From the small portion of this book that has come down to us, it is but mere idle conjecture to attempt to decide upon its subject. Petermann says it treated "of fools and misers." There are some lines in the first Satire of Horace's first book, which bear so close a resemblance to some lines in this book that Gerlach considers it was the model which Horace had before his eyes. The passages are quoted in the notes.

1 Take twelve hundred bushels of corn, and a thousand casks of wine....[1806]

2 In short, as a fool never has enough, even though he has everything....

3 ... for even in those districts, there will be drunk a cup tainted with rue and sea-onion....[1807]

4 ... I enjoy equally with you--[1808]

5 ... in the transaction of the ridiculous affair itself, he boasts that he was present.

FOOTNOTES:

[1806] Cf. Hor., i., Sat. i., 45, "Millia frumenti tua triverit area centum."

[1807] Incrustatus. Hor., i., Sat. iii., 56, "Sincerum cupimus vas incrustare." Where Porphyrion explains the word, "incrustari vas dicitur cum aliquo vitioso succo illinitur atque inquinatur." It is sometimes applied to covering any thing, as a cup, with gold or silver (cf. Juv., v., 88, "Heliadum crustas"), or a wall with roughcast or plaster. For the vinum rutatum, see Pliny, H. N., xix., 45. Scilla is probably the sort of onion to which Juvenal refers, Sat. vii., 120, "Afrorum Epimenia, bulbi."

[1808] Fruniscor, an old form of fruor. Cf. Hor., i., Sat. i., 47, "Non tuns hoc capiet venter plus quam mens."

Book XIX. Argument.

BOOK XIX.

ARGUMENT.

The same may be said of this book as of the eighteenth. The few Fragments that remain being insufficient to furnish any data for a positive opinion as to its subject. From the 2d and 3d Fragments, Mercer supposes that the same question was discussed which Cicero refers to in the Offices (lib. ii., c. 20), "Whether a worthy man, without wealth, was to be preferred to a very rich man who had but an indifferent reputation." The second Fragment clearly contains a precept respecting the laying up a store which may be made available in time of distress; which Horace had perhaps in his eye in book i., Sat. i., l. 33, seq. It contains likewise a criticism on a verse of Ennius, as being little more than empty sound, devoid of true poetic sentiment; which probably was the basis of Cicero's censure in the Tusculan disputations. The study of dramatic composition is also discouraged, from the fact that the most elaborate passages are frequently spoiled by the want of skill in the Tragic actor. In the 9th Fragment, Dacke supposes there is an allusion to the Dulorestes of Pacuvius. The 7th Fragment may also probably refer to Ennius, as the principal word in it is employed by him in the eleventh book of his Annals. There is probably also a hit at those poets who adopt a style of diction quite unintelligible to ordinary readers.

1 Wrinkled and shriveled old men are in quest of all the same things.[1809]

2 So do thou seek for those fruits, which hereafter in ungenial winter thou mayest enjoy; with this delight thyself at home.[1810]

3 Will you have the gold, or the man? Why, have the man! What boots the gold? Wherefore, as we say, I see nothing here which I should greatly covet....[1811]

4 And infant children make a woman honest....

5 So each one of us is severally affected....

6 Choose that particular day which to you seems best.

7 ... but do not criticise the lappet[1812]

8 ... hanging from the side, sprinkling the rocks with clotted gore and black blood....[1813]

9 The tragic poet who spoils his verses through Orestes about to grow hoarse.[1814]

10 ... twenty thousand gravers and pincers[1815]

11 ... and to pluck out teeth with crooked pincers.

12 ... desire may be eradicated from a man, but never covetousness from a fool.[1816]

FOOTNOTES:

[1809] Passus is properly applied to a dried grape; either "quod solem diutius passa est," or more probably from pando.

[1810] Cf. Hor., i., Sat. i., 32, "Sicut parvula nam exemplo est magni formica laboris ore trahit quodcunque potest atque addit acervo quem struit, haud ignara et non incanta futuri. Quæ simul inversum contristat Aquarius annum non usquam prorepit et illis utitur ante quæsitis sapiens."

[1811] The passage in Cicero stands thus, "Si res in contentionem veniet, nimirum Themistocles est auctor adhibendus; qui cum consuleretur utrum bono viro pauperi, an minùs probato diviti, filiam collocaret: Ego vero, inquit, malo virum, qui pecuniâ egeat, quam pecuniam, quæ viro." De Off., ii., 20.

[1812] Peniculamentum is a portion of the dress hanging down like a tail; perhaps like the "liripipes" of our ancestors. "Pendent peniculamenta unum ad quodque pedule." Ennius, Annal., lib. xi., ap. Nonium.

[1813] Cicero (Tusc. Qu., i., 44) quotes the passage from the Thyestes of Ennius: it is part of his imprecation against Atreus, "Ipse summis saxis fixus asperis evisceratus," etc. Vid. Enn., Frag. Bothe, p. 66, 11. Gerlach considers them to be the very words of Ennius, inserted in his Satire by Lucilius. Cicero's criticism is probably borrowed from Lucilius: it is in no measured terms: "Illa inania; non ipsa saxa magis sensu omni vacabant quam ille 'latere pendens' cui se hic cruciatum censet optare: quæ essent dura si sentiret; nulla sine sensu sunt."

[1814] Cf. Juv., i., 2, "Rauci Theseide Codri ... necdum finitus Orestes."

[1815] Gerlach supposes that Lucilius ridicules the folly of those poets who either write what is unintelligible, or whose effusions are spoiled by the indifference of the actors who personate their characters, in the same way as Horace, ii., Sat. iii., 106, "Si scalpra et formas non sutor emat."

[1816] Nonius explains cupiditas to be a milder form of cupído.

Book XX. Argument.

BOOK XX.

ARGUMENT.

Gerlach without hesitation pronounces the subject of this book to have been "the superstition of the lower orders, and the luxury of the banquets of the wealthy." There were, even in the days of Lucilius, many who could see through, and heartily despise, the ignorant superstition by which their fellow-men were shackled. Hence the famous saying of Cato, that he wondered how a soothsayer could look another of the same profession in the face without laughing. The 3d and 4th Fragments are probably part of the speech of some notorious epicure, who cordially detests the simplicity and frugality of ancient days; and the 6th may contain the fierce expression of his unmeasured indignation at any attempt to suppress or curtail the lavish munificence and luxurious self-indulgence of men like himself. The 6th, 7th, and 9th Fragments may also refer to the sumptuous banquets of the day.

1 These bugbears, Lamiæ, which the Fauni and Numas set up--at these he trembles, and sets all down as true.... Just as little children believe that all the statues of brass are alive and human beings, just so these men believe all these fables to be true, and think there is a heart inside these brazen statues.

... It is a mere painter's board, nothing is real; all counterfeit.[1817]

2 ... in their own season, and at one and the same time ... and in half an hour ... after three are ended ... only the same and the fourth.

3 ... such dainties as endive, or some herb of that kind, and pilchards' sauce ... but this is sorry ware.[1818]

4 I reviled the savage law of Calpurnius Piso, and snorted forth my angry breath from my nostrils....[1819]

5 ... then he will burst asunder, just as the Marsian by his incantation makes the snakes burst, when he has caused all their veins to swell

6 They are captivated with tripe and rich dinners.[1820]

7 ... he be a trifler and an empty-headed fellow ... far the greatest[1821]

8 ... then a certain youth whom they call[1822]

9 ... then he wiped the broad tables with a purple napkin[1823]

10 ... damage the bows and shear away the helm.

11 ... they chatter: and your dirty-nosed country lout chimes in.[1824]

FOOTNOTES:

[1817] Terriculas (for the old reading, Terricolas), "any thing used to frighten children, as bugbears." The forms terriculum and terriculamentum also occur. Compare the μορμολυκεῖον of the Greeks, Arist., Thesm., 417, and μορμὼ, Arist., Achar., 582; Pax, 474 (vid. Ruhnken's Timæus, in voc., who quotes numerous passages); and Empusa, Ar., Ran., 293. The Lamiæ were monsters, represented of various shapes (λάμια, Arist., Vesp., 1177, from λάμος, vorago), as hags, or vampyres (strigum instar), or with the bodies of women above, terminating in the lower extremities of an ass. Hence ὀνοσκελίς, ὀνοκώλη. Vid. Hor., A. P., 340, "Neu pransæ Lamiæ vivum puerum extrahat alvo," cum Schol. Cruqu. They were supposed to devour children, or at all events suck their blood. Cf. Tert. adv. Valent., iii. Festus in voc. Manducus, Maniæ. Manducus is probably from mandendo, and was represented with huge jaws and teeth, like our "Raw-head and bloody-bones." It was probably the mask used in the Atellane exodia. Cf. Juv., iii., 175, "Cum personæ pallentis hiatum in gremio matris formidat rusticus infans." Plaut., Rud., II., vi., 51, "Quid si aliquo ad ludos me pro manduco locem? Quapropter? Quia pol clarè crepito dentibus." The Fauni are put for any persons of great antiquity, the inventors of these fables (ἀρχαϊκά, Ar., Nub., 812), just as Picus in Juvenal, viii., 131, "tum licet a Pico numeres genus." Pergula (cf. ad Juv., xi., 137) is "the stall outside a shop where articles were exhibited for sale," and where painters sometimes exposed their pictures to public view. «Cf. Plin., xxxv., 10, 36, who says Apelles used to conceal himself behind the pergula, to hear the remarks of passers-by on his paintings.»

[1818] Pulmentarium. So ὄψον, "any kind of food eaten with something else, though rarely, if ever, with vegetables." It took its name from the days when the Romans had no bread, but used pulse instead. Vid. Plin., xviii., 8, 19. Pers., iii., 102. Juv., vii., 185. Hor., ii., Sat. ii., 19, "Tu pulmentaria quære sudando." Intybus. Cf. ad v., Fr. 14. Mænarum. Ad Pers., iii, 76.

[1819] Cf. Introduction, p. 285. Gerlach says it describes the fierce snortings of an angry man: "hominem ex imo pectore iras anhelantem." Cf. Pers., v., 91, "Ira cadat naso." Theoc., i., 18, χολὰ ποτὶ ῥινὶ κάθηται. Mart., vi., Ep. lxiv., 28.

[1820] Præcisum, like omasum, "the fat part of the belly of beef chopped up;" the "busecchie" of the modern Italians.

[1821] Cf. xiv., Fr. 3.

[1822] Parectaton, a παρεκτείνω. Quasi extensus, "an overgrown youth." The penultima is lengthened in Latin.

[1823] Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. viii., 11.

[1824] Deblaterant. Cf. Plaut., Aul., II., iii., 1. Blennus is beautifully expressed by the German "rotznase." Plaut., Bacch., V., i., 2.

Book XXI.

Of this Book no Fragments remain.

Book XXII.

1 Those hired female mourners who weep at a stranger's funeral, and tear their hair, and bawl louder....[1825]

2 A slave neither faithless to my owner, nor unserviceable to any, here I, Metrophanes, lie, Lucilius' main-stay[1826]

3 Zopyrion cuts his lips on both sides....[1827]

4 ... whether the man's nose is straighter now, ... his calves and legs.

FOOTNOTES:

[1825] Præfica, the ἰαλεμίστρια, Æsch., Choëph., 424, or θρηνήτρια (cf. Mark, v., 38), of the Greeks; from præficiendo, as being set at the head of the other mourners, to give them the time, as it were: "quaæ dant cæteris modum plangendi, quasi in hoc ipsum præfectæ." Scaliger says it was an invention of the Phrygians to employ these hired mourners. Plaut., Truc., II., vi., 14. Gell., xviii., 6. The technical name of their lamentation was Nænia. Cf. Fest. in voc. It generally consisted of the praises of the deceased. Æsch., Choëph., 151, παιᾶνα τοῦ θανόντος ἐξαυδωμένας. «Cf. Hor., A. P., 431, "Ut qui conducti plorant in funere, dicunt et faciunt prope plura dolentibus ex animo."»

[1826] Cf. Introduction. Mart., xi., Ep. xc., 4. Plaut., Amph., I., i., 213. Terent., Phorm., II., i., 57, "O bone custos salve, columen verò familiæ!" Columella is properly "the king-post that supports the roof;" then put, like columen, for the main-stay or support of any thing. So Horace calls Mæcenas, ii., Od. xvii., 4, "Mearum grande decus columenque rerum." Cic., Sext., viii., "Columen reipublicæ." So Timon is called, Lucian, Tim., 50, τὸ ἔρεισμα τῶν Ἀθηναίων. Sil., xv., 385, "Ausonii columen regni." So Clytæmnestra calls Agamemnon, ὑψηλῆς στέγης στύλον ποδήρη. Ag., 898. «Doederlein thinks there is a connection between the words culmus, calamus, culmen, columen, columna, columella, with cello, whence celsus. "Significarique id quod emineat, sursum tendat, altum sit," ii., 106.»

[1827] Cf. ad ix., 14.

Book XXIII.

1 ... and the slave who had licked with his lips the nice cheese-cakes.[1828]

2 ... to hold[1829]

FOOTNOTES:

[1828] Lamberat. Cf. Hor., i., Sat. iii., 80, "Si quis eum servum, patinam qui tollere jussus semesos pisces tepidumque ligurrierit jus, in cruce suffigat." Juv., xi., 5. Placenta, the πλακοῦς of the Greeks, was a flat cake made of flour, cheese, and honey, rolled out thin and divided into four parts. Cato, R. R., 76, gives a receipt for making it. It was used in sacrifices. Hence Horace, i., Epist. x., 10, "Utque sacerdotis fugitivus liba recuso: Pane egeo jam mellitis potiore placentis." Juv., xi., 59, "pultes coram aliis dictem puero sed in aure placentas." Mart., v., Ep. xxxix., 3; vi., Ep. lxxv., 1, "Quadramve placentæ." ix., Ep. xci., 18.

[1829] Tongere is, according to Voss, an old form of tenere, and has its triple meanings: "to know; to rule over; to overcome." The Prænestines used tongitionem for notitionem.

Books Xxiv., Xxv.

No Fragments extant.[1830]

FOOTNOTES:

[1830] The few Fragments referred to these books are, in better MSS. and editions, ascribed to others, where they will be found.

Book XXVI. Argument.

BOOK XXVI.

ARGUMENT.

Gerlach considers this book to contain the strongest evidences of how much Horace was indebted to Lucilius, not only in the choice of his subjects, but also in his illustration and method of handling the subject when chosen. In the 105th of the Fragmenta incerta, we find the words "Valeri sententia dia" (which Horace imitates, i., Sat. ii., 32, "sententia dia Catonis"). By Valerius he here supposes Q. Valerius Soranus to be intended; a man of great learning and an intimate friend of Publius Scipio and Lucilius. He was author of a treatise on grammar, entitled ἐποπτίδων; which contained, according to Turnebe's conjecture, a discussion on the mysteries of literature and learning (ἐπόπτης being applied to one initiated into the mysteries). This is not improbable; as he is said to have lost his life for divulging the sacred and mysterious name of Rome. Vid. Plut., Qu. Rom., lxi. «Two verses of his are quoted by Varro, L. L., vii., 3, and x., 70. Cf. Plin., H. N., Præf., p. 6, Hard. A. Gell., ii., 10.»

With him, therefore, as a man of judgment and experience, Lucilius, who had already acquired some ill-will from his Satires, consults, as to the best method of avoiding all odium for the future, and as to the subjects he shall select for his compositions. This book then contains an account of this interview between the poet and his adviser; and Gerlach most ingeniously arranges the fragments in such an order as to represent in some manner the topics of discussion in a methodical sequence. These are, chiefly, the propriety of his continuing to pursue the same style of writing, and the enunciation of the opinions of both on matters relating to war, marriage, and literary pursuits.

Van Heusde and Schoenbeck give no definite idea of the subject. Petermann considers the subject matter to have been far more diversified. The book begins, in his opinion, with a vivid description of the miseries of conjugal life, introducing a very graphic matrimonial quarrel; this is followed by so infinitely diversified a farrago of sentiments that it is hopeless to attempt to establish any systematic connection between them.

Corpet considers the whole to have been a philosophical discussion of the miseries of human life, especially those attendant on the married state, which the poet illustrated by the very forcible example of Agamemnon and Clytæmnestra.

The whole of the book was composed in the Trochaic metre; consisting of tetrameters catalectic and acatalectic. A few Fragments consist of Iambic heptameters and octometers (Iambici septenarii et octonarii), unless, as is not improbable, these lines have been referred to this book, through the inadvertence of grammarians or copyists. It might, however, have been intentional, as in the succeeding books we find Iambic, Trochaic, and Dactylic metres indiscriminately employed.

1 Men, by their own act, bring upon themselves this trouble and annoyance; they marry wives, and bring up children, by which they cause these.[1831]

2 For you say indeed, that what was secretly intrusted to you, you would neither utter a single murmur, nor divulge your mysteries abroad....[1832]

3 If she were to ask me for as much iron as she does gold, I would not give it her. So again, if she were to sleep away from me, she would not get what she asks.

4 ... but Syrus himself, the Tricorian, a freedman and thorough scoundrel; with whom I become a shuffler, and change all things.[1833]

5 ... covered with filth, in the extremity of dirt and wretchedness, exciting neither envy in her enemies, nor desire in her friends.

6 ... but that I should serve under Lucilius as collector of the taxes on pasturage in Asia, no, that I would not![1834]

7 ... just as the Roman people has been conquered by superior force, and beaten in many single battles; but in war never, on which every thing depends.

8 Some woman hoping to pillage and rifle me, and filch from me my ivory mirror.[1835]

9 In throwing up a mound, if there is any occasion for bringing vineæ into play, their first care is to advance them.

10

11 Take charge of the sick man, pay his expenses, defraud his genius.[1836]

12 ... But for whom? One whom a single fever, one attack of indigestion, nay, a single draught of wine, could carry off....[1837]

13 If they commiserate themselves, take care you do not assign their case too high a place.[1838]

14 Now, in like manner ... we wish to captivate their mind ... just to the people and to authors....[1839]

15 ... you do not collect that multitude of your friends which you have entered on your list....[1840]

16 ... wherefore it is better for her to cherish this, than bestow all her regard on that....

17 ... in the first place, all natural philosophers say, that man is made up of soul and body.

18 ... to have returned and retraced his steps[1841]

19 ... and that which is greatly to your fancy is excessively disagreeable to me....

20 ... strive with the highest powers of your nature: whereas I, on the other hand ... that I may be different[1842]

21 ... whether he should hang himself, or fall on his sword, that he may not look upon the sky....[1843]

22 ... study the matter, and give your attention to my words, I beg.

23 ... in order that I may escape from that which I perceive it is the summit of your desires to attain to.[1844]

24 On the other hand, it is a disgrace not to know how to conquer in war the sturdy barbarian Hannibal.[1845]

25 ... but if they see this, they think that a wise man always aims at what is good....

26 ... delighted with your pursuit, you write an ancient history to your favorites....[1846]

27 ... who I am, and with what husk I am now enveloped, I can not....[1847]

28 ... then to oppose to my mind a body worn out with pains.

29 ... nor before he had handled a man's veins and heart....

30 Let us appear kind and courteous to our friends--[1848]

31 Why should not you too call me unlettered and uneducated?[1849]

32 ... call together the assembly, with hoarse sound and crooked horns.[1850]

33 They will of their own accord fight it out for you, and die, and will offer themselves voluntarily.

34 When I bring forth any verse from my heart--[1851]

35 He is not on that account exalted as the giver of life or of joy....[1852]

36 As each one of us has been brought forth into light from his mother's womb[1853]

37 ... if you wish to have your mind refreshed through your ears[1854]

38 ... they who drag on life for six months, vow the seventh to Orcus.

39 ... we are easily laughed at; we know that it is highly dangerous to be angry--[1855]

40 Part is blown asunder by the wind, part grows stiff with cold--[1856]

41 ... if he tastes nothing between two market days.[1857]

42 ... let it be glued with warm glue spread over it....

43 ... wherefore I quit the straight line, and gladly discharge the office of rubbish--[1858]

44 ... if I had hit upon any obsolete or questionable word

45 ... your youth, tired and tested to the highest degree by me.[1859]

46 ... when I had invigorated my body with a double stadium on the exercise-ground, and with ball....[1860]

47 ... those who will take food from a clean table must needs wash.

48 Now obscurity is to these a strange and monstrous thing--[1861]

49 ... what you would think you should beware of and chiefly avoid....

50 ... enter on that toil which will bring you both fame and profit--

51 ... what he understood, I showed that not a few could:

52 ... how disgusting and poor a thing it is to live «with loathing for food».[1862]

53 ... for my part, I am not persuaded publicly to change mine.

54 ... then my tithes, which treat me so ill, and turn out so badly

55 ... we see that he who is ill in mind gives evidence of it in his body.

56 ... make the battle of Popilius resound[1863]

57 ... Sylvanus, the driver away of wolves ... and trees struck by lightning.[1864]

58 ... that you transport yourself from the fierce storms of life into quiet.

59 Moreover, it is a friend's duty to advise well, watch over, admonish--

60 Since I found it out from great crowds of boon companions--[1865]

61 ... a faithless wife, a sluggish household, a dirty home--[1866]

62 ... nor is peace obtained ... because he dragged Cassandra from the statue[1867]

63 ... Eager to return home, we almost infringed our king's command[1868]

64 ... Let something, at all events, which I have attempted, turn out, some way....

65 ... Thither our eyes of themselves entice us, and hope hurries our mind to the spot.

66 ... he thinks by clothes to ward off cold and shivering.

67 ... unless you write of monsters and snakes with wings and feathers.[1869]

68 ... for I grow contemptuous and am weary of Agamemnon--

69 ... he is tormented with hunger, cold, dirt, unbathed filthiness, neglect.

70 ... a sieve, a colander, a lantern ... a thread for the web.[1870]

71 May the gods suggest better things, and avert madness from you

72 ... a dry, wretched, miserable stock he calls an elder--

73 ... be more learned than the rest; abandon, or change to some other direction, those faults which have become sacred with you.

74 It were better to get gold from the fire or food out of the mud with our teeth.

75 Let him chop wood, perform his task-work, sweep the house, be beaten.

76 He alone warded off Vulcan's violence from the fleet....

77 Therefore, they think all will escape sickness....

78 I therefore dispose, for money, of that which costs me dearer.

FOOTNOTES:

[1831] Producunt, i. e., "instituunt," Nonius: vel "gignunt," Plaut., Rud., IV., iv., 129. Pers., vi., 18, "Geminos Horoscope varo producis genio." Juv., viii., 271, "Quam te Thersitæ similem producat Achilles." Plaut., As., III., i., 40. Ter., Ad., III., ii., 16. Juv., xiv., 228. This, and the 3d, 4th, and 5th Fragments refer to the miseries of married life.

[1832] Mutires, "to grumble, mutter." Plaut., Amph., I., i., 228, "Etiam muttis? jam tacebo."

[1833] The Tricorii were a people of Gallia Narbonensis, on the banks of the Druentia, now Durance, near Briançon, bordering on the Allobroges and Vocontii. Hannibal marched through their territory, after leaving the Arar. Cf. Plin., ii., 4. Liv., xxi., 31. Versipellis. Cf. Plaut., Amph., Prol., 123, "Ita versipellem se facit quando lubet."

[1834] Van Heusde's interpretation is followed, which seems the most obvious one. Gerlach takes the contrary view, and says, these very words prove that Lucilius could not have been a scriptuarius or decumanus. Lucilius means, "he would not change his present condition and pursuits, even for a very lucrative post in Asia."

[1835] Depeculassere and deargentassere, are examples of the old form of a future infinitive ending in assere. Cf. Plaut., Amphit., I., i., 56, "Sese igitur summâ vi virisque eorum oppidum expugnassere." Decalauticare, "to deprive of one's hood," from calautica, "a covering for the head, used by women, and falling over the shoulders." It seems that Cicero charged Clodius with wearing one, when he was detected in Cæsar's house. "Tunc cum vincirentur pedes fasceis, cum calauticam capiti accommodares." Cic. in Clod. ap. Non., in voc. Decalicasse, is another reading.

[1836] Defrudet. Cf. Plaut., Asin., I., i., 77, "Me defrudato. Defrudem te ego? Age, sis, tu sine pennis vola!"

[1837] Cf. Shaksp., Measure for Measure, act iii., sc. 1, "Reason thus with life," etc.

[1838] Read "causam ... collocaveris."

[1839] Hopelessly corrupt. Gerlach says very justly, "fortasse rectius ejusmodi loca intacta relinquuntur."

[1840] Conficere, i. e., "Colligere." Nonius, in voc.

[1841] Repedasse. Cf. Lucret., vi., 1279, "Perturbatus enim totus repedabat." Pacuv. ap. Fest., in voc., "Paulum repeda gnate à vestibulo gradum."

[1842] 19 and 20. Cf. Hor., i., Epist. xiv., 18, "Non eadem miramur: eô disconvenit inter meque et te: nam quæ deserta et inhospita tesqua Credis, amœna vocat mecum qui sentit, et odit quæ tu pulchra putas." Cf. 23.

[1843] Describes the alternatives which the man worn out by conjugal miseries proposes to himself.

[1844] Hor., i., Epist. xiv., 11,. "Cui placet alterius sua nimirum est odio sors. Stultus uterque locum immeritum causatur iniquè. In culpâ est animus qui se non effugit unquam."

[1845] Gerlach's emendation is followed. Nonius explains "viriatum" by "magnarum virium." Freund explains it, "adorned with bracelets," from an old word, "viriæ," a kind of armlet or bracelet.

[1846] This refers, according to Gerlach, to Aulus Postumius Albinus, consul B.C. 151, who wrote a Roman history in Greek. Cic., Brut., 21. Fr. inc. 1.

[1847] Folliculus, properly the "pod, shell, or follicle" of a grain or seed, is here put for the human flesh or body, which serves as the husk to enshrine the principle of vitality.

[1848] Munifici. Plaut., Amph., II., ii., 222, "Tibi morigera, atque ut munifica sim bonis, prosim probis."

[1849] Idiota. Cf. Cic., Ver., ii., 4; Sest., 51. Gerlach considers these words to have been addressed either to Valerius Soranus, or more probably to Ælius Stilo, whose judgment in literary matters was so highly thought of that even Q. Servilius Cæpio, C. Aurelius Cotta, and Q. Pompeius Rufus used his assistance in the composition of their speeches. Cf. ad lib. i., Fr. 16.

[1850] Lipsius supposes this Fragment to refer to the Roman custom of sounding a trumpet in the most frequented parts of the city, when the day of trial of any citizen, on a capital charge, was proclaimed.

[1851] This Fragment, as well as 37 and 44, Gerlach supposes to have been addressed to Ælius Stilo.

[1852] Vel vitæ vel gaudî dator. Gerlach's last conjecture.

[1853] Bulga. Cf. lib. ii., Fr. 16; vi., Fr. i.

[1854] Irrigarier. Cf. Plaut., Pœn., III., iii., 86, "Vetustate vino edentulo ætatem irriges." Virg., Æn., iii., 511, "Fessos sopor irrigat artus."

[1855] Capital. Cf. Plaut., Trin., IV., iii., 81, "Capitali periculo." Rud., II., iii., 19. Mostell., II., ii., 44, "Capitalis ædes facta est."

[1856] Difflo. "Flatu disturbo." Non. Cf. Plaut. Mil. Gl., I., i., 17, "Quoius tu legiones difflavisti spiritu, quasi ventus folia aut paniculam tectoriam." Gerlach thinks this refers to some description of the return of the Greeks from the Trojan war, and is quoted by Lucilius to show how entirely his style of composition differs from such subjects.

[1857] Nundinæ. The market days were every ninth day, when the country people came into Rome to sell their goods. These days were nefasti. "Ne si liceret cum populo agi, interpellarentur nundinatores." Fest.

[1858] Lira is properly "the ridge thrown up between two furrows." Hence lirare, "to plow or harrow in the seed." [In Juv., Sat. xiii., 65, some read "liranti sub aratro."] Delirare, therefore, is "to go out of the right furrow." Hence, "to deviate from the straight course, to go wrong, or deranged." Hor., i., Ep. xii., 20, "Quidquid delirant reges plectuntur Achivi."

[1859] Spectatam. Ov., Trist., I., v., 25, "Ut fulvum spectatur in ignibus aurum tempore sic duro est inspicienda fides." Cic., Off., ii., 11, "Qui pecuniâ non movetur hunc igni spectatum arbitrantur."

[1860] Siccare, is properly applied "to healing up a running sore." Then generally for hardening and making healthy the skin or body.

[1861] Ignobilitas. Cic., Tusc., v., 36, "Num igitur ignobilitas aut humilitas ... sapientem beatum esse prohibebit?"

[1862] Vescum. Ovid explains the word. Fast., iii., 445, "Vegrandia farra coloni. Quæ male creverunt, vescaque parva vocant." Cf. Virg., Georg., iii., 175, "Et vescas salicum frondes." Lucret., i., 327, "Vesco sale saxa peresa." Nonius explains it by "minutus, obscurus." Gerlach omits the last words of the Fragment.

[1863] Gerlach supposes Popilius Lænas to be meant, who incurred great odium from the manner in which he conducted the inquiry into the death of Tiberius Gracchus.

[1864] Cf. Plaut., Trin., II. iv., 138, "Nam fulguritæ sunt hic alternæ arbores."

[1865] Combibo. "A pot companion." Cic., Fam., ix., 25, "In controversiis quas habeo cum tuis combibonibus Epicureis."

[1866] For the old reading flaci tam, Dusa reads flaccidam; Gerlach, fædatam.

[1867] Nonius explains prosferari by impetrari, which is very doubtful. Scaliger proposes "Nec mihi oilei proferatur Ajax." Gerlach, "Agamemnoni præferatur Ajax," which would connect this Fragment with Fr. 68 and 40, and the following.

[1868] Domuitio (i. e., Domum itio, formed like circuitio). This, probably, also refers to the return of the Greeks from Troy. Imperium imminuimus. Cf. Plaut., Asin., III., i., 6, "Hoccine est pietatem colere imperium matris minuere?"

[1869] This is also an allusion to tragic poets, whose subjects are quite foreign to his taste. Cf. Fr. 40. The allusion is of course to such plays as the Medea of Euripides (the Amphitryo of Plautus, etc.).

[1870] It is not impossible that the reference may be to the custom prescribed by the laws of the xii. tables to persons searching for stolen goods. The person so searching either wore himself (or was accompanied by a servus publicus wearing) a small girdle round the abdomen, called Licium; this was done to prevent any suspicion of himself introducing into the house that which he alleged to have been stolen from him; and that it might not be abused into a privilege of entering the women's apartments for the purposes of intrigue, he was obliged to carry before his face a Lanx perforated with small holes (hence incerniculum), that he might not be recognized by the women, whose apartments the law allowed him to search. This process was called, in law, per lancem et licium furta concipere. It is alluded to by Aristoph., Nub., 485. Cf. Schol. in loc. Fest. in voc. Lanx. Plato, Leg., xii., calls licium χιτωνίσκον.

Book XXVII. Argument.

BOOK XXVII.

ARGUMENT.

The Fragments of this book are of too diversified a character to form a correct conclusion with regard to the general subject. Corpet admits the difficulty, but considers that it contained a criticism upon the philosophic opinions of the day. Mercer thinks that the principal portion was occupied by a matrimonial discussion, in which the lady had decidedly the better of the argument; who being sprung from a more noble descent, and being possessed of a more ample fortune, considered that the control of the household pertained to herself, as a matter of right. These conjectures, however satisfactory as far as they go, will not sufficiently account for the greater portion of the Fragments. Gerlach supposes that the book contained a defense of the poet's own pursuits and habits of life against the attacks of calumniators. The book begins, therefore, with a conversation between the poet and a friend, when the various points at issue are brought forward and refuted. The chief of these are the study of poetry; which, as Lucilius maintains, conduces greatly to the well-being of the state. He then defends his choice of the particular branch of poetry which he has adopted, and proves that his satiric view is to be attributed to no arrogance, self-sufficiency, or malevolence, or envy toward his fellow-men; that he himself is possessed of a certain evenness of temper, neither elated by prosperity nor depressed by adversity. The result of this temperament is an openness of heart, and frankness of disposition, which leads him to form friendships rapidly, without that cautious circumspection which commonly attends men of less equable tone of mind. This peculiar disposition of mind is also one which, extending to itself no indulgence for any frailty, is but little inclined to overlook the weaknesses of others, but impartially corrects the failings of itself and others: whereas the more common character of mankind is to be indulgently blind to those faults to which they are themselves inclined, and severely critical of the imperfections of their neighbors. While others, again, make it their whole study hypocritically to conceal their own defects. He concludes with a sentiment which Horace has borrowed and enlarged upon, that whereas no perfection can be expected in this life, he is to be accounted to have arrived most nearly at the wished-for goal, who is disfigured by the fewest defects; and since all human affairs are at the best but frail and fleeting, it is a characteristic of wisdom out of evils to choose the least.

1 Moreover it is inherent in good men, whether they are angry or kindly disposed, to remain long in the same way of thinking.[1871]

2 The cook cares not that the tail be very large, provided it be fat. So friends look to a man's mind; parasites, to his riches.

3 He acts in the same way as those who secretly convey away from the harbor an article not entered, that they may not have to pay custom-dues.[1872]

4 Lucilius greets the people in such elaborate verses as he can; and all this too zealously and assiduously.[1873]

5 ... do you think Lucilius will be content, when I have wearied myself out, and used all my best endeavors....

6 ... for such a return as this indeed they foreboded, and to offend in no other thing.

7 ... those, too, who have approached the door they throw out of the windows on their head--

8 ... that I envy no one, nor often cast a jealous eye on their luxuries[1874]

9 ... he on the other hand ... all things imperceptibly and gradually ... out of doors, that he might hurt no one

10 nor, like the Greeks, at whatever question you ask, do we inquire, where are the Socratic writings?[1875]

11 This is little better than moderate; this, as being as bad as possible, is less so.

12 Let your order, therefore, now bring forward the crimes he has committed....

13 ... rather than an indifferent harvest, and a poor vintage

14 ... but if you will watch and carefully observe these for a little time.

15 ... but whatever may happen, or not, I bear patiently and courageously.

16 But if you watch the man who rejoices....

17 What dutiful affection? Five mere shadows of men call....[1876]

18 When I beg for peace, when I soothe her, accost her, and call her "my own!"

19 Yet elsewhere a wart or a scar, a mole or pimples, differ.[1877]

20 ... to which he has once made up his mind, and as he thinks altogether....

21 ... when my little slaves, come to me ... should not I salute my mistress--

22 ... they call mad, whom they see called a sap or a woman.[1878]

23 ... nor if I ... usury a little less; and helped a long time.

24 ... now up, now down, like a mountebank's neck.[1879]

25 ... his country's adviser, and hereditary legislator--

26 What they lend one another, is safe without fear of loss

27 ... if face surpass face, and figure figure--

28 let them rather spare him, whom they can, and in whom they think credit can be placed.[1880]

29 ... since I know that nothing in life is given to man as his own.

30 We were nimble ... thinking that would be ours forever.[1881]

31 Yet if this has not come back to you, you will lack this advantage.

32 I fear it can not be; and I differ from Archilochus.[1882]

33 ... than that he should not alone swallow up and squander all.

34

35 ... especially, if, as I hope, you lend me this....[1883]

36 ... first, with what courage he prevented slavery....

37

38 ... but you fear, moreover, lest you should be captivated by the sight, and her beauty....

39 ... in prosperity to be elated, in adversity to be depressed....

40 ... I will send one to plunder the property; I will look out for a wretched beggar....

41 ... for even from boyhood ... to extricate myself from love....

42 ... whether you maintain at home twenty or thirty or a hundred bread-wasters.[1884]

43 I would have you, as is fair, place faith in hymns.[1885]

44 ... bids you God speed, and salutes you most heartily and warmly.[1886]

FOOTNOTES:

[1871] Propitius is sometimes applied to human beings as well as to deities. Cf. Ter., Adelph., I., i., 6, "Uxor quæ in animo cogitat irata, quam illa quæ parentes propitii." Cic., Att., viii., 16, "hunc propitium sperant, illum iratum putant." The last line is very corrupt. Gerlach proposes to read "soliditas propositi," which is scarcely tenable.

[1872] Inscriptum, any thing contraband, not entered or marked at the custom-house, portitorium. Varr., R. R., II., i., 16.

[1873] Gerlach reads factis instead of fictis, which Nonius must have followed. Cf. Hor., i., Sat. x., 58, "Num rerum dura negarit Versiculos natura magis factos et euntes mollius." Cic., de Orat., iii., 48, "Oratio polita et facta quodammodo." So in Greek, κατειργασμένος· πεποιημένος. Longin., viii.

[1874] Strabo. Cf. Hor., i., Epist. xiv., 37, "Non istic obliquo oculo mea commoda quisquam limat." To this Varro opposes "integris oculis."

[1875] Cf. Hor., A. P., 310, "Rem tibi Socraticæ poterunt ostendere chartæ."

[1876] Monogrammi. Cf. lib. ii., Fr. 17.

[1877] Papulæ. Cf. Sen., Vit. Beat., 27, "Papulas observatis alienas, obsiti plurimis ulceribus." Virg., Georg., iii., 564.

[1878] Maltha is properly a thick unctuous excretion; fossil tar or petroleum; thence used, like our English "sap," for an effeminate fool: perhaps from the Greek μαλακός.

[1879] Cernuus. Cf. iii., Fr. 20. Properly "one who falls on his face;" then applied to a mountebank or tumbler, throwing somersaults; a πεταυριστὴς· κυβιστητήρ. Cf. "jactata petauro corpora," Juv., xiv., 265, with the note. Lucil., Fr. inc. 40. Collus is the older form of collum.

[1880] Very corrupt: the reading followed is adopted by Dusa and Gerlach.

[1881] Pernicis. Cf. Hor., Epod. ii., 42, "Pernicis uxor Appuli."

[1882] Excidere Nonius explains by dissentire.

[1883] Cf. Plaut., Curc., I., i., 47, "Ego cum illâ facere nolo mutuum."

[1884] Cibicidas, i. e., "slaves," a humorous word, "consumers of food."

[1885] Cf. ad xxviii., 44.

[1886] Sospitat, a religious phrase, properly "to preserve, protect." Plaut., Amph., III., viii., 501, Hild., "Dii plus plusque istuc sospitent." So Ennius, "regnum sospitent superstitentque." Impertit. Cf. Cic., Att., ii., 12, "Terentia impertit tibi multam salutem."

Book XXVIII. Argument.

BOOK XXVIII.

ARGUMENT.

Van Heusde considers that this book contained some severe strictures on the part of a morose old man, or stern uncle, on the over-indulgence of a fond and foolish father. Yet a considerable portion of the Satire seems to contain a defense of the poet himself against the assaults of some invidious maligners, and in order to do this, he enters, generally, into a discussion of the habits and manners of young men of the age. Their licentiousness, he is prepared to admit, has been in great measure produced by the want of restraint in early youth. This petulance develops itself in an uncontrolled license of speech, regardless of all annoyance to the feelings of others--in avarice--in haughtiness, the peculiar vice of men of rank--ambition, luxury, and love of sensual pleasure. These charges he illustrates by a passage quoted from Cæcilius. Even those who do show some taste for better things, and apply themselves to the cultivation of philosophy, do not, like Polemon, adopt the severe maxims of a self-denying system, but attach themselves to the school of Epicurus or Aristippus. To such as these, all good advice, all endeavors to reclaim them to the rugged paths of a stricter morality, are utterly hopeless and unavailing.

1 Let him grant the man what he wishes; cajole him, corrupt him altogether, and enfeeble all his nerves.[1887]

2 You can shorten your speech, while your hide is still sound.[1888]

3 He both loved Polemo, and bequeathed his "school" to him after his death; as they call it.[1889]

4 ... wherefore I am resolved to act against him; to prosecute him, and give up his name....

5 ... she will steal every thing with bird-limed hands; will take every thing, believe me, and violently sweep off all--[1890]

6 ... that ancient race, of which is Maximus Quintus, the knock-kneed, the splay-footed....[1891]

7 ... what they say Aristippus the Socratic sent of old to the tyrant....[1892]

8 ... to concede that one point, and yield in that in which he is overcome....[1893]

9 ... or if by chance needs be, elsewhere; if you depart hence for any place--

10 ... though the old woman returns to her wine-pot.[1894]

11 ... to threaten openly to name the day for his trial.

12 ... unhonored, unlamented, unburied--[1895]

13 ... substitute others, if you think whom you can.

14 ... lest he do this, and you escape from this sorrow.

15 ... what will become of me? since you do not wish to associate with the bad.[1896]

16 ... he never bestirs himself, nor acts so as to bring ruin on himself.

17 Here then was the meeting: arms and an ambuscade were placed.[1897]

18 I made away with a large quantity of fish and fatlings; that I deny....[1898]

19 ... add, moreover, a grave and stern philosopher.

20 ... rap at the door, Gnatho: keep it up! they stand firm! We are undone!

21 Come, come, you thieves; prate away your lies![1899]

22 But flight is prepared; greatly excited, he steps with timid foot.[1900]

23 Why do you thus use engines throwing stones of a hundred pounds' weight?[1901]

24 ... in the first place, gold is superabundant, and the treasures are open--

25 ... persuade ... and pass: or tell me why you should pass.

26 † he besides orders our ... who are entering....[1902]

27 ... to your own mischief, you destroyers of hinges[1903]

28 If Lucilius has provoked him in his love.

29 Whether you have kept aloof from your husband, a year, or this year--

30 besides this, some extra work, whenever you please[1904]

31 to whom I intrusted implicitly my life and fortunes.[1905]

32 ... on whom I have often inflicted a thousand stripes a day

33 ... that he is a capital botcher: sews up patchwork excellently.[1906]

34 ... by such great power they will elate their minds to heaven[1907]

35 But what are you doing? tell me that I may know--

36 ... Youth must provide now against old age.

37 As though you had dropsy in your mind.

38 ... as to face and stature....[1908]

39 ... and what is filthy in look and smell--

40 ... to forge supports of gold and brass--[1909]

41 Nor challenges at any price--

42 Go in, and be of good cheer.

43 Care nothing about teaching letters to a clod.[1910]

44 I have made up my mind, Hymnis, that you are taking from a madman[1911]

45 You know the whole affair. I am afraid I shall be blamed

46 Chremes had gone to the middle. Demænetus to the top.

47 Here you will find firm flesh, and the breasts standing forth from a chest like marble--[1912]

48 I will surpass the forms and atoms of Epicurus--

49 † Now you come toward us....[1913]

50 ... I come to the pimp ... that he intends to buy her outright for three thousand sesterces.[1914]

FOOTNOTES:

[1887] Nonius explains eligere by defatigare. It is used by Varro and Columella in the sense of "plucking up, weeding out," eridicare; and metaphorically by Cicero in the same sense. (Tusc., iii., 34.) Gerlach maintains that nervos eligere is not Latin, and reads nervos elidat «which is confirmed by a passage in the same treatise of Cicero, "Nervos omnes virtutis elidunt." Tusc., ii., 11».

[1888] Compendi facere. Plaut., Most., I., i., 57, "Orationis operam compendiface." Pseud., IV., vii., 44, "Quisquis es adolescens operam fac compendi quærere." Asin., II., ii., 41, "Verbivelitationem fieri compendi volo." Capt., V., ii., 12. Bacch., I., ii, 51; II., ii., 6. Terginum is a scourge made of hide (the "cowskin" of the Americans). Cf. Plaut., Ps., I., ii., 22, "Nunquam edepol vostrum durius tergum erit quam terginum hoc meum."

[1889] The story of Polemon entering intoxicated into the school of Xenocrates, and being suddenly converted by that philosopher's lecture on temperance, is told by Diogenes Laertius (in Vit., i., c. 1), and referred to by Horace, ii., Sat. iii., 253, "Faciasne quod olim mutatus Polemon? ponas insignia morbi Fasciolas, cubital, focalia, potus ut ille dicitur ex collo furtim carpsisse coronas postquam est impransi correptus voce magistri." He afterward succeeded Xenocrates; and Zeno and Arcesilaus were among his hearers. Cic., Orat., iii., 18.

[1890] Viscatis manibus. Cf. Sen., Ep. viii., 3, "Quisquis nostrum ista viscata beneficia devitet."

[1891] To whom these vituperative alliterations (vatia, vatrax, vatricosus) are applied is uncertain. The Fabian gens are most probably alluded to. The reading "verrucosus," therefore, has been suggested, to identify the person with the great Fabius Cunctator. (Aur. Vict., Vir. Ill., 43.) But this violates the metre, and still leaves the two other epithets unaccounted for. Three famous men of the gens had the prænomen Quintus, Æmilianus, his son Allobrogicus, and his grandson. Gerlach considers the last to be the object of the Satire, as his profligacy and licentiousness were notorious. Cf. Val. Max., III., v., 2.

[1892] Of the numerous repartees of Aristippus to Dionysius, mentioned by Diogenes Laertius in his Life, it is difficult to say to which Lucilius alludes. Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 10; i., Epist. xvii., 13, seq.

[1893] Cf. Hor., Epod. xvii., 1, "Jam jam efficaci do manus scientiæ."

[1894] Armillum, "a wine-pot," vini urceolus, vas vinarium; so called quia armo, i. e., humero deportatur. Old women being naturally wine-bibbers (vinibuæ), "anus ad armillum" passed into a proverbial expression. Cf. Prov., xxvi., 11. 2 Pet., ii., 22.

[1895] Nullo honore. Cf. Scott's Lay of Last Minstrel, "Unwept, unhonored, and unsung."

[1896] Committere, Nonius explains by "conjungere, sociare." Cf. Virg., Æn., iii., "Delphinum caudas utero commissa luporum." Ov., Met, xii., 478, "Quà vir equo commissus erat."

[1897] Nonius quotes this passage as an instance of "convenire" used in the sense of "interpellare."

[1898] Altilium. Cf. Juv., v., 168, "Ad nos jam veniet minor altilis." Hor., i., Ep. vii., 35, "Nec somnum plebis laudo satur altilium." Cf. iv., Fr. 5.

[1899] Argutamini. Cf. Enn. ap. Non., "Exerce linguam ut argutarier possis." Næv., ibid., "totum diem argutatur quasi cicada." Plaut., Amp., I., i., 196, "Pergin argutarier?" Bacch., I., ii., 19, "Etiam me advorsus exordire argutias?"

[1900] Percitus is commonly used by the comic writers for the excitement of any strong passion, as love, anger, etc.

[1901] Centenarias. So pondere centenario. Plin., vii., 20. Cf. ad lib. v., Fr. 22.

[1902] Hopelessly corrupt. Dusa proposes puer.

[1903] Confectores. Connected probably with Fr. 20, and referring to the violent entrances lovers used to effect into the houses of their mistresses. Cf. lib. iv., Fr. 15; xxix., Fr. 47. Hor., iii., Od. xxvi., 7. Where Zumpt explains vectes as instruments which "adhibebantur ad fores effringendas." Conficere, i. e., frangere. Nonius.

[1904] Subsecivus is properly applied to that which is "cut off and left remaining over and above," as land in surveying, etc. So horæ subsecivæ, tempus subsecivum, "leisure hours, odd times," used by Cicero and Pliny. So Seneca says of philosophy, "Exercet regnum suum: dat tempus non accipit. Non est res subseciva: ordinaria est, domina est: adest et jubet." Cf. the Greek phrase ἐκ παρέργου.

[1905] Concredidit. Plaut., Aul., Prol., 6.

[1906] Sarcinator. Plaut., Aul., III., v., 41. Cento, "a patchwork coverlet." Juv., vi., 121. Vid. Fest in voc. "prohibere." The phrase centones sarcire also means, "to impose upon a person by falsehoods." Cf. Plaut., Epid., III., iv., 19, "Quin tu alium quæras quoi centones sarcias."

[1907] The emendations of this Fragment are endless. The reading of the text is approved by Merula and Gerlach.

[1908] Statura. Cf. Cic., Phil., ii., 16, "Velim mihi docas, L, Turselius, qua facie fuit, quâ staturâ."

[1909] Fulmenta, "any prop or support." Hence "a bed-post." Whence the proverb, "Fulmenta lectum scandunt." Plautus also uses it for the "heel of a shoe," "fulmentas jubeam suppingi soccis?" Trin., III., ii., 94, seq. Lib. iv., Fr. 19.

[1910] Lutum for "lutulentum."

[1911] Gerlach thinks Hymnis, here and in lib. xxvii., Fr. 43, may be a proper name.

[1912] Hic corpus. "Verba conciliatricis Lenæ." Dusa. (Cf. Arist., Acharn., 1199).

[1913] Given up even by Gerlach.

[1914] Destinet. Cf. Plaut., Rud., Prol., 45, "Amare occœpit, ad lenonem devenit minis triginta sibi puellam destinat." Pers., IV., iii., 80. Mart., III., i., 109; IV., iii., 35. Destinare is properly "to set one's mind upon a thing." So obstinare. Plaut., Aul., II., ii., 89.

Book XXIX. Argument.

BOOK XXIX.

ARGUMENT.

The remains of this book are so mutilated and so diversified, that, as Gerlach says, "one might be disposed to imagine that the very essence of the subject was its unconnected variety." Both he and Merula, however, consider that it contained a long episode on the state of morality in the good old days; when the war with Hannibal rendered a luxurious indulgence incompatible even with personal safety. (Cf. Juv., vi., 291. Sulpic., 51, 52.) An old man is introduced inveighing bitterly against the sloth, the luxury, and immoderate extravagance of the young men of his day; of their unscrupulousness as to the means by which the money was acquired, which was squandered on their licentious pleasures. He then describes one of these scenes of dissipation; and shows how young men, once entangled in the snares of their worthless paramours not only become lost to every principle of virtue and sense of shame, but are so completely enslaved and enthralled by their passions, that they are able to refuse nothing, however unworthy of them, which is exacted by their tyrannical mistresses. This corruption extends itself, also, not only to the courts of law, where justice has become a matter of barter, both with advocates and judges, but its fatal effects may also be traced in the debasement and deterioration of literature, of poetry, and of the public taste.

1 When he has done this, the culprit will be handed over along with others to Lupus: he will not appear. He will deprive the man of both primary matter and elements: when he has prohibited him from the use of water and fire, he has still two elements: he would have preferred ... still he will deprive him--[1915]

2 ... and rest assured in your mind, that it will be a very weighty reason indeed with me, which would draw me away from any thing that would serve you.

3 ... who communicates to me what the difference is between the race of mankind and brutes, and what it is connects them together.

4 Apollo is the deity who will not suffer you to bring disgrace and infamy on the ancient Delians.[1916]

5 For he swears a great oath that he has written, and will not write afterward.... and return into fellowship.

6 ... when you have learnt, you may pass your life without care.

7 ... at the close of the year, days of mourning, sorrow, and ill-luck.[1917]

8 ... and loved all; for he makes no difference, and separates them by a white line....

So in love, and in the case of young men of rather better face, he marks.... and loves nothing.[1918]

9 Why do you give way to excessive anger? You had better keep your hands off a woman!

10 ... you could not take it away before you took the spirit of Tullius from the man, and killed the man himself.[1919]

11 We heard he appealed to his friends, with that rascal Lucilius.

12 besides that you would wish us to direct, and apply our minds to your words

13 So, I say, was that crafty fellow, that old wolf, Hannibal, taken in.[1920]

14 But they are not alike, and do not give. What if they would give? Would you accept, tell me?

15 ... convey him, like a runaway slave, with handcuffs, fetters, and collar.[1921]

16 ... who will both beg you for less, and grant their favors much better, and without disgrace.[1922]

17 If you wish to detain him....

18 Albinus, in grief, confines himself to his house, because he has divorced his daughter....[1923]

19 ... to foment another's hungry stomach with ground barley like a poultice.[1924]

20 I know for certain it is as you say: for I had thoroughly examined into all.

21 ... she will bring you youth and elegance, if you think that elegance.

22 ... first opposite.... if there is any garret to which he can retire.

23 ... and in the gymnasium, that after the old fashion you might retain spectators.

24 ... where there was a scout to shut him out from you, and nip his passion in the bud.[1925]

25 When he sees me, he wheedles and coaxes, scratches his head, and picks out the vermin.[1926]

26 What will it profit me, when I am now sated with all things.

27 ...[1927]

28 Go on, I pray; and if you can, make me think myself worthy of you.

29 ... this he would have found the only thing for the man's disease.

30 This is their way of reckoning: the items are falsified: the sum total roguishly balanced.[1928]

31 These fellows will balance their accounts exactly in the same way--[1929]

32 Come, now, add up the expenditure, and then add on the debts.

33 ... suffering from a Chironian and not a mortal sore and wound.[1930]

34 ... what you have hired at a great price is dear; though with no great loss.[1931]

35 ... all their hope rests in me, that I may be bilked of my money.[1932]

36 ... would not return ... and banish her poor wretch.[1933]

37 ... we have all been plundered.

38 ... distribute, scatter, squander, dissipate....

39 ... collect assistance, though she does not deserve I should bring it.

40 ... you think me your patron, friend, and lover....

41 ... that in this matter, you should bring me aid and assistance

42 ... Do you, meantime, bring a light, and draw the curtains.[1934]

43 ... thank me for introducing you.

44 ... then he subjoins that which is even now well known.

45 I will hit his leg with a stone, if he strikes you....

46 Let no one break these double hinges with iron....[1935]

47 I will break through the hinges with a crowbar and two-edged iron.

48 I shall pass quickly through each winter.[1936]

49 Sends forth his pent-houses, prepares sheds and mantlets.[1937]

50 ... add all the rest in order, at my peril.

51 ... for a little while, they will devour me; while she, like a very polypus....[1938]

52 ... rise, woman, draw not a bad outline....[1939]

53 ... since while they are extricating others, they get into the mud themselves--

54 ... he came here, on his way, while he was traveling elsewhere.

55 ... what? he would himself share for learning what is good.[1940]

56 ... as if he had not got what he wished for.

57 ... nor the cloudless breezes favor with their blast--[1941]

58 ... whence he can scarcely get home, and hardly get clear out.

59 ... and heaviness often oppresses you, by your own fault.[1942]

60 ... the annihilation of our army to a man--

61 ... thrust forth by force, and driven out of Italy.

62 ... this then he possessed, and nearly all Apulia--

63 ... with some intricate beginning out of Pacuvius.

64 ... may the king of gods avert ill-omened words.[1943]

65 ... rails at wretched me too....

66 ... first he denies that Chrysis returns intact.[1944]

67 ... the Greeks call tripping up.[1945]

68 ... all things alike he separates ... and heinous.[1946]

69 ... What man art thou? Man! no man....[1947]

70 ...[1948]

71 ... all other things in which we are carried away, not to be prolix.[1949]

72 † ....[1950]

73[1951]

FOOTNOTES:

[1915] Lupus. Cf. lib. i., Fr. 4, where he speaks of his perjuries, and Fr. inc. 193, "Occidunt Lupe te saperdæ et jura siluri," where he satirizes his luxuriousness; here he alludes to his unjust dealings as judge. Cf. ad Pers., i., 114. Interdicere aquâ et igni, the technical phrase for banishment. Cf. Cæs., B. G., vi., 44. Cic., Phil., vi., 4. Fam., xi., 1. Lupus appears to grieve that the banished man has still two elements, air and earth, left to enjoy. Thales is said to have been the first to use ἀρχαὶ in the sense of "first principles." (Vid. Ritter's History of Philosophy.) Empedocles first reduced the elements to four, and called them ῥιζώματα. Plato first called them στοιχεῖα, vid. Tim., 48. Adesse is applied both to the defendant who appears before the tribunal and to the advocate who stands by to support him. «Cicero seems to allude to the passage in his speech for Roscius (pro Rosc. Am., xxvi.), "Non videntur hunc hominem ex rerum naturâ sustulisse et eripuisse, cui repente cœlum, solem, aquam, terramque ademerint?" Cf. de Orat., i., c. 50, 1.»

[1916] Deliacis, the conjecture of Junius for deliciis. The Fragment will then be connected with Fr. 8, and will refer to the θεωρία sent to Delos; with which, of course, the death of Socrates is connected. Plat., Phæd., 58.

[1917] Annus vertens, i. e., "circumactus, completus." Nizol. Cic. pro Qu., 40. Nat. De., ii., 54, "Mercurii stella anno ferè vertente signiferum lustrat orbem." Phil., xiii., 10, "intra finem anni vertentis." So mensis vertens. Plaut., Pers., IV., iv., 76. Dies religiosi, ἀποφράδες ἡμέραι, "Days of ill omen," on which nothing important was undertaken; as the Dies Alliensis. Cf. Cic., Att., ix., 4. Qu., Fr. 3, 4. Liv., vi., 1. Suet., Tib., 61, "Nullus à pœnâ hominum cessavit dies, ne religiosus quidem ac sacer." Claud., 14. Aul. Gell., iv., 9. Festus reckons thirty-six of these days in the year (in voc "Religiosus" and "Mundus").

[1918] Albâ lineâ signare is a phrase for "doing any thing carelessly and negligently:" to make, as it were, a white line on a white ground, which could not be distinguished; whereas careful workmen work by a clearly-defined and durable line. Cf. Aul. Gell., Præf., 11, "Albâ ut dicitur lineâ, sine curâ discriminis converrebant."

[1919] Tullius, Gerlach supposes to have been an unjust judge, like Lupus, Fr. 1, and to be the same as the "judex" mentioned, xi., Fr. 2.

[1920] Acceptum, i. e., deceptum. Nonius. Veterator. Cf. Ter., Andr., II., vi., 26, "Quid hic volt veterator sibi?"

[1921] Canis, and its diminutive, catulus, are both used for a species of fetter. Plaut., Cas., II., vi., 37, "Ut quidem tu hodie canem et furcam feras." Curcul., V., iii., 13, "Delicatum te hodie faciam cum catello ut adcubes ferreo ego dico." σκύλαξ is used in Greek with the same double meaning. Collare. Cf. Plaut., Capt., II., ii., 107, "Hoc quidem haud molestum est, jam quod collum collari caret." Other kinds of fetters are mentioned, Plaut., Asin., III., ii., 4, "Compedes, nervos, catenas, numellas, pedicas, boias." Capt., IV., ii., 109.

[1922] Præbent. Cf. Ov., A. Am., ii., 685, "Odi quæ præbet, quia sit præbere necesse."

[1923] Albinus. It is doubtful whether the allusion is to Aulus or Spurius Posthumius Albinus. The latter, Cicero tells us, was condemned and banished by the "Gracchani judices," together with Opimius. Cic., Brut., 34. (Cf. lib. xi., Fr. 1.) He is here charged with incest, as the phrase repudium remittere properly applies to a wife, or one betrothed (divortium being applied to a wife only). Vid. Fest. in v. "Repudium." Plaut., Aul., IV., x., 57, c. not. Hildyard.

[1924] Mæstum, i. e., fame enectum. Non.

[1925] Compare the whole scene in Plaut, Asin., act. iv., sc. 1.

[1926] Subblanditur. Plaut., Cas., III., iii., 23. Bacch., III., iv., 19. Palpatur. Plaut., Merc., I., ii., 60, "Hoc, sis, vide ut palpatur! Nullus 'st quando occœpit, blandior." Amph., I., iii., 9, "Observatote quam blande mulieri palpabitur."

[1927] Cf. xxviii., Fr. 49. The Fragment is assigned to both books.

[1928] Æra, "numeri nota." Nonius. Cf. Cic. in Hortens., "Quid tu inquam soles; cum rationem ad dispensatorem accipis, si æra singula probasti, summam quæ ex his confecta sit, non probare?" This and the 31st, 32d, 34th, and 38th Fragments, are part of the old man's speech, inveighing against the profligacy and extravagance of young men. Vid. Argument.

[1929] Subducere rationes. Cf. Plaut., Curc., iii., 1, "Beatus videor: subduxi ratiunculam, quantum æris mihi sit, quantumque alieni siet; dives sum si non reddo eis, quibus debeo; si reddo eis quibus debeo plus alieni est."

[1930] Vomica. Cf. Juv., xiii., 35. The vulnus Chironium is described by Celsus, "Magnum est, habet oras duras, callosas, tumentes: sanie tenui manat, odorem malum emittit, dolorem modicum affert: nihilominus difficile coit et sanescit:" v., 28. It took its name from Chiron, who is said to have first found out the way of treating it. «Cf. Orph., H., 379. Hom., Il., xi., 831. Pind., Pyth., iii.»

[1931] Magna mercede. Merces, i. e., "cost, injury, detriment." Cic., Fam., i., 9, "In molestia gaudeo te eam fidem cognoscere hominum non ita magnâ mercede, quam ego maximo dolore cognôram." The sentiment is probably the same as Cato's, "asse carum esse dicebat, quo non opus esset."

[1932] Emungi. Cf. Ter., Ph., IV., iv., 1, "Quid egisti? Emunxi argento senes." Plaut., Bac., V., i., 15, "Miserum med auro esse emunctum." Hor., A. P., 238, "Pythias emuncto lucrata Simone talentum." Bolus, "any thing thrown as a bait;" hence "profit, gain." Ter., Heaut., IV., ii. 6, "Crucior, bolum mihi tantum ereptum tam desubito de faucibus." Plaut., Pers., IV., iv., 107, "Dabit hæc tibi grandes bolos."

[1933] Exterminare. "To expel, banish beyond certain limits."

[1934] Aulæa obducite. Cf. Plin., ii., Ep. 17, "Velis obductis."

[1935] Cardines. Plaut., Amph., IV., ii., 6, "Pœne effregisti, fatue, foribus cardines." Asin., II., iii., 8, "Pol haud periclum est cardines ne foribus effringantur." Cf. iv., Fr. 15; xxviii., Fr. 27.

[1936] Carpere, "celeriter præterire." Non. Cf. Virg., Georg., iii., 141, "Acri carpere prata fuga."

[1937] Pluteus, tecta, testudines, are all military terms, and signify sheds, pent-houses, or mantlets, made of wood and hurdles covered with hides, under cover of which the soldiers advanced to the attack of a town. The vinea and musculus were of the same kind. (Cf. xxvi., Fr. 9.) Cf. Fest., in v. Pluteus., Veget., iv., 15. They are also used metaphorically, as perhaps here. Plaut, Mil. Gl., II., ii., 113, "Ad eum vineas pluteosque agam."

[1938] Polypus, one that sticks as close as a polypus or barnacle. Cf. Plaut., Aul., II., ii., 21, "Ego istos novi polypos qui sicubi quid tetigerint tenent." (Where vid. Hildyard's note.) Ov., Met., iv., 366, "deprensum polypus hostem continet--"

[1939] Filum, "oris liniamentum." Non. Cf. Plaut., Merc., IV., iv., 15, "Satis scitum filum mulieris." So filum corporis, "the contour of the body." A. Gell., i., 9.

[1940] Cf. iii., Fr. 38.

[1941] Sudum, "semiudum." Non. Serenum. Fulgent. Cf. Virg., Georg., iv., 77, "Ver nactæ sudum." Æn., viii., 529, "Arma inter nubem, cœli in regione serenâ per sudum rutilare vident."

[1942] Gravedo. Crapula, κραιπάλη, "the headache that follows intoxication." Plin., xx., 13, "Crapulæ gravedines." (Cf. Arist., Acharn., 277.)

[1943] Obscœna, i. e., "mali ominis." Fest. Hence the phrases "obscenæ aves, canes, anus." So "puppis obscœna," the ship that bore Helen to Troy. Ov., Her., v., 119. So Dies alliensis (Id. Quinct.) was said to be "Obscœnissimi ominis." Fest., in voc.

[1944] Signatam, i. e., integram; a metaphor from that which is kept closely sealed, and watched that the seals may not be broken.

[1945] Supplantare. Plato (Euthydem., l. 278) uses ὑποσκελίζειν.

[1946] Nefantia. Cf. lib. iii., 28, "Tantalus qui pœnas ob facta nefantia pendit."

[1947] Nemo homo. The two words, according to Charisius, were always used together. Cf. Plaut., Asin., II., iv., 60, "Ego certe me incerto scio hoc daturum nemini homini." Pers., II., ii., 29, "Nemo homo unquam ita arbitratus 'st." Cic., N. D., ii., 38.

[1948] Lib. xxviii., 17, where the Fr. is also quoted.

[1949] Ecferimur, i. e., "extollimur." Non.

[1950] Is hopelessly corrupt.

[1951] Occurs before; lib., xix., Fr. 8.

Book XXX. Argument.

BOOK XXX.

ARGUMENT.

Most of the commentators seem to be agreed that the subject of this book was "matrimonial life." Mercer considers that it contained an altercation between a married couple, in which the lady strenuously refuses to submit to the lawful authority of her husband. Van Heusde says that in it were depicted the miseries of married life generally; especially of those husbands who are so devoted to their wives, that they surrender the reins of government into the hands of those, for whom the law compels them to provide subsistence, not only at the expense of their own personal labor, but also at the risk of life itself: the only return which they receive as an equivalent from the hands of their wives, being opprobrious language, ill temper, haughty exaction, treachery, and unfaithfulness to the marriage-bed. In addition to this, Gerlach thinks that in this, his last book, Lucilius recapitulated the subjects of his previous Satires; and consequently many Fragments are assigned to this book, which might easily be inserted in others. Among other matters, the poet also defends himself against the malignant charges of envious critics, one, Gaius, being especially noticed. The story of the old lion, which Horace has copied «i., Ep. i., 74», may also lead us to suppose that the treachery of false friends formed part of the matter of the poem.

N.B.--Gerlach considers that the 80th was undoubtedly the last book. The passages quoted from subsequent books are the result of the carelessness of the Librarii. These passages, therefore, will all be found incorporated into the preceding books.

1 † ... Lamia and Pytho ... with sharp teeth ... those gluttonous, abandoned, obscene hags....[1952]

2 ... a sick and exhausted lion....[1953]

3 Then the lion said with subdued voice, "Why will you not come hither yourself?"[1954]

4 What does it mean? how does it happen that the footsteps, all without exception, lead inward and toward you?

5 For, be assured that disease is far enough removed from men in wine, when one has regaled himself pretty sumptuously.[1955]

6 † ... in face and features ... sport, and in our conversation ... this is the virgin's prize, and let us pay this honor....[1956]

7 ... Should you first fasten me to the yoke, and force me against my will to submit to the plow, and break up the clods with the coulter.[1957]

8 Immediately, as soon as the gale has blown a little more violently, it has raised and lifted up the waves.

9 You may see all things glittering within, in the glowing recess.[1958]

10 must I first break you in, fierce and haughty as you are, with a Thessalian bit, like an unbroken filly, and tame you down by war?[1959]

11 or when I am going somewhere, and have invented some pretext as to the goldsmiths, to my mother, a relation or female friend's.[1960]

12 Much fiercer than she of whom we spoke before: the milder she is, the more savagely she bites.

13. † who not expecting ... entering on the impulse of an evil omen.[1961]

14 ... hoping that time will bring forth the same--

... will give chewed food from her mouth--[1962]

15 So when fame, making thy fight illustrious, having been borne to our ears, shall have reported.[1963]

16 Take care there are in the house a webster, waiting maids, men-servants, a girdle-maker, a weaver--[1964]

17 You clean me out, then turn me out; ruin and insult me--[1965]

18 If Maximus left sixteen hundred ... of silver.[1966]

19 beardless hermaphrodites, bearded pathic-adulterers[1967]

20 What is it, if you possess a hundred or two hundred thousand

21 † ... what we seek in this matter ... deceived ... guarded against[1968]

22 ... here like a mouse-trap laid, ... and like a scorpion with tail erect....

23 ... and what great sorrows and afflictions you have now endured.[1969]

24 † it was better you should be born, ... like a beast or ass.

25 ... on the ground, in the dung, stalls, manure, and swine-dung.[1970]

26 ... as much as my fancy delights to draw from the Muses' fountain.

27 ... and that our poems alone out of many are now praised.

28 Now, Gaius, since rebuking, you attack us in turn....[1971]

29 ... and would perceive that his ... lay neglected ... left behind....

30 ... since you do not choose to recognize me at this time, trifler!

31 ... still I will try to write briefly and compendiously back.[1972]

32 ... and that by your harsh acts and cruel words....

33 ... no one's mind ought to be so confident--

34 ... if I may do this, and repay by verses....

35 ... just as you who ... those things which we consider to be an example of life--

36 ... when having well drunk, he has retired from the midst....

37 Calvus Palatina, a man of renown, and good in war.[1973]

38 and in a fierce and stubborn war by far the noblest enemy.

39 ... as to your praising your own ... blaming, you profit not a whit.[1974]

40 ... but tell me this, if it is not disagreeable, what is it?[1975]

41 all the labor bestowed on the wool is wasted; neglect, and the moths destroy all.[1976]

42 † ... one is flat-footed, with rotten feet....[1977]

43 ... no one gives to them: no one lets them in: nor do they think that life....

44 by whose means the Trogine cup was renowned through the camp.[1978]

45 ... thanks are returned to both: to them, and to themselves together.[1979]

46 ... little mattresses besides for each, with two coverlets.[1980]

47 What do you care, where I am befouled, and wallow?

48 Why do you watch where I go, what I do? What affair is that of yours?

49 What he could give, what expend, what afford....

50 So the mind is insnared by nooses, shackles, fetters.

51 You are delighted when you spread that report about me, in your conversations abroad.

52 and by evil-speaking you publish in many conversations

53 While you accuse me of this, do you not before revolve in your mind?

54 ... let us kick them all out, master and all.

55 ... when once I saw you eager for a contest with Cælius.[1981]

56 These monuments of your skill and excellence are erected.

57 ... and remain, meanwhile, content with these verses.

58 They bring me forth to you, and compel me to show you these

59 ... at what our friends value us, when they can spare us.

60 ... both by your virtue and your illustrious writings to contribute....

61 ... What? Do the Muses intrust their strong-holds to a mortal?

62 Listen to this also which I tell you; for it relates to the matter.

63 The quæstor is at hand that you may serve....[1982]

64 ... receive laws by which the people is outlawed....

65 ... or to sacrifice with her fellows at some much frequented temple.[1983]

66 Whom you know to be acquainted with all your disgrace and infamy.

67 Then he sees this himself.... in sullied garments.

68 ... What you squander on the stews, prowling through the town.[1984]

69 ... that she is sworn to one, to whom she is given and consecrated.

70 ... serves him as a slave, allures his lips, fascinates with love.[1985]

71 † ... himself oppresses ... a head nourished with sense.[1986]

72 ... fingers, and the bodkin in her beautifully-clustering hair.[1987]

73 ... and beccaficos, and thrushes, flutter round ... carefully tended for the cooks.[1988]

74 ... but why do I give vent to these words with trembling mind.

75 Think not that I could curse thee!

76 Sorry and marred with mange, and full of scab....[1989]

77 Which wearies out the people's eyes and ears and hearts.[1990]

78 † No one will thrust through that belly of yours ... and create pleasure ... use force and you will see--[1991]

79 This you will omit: in that employ me gladly....

80 All modesty is banished--licentiousness and usury restored.

81 That too is a soft mischief, wheedling and treacherous.

82 They appear, on the contrary, to have invited, or instigated these things.

83 ... all ... to you, handsome and rich--but I ... so be it![1992]

84 The husband traverses the wide sea, and commits himself to the waves.

85 † whose whole body you know has grown up ... with cloven hoofs.

86 to be able to write out ... the thievish hand of Musco.[1993]

87 Time itself will give sometimes what it can for keeping up....[1994]

88 and then fly, like a dog, at your face and eyes--[1995]

89 ... published it in conversation in many places....

90 He departed unexpectedly; in one hour quinsy carried him off.[1996]

91 An old bed, fitted with ropes, is prepared for us....[1997]

92 that no one, without your knowledge, could remove from your servants.

93 † And that they who despised you were so proud[1998]

94 and contract the pupil of their eyes at the glittering splendor.[1999]

95 ... you rush hence, and collect all stealthily.

96 ... and since modesty has retreated from your breast

97 ... nor suffer that beard of yours to grow.

98 ... he destroys and devours me....

FOOTNOTES:

[1952] Lamia. Cf. lib. xx., Fr. 1. Oxyodontes. Scaliger's emendation for Ixiodontes. Gumiæ. Vid. lib. iv., Fr. 1.

[1953] Leonem ægrotum. Horace has copied the fable, i., Epist. i., 73, "Olim quod vulpes ægroto cauta leoni respondit, referam. Quia me vestigia terrent omnia te advorsum spectantia, nulla retrorsum."

[1954] Deductus, "tenuis; a lanâ quæ ad tenuitatem nendo deducitur." Serv. Cf. Virg., Ecl., vi., 5, "pastorem pingues pascere oportet oves, deductum dicere carmen."

[1955] Invitare, Nonius explains by "repleri," and quotes Sallust. Hist., "Se ibi cibo vinoque invitarent." So Plaut., Amph., I., i., 130, "Invitavit sese in cœna plusculum." Suet., Aug., 77, "quoties largissimè se invitaret senos sextantes non excessit." Dapsilius. So "Dapsiliter suos amicos alit." Næv. ap. Charis.

[1956] Pretium, "præmium." Non. Virg., Æn., v., 111, "Et palmæ pretium victoribus."

[1957] Proscindere. Cf. Varr., R. R., i., 29, "terram quum primum arant proscindere appellant: quum iterum, affringere quod primâ aratione gleba grandes solent excitari." Virg., Georg., ii., 237. Ov., Met., vii., 219.

[1958] Lege, "Omnia tum endo mucho (μυχῷ) videas fervente micare."--Turnebe's emendation.

[1959] The invention of bits is ascribed by Pliny and Virgil to the Thessalian Lapithæ. Plin., vii., 56. Virg., Georg., iii., 15, "Frena Pelethronii Lapithæ, gyrosque dedere." Cf. Lucan., Phars., vi., 396, seq. Val. Flac., i., 424, "Oraque Thessalico melior contundere fræno Castor." Gerlach proposes, therefore, to read equam for acrem, as young ladies are often compared by the poets to fillies. Cf. Hor., iii., Od. xi., 9, "Quæ velut latis equa trima campis, ludit exultim." Anacr., Fr. 75. Heraclid. Pont., All. Hom., p. 16. «Vid. Theogn., 257. Arist., Lys., 1308. Eurip., Hec., 144. Hip., 546.»

[1960] Commentavi. The words of an adulterous wife, inventing some excuse to keep her assignation. Aurifex. Cf. Plaut., Aul., III., v., 34. Cic., Orat., ii., 38.

[1961] Dusa refers this to the fox in the fable, quoted above. Ominis is Gerlach's emendation for hominis and hemonis. (Hemo was an older form of Homo, hence Nemo, ne hemo.)

[1962] Mansum is the food that has been chewed by the nurse preparatory to its being given to the child. Cf. Cic., Orat., ii., 39, "tenuissimas particulas, atque omnia minima mansa, ut nutrices infantibus pueris, in os inserant." Quint., X., i. Pers., iii., 17, "pappare minutum poscis." Plaut., Epid., V., ii., 62. It is expressed by the Greek ψωμίζειν. Arist., Lys., 19. Thesm., 692.

[1963] Clarans. Cf. Hor., iv., Od. iii., 3, "Ilium non labor Isthmius clarabit pugilem."

[1964] These are the demands of an imperious, perhaps a dowered wife. The speech of Megadorus in the Aulularia of Plautus (iii., Sc. v.), admirably illustrates this Fragment. In the list of slaves which the "dotata" expects, we find the Aurifex, Lanarius, Sarcinatores, strophiarii, semizonarii, textores. The Gerdius is probably the same as the Lenarius: as it is explained in the Glos. γέρδιος, ὑφαντής. Zonarius. Cf. Cic. p. Flac, vii., 17.

[1965] Probably the indignant expostulation of some young man to a Lena. Compare the scene between Argyrippus and Cleæreta, in the Asinaria of Plautus (i., Sc. iii.). Exsultare, "Gestu vel dictu injuriam facere." Non. Gerlach reads deures. The old reading is deaures, which is defensible. Cf. xxvi., Fr. 8, deargentassere.

[1966] Maximus. Q. Fabius Maximus Cunctator, whose son was notorious for his profligacy and luxuriousness. This is probably, therefore, part of the old man's speech against the licentiousness of the young.

[1967] Androgyni. Cf. Herod., iv., 67, c. not. Bähr. Juv., vi., 373, "Tonsoris damno tantum rapit Heliodorus."

[1968] Inductum. Thus explained by Nonius. Cf. Tibul., I., vi., 1, "Semper ut inducar blandos offers mihi vultus."

[1969] Exanclaris. Ennius in Andromacha, "Quantis cum ærumnis illum exantlavi diem." Fr. 6, p. 36, ed. Bothe. Cic., Tusc., i., 49; ii., 8. Acad., ii., 34. On the difference of the forms "exanclare and exantlare," vid. Burmann, ad Quintil., Inst., i., 6. Cf. Æsch., P. V., 375. Choëph., 746. Eurip., Hipp., 898.

[1970] Sucerda, from sus and cerno.

[1971] Gai. Van Heusde, Burmann, and Merula agree in supposing these to be the words of Fabius Cunctator to C. Minutius Rufus. «Cf. Liv., xxii., 8, 12, where, however, most of the Edd. call him Marcus.» Incilare, "increpare, improbare." Non. Pacuv. in Dulor, "Si quis hâc me oratione incilet, quid respondeam?" Fr. 28, p. 121, ed. Bothe. Lucret., iii., 976, "jure increpet inciletque."

[1972] Summatim. Cic, Att., v., 16. Suet., Tib., 61, "Commentario quem summatim breviterque composuit."

[1973] Calvus, probably either L. Cæcilius Metellus Calvus, consul with Q. Fabius Maximus Servilianus, B.C. 142, or his son L. Cæcilius Metellus Calvus Dalmaticus, consul with L. Aurelius Cotta, B.C. 119, who repaired out of his spoils the temple of Castor and Pollux. From the form of the word Palatina, Dusa and Gerlach suppose it to imply the name of a tribe; though Gerlach says we have no evidence of the existence of a tribe called from the hill «but cf. Cic., Verr., II., ii., 43». Cf. ad Pers., v., 73, "Publius Velina."

[1974] Hilum is the primitive from which nihilum is formed (i. e., ne-hilum). Cf. Poet. ap. Cic., Tusc., I., vi., "Sisyphus versat saxum sudans nitendo neque proficit hilum." Lucret., iii., 221, "nec defit ponderis hilum."

[1975] Nænum, probably "ne unum," written also nenum, nena the Archaic form of Non. Cf. Varro, Epist. ad Fusium, ap. Non. "Si hodie nænum venis, cras quidem." Lucret., iii., 20, "Nenu potest."

[1976] Pallor, "negligentia, vetustas." Non.

[1977] Plautus, an Umbrian word implying "flat-footed." From this peculiarity the poet derived his name, "Plotos appellant Umbri pedibus planis natos." Fest. The end of the line is hopeless. Turnebe reads "mens elephanti," and says it refers to "the horrors of matrimony, and the bodily defects of wives." Gerlach reads "mensa Libonis," and says, "Lucilius compares women to the tables of the money-changers." Cf. Hor., Sat., II., vi., 35. Cf. ad Pers., Sat., iv., 49.

[1978] Cic., de Div., ii., 37, mentions a people of Galatia, called Trogini. The name does not occur elsewhere.

[1979] The Archaic Simitû for simul occurs repeatedly in Plautus.

[1980] Privæ. Cf. i., Fr. 13. Privum, "proprium uniuscujusque." Non. Centonibus. Cf. xxviii., Fr. 33. Culcitulæ, "small cushions or pillows," from calco. Fest. Cf. Plaut., Most., IV., i., 49.

[1981] Invadere, i. e., "appetenter incipere." Cæli. Cicero tells us (Auct. ad Her., ii., 13, 19) that Cælius was the name of the judge who acquitted the man on the charge of defamation, who had libeled Lucilius on the stage.

[1982] Publica. Fruter conjectures Publicià; but the Publician law is not mentioned.

[1983] Operatum. So ῥέζειν. Cf. Virg., Georg., i., 339, "Sacra refer Cereri lætis operatus in herbis." Liv., i., 81. Propert., ii., 24, 1. Nonius explains it "Deos religiose et cum summâ veneratione sacrificiis litare."

[1984] Lustris. Plaut., Asin., V., ii., 17, "Is liberis lustris studet." Casin., II., iii., 28, "Ubi in lustra jacuisti?" Cic., Phil., xiii., 11. Probest., "Aliquis emersus ex tenebris lustrorum ac stuprorum." The Fragment probably forms part of a speech of a jealous wife upbraiding her husband, as Cleostrata, in the Casina of Plautus, quoted above.

[1985] Præservit. Cf. Plaut., Amph., Prol., 126, "Ut præservire amanti meo possem patri." Delicere, "to allure from the right path." Titinius ap. Non. in voc., "parasitus habeat qui illum sciat delicere, et noctem facere possit de die." Delenit. Cf. xxviii., Fr. 1, "to inthrall the senses by the passion of love." So Titinius, "Dotibus deleniti ultro etiam uxoribus ancillantur."

[1986] Nutricari for "nutrire." Cf. Cic., de Nat. Deor., ii., 34, "Educator et altor est mundus omniaque sicut membra et partis suas nutricatur et continet."

[1987] Discerniculum, "the bodkin in a woman's headdress for parting the hair."

[1988] Ficedulæ. Cf. ad Juv., xiv., 9. Turdi. Cf. ad Pers., vi., 24. Read perhaps "curatique cocis."

[1989] Cf. Juv., ii., 79, "Dedit hanc contagio labem et dabit in plures: sicut grex totus in agris unius scabie cadit et porrigine porci."

[1990] Rumpit, "defatigat." Non.

[1991] Pertundet. So Ennius, "latus pertudit hasta." Juv., vi., 46, "Mediam pertundite venam." vii., 26, "Aut claude et positos tineâ pertunde libellos." Deliciet Gerlach explains by "Juvare, voluptatem creare:" and reads "Utere vi atque videbis."

[1992] Fortis etiam "dives." Non.

[1993] Gerlach retains Musconis. Tagax, from the old form tago. "Furunculus a tangendo." Fest, "light-fingered." Perscribere may mean (like conscribellare in Catullus) "to mark letters upon," i. e., brand him with the word Fur on the hand: hence trium literarum homo.

[1994] Habendo. Cf. Virg., Georg., iii., 159, "Et quos aut pecori malint summittere habendo."

[1995] Involem. Ter., Eun., V., ii., 20, "Vix me contineo quin involem in capillum." So "Castra involare." Tac., Hist., iv., 33.

[1996] Angina, "genus morbi; eo quod angat." Non. Cf. Plaut., Trin., II., iv., 139, "Sues moriuntur anginâ." Most., I., iii., 61, "In anginam ego nunc me velim vorti, ut veneficæ illi fauces prehendam."

[1997] Consternere is applied "to preparing a couch." Cf. Catul., lxiv., 163, "Purpureâve tuum consternens veste cubile." This seems to be the meaning here; as there seems to be a vibration of the reading between consternitur, nobis lectus, and vetus, for Restes. Cf. ad lib. vi., Fr. 13.

[1998] Dusa's conjecture is followed. Scaliger supposes temnere to be an old form of the perfect "tempsere."

[1999] Præstringere "non valdè stringere et claudere." Non.

THE SATIRES

OF

DECIMUS JUNIUS JUVENALIS,

AND OF

AULUS PERSIUS FLACCUS.

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE,

BY WILLIAM GIFFORD, ESQ.

SATIRE I.

Oh! heavens--while THUS hoarse Codrus perseveres To force his Theseid on my tortured ears, Shall I not ONCE attempt "to quit the score," ALWAYS an auditor, and nothing more! Forever at my side, shall this rehearse 5 His elegiac, that his comic verse, Unpunished? shall huge Telephus, at will, The livelong day consume, or, huger still, Orestes, closely written, written, too, Down the broad marge, and yet--no end in view! 10 Away, away!--None knows his home so well As I the grove of Mars, and Vulcan's cell, Fast by the Æolian rocks!--How the Winds roar, How ghosts are tortured on the Stygian shore, How Jason stole the golden fleece, and how 15 The Centaurs fought on Othrys' shaggy brow; The walks of Fronto echo round and round-- The columns trembling with the eternal sound, While high and low, as the mad fit invades, Bellow the same trite nonsense through the shades. 20 I, TOO, CAN WRITE--and, at a pedant's frown, ONCE poured my fustian rhetoric on the town: And idly proved that Sylla, far from power, Had passed, unknown to fear, the tranquil hour:-- Now I resume my pen; for, since we meet 25 Such swarms of desperate bards in every street, 'Tis vicious clemency to spare the oil, And hapless paper they are sure to spoil. But why I choose, adventurous, to retrace The Auruncan's route, and, in the arduous race, 30 Follow his burning wheels, attentive hear, If leisure serve, and truth be worth your ear. When the soft eunuch weds, and the bold fair Tilts at the Tuscan boar, with bosom bare; When one that oft, since manhood first appeared, 35 Has trimmed the exuberance of this sounding beard, In wealth outvies the senate; when a vile, A slave-born, slave-bred, vagabond of Nile, Crispinus, while he gathers now, now flings His purple open, fans his summer rings; 40 And, as his fingers sweat beneath the freight, Cries, "Save me--from a gem of greater weight!" 'Tis hard a less adventurous course to choose, While folly plagues, and vice inflames the Muse. For who so slow of heart, so dull of brain, 45 So patient of the town, as to contain His bursting spleen, when, full before his eye, Swings the new chair of lawyer Matho by, Crammed with himself! then, with no less parade, That caitiff's, who his noble friend betrayed, 50 Who now, in fancy, prostrate greatness tears, And preys on what the imperial vulture spares! Whom Massa dreads, Latinus, trembling, plies With a fair wife, and anxious Carus buys! When those supplant thee in thy dearest rights, 55 Who earn rich legacies by active nights; Those, whom (the shortest, surest way to rise) The widow's itch advances to the skies!-- Not that an equal rank her minions hold; Just to their various powers, she metes her gold, 60 And Proculeius mourns his scanty share, While Gillo triumphs, hers and nature's heir! And let him triumph! 'tis the price of blood: While, thus defrauded of the generous flood. The color flies his cheek, as though he prest, 65 With unsuspecting foot, a serpent's crest; Or stood engaged at Lyons to declaim, Where the least peril is the loss of fame. Ye gods!--what rage, what phrensy fires my brain, When that false guardian, with his splendid train, 70 Crowds the long street, and leaves his orphan charge To prostitution, and the world at large! When, by a juggling sentence damned in vain, (For who, that holds the plunder, heeds the pain?) Marius to wine devotes his morning hours, 75 And laughs, in exile, at the offended Powers: While, sighing o'er the victory she won, The Province finds herself but more undone! And shall I feel, that crimes like these require The avenging strains of the Venusian lyre, 80 And not pursue them? I shall I still repeat The legendary tales of Troy and Crete; The toils of Hercules, the horses fed On human flesh by savage Diomed, The lowing labyrinth, the builder's flight, 85 And the rash boy, hurl'd from his airy height? When, what the law forbids the wife to heir, The adulterer's Will may to the wittol bear, Who gave, with wand'ring eye and vacant face, A tacit sanction to his own disgrace; 90 And, while at every turn a look he stole, Snored, unsuspected, o'er the treacherous bowl! When he presumes to ask a troop's command, Who spent on horses all his father's land, While, proud the experienced driver to display, 95 His glowing wheels smoked o'er the Appian way:-- For there our young Automedon first tried His powers, there loved the rapid car to guide; While great Pelides sought superior bliss, And toyed and wantoned with his master-miss. 100 Who would not, reckless of the swarm he meets, Fill his wide tablets, in the public streets, With angry verse? when, through the midday glare, Borne by six slaves, and in an open chair, The forger comes, who owes this blaze of state 105 To a wet seal and a fictitious date; Comes, like the soft Mæcenas, lolling by, And impudently braves the public eye! Or the rich dame, who stanched her husband's thirst With generous wine, but--drugged it deeply first! 110 And now, more dext'rous than Locusta, shows Her country friends the beverage to compose, And, midst the curses of the indignant throng, Bear, in broad day, the spotted corpse along. Dare nobly, man! if greatness be thy aim, 115 And practice what may chains and exile claim: On Guilt's broad base thy towering fortunes raise, For virtue starves on--universal praise! While crimes, in scorn of niggard fate, afford The ivory couches, and the citron board, 120 The goblet high-embossed, the antique plate, The lordly mansion, and the fair estate! O! who can rest--who taste the sweets of life, When sires debauch the son's too greedy wife; When males to males, abjuring shame, are wed, 125 And beardless boys pollute the nuptial bed! No: INDIGNATION, kindling as she views, Shall, in each breast, a generous warmth infuse, And pour, in Nature and the Nine's despite, Such strains as I, or Cluvienus, write! 130 E'er since Deucalion, while, on every side, The bursting clouds upraised the whelming tide, Reached, in his little skiff, the forked hill, And sought, at Themis' shrine, the Immortals' will; When softening stones grew warm with gradual life, 135 And Pyrrha brought each male a virgin wife; Whatever, passions have the soul possest, Whatever wild desires inflamed the breast, Joy, Sorrow, Fear, Love, Hatred, Transport, Rage, Shall form the motley subject of my page. 140 And when could Satire boast so fair a field? Say, when did Vice a richer harvest yield? When did fell Avarice so engross the mind? Or when the lust of play so curse mankind?-- No longer, now, the pocket's stores supply 145 The boundless charges of the desperate die: The chest is staked!--muttering the steward stands, And scarce resigns it, at his lord's commands. Is it a SIMPLE MADNESS,--I would know, To venture countless thousands on a throw, 150 Yet want the soul, a single piece to spare, To clothe the slave, that shivering stands and bare! Who called, of old, so many seats his own, Or on seven sumptuous dishes supped alone?-- Then plain and open was the cheerful feast, 155 And every client was a bidden guest; Now, at the gate, a paltry largess lies, And eager hands and tongues dispute the prize. But first (lest some false claimant should be found), The wary steward takes his anxious round, 160 And pries in every face; then calls aloud, "Come forth, ye great Dardanians, from the crowd!" For, mixed with us, e'en these besiege the door, And scramble for--the pittance of the poor! "Dispatch the Prætor first," the master cries, 165 "And next the Tribune." "No, not so;" replies The Freedman, bustling through, "first come is, still, First served; and I may claim my right, and will!-- Though born a slave ('tis bootless to deny, What these bored ears betray to every eye), 170 On my own rents, in splendor, now I live, On five fair freeholds! Can the PURPLE give Their Honors, more? when, to Laurentum sped, NOBLE Corvinus tends a flock for bread!-- Pallas and the Licinii, in estate, 175 Must yield to me: let, then, the Tribunes wait." Yes, let them wait! thine, Riches, be the field!-- It is not meet, that he to Honor yield, To SACRED HONOR, who, with whitened feet, Was hawked for sale, so lately, through the street. 180 O gold! though Rome beholds no altars flame, No temples rise to thy pernicious name, Such as to Victory, Virtue, Faith are reared, And Concord, where the clamorous stork is heard, Yet is thy full divinity confest, 185 Thy shrine established here, in every breast. But while, with anxious eyes, the great explore How much the dole augments their annual store, What misery must the poor dependent dread, Whom this small pittance clothed, and lodged, and fed? 190 Wedged in thick ranks before the donor's gates, A phalanx firm, of chairs and litters, waits: Thither one husband, at the risk of life, Hurries his teeming, or his bedrid wife; Another, practiced in the gainful art, 195 With deeper cunning tops the beggar's part; Plants at his side a close and empty chair: "My Galla, master;--give me Galla's share." "Galla!" the porter cries; "let her look out." "Sir, she's asleep. Nay, give me;--can you doubt!" 200 What rare pursuits employ the clients' day! First to the patron's door their court to pay, Next to the forum, to support his cause, Thence to Apollo, learned in the laws, And the triumphal statues; where some Jew, 205 Some mongrel Arab, some--I know not who-- Has impudently dared a niche to seize, Fit to be p---- against, or--what you please.-- Returning home, he drops them at the gate: And now the weary clients, wise too late, 210 Resign their hopes, and supperless retire, To spend the paltry dole in herbs and fire. Meanwhile, their patron sees his palace stored With every dainty earth and sea afford: Stretched on th' unsocial couch, he rolls his eyes 215 O'er many an orb of matchless form and size, Selects the fairest to receive his plate, And, at one meal, devours a whole estate!-- But who (for not a parasite is there) The selfishness of luxury can bear? 220 See! the lone glutton craves whole boars! a beast Designed, by nature, for the social feast!-- But speedy wrath o'ertakes him: gorged with food, And swollen and fretted by the peacock crude, He seeks the bath, his feverish pulse to still, 225 Hence sudden death, and age without a Will! Swift flies the tale, by witty spleen increast, And furnishes a laugh at every feast; The laugh, his friends not undelighted hear, And, fallen from all their hopes, insult his bier. 230 NOTHING is left, NOTHING, for future times To add to the full catalogue of crimes; The baffled sons must feel the same desires, And act the same mad follies, as their sires. VICE HAS ATTAINED ITS ZENITH:--Then set sail, 235 Spread all thy canvas, Satire, to the gale-- But where the powers so vast a theme requires? Where the plain times, the simple, when our sires Enjoyed a freedom, which I dare not name, And gave the public sin to public shame, 240 Heedless who smiled or frowned?--Now, let a line But glance at Tigellinus, and you shine, Chained to a stake, in pitchy robes, and light, Lugubrious torch, the deepening shades of night; Or, writhing on a hook, are dragged around, 245 And, with your mangled members, plow the ground. What, shall the wretch of hard, unpitying soul, Who for THREE uncles mixed the deadly bowl, Propped on his plumy couch, that all may see, Tower by triumphant, and look down on me! 250 Yes; let him look. He comes! avoid his way, And on your lip your cautious finger lay; Crowds of informers linger in his rear, And, if a whisper pass, will overhear. Bring, if you please, Æneas on the stage, 255 Fierce war, with the Rutulian prince, to wage; Subdue the stern Achilles; and once more, With Hylas! Hylas! fill the echoing shore; Harmless, nay pleasant, shall the tale be found, It bares no ulcer, and it probes no wound. 260 But when Lucilius, fired with virtuous rage, Waves his keen falchion o'er a guilty age, The conscious villain shudders at his sin, And burning blushes speak the pangs within; Cold drops of sweat from every member roll, 265 And growing terrors harrow up his soul: Then tears of shame, and dire revenge succeed-- Say, have you pondered well the advent'rous deed? Now--ere the trumpet sounds--your strength debate; The soldier, once engaged, repents too late. 270 J. Yet I MUST write: and since these iron times, From living knaves preclude my angry rhymes, I point my pen against the guilty dead, And pour its gall on each obnoxious head.

SATIRE II.

O FOR an eagle's wings! that I might fly To the bleak regions of the polar sky, When from their lips the cant of virtue falls, Who preach like Curii, live like Bacchanals! Devoid of knowledge, as of worth, they thrust, 5 In every nook, some philosophic bust; For he, among them, counts himself most wise, Who most old sages of the sculptor buys; Sets most true Zenos, or Cleanthes' heads, To guard the volumes which he--never reads! 10 TRUST NOT TO OUTWARD SHOW: in every street Obscenity, in formal garb, we meet.-- And dost thou, hypocrite, our lusts arraign, Thou! of Socratic catamites the drain! Nature thy rough and shaggy limbs designed 15 To mark a stern, inexorable mind; But all's so smooth below!--"the surgeon smiles, And scarcely can, for laughter, lance the piles." Gravely demure, in wisdom's awful chair, His beetling eyebrows longer than his hair, 20 In solemn state, the affected Stoic sits, And drops his maxims on the crowd by fits!-- Yon Peribomius, whose emaciate air, And tottering gait, his foul disease declare, With patience I can view; he braves disgrace, 25 Not skulks behind a sanctimonious face: Him may his folly, or his fate excuse-- But whip me those, who Virtue's name abuse, And, soiled with all the vices of the times, Thunder damnation on their neighbor's crimes! 30 "Shrink at the pathic Sextus! Can I be, Whate'er my guilt, more infamous than he?" Varillus cries: Let those who tread aright, Deride the halt; the swarthy Moor, the white; This we might bear; but who his spleen could rein, 35 And hear the Gracchi of the mob complain? Who would not mingle earth, and sea, and sky, Should Milo murder, Verres theft, decry, Clodius adultery? Catiline accuse Cethegus, Lentulus, of factious views, 40 Or Sylla's pupils, soil'd with deeper guilt, Arraign their master for the blood he spilt? Yet have we seen--O shame, for ever fled!-- A barbarous judge start from the incestuous bed, And, with stern voice, those rigid laws awake, 45 At which the powers of War and Beauty quake, What time his drugs were speeding to the tomb The abortive fruit of Julia's teeming womb!-- And must not, now, the most debased and vile, Hear these false Scauri with a scornful smile; 50 And, while the hypocrites their crimes arraign, Turn, like the trampled asp, and bite again! They must; they do:--When late, amid the crowd, A zealot of the sect exclaimed aloud, Where sleeps the Julian law? Laronia eyed 55 The scowling Stoicide, and taunting, cried, "Blest be the age that such a censor gave, The groaning world to chasten and to save! Blush, Rome, and from the sink of sin arise-- Lo! a THIRD CATO, sent thee from the skies! 60 But--tell me yet--What shop the balm supplied, Which, from your brawny neck and bristly hide, Such potent fragrance breathes? nor let it shame Your gravity, to show the vender's name. "If ancient laws must reassume their course, 65 Give the Scantinian first its proper force. Look, look at home; the ways of men explore-- Our faults, you say, are many; theirs are more: Yet safe from censure, as from fear, they stand, A firm, compact, impenetrable band! 70 We know your monstrous leagues; but can you find One proof in us, of this detested kind? Pure days and nights with Cluvia, Flora led, And Tedia chastely shared Catulla's bed; While Hippo's brutal itch both sexes tried, 75 And proved, by turns, the bridegroom and the bride! We ne'er, with misspent zeal, explore the laws, We throng no forum, and we plead no cause: Some few, perhaps, may wrestle, some be fed, To aid their breath, with strong athletic bread. 80 Ye fling the shuttle with a female grace, And spin more subtly than Arachne's race; Cowered o'er your labor, like the squalid jade, That plies the distaff, to a block belayed. "Why Hister's freedman heired his wealth, and why 85 His consort, while he lived, was bribed so high, I spare to tell; the wife that, swayed by gain, Can make a third in bed, and near complain, Must ever thrive: on secrets jewels wait: Then wed, my girls; be silent, and--be great!" 90 "Yet these are they, who, fierce in Virtue's cause, Consign our venial frailties to the laws; And, while with partial aim their censure moves, Acquit the vultures, and condemn the doves!" She paused: the unmanly zealots felt the sway 95 Of conscious truth, and slunk, abashed, away. But how shall vice be shamed, when, loosely drest, In the light texture of a cobweb vest, You, Creticus, amid the indignant crowd At Procla and Pollinea rail aloud?-- 100 These, he rejoins, are "daughters of the game." Strike, then;--yet know, though lost to honest fame, The wantons would reject a veil so thin, And blush, while suffering, to display their skin. "But Sirius glows; I burn." Then, quit your dress; 105 'Twill thus be madness, and the scandal less. O! could our legions, with fresh laurels crowned, And smarting still from many a glorious wound, Our rustic mountaineers (the plow laid by, For city cares), a judge so drest descry, 110 What thoughts would rise? Lo! robes which misbecome A witness, deck the awful bench of Rome; And Creticus, stern champion of the laws, Gleams through the tissue of pellucid gauze! Anon from you, as from its fountain-head, 115 Wide and more wide the flagrant pest will spread; As swine take measles from distempered swine, And one infected grape pollutes the vine. Yes, Rome shall see you, lewdlier clad, erewhile, (FOR NONE BECOME, AT ONCE, COMPLETELY VILE,) 120 In some opprobrious den of shame, combined With that vile herd, the horror of their kind, Who twine gay fillets round the forehead; deck With strings of orient pearl the breast and neck; Soothe the GOOD GODDESS with large bowls of wine, 125 And the soft belly of a pregnant swine.-- No female, foul perversion! dares appear, For males, and males alone, officiate here; "Far hence," they cry, "unholy sex, retire, Our purer rites no lowing horn require!" 130 --At Athens thus, involved in thickest gloom, Cotytto's priests her secret torch illume; And to such orgies give the lustful night, That e'en Cotytto sickens at the sight. With tiring-pins, these spread the sooty dye, 135 Arch the full brow, and tinge the trembling eye; Those bind their flowing locks in cawls of gold, Swill from huge glasses of immodest mould, Light, filmy robes of azure net-work wear; And, by their Juno, hark! the attendants swear! 140 This grasps a mirror--pathic Otho's boast (Auruncan Actor's spoil), where, while his host, With shouts, the signal of the fight required, He viewed his mailed form; viewed, and admired! Lo, a new subject for the historic page, 145 A MIRROR, midst the arms of civil rage!-- To murder Galba, was--a general's part! A stern republican's--to dress with art! The empire of the world in arms to seek, And spread--a softening poultice o'er the cheek! 150 Preposterous vanity! and never seen, Or in the Assyrian or Egyptian queen, Though one in arms near old Euphrates stood, And one the doubtful fight at Actium viewed. Nor reverence for the table here is found; 155 But brutal mirth and jests obscene go round: They lisp, they squeal, and the rank language use Of Cybele's lewd votaries, or the stews: Some wild enthusiast, silvered o'er with age, Yet fired by lust's ungovernable rage, 160 Of most insatiate throat, is named the priest, And sits fit umpire of th' unhallowed feast; Why pause they here? Phrygians long since in heart, Whence this delay to lop a useless part? Gracchus admired a cornet or a fife, 165 And, with an ample dower, became his wife. The contract signed, the wonted bliss implored, A costly supper decks the nuptial board; And the new bride, amid the wondering room, Lies in the bosom of the accursed groom!-- 170 Say now, ye nobles, claims this monstrous deed, The Aruspex or the Censor? Can we need More expiations?--sacrifices?--vows? For calving women, or for lambing cows? The lusty priest, whose limbs dissolved with heat, 175 What time he danced beneath the Ancilia's weight, Now flings the ensigns of his god aside, And takes the stole and flammea of a bride! Father of Rome! from what pernicious clime, Did Latian swains derive so foul a crime? 180 Tell where the poisonous nettle first arose, Whose baneful juice through all thy offspring flows. Behold! a man for rank and power renowned, Marries a man!--and yet, with thundering sound, Thy brazen helmet shakes not! earth yet stands, 185 Fixed on its base, nor feels thy wrathful hands! Is thy arm shortened? Raise to Jove thy prayer-- But Rome no longer knows thy guardian care; Quit, then, the charge to some severer Power, Of strength to punish in the obnoxious hour. 190 "To-morrow, with the dawn, I must attend In yonder valley!" Why so soon? "A friend Takes HIM a husband there, and bids a few"-- FEW, yet: but wait awhile; and we shall view Such contracts formed without or shame or fear, 195 And entered on THE RECORDS OF THE YEAR! Meanwhile, one pang these passive monsters find, One ceaseless pang, that preys upon the mind; They can not shift their sex, and pregnant prove With the dear pledges of a husband's love: 200 Wisely confined by Nature's steady plan, Which counteracts the wild desires of man. For them, no drugs prolific powers retain, And the Luperci strike their palms in vain. And yet these prodigies of vice appear, 205 Less monstrous, Gracchus, than the net and spear, With which equipped, you urged the unequal fight, And fled, dishonored, in a nation's sight; Though nobler far than each illustrious name That thronged the pit (spectators of your shame), 210 Nay, than the Prætor, who the SHOW supplied, At which your base dexterity was tried. That angry Justice formed a dreadful hell, That ghosts in subterraneous regions dwell, That hateful Styx his sable current rolls, 215 And Charon ferries o'er unbodied souls, Are now as tales or idle fables prized; By children questioned, and by men despised: YET THESE, DO THOU BELIEVE. What thoughts, declare, Ye Scipios, once the thunderbolts of war! 220 Fabricius, Curius, great Camillus' ghost! Ye valiant Fabii, in yourselves an host! Ye dauntless youths at fatal Cannæ slain! Spirits of many a brave and bloody plain! What thoughts are yours, whene'er, with feet unblest, 225 An UNBELIEVING SHADE invades your rest? --Ye fly, to expiate the blasting view; } Fling on the pine-tree torch the sulphur blue, } And from the dripping bay, dash round the lustral dew. } And yet--to these abodes we all must come, 230 Believe, or not, these are our final home; Though now Iërne tremble at our sway, And Britain, boastful of her length of day; Though the blue Orcades receive our chain, And isles that slumber in the frozen main. 235 But why of conquest boast? the conquered climes Are free, O Rome, from thy detested crimes. No;--one Armenian all our youth outgoes, And, with cursed fires, for a base tribune glows. True: such thy power, Example! He was brought 240 An hostage hither, and the infection caught.-- O, bid the striplings flee! for sensual art Here lurks to snare the unsuspecting heart; Then farewell, simple nature!--Pleased no more, With knives, whips, bridles (all they prized of yore), 245 Thus taught, and thus debauched, they hasten home, To spread the morals of Imperial Rome!

SATIRE III.

Grieved though I am to see the man depart, Who long has shared, and still must share, my heart, Yet (when I call my better judgment home) I praise his purpose; to retire from Rome, And give, on Cumæ's solitary coast, 5 The Sibyl--one inhabitant to boast! Full on the road to Baiæ, Cumæ lies, And many a sweet retreat her shore supplies-- Though I prefer ev'n Prochyta's bare strand To the Suburra:--for, what desert land, 10 What wild, uncultured spot, can more affright, Than fires, wide blazing through the gloom of night, Houses, with ceaseless ruin, thundering down, And all the horrors of this hateful town? Where poets, while the dog-star glows, rehearse, 15 To gasping multitudes, their barbarous verse! Now had my friend, impatient to depart, Consigned his little all to one poor cart: For this, without the town he chose to wait; But stopped a moment at the Conduit-gate.-- 20 Here Numa erst his nightly visits paid, And held high converse with the Egerian maid: Now the once-hallowed fountain, grove, and fane, Are let to Jews, a wretched, wandering train, Whose furniture's a basket filled with hay-- 25 For every tree is forced a tax to pay; And while the heaven-born Nine in exile rove, The beggar rents their consecrated grove! Thence slowly winding down the vale, we view The Egerian grots--ah, how unlike the true! 30 Nymph of the Spring; more honored hadst thou been, If, free from art, an edge of living green, Thy bubbling fount had circumscribed alone, And marble ne'er profaned the native stone. Umbritius here his sullen silence broke, 35 And turned on Rome, indignant, as he spoke. Since virtue droops, he cried, without regard, And honest toil scarce hopes a poor reward; Since every morrow sees my means decay, And still makes less the little of to-day; 40 I go, where Dædalus, as poets sing, First checked his flight, and closed his weary wing: While something yet of health and strength remains, And yet no staff my faltering step sustains; While few gray hairs upon my head are seen, 45 And my old age is vigorous still, and green. Here, then, I bid my much-loved home farewell-- Ah, mine no more!--there let Arturius dwell, And Catulus; knaves, who, in truth's despite, Can white to black transform, and black to white, 50 Build temples, furnish funerals, auctions hold, Farm rivers, ports, and scour the drains for gold! ONCE they were trumpeters, and always found, With strolling fencers, in their annual round, While their puffed cheeks, which every village knew, 55 Called to "high feats of arms" the rustic crew: Now they give SHOWS themselves; and, at the will Of the base rabble, raise the sign--to kill, Ambitious of their voice: then turn, once more, To their vile gains, and farm the common shore! 60 And why not every thing?--since Fortune throws Her more peculiar smiles on such as those, Whene'er, to wanton merriment inclined, She lifts to thrones the dregs of human kind! But why, my friend, should I at Rome remain? 65 I can not teach my stubborn lips to feign; Nor, when I hear a great man's verses, smile, And beg a copy, if I think them vile. A sublunary wight, I have no skill To read the stars; I neither can, nor will, 70 Presage a father's death; I never pried, In toads, for poison, nor--in aught beside. Others may aid the adulterer's vile design, And bear the insidious gift, and melting line, Seduction's agents! I such deeds detest; 75 And, honest, let no thief partake my breast. For this, without a friend, the world I quit; A palsied limb, for every use unfit. Who now is loved, but he whose conscious breast Swells with dark deeds, still, still to be supprest? 80 He pays, he owes, thee nothing (strictly just), Who gives an honest secret to thy trust; But, a dishonest!--there, he feels thy power, And buys thy friendship high from hour to hour. But let not all the wealth which Tagus pours 85 In Ocean's lap, not all his glittering stores, Be deemed a bribe, sufficient to requite The loss of peace by day, of sleep by night:-- Oh take not, take not, what thy soul rejects, Nor sell the faith, which he, who buys, suspects! 90 The nation, by the GREAT, admired, carest, And hated, shunned by ME, above the rest, No longer, now, restrained by wounded pride, I haste to show (nor thou my warmth deride), I can not rule my spleen, and calmly see, 95 A GRECIAN CAPITAL, IN ITALY! Grecian? O no! with this vast sewer compared, The dregs of Greece are scarcely worth regard: Long since, the stream that wanton Syria laves Has disembogued its filth in Tiber's waves, 100 Its language, arts; o'erwhelmed us with the scum Of Antioch's streets, its minstrel, harp, and drum. Hie to the Circus! ye who pant to prove A barbarous mistress, an outlandish love; Hie to the Circus! there, in crowds they stand, 105 Tires on their head, and timbrels in their hand. Thy rustic, Mars, the trechedipna wears, And on his breast, smeared with ceroma, bears A paltry prize, well-pleased; while every land, Sicyon, and Amydos, and Alaband, 110 Tralles, and Samos, and a thousand more, Thrive on his indolence, and daily pour Their starving myriads forth: hither they come, } And batten on the genial soil of Rome; } Minions, then lords, of every princely dome! } 115 A flattering, cringing, treacherous, artful race, Of torrent tongue, and never-blushing face; A Protean tribe, one knows not what to call, Which shifts to every form, and shines in all: Grammarian, painter, augur, rhetorician, 120 Rope-dancer, conjurer, fiddler, and physician, All trades his own, your hungry Greekling counts; And bid him mount the sky--the sky he mounts! You smile--was't a barbarian, then, that flew? No, 'twas a Greek! 'twas an ATHENIAN, too! 125 --Bear with their state who will: for I disdain To feed their upstart pride, or swell their train: Slaves, that in Syrian lighters stowed, so late, With figs and prunes (an inauspicious freight), Already see their faith preferred to mine, 130 And sit above me! and before me sign!-- That on the Aventine I first drew air, And, from the womb, was nursed on Sabine fare, Avails me not! our birthright now is lost, And all our privilege, an empty boast! 135 For lo! where versed in every soothing art, The wily Greek assails his patron's heart, Finds in each dull harangue an air, a grace, And all Adonis in a Gorgon face; Admires the voice that grates upon the ear, 140 Like the shrill scream of amorous chanticleer; And equals the crane neck, and narrow chest, To Hercules, when, straining to his breast The giant son of Earth, his every vein Swells with the toil, and more than mortal pain. 145 We too can cringe as low, and praise as warm, But flattery from the Greeks alone can charm. See! they step forth, and figure to the life, The naked nymph, the mistress, or the wife, So just, you view the very woman there, 150 And fancy all beneath the girdle bare! No longer now, the favorites of the stage Boast their exclusive power to charm the age: The happy art with them a nation shares, GREECE IS A THEATRE, WHERE ALL ARE PLAYERS. 155 For lo! their patron smiles,--they burst with mirth; He weeps--they droop, the saddest souls on earth; He calls for fire--they court the mantle's heat; 'Tis warm, he cries--and they dissolve in sweat. Ill-matched!--secure of victory they start, 160 Who, taught from youth to play a borrowed part, Can, with a glance, the rising passion trace, And mould their own, to suit their patron's face; At deeds of shame their hands admiring raise, And mad debauchery's worst excesses praise. 165 Besides, no mound their raging lust restrains, All ties it breaks, all sanctity profanes; Wife, virgin-daughter, son unstained before-- And, where these fail, they tempt the grandam hoar: They notice every word, haunt every ear, 170 Your secrets learn, and fix you theirs from fear. Turn to their schools:--yon gray professor see, Smeared with the sanguine stains of perfidy! That tutor most accursed his pupil sold! That Stoic sacrificed his friend to gold! 175 A true-born Grecian! littered on the coast, Where the Gorgonian hack a pinion lost. Hence, Romans, hence! no place for you remains, Where Diphilus, where Erimanthus reigns; Miscreants, who, faithful to their native art, 180 Admit no rival in a patron's heart: For let them fasten on his easy ear, And drop one hint, one secret slander there, Sucked from their country's venom, or their own, That instant they possess the man alone; 185 While we are spurned, contemptuous, from the door, Our long, long slavery thought upon no more. 'Tis but a client lost!--and that, we find, Sits wondrous lightly on a patron's mind: And (not to flatter our poor pride, my friend) 190 What merit with the great can we pretend, Though, in our duty we prevent the day, And, darkling, run our humble court to pay; When the brisk prætor, long before, is gone, And hastening, with stern voice, his lictors on, 195 Lest his colleagues o'erpass him in the street, And first the rich and childless matrons greet, Alba and Modia, who impatient wait, And think the morning homage comes too late! Here freeborn youths wait the rich servant's call, 200 And, if they walk beside him, yield the wall; And wherefore? this, forsooth, can fling away, On one voluptuous night, a legion's pay, While those, when some Calvina, sweeping by, Inflames the fancy, check their roving eye, 205 And frugal of their scanty means, forbear, To tempt the wanton from her splendid chair. Produce, at Rome, your witness: let him boast, The sanctity of Berecynthia's host, Of Numa, or of him, whose zeal divine 210 Snatched pale Minerva from her blazing shrine: To search his rent-roll, first the bench prepares, His honesty employs their latest cares: What table does he keep, what slaves maintain, And what, they ask, and where, is his domain? 215 These weighty matters known, his faith they rate, And square his probity to his estate. The poor may swear by all the immortal Powers, By the Great Gods of Samothrace, and ours, His oaths are false, they cry; he scoffs at heaven, 220 And all its thunders; scoffs--and is forgiven! Add, that the wretch is still the theme of scorn, If the soiled cloak be patched, the gown o'erworn; If, through the bursting shoe, the foot be seen, Or the coarse seam tell where the rent has been. 225 O Poverty, thy thousand ills combined } Sink not so deep into the generous mind, } As the contempt and laughter of mankind! } "Up! up! these cushioned benches," Lectius cries, "Befit not your estates: for shame! arise." 230 For "shame!"--but you say well: the pander's heir, The spawn of bulks and stews, is seated there; The crier's spruce son, fresh from the fencer's school, And prompt the taste to settle and to rule.-- So Otho fixed it, whose preposterous pride 235 First dared to chase us from their Honors' side. In these cursed walls, devote alone to gain, When do the poor a wealthy wife obtain? When are they named in Wills? when called to share The Ædile's council, and assist the chair?-- 240 Long since should they have risen, thus slighted, spurned, And left their home, but--not to have returned! Depressed by indigence, the good and wise, In every clime, by painful efforts rise; HERE, by more painful still, where scanty cheer, 245 Poor lodging, mean attendance--all is dear. In earthen-ware HE scorns, at Rome, to eat, WHO, called abruptly to the Marsian's seat, From such, well pleased, would take his simple food, Nor blush to wear the cheap Venetian hood. 250 There's many a part of Italy, 'tis said, Where none assume the toga but the dead: There, when the toil foregone and annual play, Mark, from the rest, some high and solemn day, To theatres of turf the rustics throng, 255 Charmed with the farce that charmed their sires so long; While the pale infant, of the mask in dread, Hides, in his mother's breast, his little head. No modes of dress high birth distinguish THERE; All ranks, all orders, the same habit wear, 260 And the dread Ædile's dignity is known, O sacred badge! by his white vest alone. But HERE, beyond our power arrayed we go, In all the gay varieties of show; And when our purse supplies the charge no more, 265 Borrow, unblushing, from our neighbor's store: Such is the reigning vice; and so we flaunt, Proud in distress, and prodigal in want! Briefly, my friend, here all are slaves to gold, And words, and smiles, and every thing is sold. 270 What will you give for Cossus' nod? how high The silent notice of Veiento buy? --One favorite youth is shaved, another shorn; And, while to Jove the precious spoil is borne, Clients are taxed for offerings, and, (yet more 275 To gall their patience), from their little store, Constrained to swell the minion's ample hoard, And bribe the page, for leave to bribe his lord. Who fears the crash of houses in retreat? At simple Gabii, bleak Præneste's seat, 280 Volsinium's craggy heights, embowered in wood, Or Tibur, beetling o'er prone Anio's flood? While half the city here by shores is staid, And feeble cramps, that lend a treacherous aid: For thus the stewards patch the riven wall, 285 Thus prop the mansion, tottering to its fall; Then bid the tenant court secure repose, While the pile nods to every blast that blows. O! may I live where no such fears molest, No midnight fires burst on my hour of rest! 290 For here 'tis terror all; mid the loud cry Of "water! water!" the scared neighbors fly, With all their haste can seize--the flames aspire, And the third floor is wrapt in smoke and fire, While you, unconscious, doze: Up, ho! and know, 295 The impetuous blaze which spreads dismay below, By swift degrees will reach the aerial cell, Where, crouching, underneath the tiles you dwell, Where your tame doves their golden couplets rear, "And you could no mischance, but drowning, fear!" 300 "Codrus had but one bed, and that too short For his short wife;" his goods, of every sort, Were else but few:--six little pipkins graced His cupboard head, a little can was placed On a snug shelf beneath, and near it lay 305 A Chiron, of the same cheap marble--clay. And was this all? O no: he yet possest A few Greek books, shrined in an ancient chest, Where barbarous mice through many an inlet crept, And fed on heavenly numbers, while he slept.-- 310 "Codrus, in short, had nothing." You say true; And yet poor Codrus lost that nothing too! One curse alone was wanting, to complete His woes: that, cold and hungry, through the street, The wretch should beg, and, in the hour of need, 315 Find none to lodge, to clothe him, or to feed! But should the raging flames on grandeur prey, And low in dust Asturius' palace lay, The squalid matron sighs, the senate mourns, The pleaders cease, the judge the court adjourns; 320 All join to wail the city's hapless fate, And rail at fire with more than common hate. Lo! while it burns, the obsequious courtiers haste, With rich materials, to repair the waste: This, brings him marble, that, a finished piece, 325 The far-famed boast of Polyclete and Greece; This, ornaments, which graced of old the fane Of Asia's gods; that, figured plate and plain; This, cases, books, and busts the shelves to grace, And piles of coin his specie to replace-- 330 So much the childless Persian swells his store, (Though deemed the richest of the rich before,) That all ascribe the flames to thirst of pelf, And swear, Asturius fired his house himself. O, had you, from the Circus, power to fly, 335 In many a halcyon village might you buy Some elegant retreat, for what will, here, Scarce hire a gloomy dungeon through the year! There wells, by nature formed, which need no rope, No laboring arm, to crane their waters up, 340 Around your lawn their facile streams shall shower, And cheer the springing plant and opening flower. There live, delighted with the rustic's lot, And till, with your own hands, the little spot; The little spot shall yield you large amends, 345 And glad, with many a feast, your Samian friends. And, sure,--in any corner we can get, To call one lizard ours, is something yet! Flushed with a mass of indigested food, Which clogs the stomach and inflames the blood, 350 What crowds, with watching wearied and o'erprest, Curse the slow hours, and die for want of rest! For who can hope his languid lids to close, Where brawling taverns banish all repose? Sleep, to the rich alone, "his visits pays:" 355 And hence the seeds of many a dire disease. The carts loud rumbling through the narrow way, The drivers' clamors at each casual stay, From drowsy Drusus would his slumber take, And keep the calves of Proteus broad awake! 360 If business call, obsequious crowds divide. While o'er their heads the rich securely ride, By tall Illyrians borne, and read, or write, } Or (should the early hour to rest invite), } Close the soft litter, and enjoy the night. } 365 Yet reach they first the goal; while, by the throng Elbowed and jostled, scarce we creep along; Sharp strokes from poles, tubs, rafters, doomed to feel; And plastered o'er with mud, from head to heel: While the rude soldier gores us as he goes, 370 Or marks, in blood, his progress on our toes! See, from the Dole, a vast tumultuous throng, Each followed by his kitchen, pours along! Huge pans, which Corbulo could scarce uprear, With steady neck a puny slave must bear, 375 And, lest amid the way the flames expire, Glide nimbly on, and gliding, fan the fire; Through the close press with sinuous efforts wind, And, piece by piece, leave his botched rags behind. Hark! groaning on, the unwieldy wagon spreads 380 Its cumbrous load, tremendous! o'er our heads, Projecting elm or pine, that nods on high, And threatens death to every passer by. Heavens! should the axle crack, which bears a weight Of huge Ligurian stone, and pour the freight 385 On the pale crowd beneath, what would remain, What joint, what bone, what atom of the slain? The body, with the soul, would vanish quite, Invisible as air, to mortal sight!-- Meanwhile, unconscious of their fellow's fate, 390 At home, they heat the water, scour the plate, Arrange the strigils, fill the cruse with oil, And ply their several tasks with fruitless toil: For he who bore the dole, poor mangled ghost, Sits pale and trembling on the Stygian coast, 395 Scared at the horrors of the novel scene, At Charon's threatening voice, and scowling mien; Nor hopes a passage, thus abruptly hurled, Without his farthing, to the nether world. Pass we these fearful dangers, and survey 400 What other evils threat our nightly way. And first, behold the mansion's towering size, Where floors on floors to the tenth story rise; Whence heedless garreteers their potsherds throw, And crush the unwary wretch that walks below! 405 Clattering the storm descends from heights unknown. Plows up the street, and wounds the flinty stone! 'Tis madness, dire improvidence of ill, To sup abroad, before you sign your Will; Since fate in ambush lies, and marks his prey, 410 From every wakeful window in the way: Pray, then--and count your humble prayer well sped, If pots be only--emptied on your head. The drunken bully, ere his man be slain, Frets through the night, and courts repose in vain; 415 And while the thirst of blood his bosom burns, From side to side, in restless anguish, turns, Like Peleus' son, when, quelled by Hector's hand, His loved Patroclus prest the Phrygian strand. There are, who murder as an opiate take, 420 And only when no brawls await them wake: Yet even these heroes, flushed with youth and wine, All contest with the purple robe decline; Securely give the lengthened train to pass, The sun-bright flambeaux, and the lamps of brass.-- 425 Me, whom the moon, or candle's paler gleam, Whose wick I husband to the last extreme, Guides through the gloom, he braves, devoid of fear: The prelude to our doughty quarrel hear, If that be deemed a quarrel, where, heaven knows, 430 He only gives, and I receive, the blows! Across my path he strides, and bids me STAND! I bow, obsequious to the dread command; What else remains, where madness, rage, combine With youth, and strength superior far to mine? 435 "Whence come you, rogue?" he cries; "whose beans to-night Have stuffed you thus? what cobbler clubbed his mite, For leeks and sheep's-head porridge? Dumb! quite dumb! Speak, or be kicked.--Yet, once again! your home? Where shall I find you? At what beggar's stand 440 (Temple, or bridge) whimp'ring with outstretched hand?" Whether I strive some humble plea to frame, Or steal in silence by, 'tis just the same; I'm beaten first, then dragged in rage away: Bound to the peace, or punished for the fray! 445 Mark here the boasted freedom of the poor! Beaten and bruised, that goodness to adore, Which, at their humble prayer, suspends its ire, And sends them home, with yet a bone entire! Nor this the worst; for when deep midnight reigns, 450 And bolts secure our doors, and massy chains, When noisy inns a transient silence keep, And harassed nature woos the balm of sleep, Then, thieves and murderers ply their dreadful trade; With stealthy steps our secret couch invade:-- 455 Roused from the treacherous calm, aghast we start, And the fleshed sword--is buried in our heart! Hither from bogs, from rocks, and caves pursued (The Pontine marsh, and Gallinarian wood), The dark assassins flock, as to their home, 460 And fill with dire alarms the streets of Rome. Such countless multitudes our peace annoy, That bolts and shackles every forge employ, And cause so wide a waste, the country fears A want of ore for mattocks, rakes, and shares. 465 O! happy were our sires, estranged from crimes; And happy, happy, were the good old times, Which saw, beneath their kings', their tribunes' reign, One cell the nation's criminals contain! Much could I add, more reasons could I cite, 470 If time were ours, to justify my flight; But see! the impatient team is moving on, The sun declining; and I must be gone: Long since, the driver murmured at my stay, And jerked his whip, to beckon me away. 475 Farewell, my friend! with this embrace we part! Cherish my memory ever in your heart; And when, from crowds and business, you repair, To breathe at your Aquinum freer air, Fail not to draw me from my loved retreat, 480 To Elvine Ceres, and Diana's seat: For your bleak hills my Cumæ I'll resign, And (if you blush not at such aid as mine) Come well equipped, to wage, in angry rhymes, Fierce war, with you, on follies and on crimes. 485

SATIRE IV.

Again Crispinus comes! and yet again, And oft, shall he be summoned to sustain His dreadful part:--the monster of the times, Without ONE virtue to redeem his crimes! Diseased, emaciate, weak in all but lust, 5 And whom the widow's sweets alone disgust. Avails it, then, in what long colonnades He tires his mules? through what extensive glades His chair is borne? what vast estates he buys, What splendid domes, that round the Forum rise? 10 Ah! no--Peace visits not the guilty mind, Least his, who incest to adultery joined, And stained thy priestess, Vesta;--whom, dire fate! The long dark night and living tomb await. Turn we to slighter vices:--yet had these, 15 In others, Seius, Titius, whom you please, The Censor roused; for what the good would shame, Becomes Crispinus, and is honest fame. But when the actor's person far exceeds, In native loathsomeness, his loathsom'st deeds, 20 Say, what can satire? For a fish that weighed Six pounds, six thousand sesterces he paid! As those report, who catch, with greedy ear, And magnify the mighty things they hear. Had this expense been meant, with well-timed skill, 25 To gull some childless dotard of a Will; Or bribe some rich and fashionable fair, Who flaunts it in a close, wide-windowed chair; 'Twere worth our praise:--but no such plot was here. 'Twas for HIMSELF he bought a treat so dear! 30 This, all past gluttony from shame redeems, And even Apicius poor and frugal seems. What! You, Crispinus, brought to Rome, erewhile, Lapt in the rushes of your native Nile, Buy scales, at such a price! you might, I guess, 35 Have bought the fisherman himself for less; Bought, in some countries, manors at this rate, And, in Apulia, an immense estate! How gorged the emperor, when so dear a fish, Yet, of his cheapest meals, the cheapest dish, 40 Was guttled down by this impurpled lord, Chief knight, chief parasite, at Cæsar's board, Whom Memphis heard so late, with ceaseless yell, Clamoring through all her streets--"Ho! shads to sell!" Pierian MAIDS, begin;--but, quit your lyres, 45 The fact I bring no lofty chord requires: Relate it, then, and in the simplest strain, Nor let the poet style you MAIDS, in vain. When the last Flavius, drunk with fury, tore The prostrate world, which bled at every pore, 50 And Rome beheld, in body as in mind, A bald-pate Nero rise, to curse mankind; It chanced, that where the fane of Venus stands, Reared on Ancona's coast by Grecian hands, A turbot, wandering from the Illyrian main, 55 Fill'd the wide bosom of the bursting seine. Monsters so bulky, from its frozen stream, Mæotis renders to the solar beam, And pours them, fat with a whole winter's ease, Through the bleak Euxine, into warmer seas. 60 The mighty draught the astonished boatman eyes, And to the Pontiff's table dooms his prize: For who would dare to sell it? who to buy? When the coast swarmed with many a practiced spy, Mud-rakers, prompt to swear the fish had fled 65 From Cæsar's ponds, ingrate! where long it fed, And thus recaptured, claimed to be restored To the dominion of its ancient lord! Nay, if Palphurius may our credit gain, Whatever rare or precious swims the main, 70 Is forfeit to the crown, and you may seize The obnoxious dainty, when and where you please. This point allowed, our wary boatman chose To give--what, else, he had not failed to lose. Now were the dogstar's sickly fervors o'er, 75 Earth, pinched with cold, her frozen livery wore; The old began their quartan fits to fear, And wintry blasts deformed the beauteous year, And kept the turbot sweet: yet on he flew, As if the sultry South corruption blew.-- 80 And now the lake, and now the hill he gains, Where Alba, though in ruins, still maintains The Trojan fire, which, but for her, were lost, And worships Vesta, though with less of cost. The wondering crowd, that gathered to survey 85 The enormous fish, and barred the fisher's way, Satiate, at length retires; the gates unfold!-- Murmuring, the excluded senators behold The envied dainty enter:--On the man To great Atrides pressed, and thus began. 90 "This, for a private table far too great, Accept, and sumptuously your Genius treat: Haste to unload your stomach, and devour A turbot, destined to this happy hour. I sought him not;--he marked the toils I set, 95 And rushed, a willing victim, to my net." Was flattery e'er so rank! yet he grows vain, And his crest rises at the fulsome strain. When, to divine, a mortal power we raise, He looks for no hyperboles in praise. 100 But when was joy unmixed? no pot is found, Capacious of the turbot's ample round: In this distress, he calls the chiefs of state, At once the objects of his scorn and hate, In whose pale cheeks distrust and doubt appear, 105 And all a tyrant's friendship breeds of fear. Scarce was the loud Liburnian heard to say, "He sits," ere Pegasus was on his way; Yes:--the new bailiff of the affrighted town, (For what were Præfects more?) had snatched his gown, 110 And rushed to council: from the ivory chair, He dealt out justice with no common care; But yielded oft to those licentious times, And where he could not punish, winked at crimes. Then old, facetious Crispus tript along, 115 Of gentle manners, and persuasive tongue: None fitter to advise the lord of all, Had that pernicious pest, whom thus we call, Allowed a friend to soothe his savage mood, And give him counsel, wise at once and good. 120 But who shall dare this liberty to take, When, every word you hazard, life's at stake? Though but of stormy summers, showery springs-- For tyrants' ears, alas! are ticklish things. So did the good old man his tongue restrain; 125 Nor strove to stem the torrent's force in vain. Not one of those, who, by no fears deterred, Spoke the free soul, and truth to life preferred. He temporized--thus fourscore summers fled, Even in that court, securely, o'er his head. 130 Next him, appeared Acilius hurrying on, Of equal age--and followed by his son; Who fell, unjustly fell, in early years, A victim to the tyrant's jealous fears: But long ere this were hoary hairs become 135 A prodigy, among the great, at Rome; Hence, had I rather owe my humble birth, Frail brother of the giant-brood, to earth. Poor youth! in vain the ancient sleight you try; In vain, with frantic air, and ardent eye, 140 Fling every robe aside, and battle wage With bears and lions, on the Alban stage. All see the trick: and, spite of Brutus' skill, There are who count him but a driveler still; Since, in his days, it cost no mighty pains 145 To outwit a prince, with much more beard than brains. Rubrius, though not, like these, of noble race, Followed with equal terror in his face; And, laboring with a crime too foul to name, More, than the pathic satirist, lost to shame. 150 Montanus' belly next, and next appeared The legs, on which that monstrous pile was reared. Crispinus followed, daubed with more perfume, Thus early! than two funerals consume. Then bloodier Pompey, practiced to betray, 155 And hesitate the noblest lives away. Then Fuscus, who in studious pomp at home, Planned future triumphs for the Arms of Rome. Blind to the event! those arms, a different fate, Inglorious wounds, and Dacian vultures, wait. 160 Last, sly Veiento with Catullus came, Deadly Catullus, who, at beauty's name Took fire, although unseen: a wretch, whose crimes Struck with amaze even those prodigious times. A base, blind parasite, a murderous lord, 165 From the bridge-end raised to the council-board; Yet fitter still to dog the traveler's heels, And whine for alms to the descending wheels! None dwelt so largely on the turbot's size, Or raised with such applause his wondering eyes; 170 But to the left (O, treacherous want of sight) He poured his praise;--the fish was on the right! Thus would he at the fencer's matches sit, And shout with rapture, at some fancied hit; And thus applaud the stage-machinery, where 175 The youths were rapt aloft, and lost in air. Nor fell Veiento short:--as if possest With all Bellona's rage, his laboring breast Burst forth in prophecy; "I see, I see The omens of some glorious victory! 180 Some powerful monarch captured!--lo, he rears, Horrent on every side, his pointed spears! Arviragus hurled from the British car: The fish is foreign, foreign is the war." Proceed, great seer, and what remains untold, 185 The turbot's age and country, next unfold; So shall your lord his fortunes better know, And where the conquest waits and who the foe. The emperor now the important question put, "How say ye, Fathers, SHALL THE FISH BE CUT?" 190 "O, far be that disgrace," Montanus cries; "No, let a pot be formed, of amplest size, Within whose slender sides the fish, dread sire, May spread his vast circumference entire! Bring, bring the tempered clay, and let it feel 195 The quick gyrations of the plastic wheel:-- But, Cæsar, thus forewarned, make no campaign, Unless your potters follow in your train!" Montanus ended; all approved the plan, And all, the speech, so worthy of the man! 200 Versed in the old court luxury, he knew The feasts of Nero, and his midnight crew; Where oft, when potent draughts had fired the brain, The jaded taste was spurred to gorge again.-- And, in my time, none understood so well 205 The science of good eating: he could tell, At the first relish, if his oysters fed On the Rutupian, or the Lucrine bed; And from a crab, or lobster's color, name The country, nay, the district, whence it came. 210 Here closed the solemn farce. The Fathers rise, And each, submissive, from the presence hies:-- Pale, trembling wretches, whom the chief, in sport, Had dragged, astonished, to the Alban court; As if the stern Sicambri were in arms, 215 Or the fierce Catti threatened new alarms; As if ill news by flying posts had come, And gathering nations sought the fall of Rome! O! that such scenes (disgraceful at the most) Had all those years of cruelty engrost, 220 Through which his rage pursued the great and good, Unchecked, while vengeance slumbered o'er their blood! And yet he fell!--for when he changed his game, And first grew dreadful to the vulgar name, They seized the murderer, drenched with Lamian gore, 225 And hurled him, headlong, to the infernal shore!

Satire V. To Trebius.

SATIRE V.

TO TREBIUS.

If--by reiterated scorn made bold, Your mind can still its shameless tenor hold, Still think the greatest blessing earth can give, Is, solely at another's cost to live; If--you can brook, what Galba would have spurned, 5 And mean Sarmentus with a frown returned, At Cæsar's haughty board, dependents both, I scarce would take your evidence on oath. The belly's fed with little cost: yet grant You should, unhappily, that little want, 10 Some vacant bridge might surely still be found, Some highway side; where, groveling on the ground, Your shivering limbs compassion's sigh might wake, And gain an alms for "Charity's sweet sake!" What! can a meal, thus sauced, deserve your care? 15 Is hunger so importunate? when THERE, THERE, in your tattered rug, you may, my friend, On casual scraps more honestly depend; With chattering teeth toil o'er your wretched treat, And gnaw the crusts, which dogs refuse to eat!-- 20 For, first, of this be sure: whene'er your lord Thinks proper to invite you to his board, He pays, or thinks he pays, the total sum Of all your pains, past, present, and to come. Behold the meed of servitude! the great 25 Reward their humble followers with a treat, And count it current coin:--they count it such, And, though it be but little, think it much. If, after two long months, he condescend To waste a thought upon an humble friend, 30 Reminded by a vacant seat, and write, "You, Master Trebius, sup with me to-night," 'Tis rapture all! Go now, supremely blest, Enjoy the meed for which you broke your rest, And, loose and slipshod, ran your vows to pay, 35 What time the fading stars announced the day; Or at that earlier hour, when, with slow roll, Thy frozen wain, Boötes, turned the pole; Yet trembling, lest the levee should be o'er, And the full court retiring from the door! 40 And what a meal at last! such ropy wine, As wool, which takes all liquids, would decline; Hot, heady lees, to fire the wretched guests, And turn them all to Corybants, or beasts.-- At first, with sneers and sarcasms, they engage, 45 Then hurl the jugs around, with mutual rage; Or, stung to madness by the household train, With coarse stone pots a desperate fight maintain; While streams of blood in smoking torrents flow, And my lord smiles to see the battle glow! 50 Not such his beverage: he enjoys the juice Of ancient days, when beards were yet in use, Pressed in the Social War!--but will not send One cordial drop, to cheer a fainting friend. To-morrow, he will change, and, haply, fill 55 The mellow vintage of the Alban hill, Or Setian; wines, which can not now be known, So much the mould of age has overgrown The district, and the date; such generous bowls, As Thrasea and Helvidius, patriot souls! 60 While crowned with flowers, in sacred pomp, they lay, To FREEDOM quaffed, on Brutus' natal day. Before your patron, cups of price are placed, Amber and gold, with rows of beryls graced: Cups, you can only at a distance view, 65 And never trusted to such guests as you! Or, if they be--a faithful slave attends, To count the gems, and watch your fingers' ends. You'll pardon him; but lo! a jasper there, Of matchless worth, which justifies his care: 70 For Virro, like his brother peers, of late, Has stripped his fingers to adorn his plate; And jewels now emblaze the festive board, } Which decked with nobler grace the hero's sword, } Whom Dido prized, above the Libyan lord. } 75 From such he drinks: to you the slaves allot The Beneventine cobbler's four-lugged pot, A fragment, a mere shard, of little worth, But to be trucked for matches--and so forth. If Virro's veins with indigestion glow, 80 They bring him water cooled in Scythian snow: What! did I late complain a different wine Fell to thy share? A different water's thine! Getulian slaves your vile potations pour, Or the coarse paws of some huge, raw-boned Moor, 85 Whose hideous form the stoutest would affray, If met, by moonlight, near the Latian way: On him a youth, the flower of Asia, waits, So dearly purchased, that the joint estates Of Tullus, Ancus, would not yield the sum, 90 Nor all the wealth--of all the kings of Rome! Bear this in mind; and when the cup you need, Look to your own Getulian Ganymede; A page who cost so much, will ne'er, be sure, Come at your beck: he heeds not, he, the poor; 95 But, of his youth and beauty justly vain, Trips by them, with indifference and disdain. If called, he hears not, or, with rage inflamed-- Indignant, that his services are claimed By an old client, who, ye gods! commands, 100 And sits at ease, while his superior stands! Such proud, audacious minions swarm in Rome, And trample on the poor, where'er they come. Mark with what insolence another thrusts Before your plate th' impenetrable crusts, 105 Black mouldy fragments, which defy the saw, The mere despair of every aching jaw! While manchets, of the finest flour, are set Before your lord; but be you mindful, yet, And taste not, touch not: of the pantler stand 110 In trembling awe, and check your desperate hand-- Yet, should you dare--a slave springs forth, to wrest The sacred morsel from you. "Saucy guest," He frowns, and mutters, "wilt thou ne'er divine What's for thy patron's tooth, and what for thine? 115 Never take notice from what tray thou'rt fed, Nor know the color of thy proper bread?" Was it for this, the baffled client cries, The tears indignant starting from his eyes, Was it for this I left my wife ere day, 120 And up the bleak Esquilian urged my way, While the wind howled, the hail-storm beat amain, And my cloak smoked beneath the driving rain! But lo, a lobster, introduced in state, Stretches, enormous, o'er the bending plate; 125 Proud of a length of tail, he seems to eye The humbler guests with scorn, as, towering by, He takes the place of honor at the board, And crowned with costly pickles, greets his lord! A crab is yours, ill garnished and ill fed, 130 With half an egg--a supper for the dead! He pours Venafran oil upon his fish, While the stale coleworts, in your wooden dish, Stink of the lamp; for such to you is thrown, Such rancid grease, as Afric sends to town; 135 So strong, that when her factors seek the bath, All wind, and all avoid, the noisome path; So pestilent! that her own serpents fly The horrid stench, or meet it but to die. See! a sur-mullet now before him set, 140 From Corsica, or isles more distant yet, Brought post to Rome; since Ostia's shores no more Supply the insatiate glutton, as of yore, Thinned by the net, whose everlasting throw Allows no Tuscan fish in peace to grow. 145 Still luxury yawns, unfilled; the nations rise, And ransack all their coasts for fresh supplies: Thence come your presents; thence, as rumor tells, The dainties Lenas buys, Aurelia sells. A lamprey next, from the Sicilian straits, 150 Of more than common size, on Virro waits-- For oft as Auster seeks his cave, and flings The cumbrous moisture from his dripping wings, Forth flies the daring fisher, lured by gain, While rocks oppose, and whirlpools threat in vain. 155 To you an eel is brought, whose slender make Speaks him a famished cousin to the snake; Or some frost-bitten pike, who, day by day, Through half the city's ordure sucked his way! Would Virro deign to hear me, I could give 160 A few brief hints:--We look not to receive What Seneca, what Cotta used to send, What the good Piso, to an humble friend:-- For bounty once preferred a fairer claim, Than birth or power, to honorable fame: 165 No; all we ask (and you may this afford) Is, simply, civil treatment at your board; Indulge us here; and be, like numbers more, Rich to yourself, to your dependents poor! Vain hope! Near him a goose's liver lies; 170 A capon, equal to a goose in size; A boar, too, smokes, like that which fell, of old, By the famed hero with the locks of gold. Last, if the spring its genial influence shed, And welcome thunders call them from their bed, 175 Large mushrooms enter; ravished with their size, "O Libya, keep thy grain!" Alledius cries, "And bid thy oxen to their stalls retreat, Nor, while thou grow'st such mushrooms, think of wheat!" Meanwhile, to put your patience to the test, 180 Lo! the spruce carver, to his task addrest, Skips, like a harlequin, from place to place, And waves his knife with pantomimic grace, Till every dish be ranged, and every joint Severed, by nicest rules, from point to point. 185 You think this folly--'tis a simple thought-- To such perfection, now, is carving brought, That different gestures, by our curious men, Are used for different dishes, hare and hen. But think whate'er you may, your comments spare; 190 For should you, like a free-born Roman, dare To hint your thoughts, forth springs some sturdy groom, And drags you straight, heels foremost, from the room! Does Virro ever pledge you? ever sip The liquor touched by your unhallowed lip? 195 Or is there one of all your tribe so free, So desperate, as to say--"Sir, drink to me?" O, there is much, that never can be spoke By a poor client in a threadbare cloak! But should some godlike man, more kind than fate, 200 Some god, present you with a knight's estate, Heavens, what a change! how infinitely dear Would Trebius then become! How great appear, From nothing! Virro, so reserved of late, Grows quite familiar: "Brother, send your plate. 205 Dear brother Trebius! you were wont to say You liked this trail, I think--Oblige me, pray."-- O Riches!--this "dear brother" is your own, To you this friendship, this respect is shown. But would you now your patron's patron be? 210 Let no young Trebius wanton round your knee, No Trebia, none: a barren wife procures The kindest, truest friends! such then be yours.-- Yet, should she breed, and, to augment your joys, Pour in your lap, at once, three bouncing boys, 215 Virro will still, so you be wealthy, deign To toy and prattle with the lisping train; Will have his pockets too with farthings stored, And when the sweet young rogues approach his board, Bring out his pretty corselets for the breast, 220 His nuts, and apples, for each coaxing guest. You champ on spongy toadstools, hateful treat! Fearful of poison in each bit you eat; He feasts secure on mushrooms, fine as those Which Claudius, for his special eating chose, 225 Till one more fine, provided by his wife, Finished at once his feasting, and his life! Apples, as fragrant, and as bright of hue, As those which in Alcinoüs' gardens grew, Mellowed by constant sunshine; or as those, 230 Which graced the Hesperides, in burnished rows; Apples, which you may smell, but never taste, Before your lord and his great friends are placed: While you enjoy mere windfalls, such stale fruit, As serves to mortify the raw recruit, 235 When, armed with helm and shield, the lance he throws, And trembles at the shaggy master's blows. You think, perhaps, that Virro treats so ill To save his gold; no, 'tis to vex you still: For, say, what comedy such mirth can raise, 240 As hunger, tortured thus a thousand ways? No (if you know it not), 'tis to excite Your rage, your phrensy, for his mere delight; 'Tis to compel you all your gall to show, And gnash your teeth in agonies of woe. 245 You deem yourself (such pride inflates your breast), Forsooth, a freeman, and your patron's guest; He thinks you a vile slave, drawn, by the smell Of his warm kitchen, there; and he thinks well: For who so low, so wretched as to bear 250 Such treatment twice, whose fortune 'twas to wear The golden boss; nay, to whose humbler lot, The poor man's ensign fell, the leathern knot! Your palate still beguiles you: Ah, how nice That smoking haunch! NOW we shall have a slice! 255 Now that half hare is coming! NOW a bit Of that young pullet! NOW--and thus you sit, Thumbing your bread in silence; watching still, For what has never reached you, never will! No more of freedom! 'tis a vain pretense: 260 Your patron treats you like a man of sense: For, if you can, without a murmur, bear, You well deserve the insults which you share. Anon, like voluntary slaves, you'll throw Your humbled necks beneath the oppressor's blow, 265 Nay, with bare backs, solicit to be beat, And merit SUCH A FRIEND, and SUCH A TREAT!

Satire VI. To Ursidius Posthumus.

SATIRE VI.

TO URSIDIUS POSTHUMUS.

Yes, I believe that CHASTITY was known, And prized on earth, while Saturn filled the throne; When rocks a bleak and scanty shelter gave, When sheep and shepherds thronged one common cave, And when the mountain wife her couch bestrewed 5 With skins of beasts, joint tenants of the wood, And reeds, and leaves plucked from the neighboring tree:-- A woman, Cynthia, far unlike to thee, Or thee, weak child of fondness and of fears, Whose eyes a sparrow's death suffused with tears: 10 But strong, and reaching to her burly brood Her big-swollen breasts, replete with wholesome food, And rougher than her husband, gorged with mast, And frequent belching from the coarse repast. For when the world was new, the race that broke, 15 Unfathered, from the soil or opening oak, Lived most unlike the men of later times, The puling brood of follies and of crimes. Haply some trace of Chastity remained, While Jove, but Jove as yet unbearded, reigned: 20 Before the Greek bound, by another's head, His doubtful faith; or men, of theft in dread, Had learned their herbs and fruitage to immure, But all was uninclosed, and all secure! At length Astrea, from these confines driven, 25 Regained by slow degrees her native heaven; With her retired her sister in disgust, And left the world to rapine, and to lust. 'Tis not a practice, friend, of recent date, But old, established, and inveterate, 30 To climb another's couch, and boldly slight The sacred Genius of the nuptial rite: All other crimes the Age of Iron curst; But that of Silver saw adulterers first. Yet thou, it seems, art eager to engage 35 Thy witless neck, in this degenerate age! Even now, thy hair the modish curl is taught, By master-hands; even now, the ring is bought; Even now--thou once, Ursidius, hadst thy wits, But thus to talk of wiving!--O, these fits! 40 What more than madness has thy soul possest? What snakes, what Furies, agitate thy breast? Heavens! wilt thou tamely drag the galling chain, While hemp is to be bought, while knives remain? While windows woo thee so divinely high, 45 And Tiber and the Æmilian bridge are nigh?-- "O, but the law," thou criest, "the Julian law, Will keep my destined wife from every flaw; Besides, I die for heirs." Good! and for those, Wilt thou the turtle and the turbot lose, 50 And all the dainties, which the flatterer, still Heaps on the childless, to secure his Will? But what will hence impossible be held, If thou, old friend, to wedlock art impelled? If thou, the veriest debauchee in town, 55 With whom wives, widows, every thing went down, Shouldst stretch the unsuspecting neck, and poke Thy foolish nose into the marriage yoke? Thou, famed for scapes, and, by the trembling wife, Thrust in a chest so oft, to save thy life!-- 60 But what! Ursidius hopes a mate to gain, Frugal, and chaste, and of the good old strain: Alas, he's frantic! ope a vein with speed, And bleed him copiously, good doctor, bleed. Jewel of men! thy knees to Jove incline, 65 And let a heifer fall at Juno's shrine, If thy researches for a wife be blest, With one, who is not--need I speak the rest? Ah! few the matrons Ceres now can find, Her hallowed fillets, with chaste hands, to bind; 70 Few whom their fathers with their lips can trust, So strong their filial kisses smack of lust! Go then, prepare to bring your mistress home, And crown your doors with garlands, ere she come.-- But will one man suffice, methinks, you cry, 75 For all her wants and wishes? Will one eye! And yet there runs, 'tis said, a wondrous tale, Of some pure maid, who lives--in some lone vale. There she MAY live; but let the phœnix, placed At Gabii or Fidenæ, prove as chaste 80 As at her father's farm!--Yet who will swear, That naught is done in night and silence there? Time was, when Jupiter and Mars, we're told, } With many a nymph in woods and caves made bold; } And still, perhaps, they may not be too old. } 85 Survey our public places; see you there One woman worthy of your serious care? See you, through all the crowded benches, one Whom you might take securely for your own?-- Lo! while Bathyllus, with his flexile limbs, 90 Acts Leda, and through every posture swims, Tuccia delights to realize the play, And in lascivious trances melts away; While rustic Thymele, with curious eye, Marks the quick pant, the lingering, deep-drawn sigh, 95 And while her cheeks with burning blushes glow, Learns this--learns all the city matrons know. Others, when of the theatres bereft, When nothing but the wrangling bar is left, In the long tedious months which interpose 100 'Twixt the Cybelian and Plebeian shows, Sicken for action, and assume the airs, The mask and thyrsus, of their favorite players. --Midst peals of mirth, see Urbicus advance (Poor Ælia's choice), and, in a wanton dance, 105 Burlesque Autonoë's woes! the rich engage In higher frolics, and defraud the stage; Take from Chrysogonus the power to sing, Loose, at vast prices, the comedian's ring, Tempt the tragedian--but I see you moved-- 110 Heavens! dreamed you that QUINTILIAN would be loved! Then hie thee, Lentulus, and boldly wed, That the chaste partner of thy fruitful bed May kindly single from this motley race Some sturdy Glaphyrus, thy brows to grace: 115 Haste; in the narrow streets long scaffolds raise, And deck thy portals with triumphant bays; That in thy heir, as swathed in state he lies, The guests may trace Mirmillo's nose and eyes! Hippia, who shared a rich patrician's bed, 120 To Egypt with a gladiator fled, While rank Canopus eyed, with strong disgust, This ranker specimen of Roman lust. Without one pang, the profligate resigned Her husband, sister, sire; gave to the wind 125 Her children's tears; yea, tore herself away (To strike you more)--from PARIS and the PLAY! And though, in affluence born, her infant head Had pressed the down of an embroidered bed, She braved the deep (she long had braved her fame; 130 But this is little--to the courtly dame), And, with undaunted breast, the changes bore, Of many a sea, the swelling and the roar. Have they an honest call, such ills to bear? Cold shiverings seize them, and they shrink with fear; 135 But set illicit pleasure in their eye, Onward they rush, and every toil defy! Summoned by duty, to attend her lord, How, cries the lady, can I get on board? How bear the dizzy motion? how the smell? 140 But--when the adulterer calls her, all is well! She roams the deck, with pleasure ever new, Tugs at the ropes, and messes with the crew; But with her husband--O, how changed the case! Sick! sick! she cries, and vomits in his face. 145 But by what youthful charms, what shape, what air, Was Hippia won, the opprobrious name to bear Of FENCER'S TRULL? The wanton well might dote! For the sweet Sergius long had scraped his throat, Long looked for leave to quit the public stage, 150 Maimed in his limbs, and verging now to age. Add, that his face was battered and decayed; The helmet on his brow huge galls had made, A wen deformed his nose, of monstrous size, And sharp rheum trickled from his bloodshot eyes: 155 But then he was a SWORDSMAN! that alone Made every charm and every grace his own; That made him dearer than her nuptial vows, Dearer than country, sister, children, spouse.-- 'TIS BLOOD THEY LOVE: Let Sergius quit the sword, 160 And he'll appear, at once--so like her lord! Start you at wrongs that touch a private name, At Hippia's lewdness, and Veiento's shame? Turn to the rivals of the immortal Powers, And mark how like their fortunes are to ours! 165 Claudius had scarce begun his eyes to close, Ere from his pillow Messalina rose (Accustomed long the bed of state to slight For the coarse mattress, and the hood of night); And with one maid, and her dark hair concealed 170 Beneath a yellow tire, a strumpet veiled! She slipt into the stews, unseen, unknown, And hired a cell, yet reeking, for her own. There, flinging off her dress, the imperial whore Stood, with bare breasts and gilded, at the door, 175 And showed, Britannicus, to all who came, The womb that bore thee, in Lycisca's name! Allured the passers by with many a wile, And asked her price, and took it, with a smile. And when the hour of business now was spent, 180 And all the trulls dismissed, repining went; Yet what she could, she did; slowly she past, And saw her man, and shut her cell, the last, --Still raging with the fever of desire, Her veins all turgid, and her blood all fire, 185 With joyless pace, the imperial couch she sought, And to her happy spouse (yet slumbering) brought Cheeks rank with sweat, limbs drenched with poisonous dews, The steam of lamps, and odor of the stews! 'Twere long to tell what philters they provide, 190 What drugs, to set a son-in-law aside. Women, in judgment weak, in feeling strong, By every, gust of passion borne along, Act, in their fits, such crimes, that, to be just, The least pernicious of their sins is lust. 195 But why's Cesennia then, you say, adored, And styled the first of women, by her lord? Because she brought him thousands: such the price It cost the lady to be free from vice!-- Not for her charms the wounded lover pined, 200 Nor felt the flame which fires the ardent mind, Plutus, not Cupid, touched his sordid heart; And 'twas her dower that winged the unerring dart. She brought enough her liberty to buy, And tip the wink before her husband's eye. 205 A wealthy wanton, to a miser wed, Has all the license of a widowed bed. But yet, Sertorius what I say disproves, For though his Bibula is poor, he loves. True! but examine him; and, on my life, 210 You'll find he loves the beauty, not the wife. Let but a wrinkle on her forehead rise, And time obscure the lustre of her eyes; Let but the moisture leave her flaccid skin, And her teeth blacken, and her cheeks grow thin; 215 And you shall hear the insulting freedman say, "Pack up your trumpery, madam, and away! Nay, bustle, bustle; here you give offense, With sniveling night and day;--take your nose hence!"-- But, ere that hour arrives, she reigns indeed! 220 Shepherds, and sheep of Canusinian breed, Falernian vineyards (trifles these), she craves, And store of boys, and troops of country slaves; Briefly, for all her neighbor has, she sighs, And plagues her doting husband, till he buys. 225 In winter, when the merchant fears to roam, And snow confines the shivering crew at home; She ransacks every shop for precious ware, Here cheapens myrrh and crystal vases; there, That far-famed gem which Berenice wore, 230 The hire of incest, and thence valued more; A brother's present, in that barbarous State, Where kings the sabbath, barefoot, celebrate; And old indulgence grants a length of life To hogs, that fatten fearless of the knife. 235 What! and is none of all this numerous herd Worthy your choice? not one, to be preferred? Suppose her nobly born, young, rich, and fair, And (though a coal-black swan be far less rare) Chaste as the Sabine wives, who rushed between 240 The kindred hosts, and closed the unnatural scene; Yet who could bear to lead an humbled life, Cursed with that veriest plague, a faultless wife!-- Some simple rustic at Venusium bred, O let me, rather than Cornelia, wed, 245 If, to great virtues, greater pride she join, And count her ancestors as current coin. Take back, for mercy's sake, thy Hannibal! Away with vanquished Syphax, camp and all! Troop, with the whole of Carthage! I'd be free 250 From all this pageantry of worth--and thee. "O let, Apollo, let my children live, And thou, Diana, pity, and forgive;" Amphion cries; "they, they are guiltless all! The mother sinned, let then the mother fall." 255 In vain he cries; Apollo bends his bow, And, with the children, lays the father low? They fell; while Niobe aspired to place Her birth and blood above Latona's race; And boast her womb--too fruitful, to be named 260 With that WHITE SOW, for thirty sucklings famed. Beauty and worth are purchased much too dear, If a wife force them hourly on your ear; For, say, what pleasure can you hope to find, Even in this boast, this phœnix of her kind, 265 If, warped by pride, on all around she lour, And in your cup more gall than honey pour? Ah! who so blindly wedded to the state, As not to shrink from such a perfect mate, Of every virtue feel the oppressive weight, 270 And curse the worth he loves, seven hours in eight? Some faults, though small, no husband yet can bear: 'Tis now the nauseous cant, that none is fair, Unless her thoughts in Attic terms she dress; A mere Cecropian of a Sulmoness! 275 All now is Greek: in Greek their souls they pour, In Greek their fears, hopes, joys;--what would you more? In Greek they clasp their lovers. We allow These fooleries to girls: but thou, O thou, Who tremblest on the verge of eighty-eight, 280 To Greek it still!--'tis, now, a day too late. Foh! how it savors of the dregs of lust, When an old hag, whose blandishments disgust, Affects the infant lisp, the girlish squeak, And mumbles out, "My life!" "My soul!" in Greek! 285 Words, which the secret sheets alone should hear, But which she trumpets in the public ear. And words, indeed, have power--But though she woo In softer strains than e'er Carpophorus knew, Her wrinkles still employ her favorite's cares; 290 And while she murmurs love, he counts her years! But tell me;--if thou CANST NOT love a wife, Made thine by every tie, and thine for life, Why wed at all? why waste the wine and cakes, The queasy-stomached guest, at parting, takes? 295 And the rich present, which the bridal right Claims for the favors of the happy night? The charger, where, triumphantly inscrolled, The Dacian Hero shines in current gold! If thou CANST love, and thy besotted mind 300 Is, so uxoriously, to one inclined, Then bow thy neck, and with submissive air Receive the yoke--thou must forever wear. To a fond spouse a wife no mercy shows:-- Though warmed with equal fires, she mocks his woes, 305 And triumphs in his spoils: her wayward will Defeats his bliss, and turns his good to ill! Naught must be given, if she opposes; naught, If she opposes, must be sold or bought; She tells him where to love, and where to hate, } 310 Shuts out the ancient friend, whose beard his gate } Knew, from its downy to its hoary state: } And when pimps, parasites, of all degrees Have power to will their fortunes as they please, She dictates his; and impudently dares 315 To name his very rivals for his heirs! "Go, crucify that slave." For what offense? Who the accuser? Where the evidence? For when the life of MAN is in debate, No time can be too long, no care too great; 320 Hear all, weigh all with caution, I advise-- "Thou sniveler! is a slave a MAN?" she cries. "He's innocent! be't so:--'tis my command, My will; let that, sir, for a reason stand." Thus the virago triumphs, thus she reigns: 325 Anon she sickens of her first domains, And seeks for new; husband on husband takes, Till of her bridal veil one rent she makes. Again she tires, again for change she burns, And to the bed she lately left returns, 330 While the fresh garlands, and unfaded boughs, Yet deck the portal of her wondering spouse. Thus swells the list; EIGHT HUSBANDS IN FIVE YEARS: A rare inscription for their sepulchres! While your wife's mother lives, expect no peace. 335 She teaches her, with savage joy, to fleece A bankrupt spouse: kind creature! she befriends The lover's hopes, and, when her daughter sends An answer to his prayer, the style inspects, Softens the cruel, and the wrong corrects: 340 Experienced bawd! she blinds, or bribes all eyes, And brings the adulterer, in despite of spies. And now the farce begins; the lady falls "Sick, sick, oh! sick;" and for the doctor calls: Sweltering she lies, till the dull visit's o'er, 345 While the rank lecher, at the closet door Lurking in silence, maddens with delay, And in his own impatience melts away. Nor count it strange: What mother e'er was known To teach severer morals than her own?-- 350 No;--with their daughters' lusts they swell their stores, And thrive as bawds when out of date as whores! Women support the BAR; they love the law, And raise litigious questions for a straw; They meet in private, and prepare the Bill, 355 Draw up the Instructions with a lawyer's skill, Suggest to Celsus where the merits lie, And dictate points for statement or reply. Nay, more, they FENCE! who has not marked their oil, Their purple rugs, for this preposterous toil? 360 Room for the lady--lo! she seeks the list, And fiercely tilts at her antagonist, A post! which, with her buckler, she provokes, And bores and batters with repeated strokes; Till all the fencer's art can do she shows, 365 And the glad master interrupts her blows. O worthy, sure, to head those wanton dames, Who foot it naked at the Floral games; Unless, with nobler daring, she aspire, And tempt the arena's bloody field--for hire! 370 What sense of shame is to that female known, Who envies our pursuits, and hates her own? Yet would she not, though proud in arms to shine (True woman still), her sex for ours resign; For there's a thing she loves beyond compare, 375 And we, alas! have no advantage there.-- Heavens! with what glee a husband must behold His wife's accoutrements, in public, sold; And auctioneers displaying to the throng Her crest, her belt, her gauntlet, and her thong! 380 Or, if in wilder frolics she engage, And take her private lessons for the stage, Then three-fold rapture must expand his breast, To see her greaves "a-going" with the rest. Yet these are they, the tender souls! who sweat 385 In muslin, and in silk expire with heat.-- Mark, with what force, as the full blow descends, She thunders "hah!" again, how low she bends Beneath the opposer's stroke; how firm she rests, Poised on her hams, and every step contests: 390 How close tucked up for fight, behind, before, Then laugh--to see her squat, when all is o'er! Daughters of Lepidus, and Gurges old, And blind Metellus, did ye e'er behold Asylla (though a fencer's trull confess'd) 395 Tilt at a stake, thus impudently dress'd! 'Tis night; yet hope no slumbers with your wife; The nuptial bed is still the scene of strife: There lives the keen debate, the clamorous brawl, And quiet "never comes, that comes to all." 400 Fierce as a tigress plundered of her young, Rage fires her breast, and loosens all her tongue, When, conscious of her guilt, she feigns to groan, And chides your loose amours, to hide her own; Storms at the scandal of your baser flames, 405 And weeps her injuries from imagined names, With tears that, marshaled, at their station stand, And flow impassioned, as she gives command. You think those showers her true affection prove, And deem yourself--so happy in her love! 410 With fond caresses strive her heart to cheer, And from her eyelids suck the starting tear: --But could you now examine the scrutore Of this most loving, this most jealous whore, What amorous lays, what letters would you see, 415 Proofs, damning proofs, of her sincerity! But these are doubtful--Put a clearer case: Suppose her taken in a loose embrace, A slave's or knight's. Now, my Quintilian, come, And fashion an excuse. What! are you dumb? 420 Then, let the lady speak. "Was't not agreed The MAN might please himself?" It was; proceed. "Then, so may I"--O, Jupiter! "No oath: MAN is a general term, and takes in both." When once surprised, the sex all shame forego; 425 And more audacious, as more guilty, grow. Whence shall these prodigies of vice be traced? From wealth, my friend. Our matrons then were chaste, When days of labor, nights of short repose, Hands still employed the Tuscan wool to tose, 430 Their husbands armed, and anxious for the State, And Carthage hovering near the Colline gate, Conspired to keep all thoughts of ill aloof, And banished vice far from their lowly roof. Now, all the evils of long peace are ours; 435 Luxury, more terrible than hostile powers, Her baleful influence wide around has hurled, And well avenged the subjugated world! --Since Poverty, our better Genius, fled, Vice, like a deluge, o'er the State has spread. 440 Now, shame to Rome! in every street are found The essenced Sybarite, with roses crowned, The gay Miletan, and the Tarentine, Lewd, petulant, and reeling ripe with wine! Wealth first, the ready pander to all sin, 445 Brought foreign manners, foreign vices in; Enervate wealth, and with seductive art, Sapped every homebred virtue of the heart; Yes, every:--for what cares the drunken dame (Take head or tail, to her 'tis just the same), 450 Who, at deep midnight, on fat oysters sups, And froths with unguents her Falernian cups; Who swallows oceans, till the tables rise, And double lustres dance before her eyes! Thus flushed, conceive, as Tullia homeward goes, 455 With what contempt she tosses up her nose At Chastity's hoar fane! what impious jeers Collatia pours in Maura's tingling ears! Here stop their litters, here they all alight, And squat together in the goddess' sight:-- 460 You pass, aroused at dawn your court to pay, The loathsome scene of their licentious play. Who knows not now, my friend, the secret rites Of the GOOD GODDESS; when the dance excites The boiling blood; when, to distraction wound, 465 By wine, and music's stimulating sound, The mænads of Priapus, with wild air, Howl horrible, and toss their flowing hair! Then, how the wine at every pore o'erflows! How the eye sparkles! how the bosom glows! 470 How the cheek burns! and, as the passions rise, How the strong feeling bursts in eager cries!-- Saufeia now springs forth, and tries a fall With the town prostitutes, and throws them all; But yields, herself, to Medullina, known 475 For parts, and powers, superior to her own. Maids, mistresses, alike the contest share, And 'tis not always birth that triumphs there. Nothing is feigned in this accursed game: 'Tis genuine all; and such as would inflame 480 The frozen age of Priam, and inspire The ruptured, bedrid Nestor with desire. Stung with their mimic feats, a hollow groan Of lust breaks forth; the sex, the sex is shown! And one loud yell re-echoes through the den, 485 "Now, now, 'tis lawful! now admit the men!" There's none arrived. "Not yet! then scour the street, And bring us quickly, here, the first you meet." There's none abroad. "Then fetch our slaves." They're gone. "Then hire a waterman." There's none. "Not one!"-- 490 Nature's strong barrier scarcely now restrains The baffled fury in their boiling veins! And would to heaven our ancient rites were free!-- But Africa and India, earth and sea, Have heard, what singing-wench produced his ware, 495 Vast as two Anti Catos, there, even there, Where the he-mouse, in reverence, lies concealed, And every picture of a male is veiled. And who was THEN a scoffer? who despised The simple rites by infant Rome devised, 500 The wooden bowl of pious Numa's day, The coarse brown dish, and pot of homely clay? Now, woe the while! religion's in its wane; And daring Clodii swarm in every fane. I hear, old friends, I hear you: "Make all sure: 505 Let spies surround her, and let bolts secure." But who shall KEEP THE KEEPERS? Wives contemn Our poor precautions, and begin with THEM. Lust is the master passion; it inflames, Alike, both high and low; alike, the dames, 510 Who, on tall Syrians' necks, their pomp display, And those who pick, on foot, their miry way. Whene'er Ogulnia to the Circus goes, To emulate the rich, she hires her clothes, Hires followers, friends, and cushions; hires a chair, 515 A nurse, and a trim girl, with golden hair, To slip her billets:--prodigal and poor, She wastes the wreck of her paternal store On smooth-faced wrestlers; wastes her little all, And strips her shivering mansion to the wall! 520 There's many a woman knows distress at home; Not one who feels it, and, ere ruin come, To her small means conforms. Taught by the ant, Men sometimes guard against the extreme of want, And stretch, though late, their providential fears, 525 To food and raiment for their future years: But women never see their wealth decay; With lavish hands they scatter night and day, As if the gold, with vegetative power, Would spring afresh, and bloom from hour to hour; 530 As if the mass its present size would keep, And no expense reduce the eternal heap. Others there are, who centre all their bliss In the soft eunuch, and the beardless kiss: They need not from his chin avert their face, 535 Nor use abortive drugs, for his embrace. But oh! their joys run high, if he be formed, When his full veins the fire of love has warmed; When every part's to full perfection reared, And naught of manhood wanting, but the beard. 540 But should the dame in music take delight, The public singer is disabled quite: In vain the prætor guards him all he can; She slips the buckle, and enjoys her man. Still in her hand his instrument is found, 545 Thick set with gems, that shed a lustre round; Still o'er his lyre the ivory quill she flings, Still runs divisions on the trembling strings, The trembling strings, which the loved Hedymel Was wont to strike--so sweetly, and so well! 550 These still she holds, with these she soothes her woes, And kisses on the dear, dear wire bestows. A noble matron of the Lamian line Inquired of Janus (offering meal and wine) If Pollio, at the Harmonic Games, would speed, 555 And wear the oaken crown, the victor's meed! What could she for a husband, more, have done, What for an only, an expiring son? Yes; for a harper, the besotted dame Approached the altar, reckless of her fame, 560 And veiled her head, and, with a pious air, Followed the Aruspex through the form of prayer; And trembled, and turned pale, as he explored The entrails, breathless for the fatal word! But, tell me, father Janus, if you please, 565 Tell me, most ancient of the deities, Is your attention to such suppliants given? If so--there is not much to do in heaven! For a comedian, this consults your will, For a tragedian, that; kept standing, still, 570 By this eternal route, the wretched priest Feels his legs swell, and dies to be releas'd. But let her rather sing, than roam the streets, And thrust herself in every crowd she meets; Chat with great generals, though her lord be there, 575 With lawless eye, bold front, and bosom bare. She, too, with curiosity o'erflows, And all the news of all the world she knows; Knows what in Scythia, what in Thrace is done; The secrets of the step-dame and the son; 580 Who speeds, and who is jilted: and can swear, } Who made the widow pregnant, when and where, } And what she said, and how she frolicked there.-- } She first espied the star, whose baleful ray, O'er Parthia, and Armenia, shed dismay: 585 She watches at the gates, for news to come, And intercepts it, as it enters Rome; Then, fraught with full intelligence, she flies Through every street, and, mingling truth with lies, Tells how Niphates bore down every mound, 590 And poured his desolating flood around; How earth, convulsed, disclosed its caverns hoar, And cities trembled, and--were seen no more! And yet this itch, though never to be cured, Is easier, than her cruelty, endured. 595 Should a poor neighbor's dog but discompose Her rest a moment, wild with rage she grows; "Ho! whips," she cries, "and flay that brute accurs'd;" "But flay that rascal there, who owns him, first." Dangerous to meet while in these frantic airs, 600 And terrible to look at, she prepares To bathe at night; she issues her commands, And in long ranks forth poor the obedient bands, With tubs, cloths, oils:--for 'tis her dear delight To sweat in clamor, tumult, and affright. 605 When her tired arms refuse the balls to ply, And the lewd bath-keeper has rubbed her dry, She calls to mind each miserable guest, Long since with hunger, and with sleep oppress'd, And hurries home; all glowing, all athirst, 610 For wine, whole flasks of wine! and swallows, first, Two quarts, to clear her stomach, and excite A ravenous, an unbounded appetite! Huisch! up it comes, good heavens! meat, drink, and all, And flows in purple torrents round the hall; 615 Or a gilt ewer receives the foul contents, And poisons all the house with vinous scents. So, dropp'd into a vat, a snake is said To drink and spew:--the husband turns his head, Sick to the soul, from this disgusting scene, 620 And struggles to suppress his rising spleen. But she is more intolerable yet, Who plays the critic when at table set; Calls Virgil charming, and attempts to prove Poor Dido right, in venturing all for love. 625 From Maro, and Mæonides, she quotes The striking passages, and, while she notes Their beauties and defects, adjusts her scales, And accurately weighs which bard prevails. The astonished guests sit mute: grammarians yield, 630 Loud rhetoricians, baffled, quit the field; Even auctioneers and lawyers stand aghast, And not a woman speaks!--So thick, and fast, The wordy shower descends, that you would swear A thousand bells were jangling in your ear, 635 A thousand basins clattering. Vex no more Your trumpets and your timbrels, as of yore, To ease the laboring moon; her single yell Can drown their clangor, and dissolve the spell. She lectures too in Ethics, and declaims 640 On the CHIEF GOOD!--but, surely, she who aims To seem too learn'd, should take the male array; A hog, due offering, to Sylvanus slay, And, with the Stoic's privilege, repair To farthing baths, and strip in public there! 645 Oh, never may the partner of my bed With subtleties of logic stuff her head; Nor whirl her rapid syllogisms around, Nor with imperfect enthymemes confound! Enough for me, if common things she know, 650 And boast the little learning schools bestow. I hate the female pedagogue, who pores O'er her Palæmon hourly; who explores All modes of speech, regardless of the sense, But tremblingly alive to mood and tense: 655 Who puzzles me with many an uncouth phrase, From some old canticle of Numa's days; Corrects her country friends, and can not hear Her husband solecize without a sneer! A woman stops at nothing, when she wears 660 Rich emeralds round her neck, and in her ears Pearls of enormous size; these justify Her faults, and make all lawful in her eye. Sure, of all ills with which mankind are curs'd, A wife who brings you money is the worst. 665 Behold! her face a spectacle appears, Bloated, and foul, and plastered to the ears With viscous paste:--the husband looks askew, And sticks his lips in this detested glue. She meets the adulterer bathed, perfumed, and dress'd, 670 But rots in filth at home, a very pest! For him she breathes of nard; for him alone She makes the sweets of Araby her own; For him, at length, she ventures to uncase, Scales the first layer of roughcast from her face, 675 And, while the maids to know her now begin, Clears, with that precious milk, her frouzy skin, For which, though exiled to the frozen main, She'd lead a drove of asses in her train! But tell me yet; this thing, thus daubed and oiled, 680 Thus poulticed, plastered, baked by turns and boiled, Thus with pomatums, ointments, lackered o'er, Is it a FACE, Ursidius, or a SORE? 'Tis worth a little labor to survey Our wives more near and trace 'em through the day. 685 If, dreadful to relate! the night foregone, The husband turned his back, or lay alone, All, all is lost; the housekeeper is stripped, The tiremaid chidden, and the chairman whipped: Rods, cords, and thongs avenge the master's sleep, 690 And force the guiltless house to wake and weep. There are, who hire a beadle by the year, To lash their servants round; who, pleased to hear The eternal thong, bid him lay on, while they, At perfect ease, the silkman's stores survey, 695 Chat with their female gossips, or replace The cracked enamel on their treacherous face. No respite yet:--they leisurely hum o'er The countless items of the day before, And bid him still lay on; till, faint with toil, 700 He drops the scourge; when, with a rancorous smile, "Begone!" they thunder in a horrid tone, "Now your accounts are settled, rogues, begone!" But should she wish with nicer care to dress, And now the hour of assignation press 705 (Whether the adulterer for her coming wait In Isis' fane, to bawdry consecrate, Or in Lucullus' walks), the house appears A true Sicilian court, all gloom and tears. The wretched Psecas, for the whip prepared, 710 With locks disheveled, and with shoulders bared, Attempts her hair: fire flashes from her eyes, And, "Strumpet! why this curl so high?" she cries. Instant the lash, without remorse, is plied, And the blood stains her bosom, back, and side. 715 But why this fury?--Is the girl to blame, If your air shocks you, or your features shame? Another, trembling, on the left prepares To open and arrange the straggling hairs In ringlets trim: meanwhile, the council meet: 720 And first the nurse, a personage discreet, Late from the toilet to the wheel removed (The effect of time), yet still of taste approved, Gives her opinion: then the rest, in course, As age, or practice, lends their judgment force. 725 So warm they grow, and so much pains they take, You'd think her honor or her life at stake! So high they build her head, such tiers on tiers, With wary hands, they pile, that she appears, Andromache, before:--and what behind? 730 A dwarf, a creature of a different kind.-- Meanwhile, engrossed by these important cares, She thinks not on her lord's distress'd affairs, Scarce on himself; but leads a separate life, As if she were his neighbor, not his wife? 735 Or, but in this--that all control she braves; Hates where he loves, and squanders where he saves. Room for Bellona's frantic votaries! room For Cybele's mad enthusiasts! lo, they come! A lusty semivir, whose part obscene, 740 A broken shell has severed smooth and clean, A raw-boned, mitred priest, whom the whole choir Of curtailed priestlings reverence and admire, Enters, with his wild rout; and bids the fair Of autumn, and its sultry blasts, beware, 745 Unless she lustrate, with an hundred eggs, Her household straight:--then, impudently begs Her cast-off clothes, that every plague they fear May enter them, and expiate all the year! But lo! another tribe! at whose command, 750 See her, in winter, near the Tiber stand, Break the thick ice, and, ere the sun appears, Plunge in the crashing eddy to the ears; Then, shivering from the keen and eager breeze, Crawl round the banks, on bare and bleeding knees. 755 Should milkwhite Iö bid, from Meroë's isle She'd fetch the sunburnt waters of the Nile, To sprinkle in her fane; for she, it seems, Has heavenly visitations in her dreams-- Mark the pure soul, with whom the gods delight 760 To hold high converse at the noon of night! For this she cherishes, above the rest, Her Iö's favorite priest, a knave profess'd, A holy hypocrite, who strolls abroad, With his Anubis, his dog-headed god! 765 Girt by a linen-clad, a bald-pate crew Of howling vagrants, who their cries renew In every street, as up and down they run, To find OSIRE, fit father to fit son! He sues for pardon, when the liquorish dame 770 Abstains not from the interdicted game On high and solemn days; for great the crime, To stain the nuptial couch at such a time, And great the atonement due;--the silver snake, Abhorrent of the deed, was seen to quake! 775 Yet he prevails:--Osiris hears his prayers, And, softened by a goose, the culprit spares. Without her badge, a Jewess now draws near, And, trembling, begs a trifle in her ear. No common personage! she knows full well 780 The laws of Solyma, and she can tell The dark decrees of heaven; a priestess she, An hierarch of the consecrated tree! Moved by these claims thus modestly set forth, She gives her a few coins of little worth; 785 For Jews are moderate, and, for farthing fees, Will sell what fortune, or what dreams you please. The prophetess dismissed, a Syrian sage Now enters, and explores the future page, In a dove's entrails: there he sees express'd 790 A youthful lover: there, a rich bequest, From some kind dotard: then a chick he takes, And in its breast, and in a puppy's, rakes, And sometimes in--an infant's: he will teach The art to others, and, when taught, impeach! 795 But chiefly in Chaldeans she believes: Whate'er they say, with reverence she receives, As if from Hammon's secret fount it came; Since Delphi now, if we may credit fame, Gives no responses, and a long dark night 800 Conceals the future hour from mortal sight. Of these, the chief (such credit guilt obtains!) Is he, who, banished oft, and oft in chains, Stands forth the veriest knave; he who foretold The death of Galba--to his rival sold! 805 No juggler must for fame or profit hope, Who has not narrowly escaped the rope; Begged hard for exile, and, by special grace, Obtained confinement in some desert place.-- To him your Tanaquil applies, in doubt 810 How long her jaundiced mother may hold out; But first, how long her husband: next, inquires, When she shall follow, to their funeral pyres, Her sisters, and her uncles; last, if fate Will kindly lengthen out the adulterer's date 815 Beyond her own;--content, if he but live, And sure that heaven has nothing more to give! Yet she may still be suffered; for, what woes The louring aspect of old Saturn shows; Or in what sign bright Venus ought to rise, 820 To shed her mildest influence from the skies; Or what fore-fated month to gain is given, And what to loss (the mysteries of heaven), She knows not, nor pretends to know: but flee The dame, whose Manual of Astrology 825 Still dangles at her side, smooth as chafed gum, And fretted by her everlasting thumb!-- Deep in the science now, she leaves her mate To go, or stay; but will not share his fate, Withheld by trines and sextiles; she will look, 830 Before her chair be ordered, in the book, For the fit hour; an itching eye endure, Nor, till her scheme be raised, attempt the cure; Nay, languishing in bed, receive no meat, Till Petosyris bid her rise and eat. 835 The curse is universal: high and low Are mad alike the future hour to know. The rich consult a Babylonian seer, Skilled in the mysteries of either sphere; Or a gray-headed priest, hired by the state, 840 To watch the lightning, and to expiate. The middle sort, a quack, at whose command They lift the forehead, and make bare the hand; While the sly lecher in the table pries, And claps it wantonly, with gloating eyes. 845 The poor apply to humbler cheats, still found Beside the Circus wall, or city mound; While she, whose neck no golden trinket bears, To the dry ditch, or dolphin's tower, repairs, And anxiously inquires which she shall choose, 850 The tapster, or old-clothes man? which refuse? Yet these the pangs of childbirth undergo, And all the yearnings of a mother know; These, urged by want, assume the nurse's care, And learn to breed the children which they bear. 855 Those shun both toil and danger; for, though sped, The wealthy dame is seldom brought to bed: Such the dire power of drugs, and such the skill They boast, to cause miscarriages at will! Weep'st thou? O fool! the blest invention hail, 860 And give the potion, if the gossips fail; For, should thy wife her nine months' burden bear, An Æthiop's offspring might thy fortunes heir; A sooty thing, fit only to affray, And, seen at morn, to poison all the day! 865 Supposititious breeds, the hope and joy Of fond, believing husbands, I pass by; The beggars' bantlings, spawned in open air, And left by some pond side, to perish there.-- From hence your Flamens, hence your Salians come; 870 Your Scauri, chiefs and magistrates of Rome! Fortune stands tittering by, in playful mood, And smiles, complacent, on the sprawling brood; Takes them all naked to her fostering arms, Feeds from her mouth, and in her bosom warms: 875 Then, to the mansions of the great she bears The precious brats, and, for herself, prepares A secret farce; adopts them for her own: And, when her nurslings are to manhood grown, She brings them forth, rejoiced to see them sped, 880 And wealth and honors dropping on their head! Some purchase charms, some, more pernicious still, Thessalian philters, to subdue the will Of an uxorious spouse, and make him bear Blows, insults, all a saucy wife can dare. 885 Hence that swift lapse to second childhood; hence Those vapors which envelop every sense; This strange forgetfulness from hour to hour; And well, if this be all:--more fatal power, More terrible effects, the dose may have, 890 And force you, like Caligula, to rave, When his Cæsonia squeezed into the bowl The dire excrescence of a new-dropp'd foal.-- Then Uproar rose; the universal chain Of Order snapped, and Anarchy's wild reign 895 Came on apace, as if the queen of heaven Had fired the Thunderer, and to madness driven. Thy mushroom, Agrippine! was innocent, To this accursed draught; that only sent One palsied, bedrid sot, with gummy eyes, 900 And slavering lips, heels foremost to the skies: This, to wild fury roused a bloody mind, And called for fire and sword; this potion joined In one promiscuous slaughter high and low, And leveled half the nation at a blow. 905 Such is the power of philters! such the ill, One sorceress can effect by wicked skill! They hate their husband's spurious issue:--this, If this were all, were not, perhaps, amiss: But they go farther; and 'tis now some time 910 Since poisoning sons-in-law scarce seemed a crime. Mark then, ye fatherless! what I advise, And trust, O, trust no dainties, if you're wise: Ye heirs to large estates! touch not that fare, Your mother's fingers have been busy there; 915 See! it looks livid, swollen:--O check your haste, And let your wary fosterfather taste, Whate'er she sets before you: fear her meat, And be the first to look, the last to eat. But this is fiction all! I pass the bound 920 Of Satire, and encroach on Tragic ground! Deserting truth, I choose a fabled theme, And, like the buskined bards of Greece, declaim, In deep-mouthed tones, in swelling strains, on crimes As yet unknown to our Rutulian climes! 925 Would it were so! but Pontia cries aloud, "No, I performed it." See! the fact's avowed-- "I mingled poison for my children, I; 'Twas found upon me, wherefore then deny?" What, two at once, most barbarous viper! two! 930 "Nay, seven, had seven been mine: believe it true!" Now let us credit what the tragic stage Displays of Progne and Medea's rage; Crimes of dire name, which, disbelieved of yore, Become familiar, and revolt no more; 935 Those ancient dames in scenes of blood were bold, And wrought fell deeds, but not, as ours, for gold:-- In every age, we view, with less surprise, Such horrors as from bursts of fury rise, When stormy passions, scorning all control, 940 Rend the mad bosom, and unseat the soul. As when impetuous winds, and driving rain, Mine some huge rock that overhangs the plain, The cumbrous mass descends with thundering force, And spreads resistless ruin in its course. 945 Curse on the woman, who reflects by fits, And in cold blood her cruelties commits!-- They see, upon the stage, the Grecian wife Redeeming with her own her husband's life; Yet, in her place, would willingly deprive 950 Their lords of breath to keep their dogs alive! Abroad, at home, the Belides you meet, And Clytemnestras swarm in every street; But here the difference lies:--those bungling wives, With a blunt axe hacked out their husbands' lives; 955 While now, the deed is done with dexterous art, And a drugged bowl performs the axe's part. Yet, if the husband, prescient of his fate, Have fortified his breast with mithridate, She baffles him e'en there, and has recourse 960 To the old weapon for a last resource.

Satire VII. To Telesinus.

SATIRE VII.

TO TELESINUS.

Yes, all the hopes of learning, 'tis confess'd, And all the patronage, on CÆSAR rest: For he alone the drooping Nine regards-- When, now, our best, and most illustrious bards, Quit their ungrateful studies, and retire, 5 Bagnios and bakehouses, for bread, to hire; With humbled views, a life of toil embrace, And deem a crier's business no disgrace; Since Clio, driven by hunger from the shade, Mixes in crowds, and bustles for a trade. 10 And truly, if (the bard's too frequent curse) No coin be found in your Pierian purse, 'Twere not ill done to copy, for the nonce, Machæra, and turn auctioneer at once. Hie, my poetic friend; in accents loud, 15 Commend your precious lumber to the crowd, Old tubs, stools, presses, wrecks of many a chest, Paccius' damned plays, Thebes, Tereus, and the rest.-- And better so--than haunt the courts of law, And swear, for hire, to what you never saw: 20 Leave this resource to Cappadocian knights, To Gallogreeks, and such new-fangled wights, As want, or infamy, has chased from home, And driven, in barefoot multitudes, to Rome. Come, my brave youths!--the genuine sons of rhyme, 25 Who, in sweet numbers, couch the true sublime, Shall, from this hour, no more their fate accuse, Or stoop to pains unworthy of the Muse. Come, my brave youths! your tuneful labors ply, Secure of favor; lo! the imperial eye 30 Looks round, attentive, on each rising bard, For worth to praise, for genius to reward! But if for other patronage you look, And therefore write, and therefore swell your book, Quick, call for wood, and let the flames devour 35 The hapless produce of the studious hour; Or lock it up, to moths and worms a prey, And break your pens, and fling your ink away:-- Or pour it rather o'er your epic flights, Your battles, sieges (fruit of sleepless nights), 40 Pour it, mistaken men, who rack your brains In dungeons, cocklofts, for heroic strains; Who toil and sweat to purchase mere renown, A meagre statue, and an ivy crown! Here bound your expectations: for the great, 45 Grown, wisely, covetous, have learned, of late, To praise, and ONLY praise, the high-wrought strain, As boys, the bird of Juno's glittering train. Meanwhile those vigorous years, so fit to bear The toils of agriculture, commerce, war, 50 Spent in this idle trade, decline apace, And age, unthought of, stares you in the face:-- O then, appalled to find your better days Have earned you naught but poverty and praise, At all your barren glories you repine, 55 And curse, too late, the unavailing Nine! Hear, now, what sneaking ways your patrons find, To save their darling gold:--they pay in kind! Verses, composed in every Muse's spite, To the starved bard, they, in their turn, recite; 60 And, if they yield to Homer, let him know, 'Tis--that he lived a thousand years ago! But if, inspired with genuine love of fame, A dry rehearsal only be your aim, The miser's breast with sudden warmth dilates, 65 And lo! he opes his triple-bolted gates; Nay, sends his clients to support your cause, And rouse the tardy audience to applause: But will not spare one farthing to defray The numerous charges of this glorious day, 70 The desk where, throned in conscious pride, you sit, The joists and beams, the orchestra and the pit. Still we persist; plow the light sand, and sow Seed after seed, where none can ever grow: Nay, should we, conscious of our fruitless pain, 75 Strive to escape, we strive, alas! in vain; Long habit and the thirst of praise beset, And close us in the inextricable net. The insatiate itch of scribbling, hateful pest, Creeps like a tetter, through the human breast, 80 Nor knows, nor hopes a cure; since years, which chill All other passions, but inflame the ill! But HE, the bard of every age and clime, Of genius fruitful, ardent and sublime, Who, from the glowing mint of fancy, pours 85 No spurious metal, fused from common ores, But gold, to matchless purity refined, And stamped with all the godhead in his mind; He whom I feel, but want the power to paint, Springs from a soul impatient of restraint, 90 And free from every care; a soul that loves The Muse's haunts, clear founts and shady groves. Never, no never, did He wildly rave, And shake his thyrsus in the Aonian cave, Whom poverty kept sober, and the cries 95 Of a lean stomach, clamorous for supplies: No; the wine circled briskly through the veins, When Horace poured his dithyrambic strains!-- What room for fancy, say, unless the mind, And all its thoughts, to poesy resigned, 100 Be hurried with resistless force along, By the two kindred Powers of Wine and Song! O! 'tis the exclusive business of a breast Impetuous, uncontrolled--not one distress'd With household cares, to view the bright abodes, 105 The steeds, the chariots, and the forms of gods: And the fierce Fury, as her snakes she shook, And withered the Rutulian with a look! Those snakes, had Virgil no Mæcenas found, } Had dropp'd, in listless length, upon the ground; } 110 And the still slumbering trump, groaned with no mortal sound. } Yet we expect, from Lappa's tragic rage, Such scenes as graced, of old, the Athenian stage; Though he, poor man, from hand to mouth be fed, And driven to pawn his furniture for bread! 115 When Numitor is asked to serve a friend, "He can not; he is poor." Yet he can send Rich presents to his mistress! he can buy Tame lions, and find means to keep them high! What then? the beasts are still the lightest charge; 120 For your starved bards have maws so devilish large! Stretched in his marble palace, at his ease, Lucan may write, and only ask to please; But what is this, if this be all you give, To Bassus and Serranus? They must live! 125 When Statius fixed a morning, to recite His Thebaid to the town, with what delight They flocked to hear! with what fond rapture hung On the sweet strains, made sweeter by his tongue! Yet, while the seats rung with a general peal 130 Of boisterous praise, the bard had lacked a meal, Unless with Paris he had better sped, And trucked a virgin tragedy for bread. Mirror of men! he showers, with liberal hands, On needy poets, honors and commands:-- 135 An actor's patronage a peer's outgoes, And what the last withholds, the first bestows! --And will you still on Camerinus wait, And Bareas? will you still frequent the great? Ah, rather to the player your labors take, 140 And at one lucky stroke your fortune make! Yet envy not the man who earns hard bread By tragedy: the Muses' friends are fled!-- Mæcenas, Proculeius, Fabius, gone, And Lentulus, and Cotta--every one! 145 THEN worth was cherished, then the bard might toil, Secure of favor, o'er the midnight oil; Then all December's revelries refuse, And give the festive moments to the Muse. So fare the tuneful race: but ampler gains 150 Await, no doubt, the grave HISTORIANS' pains! More time, more study they require, and pile Page upon page, heedless of bulk the while, Till, fact conjoined to fact with thought intense, The work is closed, at many a ream's expense! 155 Say now, what harvest was there ever found, What golden crop, from this long-labored ground? 'Tis barren all; and one poor plodding scribe Gets more by framing pleas than all the tribe. True:--'tis a slothful breed, that, nursed in ease, 160 Soft beds, and whispering shades, alone can please. Say then, what gain the LAWYER'S toil affords, His sacks of papers, and his war of words? Heavens! how he bellows in our tortured ears; But then, then chiefly, when the client hears, 165 Or one prepared, with vouchers, to attest Some desperate debt, more anxious than the rest, Twitches his elbow: then, his passions rise! Then, forth he puffs the immeasurable lies From his swollen lungs! then, the white foam appears, 170 And, driveling down his beard, his vest besmears! Ask you the profit of this painful race? 'Tis quickly summed: Here, the joint fortunes place Of five-score lawyers; there, Lacerta's sole-- And that one charioteer's, shall poise the whole! 175 The Generals take their seats in regal wise. You, my pale Ajax, watch the hour, and rise, In act to plead a trembling client's cause, Before Judge Jolthead--learned in the laws. Now stretch your throat, unhappy man! now raise 180 Your clamors, that, when hoarse, a bunch of bays, Stuck in your garret window, may declare, That some victorious pleader nestles there! O glorious hour! but what your fee, the while? A rope of shriveled onions from the Nile, 185 A rusty ham, a jar of broken sprats, And wine, the refuse of our country vats; Five flagons for four causes! if you hold, Though this indeed be rare, a piece of gold; The brethren, as per contract, on you fall, 190 And share the prize, solicitors and all! Whate'er he asks, Æmilius may command, Though more of law be ours: but lo! there stand Before his gate, conspicuous from afar, Four stately steeds, yoked to a brazen car: 195 And the great pleader, looking wary round, On a fierce charger that disdains the ground, Levels his threatening spear, in act to throw, And seems to meditate no common blow. Such arts as these, to beggary Matho brought, 200 And such the ruin of Tongillus wrought, Who, with his troop of slaves, a draggled train, Annoyed the baths, of his huge oil-horn vain; Swept through the Forum, in a chair of state, To every auction--villas, slaves, or plate; 205 And, trading on the credit of his dress, Cheapened whate'er he saw, though penniless! And some, indeed, have thriven by tricks like these: Purple and violet swell a lawyer's fees; Bustle and show above his means conduce 210 To business, and profusion proves of use. The vice is universal: Rome confounds The wealthiest;--prodigal beyond all bounds! Could our old pleaders visit earth again, Tully himself would scarce a brief obtain, 215 Unless his robe were purple, and a stone, Diamond or ruby, on his finger shone. The wary plaintiff, ere a fee he gives, Inquires at what expense his counsel lives; Has he eight slaves, ten followers? chairs to wait, 220 And clients to precede his march in state? This Paulus knows full well, and, therefore, hires A ring to plead in; therefore, too, acquires More briefs than Cossus:--preference not unsound, For how should eloquence in rags be found? 225 Who gives poor Basilus a cause of state? When, to avert a trembling culprit's fate, Shows he a weeping mother? or who heeds How close he argues, and how well he pleads? Unhappy Basilus!--but he is wrong: 230 Would he procure subsistence by his tongue, Let him renounce the forum, and withdraw To Gaul, or Afric, the dry-nurse of law. But Vectius, yet more desperate than the rest, Has opened (O that adamantine breast!) 235 A RHETORIC school; where striplings rave and storm At tyranny, through many a crowded form.-- The exercises lately, sitting, read, Standing, distract his miserable head, And every day and every hour affords 240 The selfsame subjects, in the selfsame words; Till, like hashed cabbage served for each repast, The repetition--kills the wretch at last! Where the main jet of every question lies, And whence the chief objections may arise, 245 All wish to know; but none the price will pay. "The price," retorts the scholar, "do you say! What have I learned?" There go the master's pains, Because, forsooth, the Arcadian brute lacks brains! And yet this oaf, every sixth morn, prepares 250 To split my head with Hannibal's affairs, While he debates at large, "Whether 'twere right To take advantage of the general fright, And march to Rome; or, by the storm alarmed, And all the elements against him armed, 255 The dangerous expedition to delay, And lead his harassed troops some other way." --Sick of the theme, which still returns, and still The exhausted wretch exclaims, Ask what you will, I'll give it, so you on his sire prevail, 260 To hear, thus oft, the booby's endless tale! So Vectius speeds: his brethren, wiser far, Have shut up school, and hurried to the bar. Adieu the idle fooleries of Greece, The soporific drug, the golden fleece, 265 The faithless husband, and the abandoned wife, And Æson, coddled to new light and life, A long adieu! on more productive themes, On actual crimes, the sophist now declaims: Thou too, my friend, would'st thou my counsel hear, 270 Should'st free thyself from this ungrateful care; Lest all be lost, and thou reduced, poor sage, To want a tally in thy helpless age! Bread still the lawyer earns; but tell me yet, What your Chrysogonus and Pollio get 275 (The chief of rhetoricians), though they teach Our youth of quality, THE ART OF SPEECH? Oh, no! the great pursue a nobler end:-- Five thousand on a bath they freely spend; More on a portico, where, while it lours, 280 They ride, and bid defiance to the showers. Shall they, for brighter skies, at home remain, Or dash their pampered mules through mud and rain? No: let them pace beneath the stately roof, For there no mire can soil the shining hoof. 285 See next, on proud Numidian columns rise An eating-room, that fronts the eastern skies, And drinks the cooler sun. Expensive these! But (cost whate'er they may), the times to please, Sewers for arrangement of the board admired, 290 And cooks of taste and skill must yet be hired. Mid this extravagance, which knows no bounds, Quintilian gets, and hardly gets, ten pounds:-- On education all is grudged as lost, And sons are still a father's lightest cost. 295 Whence has Quintilian, then, his vast estate? Urge not an instance of peculiar fate: Perhaps, by luck. The lucky, I admit, Have all advantages; have beauty, wit, And wisdom, and high blood: the lucky, too, 300 May take, at will, the senatorial shoe; Be first-rate speakers, pleaders, every thing; And, though they croak like frogs, be thought to sing. O, there's a difference, friend, beneath what sign We spring to light, or kindly or malign! 305 FORTUNE IS ALL: She, as the fancy springs, Makes kings of pedants, and of pedants kings. For, what were Tullius, and Ventidius, say, But great examples of the wondrous sway Of stars, whose mystic influence alone, 310 Bestows, on captives triumphs, slaves a throne? He, then, is lucky; and, amid the clan, Ranks with the milk-white crow, or sable swan: While all his hapless brethren count their gains, And execrate, too late, their fruitless pains. 315 Witness thy end, Thrasymachus! and thine, Unblest Charinas!--Thou beheld'st him pine, Thou, Athens! and would'st naught but bane bestow; The only charity--thou seem'st to know! Shades of our sires! O, sacred be your rest, 320 And lightly lie the turf upon your breast! Flowers round your urns breathe sweets beyond compare, And spring eternal shed its influence there! You honored tutors, now a slighted race, And gave them all a parent's power and place. 325 Achilles, grown a man, the lyre assayed On his paternal hills, and, while he played, With trembling eyed the rod;--and yet, the tail Of the good Centaur, scarcely, then, could fail To force a smile: such reverence now is rare, 330 And boys with bibs strike Rufus on his chair, Fastidious Rufus, who, with critic rage, Arraigned the purity of Tully's page! Enough of these. Let the last wretched band, The poor GRAMMARIANS, say, what liberal hand 335 Rewards their toil: let learned Palæmon tell, Who proffers what his skill deserves so well. Yet from this pittance, whatsoe'er it be (Less, surely, than the rhetorician's fee), The usher snips off something for his pains, 340 And the purveyor nibbles what remains. Courage, Palæmon! be not over-nice, But suffer some abatement in your price; As those who deal in rugs, will ask you high, And sink by pence and half-pence, till you buy. 345 Yes, suffer this; while something's left to pay Your rising hours before the dawn of day, When e'en the laboring poor their slumbers take, And not a weaver, not a smith's awake: While something's left to pay you for the stench 350 Of smouldering lamps, thick spread o'er every bench, Where ropy vapors Virgil's pages soil, And Horace looks one blot, all soot and oil! Even then, the stipend thus reduced, thus small, Without a lawsuit, rarely comes at all. 355 Add yet, ye parents, add to the disgrace, And heap new hardships on this wretched race. Make it a point that all, and every part, Of their own science, be possessed by heart; That general history with our own they blend, 360 And have all authors at their fingers' end: Still ready to inform you, should you meet, And ask them at the bath, or in the street, Who nursed Anchises; from what country came The step-dame of Archemorus, what her name; 365 How long Acestes flourished, and what store Of generous wine the Phrygians from him bore-- Make it a point too, that, like ductile clay, They mould the tender mind, and day by day Bring out the form of Virtue; that they prove 370 A father to the youths, in care and love; And watch that no obscenities prevail-- And trust me, friend, even Argus' self might fail, The busy hands of schoolboys to espy, And the lewd fires which twinkle in their eye. 375 All this, and more, exact; and, having found The man you seek, say--When the year comes round, We'll give thee for thy twelve months' anxious pains, As much--as, IN AN HOUR, A FENCER GAINS!

Satire VIII. To Ponticus.

SATIRE VIII.

TO PONTICUS.

"Your ancient house!" no more.--I can not see The wondrous merits of a pedigree: No, Ponticus;--nor of a proud display Of smoky ancestors, in wax or clay; Æmilius, mounted on his car sublime, 5 Curius, half wasted by the teeth of time, Corvinus, dwindled to a shapeless bust, And high-born Galba, crumbling into dust. What boots it, on the LINEAL TREE to trace, Through many a branch, the founders of our race, 10 Time-honored chiefs; if, in their sight, we give A loose to vice, and like low villains live? Say, what avails it, that, on either hand, The stern Numantii, an illustrious band, Frown from the walls, if their degenerate race 15 Waste the long night at dice, before their face? If, staggering, to a drowsy bed they creep, At that prime hour when, starting from their sleep, Their sires the signal of the fight unfurled, And drew their legions forth, and won the world? 20 Say, why should Fabius, of the Herculean name, To the GREAT ALTAR vaunt his lineal claim, If, softer than Euganean lambs, the youth, His wanton limbs, with Ætna's pumice, smooth, And shame his rough-hewn sires? if greedy, vain, 25 If, a vile trafficker in secret bane, He blast his wretched kindred with a bust, For public vengeance to--reduce to dust! Fond man! though all the heroes of your line Bedeck your halls, and round your galleries shine 30 In proud display; yet, take this truth from me,

Virtue Alone Is True Nobility.

VIRTUE ALONE IS TRUE NOBILITY. Set Cossus, Drusus, Paulus, then, in view, The bright example of their lives pursue; Let these precede the statues of your race, 35 And these, when Consul, of your rods take place. O give me inborn worth! dare to be just, Firm to your word, and faithful to your trust: These praises hear, at least deserve to hear, I grant your claim, and recognize the peer. 40 Hail! from whatever stock you draw your birth, The son of Cossus, or the son of Earth, All hail! in you, exulting Rome espies Her guardian Power, her great Palladium rise; And shouts like Egypt, when her priests have found, 45 A new Osiris, for the old one drowned! But shall we call those noble, who disgrace Their lineage, proud of an illustrious race? Vain thought!--but thus, with many a taunting smile, The dwarf an Atlas, Moor a swan, we style; 50 The crookbacked wench, Europa; and the hound, With age enfeebled, toothless, and unsound, That listless lies, and licks the lamps for food, Lord of the chase, and tyrant of the wood! You, too, beware, lest Satire's piercing eye 55 The slave of guilt through grandeur's blaze espy, And, drawing from your crime some sounding name, Declare at once your greatness and your shame. Ask you for whom this picture I design? Plautus, thy birth and folly make it thine. 60 Thou vaunt'st thy pedigree, on every side To noble and imperial blood allied; As if thy honors by thyself were won, And thou hadst some illustrious action done, To make the world believe thee Julia's heir, 65 And not the offspring of some easy fair, Who, shivering in the wind, near yon dead wall, Plies her vile labor, and is all to all. "Away, away! ye slaves of humblest birth, Ye dregs of Rome, ye nothings of the earth, 70 Whose fathers who shall tell! my ancient line Descends from Cecrops." Man of blood divine! Live, and enjoy the secret sweets which spring In breasts, affined to so remote a king!-- Yet know, amid these "dregs," low grandeur's scorn, 75 Will those be found whom arts and arms adorn: Some, skilled to plead a noble blockhead's cause, And solve the dark enigmas of the laws; Some, who the Tigris' hostile banks explore, And plant our eagles on Batavia's shore: 80 While thou, in mean, inglorious pleasure lost, With "Cecrops! Cecrops!" all thou hast to boast, Art a full brother to the crossway stone, Which clowns have chipped the head of Hermes on: For 'tis no bar to kindred, that thy block 85 Is formed of flesh and blood, and theirs of rock. Of beasts, great son of Troy, who vaunts the breed, Unless renowned for courage, strength, or speed? 'Tis thus we praise the horse, who mocks our eyes, While, to the goal, with lightning's speed, he flies! 90 Whom many a well-earned palm and trophy grace, And the Cirque hails, unrivaled in the race! --Yes, he is noble, spring from whom he will, Whose footsteps, in the dust, are foremost still; While Hirpine's stock are to the market led, 95 If Victory perch but rarely on their head: For no respect to pedigree is paid, No honor to a sire's illustrious shade. Flung cheaply off, they drag the cumbrous wain, With shoulders bare and bleeding from the chain; 100 Or take, with some blind ass in concert found, At Nepo's mill, their everlasting round. That Rome may, therefore, YOU, not YOURS, admire, By virtuous actions, first, to praise aspire; Seek not to shine by borrowed light alone, 105 But with your father's glories blend your own. THIS to the youth, whom Rumor brands as vain, And swelling--full of his Neronian strain; Perhaps, with truth:--for rarely shall we find A sense of modesty in that proud kind. 110 But were my Ponticus content to raise His honors thus, on a forefather's praise, Worthless the while--'twould tinge my cheeks with shame-- 'Tis dangerous building on another's fame, Lest the substructure fail, and on the ground 115 Your baseless pile be hurled, in fragments, round.-- Stretched on the plain, the vine's weak tendrils try To clasp the elm they drop from; fail--and die! Be brave, be just; and when your country's laws Call you to witness in a dubious cause, 120 Though Phalaris plant his bull before your eye, And, frowning, dictate to your lips the lie, Think it a crime no tears can e'er efface, To purchase safety with compliance base, At honor's cost a feverish span extend, 125 AND SACRIFICE FOR LIFE, LIFE'S ONLY END! LIFE! 'tis not life--who merits death is dead; Though Gauran oysters for his feasts be spread, Though his limbs drip with exquisite perfume, And the late rose around his temples bloom! 130 O, when the province, long desired, you gain, Your boiling rage, your lust of wealth, restrain, And pity our allies: all Asia grieves-- Her blood, her marrow, drained by legal thieves. Revere the laws, obey the parent state; 135 Observe what rich rewards the good await. What punishments the bad: how Tutor sped, While Rome's whole thunder rattled round his head! And yet what boots it, that one spoiler bleed, If still a worse, and still a worse succeed; 140 If neither fear nor shame control their theft, And Pansa seize the little Natta left? Haste then, Chærippus, ere thy rags be known, And sell the few thou yet canst call thine own, And O, conceal the price! 'tis honest craft; 145 Thou could'st not keep the hatchet--save the haft. Not such the cries of old, nor such the stroke, When first the nations bowed beneath our yoke. Wealth, then, was theirs, wealth without fear possess'd, Full every house, and bursting every chest-- 150 Crimson, in looms of Sparta taught to glow, And purple, deeply dyed in grain of Co; Busts, to which Myro's touch did motion give, And ivory, taught by Phidias' skill to live; On every side a Polyclete you viewed, 155 And scarce a board without a Mentor stood. These, these, the lust of rapine first inspired, These, Antony and Dolabella fired. And sacrilegious Verres:--so, for Rome They shipped their secret plunder; and brought home 160 More treasures from our friends, in peace obtained, Than from our foes, in war, were ever gained! Now all is gone! the stallion made a prey, The few brood mares and oxen swept away, The Lares--if the sacred hearth possess'd } 165 One little god, that pleased above the rest-- } Mean spoils, indeed! but such were now their best } Perhaps you scorn (and may securely scorn) The essenced Greek, whom arts, not arms, adorn: Soft limbs, and spirits by refinement broke, 170 Would feebly struggle with the oppressive yoke. But spare the Gaul, the fierce Illyrian spare, And the rough Spaniard, terrible in war; Spare too the Afric hind, whose ceaseless pain Fills our wide granaries with autumnal grain, 175 And pampers Rome, while weightier cares engage Her precious hours--the Circus and the Stage! For, should you rifle them, O think in time, What spoil would pay the execrable crime, When greedy Marius fleeced them all so late, 180 And bare and bleeding left the hapless state! But chief the brave, and wretched--tremble there; Nor tempt too far the madness of despair: For, should you all their little treasures drain, Helmets, and spears, and swords, would still remain; 185 THE PLUNDERED NE'ER WANT ARMS. What I foretell } Is no trite apophthegm, but--mark me well-- } True as a Sibyl's leaf! fixed as an oracle! } If men of worth the posts beneath you hold, And no spruce favorite barter law for gold; 190 If no inherent stain your wife disgrace, Nor, harpy-like, she flit from place to place, A fell Celæno, ever on the watch, And ever furious, all she sees to snatch; Then choose what race you will: derive your birth 195 From Picus, or those elder sons of earth, Who shook the throne of heaven; call him your sire, Who first informed our clay with living fire; Or single from the songs of ancient days, What tale may suit you, and what parent raise. 200 But--if rash pride, and lust, your bosom sway, If, with stern joy, you ply, from day to day The ensanguined rods, and head on head demand, Till the tired axe drop from the lictor's hand; Then, every honor, by your father won, 205 Indignant to be borne by such a son, Will, to his blood, oppose your daring claim, And fire a torch to blaze upon your shame!-- Vice glares more strongly in the public eye, As he who sins, in power or place is high. 210 SEE! by his great progenitors' remains Fat Damasippus sweeps, with loosened reins. Good Consul! he no pride of office feels, But stoops, himself, to clog his headlong wheels. "But this is all by night," the hero cries. 215 Yet the MOON sees! yet the STARS stretch their eyes, Full on your shame!--A few short moments wait, And Damasippus quits the pomp of state: Then, proud the experienced driver to display, He mounts his chariot in the face of day, 220 Whirls, with bold front, his grave associate by, And jerks his whip, to catch the senior's eye: Unyokes his weary steeds, and, to requite Their service, feeds and litters them, at night. Meanwhile, 'tis all he can, what time he stands 225 At Jove's high altar, as the law commands, And offers sheep and oxen, he forswears The Eternal King, and gives his silent prayers To thee, Hippona, goddess of the stalls, And gods more vile, daubed on the reeking walls! 230 At night, to his old haunts he scours, elate (The tavern by the Idumean gate), Where, while the host, bedrenched with liquid sweets, With many a courteous phrase his entrance greets, And many a smile; the hostess nimbly moves, 235 And gets the flagon ready, which he loves. Here some, perhaps, my growing warmth may blame: "In youth's wild hours," they urge, "we did the same." 'Tis granted, friends; but then we stopped in time, Nor hugged our darling faults beyond our prime. 240 Brief let our follies be! and youthful sin Fall, with the firstlings of the manly chin!-- Boys we may pity, nay, perhaps, excuse: But Damasippus STILL frequents the stews, Though now mature in vigor, ripe in age, 245 Of Cæsar's foes to check the headlong rage, On Tigris' banks, in burnished arms, to shine, And sternly guard the Danube, or the Rhine. "The East revolts." Ho! let the troops repair To Ostium, quick! "But where's the General?" Where! 250 Go, search the taverns; there the chief you'll find, With cut-throats, plunderers, rogues of every kind, Bier-jobbers, bargemen, drenched in fumes of wine, And Cybele's priests, mid their loose drums, supine! There none are less, none greater than the rest, 255 There my lord gives, and takes the scurvy jest; There all who can, round the same table sprawl. And there one greasy tankard serves for all. Blessings of birth!--but, Ponticus, a word: Owned you a slave like this degenerate lord, 260 What were his fate? your Lucan farm to till, Or aid the mules to turn your Tuscan mill. But Troy's great sons dispense with being good, And boldly sin by courtesy of blood; Wink at each other's crimes, and look for fame 265 In what would tinge a cobbler's cheek with shame. And have I wreaked on such foul deeds my rage, That worse should yet remain to blot my page!-- See Damasippus, all his fortune lost, Compelled, for hire, to play a squealing ghost! 270 While Lentulus, his brother in renown, Performs, with so much art, the perjured clown, And suffers with such grace, that, for his pains, I hold him worthy of--the CROSS he feigns. Nor deem the heedless rabble void of blame:-- 275 Strangers alike to decency and shame, They sit with brazen front, and calmly see The hired patrician's low buffoonery; Laugh at the Fabii's tricks, and grin to hear The cuffs resound from the Mamerci's ear! 280 Who cares how low their blood is sold, how high?-- No Nero drives them, now, their fate to try: Freely they come, and freely they expose Their lives for hire, to grace the public shows! But grant the worst: suppose the arena here, 285 And there the stage; on which would you appear? The first: for who of death so much in dread, As not to tremble more, the stage to tread, Squat on his hams, in some blind nook to sit, And watch his mistress, in a jealous fit!-- 290 But 'tis not strange, that, when the Emperor tunes A scurvy harp, the lords should turn buffoons; The wonder is, they turn not fencers too, Secutors, Retiarians--AND THEY DO! Gracchus steps forth: No sword his thigh invests-- 295 No helmet, shield--such armor he detests, Detests and spurns; and impudently stands, With the poised net and trident in his hands. The foe advances--lo! a cast he tries, But misses, and in frantic terror flies 300 Round the thronged Cirque; and, anxious to be known, Lifts his bare face, with many a piteous moan. "'Tis he! 'tis he!--I know the Salian vest, With golden fringes, pendent from the breast; The Salian bonnet, from whose pointed crown 305 The glittering ribbons float redundant down. O spare him, spare!"--The brave Secutor heard, And, blushing, stopped the chase; for he preferred Wounds, death itself, to the contemptuous smile, Of conquering one so noble, and--so vile! 310 Who, Nero, so depraved, if choice were free, To hesitate 'twixt Seneca and thee? Whose crimes, so much have they all crimes outgone, Deserve more serpents, apes, and sacks, than one. Not so, thou say'st; there are, whom I could name, 315 As deep in guilt, and as accursed in fame; Orestes slew HIS mother. True; but know, The same effects from different causes flow: A father murdered at the social board, And heaven's command, unsheathed his righteous sword. 320 Besides, Orestes, in his wildest mood, Poisoned no cousin, shed no consort's blood, Buried no poniard in a sister's throat, Sung on no public stage, NO TROICS WROTE.-- THIS topped his frantic crimes! THIS roused mankind! 325 For what could Galba, what Virginius find, In the dire annals of that bloody reign, Which called for vengeance in a louder strain? Lo here, the arts, the studies that engage The world's great master! on a foreign stage, 330 To prostitute his voice for base renown, And ravish, from the Greeks, a parsley crown! Come then, great prince, great poet! while we throng To greet thee, recent from triumphant song, Come, place the unfading wreath, with reverence meet, 335 On the Domitii's brows! before their feet The mask and pall of old Thyestes lay, And Menalippé; while, in proud display, From the colossal marble of thy sire, Depends, the boast of Rome, thy conquering lyre! 340 Cethegus! Catiline! whose ancestors Were nobler born, were higher ranked, than yours? Yet ye conspired, with more than Gallic hate, To wrap in midnight flames this hapless state; On men and gods your barbarous rage to pour, 345 And deluge Rome with her own children's gore: Horrors, which called, indeed, for vengeance dire, For the pitched coat and stake, and smouldering fire! But Tully watched--your league in silence broke, And crushed your impious arms, without a stroke. 350 Yes he, poor Arpine, of no name at home, And scarcely ranked among the knights at Rome, Secured the trembling town, placed a firm guard In every street, and toiled in every ward:-- And thus, within the walls, the GOWN obtained, 355 More fame, for Tully, than Octavius gained At Actium and Philippi, from a SWORD, Drenched in the eternal stream by patriots poured! For Rome, free Rome, hailed him, with loud acclaim, THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY--glorious name! 360 Another Arpine, trained the ground to till, Tired of the plow, forsook his native hill, And joined the camp; where, if his adze was slow, The vine-twig whelked his back with many a blow: And yet, when the fierce Cimbri threatened Rome 365 With swift, and scarcely evitable doom, This man, in the dread hour, to save her rose, And turned the impending ruin on her foes! For which, while ravening birds devoured the slain, And their huge bones lay whitening on the plain, 370 His high-born colleague to his worth gave way, And took, well pleased, the secondary bay. The Decii were plebeians! mean their name, And mean the parent stock from which they came: Yet they devoted, in the trying hour, 375 Their heads to Earth, and each infernal Power; And by that solemn act, redeemed from fate, } Auxiliars, legions, all the Latian state; } More prized than those they saved, in heaven's just estimate! } And him, who graced the purple which he wore 380 (The last good king of Rome), a bondmaid bore. The Consul's sons (while storms yet shook the state, And Tarquin thundered vengeance at the gate), Who should, to crown the labors of their sire, Have dared what Cocles, Mutius, might admire, 385 And she, who mocked the javelins whistling round, And swam the Tiber, then the empire's bound; Had to the tyrant's rage the town exposed, But that a slave their dark designs disclosed.-- For Him, when stretched upon his honored bier, 390 The grateful matrons shed the pious tear, While, with stern eye, the patriot and the sire Saw, by the axe, the high-born pair expire: They fell--just victims to the offended laws, And the first sacrifice to FREEDOM'S cause! 395 For me, who naught but innate worth admire, I'd rather vile Thersites were thy sire, So thou wert like Achilles, and could'st wield Vulcanian arms, the terror of the field, Than that Achilles should thy father be, 400 And, in his offspring, vile Thersites see. And yet, how high soe'er thy pride may trace The long-forgotten founders of thy race, Still must the search with that Asylum end, From whose polluted source we all descend. 405 Haste then, the inquiry haste; secure to find Thy sire some vagrant slave, some bankrupt hind, Some--but I mark the kindling glow of shame, And will not shock thee with a baser name.

SATIRE IX.

JUVENAL, NÆVOLUS.

Juv. still drooping, Nævolus! What, prithee, say, Portends this show of grief from day to day, This copy of flayed Marsyas? what dost thou With such a rueful face, and such a brow, As Ravola wore, when caught--Not so cast down 5 Looked Pollio, when, of late, he scoured the town, And, proffering treble rate, from friend to friend, Found none so foolish, none so mad, to lend! But, seriously, for thine's a serious case, Whence came those sudden wrinkles in thy face? 10 I knew thee once, a gay, light-hearted slave, Contented with the little fortune gave; A sprightly guest, of every table free, And famed for modish wit and repartee. Now all's reversed: dejected is thy mien, 15 Thy locks are like a tangled thicket seen; And every limb, once smoothed with nicest care, Rank with neglect, a shrubbery of hair! What dost thou with that dull, dead, withered look, Like some old debauchee, long ague-shook? 20 All is not well within; for, still we find The face the unerring index of the mind, And as THIS feels or fancies joys or woes, THAT pales with sorrow, or with rapture glows. What should I think? Too sure the scene is changed, 25 And thou from thy old course of life estranged: For late, as I remember, at all haunts, Where dames of fashion flock to hire gallants, At Isis and at Ganymede's abodes, At Cybele's, dread mother of the gods, 30 Nay, at chaste Ceres' (for at shame they spurn, And even her temples now to brothels turn), None was so famed: the favorites of the town, Baffled alike in business and renown, Murmuring retired; wives, daughters, were thy own, 35 And--if the truth MUST come--not THEY alone. NÆV. Right: and to some this trade has answered yet; But not to me: for what is all I get? A drugget cloak, to save my gown from rain, } Coarse in its texture, dingy in its grain, } 40 And a few pieces of the "second vein!" } FATE GOVERNS ALL. Fate, with full sway, presides Even o'er those parts, which modest nature hides; And little, if her genial influence fail, Will vigor stead, or boundless powers avail: 45 Though Virro, gloating on your naked charms, Foam with desire, and woo you to his arms, With many a soothing, many a flattering phrase-- For your cursed pathics have such winning ways! Hear now this prodigy, this mass impure, 50 Of lust and avarice! "Let us, friend, be sure: I've given thee this, and this;--now count the sums:" (He counts, and woos the while), "behold! it comes To five sestertia, five!--now, look again, And see how much it overpays thy pain:" 55 What! "overpays?"--but you are formed for love, And worthy of the cup and couch of Jove! --Will those relieve a client!--those, who grudge A wretched pittance to the painful drudge That toils in their disease?--O mark, my friend, 60 The blooming youth, to whom we presents send, Or on the Female Calends, or the day Which gave him birth! in what a lady-way He takes our favors as he sits in state, And sees adoring crowds besiege his gate! 65 Insatiate sparrow! whom do your domains, Your numerous hills await, your numerous plains? Regions, that such a tract of land embrace, That kites are tired within the unmeasured space! For you the purple vine luxuriant glows, 70 On Trifoline's plain, and on Misenus' brows; And hollow Gaurus, from his fruitful hills, Your spacious vaults with generous nectar fills: What were it, then, a few poor roods to grant To one so worn with lechery and want? 75 Sure yonder female, with the child she bred, The dog their playmate, and their little shed, Had, with more justice, been conferred on me, Than on a cymbal-beating debauchee! "I'm troublesome," you say, when I apply, 80 "And give! give! give! is my eternal cry."-- But house-rent due solicits to be sped, And my sole slave, importunate for bread, Follows me, clamoring in as loud a tone As Polyphemus, when his prey was flown. 85 Nor will this one suffice, the toil's so great! Another must be bought; and both must eat. What shall I say, when cold December blows, And their bare limbs shrink at the driving snows, What shall I say, their drooping hearts to cheer? 90 "Be merry, boys, the spring will soon be here!" But though my other merits you deny, One yet must be allowed--that had not I, I, your devoted client, lent my aid, Your wife had to this hour remained a maid. 95 You know what motives urged me to the deed, And what was promised, could I but succeed:-- Oft in my arms the flying fair I caught, And back to your cold bed, reluctant, brought, Even when she'd canceled all her former vows, 100 And now was signing to another spouse. What pains it cost to set these matters right, While you stood whimpering at the door all night, I spare to tell:--a friend like me has tied Full many a knot, when ready to divide. 105 Where will you turn you now, sir? whither fly? What, to my charges, first, or last, reply? Is it no merit, speak, ungrateful! none, To give you thus a daughter, or a son, Whom you may breed with credit at your board, 110 And prove yourself a man upon record?-- Haste, with triumphal wreaths your gates adorn, You're now a father, now no theme for scorn; My toils have ta'en the opprobrium from your name, And stopp'd the babbling of malicious fame. 115 A parent's rights you now may proudly share, Now, thank my industry, be named an heir; Take now the whole bequest, with what beside, From lucky windfalls, may in time betide; And other blessings, if I but repeat 120 My pains, and make the number THREE complete. JUV. Nay, thou hast reason to complain, I feel: But, what says Virro? NÆV. Not a syllable; But, while my wrongs and I unnoticed pass, Hunts out some other drudge, some two-legged ass. 125 Enough;--and never, on your life, unfold The secret thus to you, in friendship told; But let my injuries, undivulged, still rest Within the closest chamber of your breast: How the discovery might be borne, none knows-- 130 And your smooth pathics are such fatal foes! Virro, who trusts me yet, may soon repent, And hate me for the confidence he lent; With fire and sword my wretched life pursue, As if I'd blabbed already all I knew. 135 Sad situation mine! for, in your ear, The rich can never buy revenge too dear; And--but enough: be cautious, I entreat, And secret as the Athenian judgment-seat. JUV. And dost thou seriously believe, fond swain, 140 The actions of the great unknown remain? Poor Corydon! even beasts would silence break, And stocks and stones, if servants did not, speak. Bolt every door, stop every cranny tight, Close every window, put out every light; 145 Let not a whisper reach the listening ear, No noise, no motion; let no soul be near; Yet all that passed at the cock's second crow, The neighboring vintner shall, ere daybreak, know; With what besides the cook and carver's brain, 150 Subtly malicious, can in vengeance feign! For thus they glory, with licentious tongue, To quit the harsh command and galling thong. Should these be mute, some drunkard in the streets Will pour out all he knows to all he meets, 155 Force them, unwilling, the long tale to hear, And with his stories drench their hapless ear. Go now, and earnestly of those request, To lock, like me, the secret in their breast: Alas! they hear thee not; and will not sell 160 The dear, dear privilege--to see and tell, For more stolen wine than late Saufeia boused, When, for the people's welfare, she--caroused! LIVE VIRTUOUSLY:--thus many a reason cries, But chiefly this, that so thou may'st despise 165 Thy servant's tongue; for, lay this truth to heart, The tongue is the vile servant's vilest part: Yet viler he, who lives in constant dread Of the domestic spies that--eat his bread. NÆV. Well have you taught, how we may best disdain 170 The envenomed babbling of our household train; But this is general, and to all applies:-- What, in my proper case, would you advise? After such flattering expectations cross'd, And so much time in vain dependence lost? 175 For youth, too transient flower! of life's short day The shortest part, but blossoms--to decay. Lo! while we give the unregarded hour To revelry and joy, in Pleasure's bower, While now for rosy wreaths our brows to twine, 180 And now for nymphs we call, and now for wine, The noiseless foot of Time steals swiftly by, And ere we dream of manhood, age is nigh! JUV. Oh, fear not: thou canst never seek in vain A pathic friend, while these seven hills remain. 185 Hither in crowds the master-misses come, From every point, as to their proper home: One hope has failed, another may succeed; Meanwhile do thou on hot eringo feed. NÆV. Tell this to happier men; the Fates ne'er meant 190 Such luck for me: my Clotho is content, When all my oil a bare subsistence gains, And fills my belly, by my back and reins. O, my poor Lares! dear, domestic Powers! To whom I come with incense, cakes, and flowers, 195 When shall my prayers, so long preferred in vain, Acceptance find? O, when shall I obtain Enough to free me from the constant dread Of life's worst ill, gray hairs and want of bread? On mortgage, six-score pounds a year, or eight, 200 A little sideboard, which, for overweight, Fabricius would have censured; a stout pair Of hireling Mæsians, to support my chair, In the thronged Circus: add to these, one slave Well skilled to paint, another to engrave; 205 And I--but let me give these day-dreams o'er-- Wish as I may, I ever shall be poor; For when to Fortune I prefer my prayers, The obdurate goddess stops at once her ears; Stops with that wax which saved Ulysses' crew, } 210 When by the Syrens' rocks and songs they flew, } False songs and treacherous rocks, that all to ruin drew. }

SATIRE X.

In every clime, from Ganges' distant stream To Gades, gilded by the western beam, Few, from the clouds of mental error free, In its true light or good or evil see. For what, with reason, do we seek or shun? 5 What plan, how happily soe'er begun, But, finished, we our own success lament, And rue the pains, so fatally misspent?-- To headlong ruin see whole houses driven, Cursed with their prayers, by too indulgent heaven! 10 Bewildered thus by folly or by fate, We beg pernicious gifts in every state, In peace, in war. A full and rapid flow Of eloquence, lays many a speaker low: Even strength itself is fatal; Milo tries 15 His wondrous arms, and--in the trial dies! But avarice wider spreads her deadly snare, And hoards amassed with too successful care, Hoards, which o'er all paternal fortunes rise, As o'er the dolphin towers the whale in size. 20 For this, in other times, at Nero's word, The ruffian bands unsheathed the murderous sword, Rushed to the swelling coffers of the great, Chased Lateranus from his lordly seat, Besieged too-wealthy Seneca's wide walls, 25 And closed, terrific, round Longinus' halls: While sweetly in their cocklofts slept the poor, And heard no soldier thundering at their door. The traveler, freighted with a little wealth, Sets forth at night, and wins his way by stealth: 30 Even then, he fears the bludgeon and the blade, And starts and trembles at a rush's shade; While, void of care, the beggar trips along, And, in the spoiler's presence, trolls his song. The first great wish, that all with rapture own, 35 The general cry, to every temple known, Is, gold, gold, gold!--"and let, all-gracious Powers, The largest chest the Forum boasts be ours!" Yet none from earthen bowls destruction sip: Dread then the draught, when, mantling, at your lip, 40 The goblet sparkles, radiant from the mine, And the broad gold inflames the ruby wine. And do we, now, admire the stories told Of the two Sages, so renowned of old; How this forever laughed, whene'er he stepp'd 45 Beyond the threshold; that, forever wept? But all can laugh:--the wonder yet appears, What fount supplied the eternal stream of tears! Democritus, at every step he took, His sides with unextinguished laughter shook, 50 Though, in his days, Abdera's simple towns No fasces knew, chairs, litters, purple gowns.-- What! had he seen, in his triumphal car, Amid the dusty Cirque, conspicuous far, The Prætor perched aloft, superbly dress'd 55 In Jove's proud tunic, with a trailing vest Of Tyrian tapestry, and o'er him spread A crown, too bulky for a mortal head, Borne by a sweating slave, maintained to ride In the same car, and mortify his pride! 60 Add now the bird, that, with expanded wing, From the raised sceptre seems prepared to spring; And trumpets here; and there the long parade Of duteous friends, who head the cavalcade; Add, too, the zeal of clients robed in white, } 65 Who hang upon his reins, and grace the sight, } Unbribed, unbought--save by the dole, at night! } Yes, in those days, in every varied scene, The good old man found matter for his spleen: A wondrous sage! whose story makes it clear 70 That men may rise in folly's atmosphere, Beneath Bœotian fogs, of soul sublime, And great examples to the coming time.-- He laughed aloud to see the vulgar fears, Laughed at their joys, and sometimes at their tears: 75 Secure the while, he mocked at Fortune's frown, And when she threatened, bade her hang or drown! Superfluous then, or fatal, is the prayer, Which, to the Immortals' knees, we fondly bear. Some, POWER hurls headlong from her envied height, 80 Some, the broad tablet, flashing on the sight, With titles, names: the statues, tumbled down, Are dragged by hooting thousands through the town; The brazen cars torn rudely from the yoke, And, with the blameless steeds, to shivers broke-- 85 Then roar the flames! the sooty artist blows, And all Sejanus in the furnace glows; Sejanus, once so honored, so adored, And only second to the world's great lord, Runs glittering from the mould, in cups and cans, 90 Basins and ewers, plates, pitchers, pots, and pans. "Crown all your doors with bay, triumphant bay! Sacred to Jove, the milk-white victim slay, For lo! where great Sejanus by the throng, A joyful spectacle! is dragged along. 95 What lips! what cheeks! ha, traitor!--for my part, I never loved the fellow--in my heart." "But tell me; Why was he adjudged to bleed? And who discovered? and who proved the deed?" "Proved!--a huge, wordy letter came to-day 100 From Capreæ." Good! what think the people? They! They follow fortune, as of old, and hate, With their whole souls, the victim of the state. Yet would the herd, thus zealous, thus on fire, Had Nurscia met the Tuscan's fond desire, 105 And crushed the unwary prince, have all combined, And hailed Sejanus, MASTER OF MANKIND! For since their votes have been no longer bought, All public care has vanished from their thought; And those who once, with unresisted sway, 110 Gave armies, empire, every thing, away, For two poor claims have long renounced the whole, And only ask--the Circus and the Dole. "But there are more to suffer." "So I find; A fire so fierce for one was ne'er designed. 115 I met my friend Brutidius, and I fear, From his pale looks, he thinks there's danger near. What if this Ajax, in his phrensy, strike, Suspicious of our zeal, at all alike!" "True: fly we then, our loyalty to show; 120 And trample on the carcass of his foe, While yet exposed on Tiber's banks it lies"-- "But let our slaves be there," another cries: "Yes; let them (lest our ardor they forswear, And drag us, pinioned, to the Bar) be there." 125 Thus of the favorite's fall the converse ran, And thus the whisper passed from man to man. Lured by the splendor of his happier hour, Would'st thou possess Sejanus' wealth and power; See crowds of suppliants at thy levee wait, 130 Give this to sway the army, that the state; And keep a prince in ward, retired to reign O'er Capreæ's crags, with his Chaldean train? Yes, yes, thou would'st (for I can read thy breast) Enjoy that favor which he once possess'd, 135 Assume all offices, grasp all commands, The Imperial Horse, and the Prætorian Bands. 'Tis nature, this; even those who want the will, Pant for the dreadful privilege to kill: Yet what delight can rank and power bestow, 140 Since every joy is balanced by its woe! --STILL would'st thou choose the favorite's purple, say? Or, thus forewarned, some paltry hamlet sway? At Gabii, or Fidenæ, rules propound, For faulty measures, and for wares unsound; 145 And take the tarnished robe, and petty state, Of poor Ulubræ's ragged magistrate?-- You grant me then, Sejanus grossly erred, Nor knew what prayer his folly had preferred: For when he begged for too much wealth and power, 150 Stage above stage, he raised a tottering tower, And higher still, and higher; to be thrown, With louder crash, and wider ruin down! What wrought the Crassi, what the Pompeys' doom, And his, who bowed the stubborn neck of Rome? 155 What but the wild, the unbounded wish to rise, Heard, in malignant kindness, by the skies! Few kings, few tyrants, find a bloodless end, Or to the grave, without a wound, descend. The child, with whom a trusty slave is sent, 160 Charged with his little scrip, has scarcely spent His mite at school, ere all his bosom glows With the fond hope he never more foregoes, To reach Demosthenes' or Tully's name, Rival of both in eloquence and fame!-- 165 Yet by this eloquence, alas! expired Each orator, so envied, so admired! Yet by the rapid and resistless sway Of torrent genius, each was swept away! Genius, for that, the baneful potion sped, 170 And lopp'd, from this, the hands and gory head: While meaner pleaders unmolested stood, Nor stained the rostrum with their wretched blood. "How fortuNATE A NATAL day was thine, In that LATE conSULATE, O Rome, of mine!" 175 Oh, soul of eloquence! had all been found An empty vaunt, like this, a jingling sound, Thou might'st, in peace, thy humble fame have borne, And laughed the swords of Antony to scorn! Yet this would I prefer, the common jest, 180 To that which fired the fierce triumvir's breast, That second scroll, where eloquence divine Burst on the ear from every glowing line. And he too fell, whom Athens, wondering, saw Her fierce democracy, at will, o'erawe, 185 And "fulmine over Greece!" some angry Power Scowled, with dire influence, on his natal hour.-- Bleared with the glowing mass, the ambitious sire, From anvils, sledges, bellows, tongs, and fire, From tempting swords, his own more safe employ, 190 To study RHETORIC, sent his hopeful boy. The spoils of WAR; the trunk in triumph placed With all the trophies of the battle graced, Crushed helms, and battered shields; and streamers borne From vanquished fleets, and beams from chariots torn; 195 And arcs of triumph, where the captive foe Bends, in mute anguish, o'er the pomp below, Are blessings, which the slaves of glory rate Beyond a mortal's hope, a mortal's fate! Fired with the love of these, what countless swarms, 200 Barbarians, Romans, Greeks, have rushed to arms, All danger slighted, and all toil defied, And madly conquered, or as madly died! So much the raging thirst of fame exceeds The generous warmth, which prompts to worthy deeds, 205 That none confess fair virtue's genuine power, Or woo her to their breast, without a dower. Yet has this wild desire, in other days, This boundless avarice of a few for praise, This frantic rage for names to grace a tomb, 210 Involved whole countries in one general doom; Vain "rage!" the roots of the wild fig-tree rise, Strike through the marble, and their memory dies! For, like their mouldering tenants, tombs decay, And, with the dust they hide, are swept away. 215 Produce the urn that Hannibal contains, And weigh the mighty dust, which yet remains: AND IS THIS ALL! Yet THIS was once the bold, The aspiring chief, whom Afric could not hold, Though stretched in breadth from where the Atlantic roars, 220 To distant Nilus, and his sun-burnt shores; In length, from Carthage to the burning zone, Where other moors, and elephants are known. --Spain conquered, o'er the Pyrenees he bounds: Nature opposed her everlasting mounds, 225 Her Alps, and snows; o'er these, with torrent force, He pours, and rends through rocks his dreadful course. Already at his feet, Italia lies;-- Yet thundering on, "Think nothing done," he cries, "Till Rome, proud Rome, beneath my fury falls, 230 And Afric's standards float along her walls!" Big words!--but view his figure! view his face! O, for some master-hand the lines to trace, As through the Etrurian swamps, by floods increas'd, The one-eyed chief urged his Getulian beast! 235 But what ensued? Illusive Glory, say. Subdued on Zama's memorable day, He flies in exile to a petty state, With headlong haste! and, at a despot's gate, Sits, mighty suppliant! of his life in doubt, 240 Till the Bithynian's morning nap be out. No swords, nor spears, nor stones from engines hurled, Shall quell the man whose frown alarmed the world: The vengeance due to Cannæ's fatal field, And floods of human gore, a ring shall yield!-- 245 Fly, madman, fly! at toil and danger mock, Pierce the deep snow, and scale the eternal rock, To please the rhetoricians, and become A DECLAMATION for the boys of Rome! One world, the ambitious youth of Pella found 250 Too small; and tossed his feverish limbs around, And gasped for breath, as if immured the while In Gyaræ, or Seripho's rocky isle: But entering Babylon, found ample room Within the narrow limits of a tomb! 255 Death, the great teacher, Death alone proclaims The true dimensions of our puny frames. The daring tales, in Grecian story found, Were once believed:--of Athos sailed around, Of fleets, that bridges o'er the waves supplied, 260 Of chariots, rolling on the steadfast tide, Of lakes exhausted, and of rivers quaff'd, By countless nations, at a morning's draught, And all that Sostratus so wildly sings, Besotted poet, of the king of kings. 265 But how returned he, say? this soul of fire, This proud barbarian, whose impatient ire Chastised the winds, that disobeyed his nod, With stripes, ne'er suffered from the Æolian god; Fettered the Shaker of the sea and land-- 270 But, in pure clemency, forbode to brand! And sure, if aught can touch the Powers above, This calls for all their service, all their love! But how returned he? say;--His navy lost, In a small bark he fled the hostile coast, 275 And, urged by terror, drove his laboring prore, Through floating carcasses, and floods of gore. So Xerxes sped, so speed the conquering race; They catch at glory, and they clasp disgrace! "LIFE! LENGTH OF LIFE!" For this, with earnest cries, 280 Or sick or well, we supplicate the skies. Pernicious prayer! for mark what ills attend, Still, on the old, as to the grave they bend: A ghastly visage, to themselves unknown, For a smooth skin, a hide with scurf o'ergrown, 285 And such a cheek, as many a grandam ape, In Tabraca's thick woods, is seen to scrape. Strength, beauty, and a thousand charms beside, With sweet distinction, youth from youth divide; While age presents one universal face: 290 A faltering voice, a weak and trembling pace, An ever-dropping nose, a forehead bare, And toothless gums to mumble o'er its fare. Poor wretch, behold him, tottering to his fall, So loathsome to himself, wife, children, all, 295 That those who hoped the legacy to share, And flattered long--disgusted, disappear. The sluggish palate dulled, the feast no more Excites the same sensations as of yore; Taste, feeling, all, a universal blot, 300 And e'en the rites of love remembered not: Or if--through the long night he feebly strives To raise a flame where not a spark survives; While Venus marks the effort with distrust, And hates the gray decrepitude of lust. 305 Another loss!--no joy can song inspire, Though famed Seleucus lead the warbling quire: The sweetest airs escape him; and the lute, Which thrills the general ear, to him is mute.-- He sits, perhaps, too distant: bring him near; 310 Alas! 'tis still the same: he scarce can hear The deep-toned horn, the trumpet's clanging sound, And the loud blast which shakes the benches round. Even at his ear, his slave must bawl the hour, And shout the comer's name, with all his power! 315 Add that a fever only warms his veins, And thaws the little blood which yet remains; That ills of every kind, and every name, Rush in, and seize the unresisting frame. Ask you how many? I could sooner say 320 How many drudges Hippia kept in pay, How many orphans Basilus beguiled, How many pupils Hæmolus defiled, How many men long Maura overmatched, How many patients Themison dispatched 325 In one short autumn; nay, perhaps, record, How many villas call my quondam barber lord! These their shrunk shoulders, those their hams bemoan; This hath no eyes, and envies that with one: This takes, as helpless at the board he stands, 330 His food, with bloodless lips, from others' hands; While that, whose eager jaws, instinctive, spread At every feast, gapes feebly to be fed, Like Progne's brood, when, laden with supplies, From bill to bill, the fasting mother flies. 335 But other ills, and worse, succeed to those: His limbs long since were gone; his memory goes. Poor driveler! he forgets his servants quite, Forgets, at morn, with whom he supped at night; Forgets the children he begot and bred; 340 And makes a strumpet heiress in their stead.-- So much avails it the rank arts to use, Gained, by long practice, in the loathsome stews! But grant his senses unimpaired remain; Still woes on woes succeed, a mournful train! 345 He sees his sons, his daughters, all expire, His faithful consort on the funeral pyre, Sees brothers, sisters, friends, to ashes turn, And all he loved, or loved him, in their urn. Lo here, the dreadful fine we ever pay 350 For life protracted to a distant day! To see our house by sickness, pain pursued, And scenes of death incessantly renewed: In sable weeds to waste the joyless years, And drop, at last, mid solitude and tears! 355 The Pylian's (if we credit Homer's page) Was only second to the raven's age. "O happy, sure, beyond the common rate, Who warded off, so long, the stroke of fate! Who told his years by centuries, who so oft 360 Quaffed the new must! O happy, sure"--But, soft. This "happy" man of destiny complained, Cursed his gray hairs, and every god arraigned; What time he lit the pyre, with streaming eyes, And, in dark volumes, saw the flames arise 365 Round his Antilochus:--"Tell me," he cried, To every friend who lingered at his side, "Tell me what crimes have roused the Immortals' hate, That thus, in vengeance, they protract my date?" So questioned heaven Laertes--Peleus so-- 370 (Their hoary heads bowed to the grave with woe) While this bewailed his son, at Ilium slain; That his, long wandering o'er the faithless main. While Troy yet flourished, had her Priam died, With what solemnity, what funeral pride, 375 Had he descended, every duty paid, To old Assaracus, illustrious shade!-- Hector himself, bedewed with many a tear, Had joined his brothers to support the bier; While Troy's dejected dames, a numerous train, 380 Followed, in sable pomp, and wept amain, As sad Polyxena her pall had rent, And wild Cassandra raised the loud lament: Had he but fallen, ere his adulterous boy Spread his bold sails, and left the shores of Troy. 385 But what did lengthened life avail the sire? To see his realm laid waste by sword and fire. Then too, too late, the feeble soldier tried Unequal arms, and flung his crown aside; Tottered, his children's murderer to repel, 390 With trembling haste, and at Jove's altar fell, Fell without effort; like the steer, that, now, Time-worn and weak, and, by the ungrateful plow, Spurned forth to slaughter, to the master's knife Yields his shrunk veins and miserable life. 395 His end, howe'er, was human; while his mate, Doomed, in a brute, to drain the dregs of fate, Pursued the foes of Troy from shore to shore, And barked and howled at those she cursed before. I pass, while hastening to the Roman page, 400 The Pontic king, and Crœsus, whom the Sage Wisely forbade in fortune to confide, Or take the name of HAPPY, till he died. That Marius, exiled from his native plains, Was hid in fens, discovered, bound in chains; 405 That, bursting these, to Africa he fled, And, through the realms he conquered, begged his bread, Arose from age, from treacherous age alone: For what had Rome, or earth, so happy known, Had he, in that bless'd moment, ceased to live, 410 When, graced with all that Victory could give, "Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war," He first alighted from his Cimbrian car! Campania, prescient of her Pompey's fate, Send a kind fever to arrest his date: 415 When lo! a thousand suppliant altars rise, And public prayers obtain him of the skies. Ill done! that head, thus rescued from the grave, His Evil Fate and ours, by Nilus' wave, Lopp'd from the trunk:--such mutilation dire } 420 Cornelius 'scaped; Cethegus fell entire; } And Catiline pressed, whole, the funeral pyre. } Whene'er the fane of Venus meets her eye, The anxious mother breathes a secret sigh For handsome boys; but asks, with bolder prayer, 425 That all her girls be exquisitely fair! "And wherefore not? Latona, in the sight Of Dian's beauty, took unblamed delight." True; but Lucretia cursed her fatal charms, When spent with struggling in a Tarquin's arms; 430 And poor Virginia would have changed her grace For Rutila's crooked back and homely face. "But boys may still be fair?" No; they destroy Their parents' peace, and murder all their joy; For rarely do we meet, in one combined, 435 A beauteous body and a virtuous mind, Though, through the rugged line, there still has run A Sabine sanctity, from sire to son.-- Besides, should Nature, in her kindest mood, Confer the ingenuous flush of modest blood, 440 The disposition chaste as unsunned snow-- (And what can Nature more than these bestow, These, which no art, no care can give)?--even then, They can not hope, they must not, to be men! Smit with their charms, the imps of hell appear, 445 And pour their proffers in a parent's ear, For prostitution!--infamously bold, And trusting to the almighty power of gold: While youths in shape and air less formed to please No tyrants mutilate, no Neros seize. 450 Go now, and triumph in your beauteous boy, Your Ganymede! whom other ills annoy, And other dangers wait: his graces known, He stands professed, the favorite of the town; And dreads, incessant dreads, on every hand, 455 The vengeance which a husband's wrongs demand: For sure detection follows soon or late; Born under Mars, he can not scape his fate. Oft on the adulterer, too, the furious spouse Inflicts worse evils than the law allows; 460 By blows, stripes, gashes some are robbed of breath And others, by the mullet, racked to death. "But my Endymion will more lucky prove, And serve a beauteous mistress, all for love." No; he will soon to ugliness be sold, 465 And serve a toothless grandam, all for gold. Servilia will not lose him; jewels, clothes, All, all she sells, and all on him bestows; For women naught to the dear youth deny, Or think his labors can be bought too high: 470 When love's the word, the naked sex appear, And every niggard is a spendthrift here. "But if my boy with virtue be endued, What harm will beauty do him?" Nay, what good? Say, what availed, of old, to Theseus' son, 475 The stern resolve? what to Bellerophon?-- O, then did Phædra redden, then her pride Took fire, to be so steadfastly denied! Then, too, did Sthenobœa glow with shame, And both burst forth with unextinguished flame! 480 A woman scorned is pitiless as fate, For, there, the dread of shame adds stings to hate. But Silius comes.--Now, be thy judgment tried: Shall he accept, or not, the proffered bride, And marry Cæsar's wife? hard point, in truth: 485 Lo! this most noble, this most beauteous youth, Is hurried off, a helpless sacrifice To the lewd glance of Messalina's eyes! --Haste, bring the victim: in the nuptial vest Already see the impatient Empress dress'd; 490 The genial couch prepared, the accustomed sum Told out, the augurs and the notaries come. "But why all these?" You think, perhaps, the rite Were better, known to few, and kept from sight; Not so the lady; she abhors a flaw, 495 And wisely calls for every form of law. But what shall Silius do? refuse to wed? A moment sees him numbered with the dead. Consent, and gratify the eager dame? He gains a respite, till the tale of shame, 500 Through town and country, reach the Emperor's ear, Still sure the last--his own disgrace to hear. Then let him, if a day's precarious life Be worth his study, make the fair his wife; For wed or not, poor youth, 'tis still the same, 505 And still the axe must mangle that fine frame! Say then, shall man, deprived all power of choice, Ne'er raise to heaven the supplicating voice? Not so; but to the gods his fortunes trust: Their thoughts are wise, their dispensations just. 510 What best may profit or delight they know, And real good for fancied bliss bestow: With eyes of pity they our frailties scan; More dear to them, than to himself, is man. By blind desire, by headlong passion driven, 515 For wife and heirs we daily weary Heaven: Yet still 'tis Heaven's prerogative to know, If heirs, or wife, will bring us weal or woe. But (for 'tis good our humble hope to prove), That thou may'st, still, ask something from above, 520 Thy pious offerings to the temple bear, And, while the altars blaze, be this thy prayer. O THOU, who know'st the wants of human kind, Vouchsafe me health of body, health of mind; A soul prepared to meet the frowns of fate, 525 And look undaunted on a future state; That reckons death a blessing, yet can bear Existence nobly, with its weight of care; That anger and desire alike restrains, And counts Alcides' toils, and cruel pains, 530 Superior far to banquets, wanton nights, And all the Assyrian monarch's soft delights! Here bound, at length, thy wishes. I but teach What blessings man, by his own powers, may reach. THE PATH TO PEACE IS VIRTUE. We should see, 535 If wise, O Fortune, naught divine in thee: But we have deified a name alone, And fixed in heaven thy visionary throne!

Satire XI. To Persicus.

SATIRE XI.

TO PERSICUS.

If Atticus in sumptuous fare delight, 'Tis taste: if Rutilus, 'tis madness quite: And what diverts the sneering rabble more Than an Apicius miserably poor? In every company, go where you will, 5 Bath, forum, theatre, the talk is still Of Rutilus!--While fit (they cry) to wield, With firm and vigorous arm, the spear and shield, While his full veins beat high with youthful blood, Forced by no tribune--yet by none withstood, 10 He cultivates the gladiator's trade, And learns the imperious language of the blade. What swarms we see of this degenerate kind! Swarms whom their creditors can only find At flesh and fish-stalls:--thither they repair, 15 Sure, though deceived at home, to catch them there. These live but for their palate; and, of these, The most distressed (while Ruin hastes to seize The crumbling mansion and disparting wall), Spread richer feasts, and riot as they fall!-- 20 Meanwhile, ere yet the last supply be spent, They search for dainties every element, Awed by no price; nay, making this their boast, And still preferring that which costs them most, Joyous, and reckless of to-morrow's fate, 25 To raise a desperate sum, they pledge their plate, Or mother's fractured image; to prepare Yet one treat more, though but in earthen ware! Then to the fencer's mess they come, of course, And mount the scaffold as a last resource. 30 No foe to sumptuous boards, I only scan, When such are spread, the motives, and the man, And praise or censure, as I see the feast Or by the noble or the beggar dress'd: In this, 'tis gluttony; in that, fit pride, 35 Sanctioned by wealth, by station dignified.-- Whip me the fool, who marks how Atlas soars O'er every hill on Mauritania's shores, Yet sees no difference 'twixt the coffer's hoards, And the poor pittance a small purse affords! 40 Heaven sent us "KNOW THYSELF!"--Be this impress'd In living characters, upon thy breast, And still revolved; whether a wife thou choose, Or to the SACRED SENATE point thy views.-- Or seek'st thou rather, in some doubtful cause, 45 To vindicate thy country's injured laws? Knock at thy bosom, play the censor's part, And note with caution what and who thou art, An orator of force and skill profound, Or a mere Matho, emptiness and sound! 50 Yes, KNOW THYSELF: in great concerns, in small, Be this thy care, for this, my friend, is all: Nor, when thy purse will scarce a gudgeon buy, With fond intemperance for turbots sigh! O think what end awaits thee, timely think, 55 If thy throat widens as thy pockets shrink, Thy throat, of all thy father's thrift could save, Flocks, herds, and fields, the insatiable grave!-- At length, when naught remains a meal to bring, The last poor shift, off comes the knightly ring, 60 And "sad Sir Pollio" begs his daily fare, With undistinguished hands, and finger bare! To these, an early grave no terror brings, "A short and merry life!" the spendthrift sings; Death seems to him a refuge from despair, 65 And far less terrible than hoary hair. Mark now the progress of their rapid fate! Money (regardless of the monthly rate), On every side, they borrow, and apace, Waste what is borrowed before the lender's face: 70 Then, while they yet some wretched remnant hold, And the pale usurer trembles for his gold, They wisely sicken for the country air, And flock to Baiæ, Ostia, Jove knows where.-- For now 'tis held (so rife the evil's grown) 75 No greater shame, for debt, to flee the town, Than from the thronged Suburra to remove, In dog-days, to the Esquilian shades above. One thought alone, what time they leave behind Friends, country, all, weighs heavy on their mind, 80 One thought alone--for twelve long months to lose The dear delights of Rome, the public shows! Where sleeps the modest blood! In all our veins, No conscious drop, to form a blush, remains: SHAME, from the town, derided, speeds her way, 85 And few, alas! solicit her to stay. Enough: to-day my Persicus shall see Whether my precepts with my life agree; Whether, with feigned austerity, I prize The spare repast, a glutton in disguise! 90 Bawl for coarse pottage, that my friends may hear, But whisper "sweetmeats!" in my servant's ear. For since, by promise, you are now my guest, Know, I invite you to no sumptuous feast, But to such simple fare, as long, long since, 95 The good Evander bade the Trojan prince. Come then, my friend, you will not, sure, despise The food that pleased the offspring of the skies; Come, and while fancy brings past times to view, I'll think myself the king, the hero you. 100 Take now your bill of fare: my simple board Is with no dainties from the market stored, But dishes all my own. From Tibur's stock A kid shall come, the fattest of the flock, The tenderest too, and yet too young to browse 105 The thistle's shoots, the willow's watery boughs, With more of milk than blood; and pullets dress'd With new-laid eggs, yet tepid from the nest, And sperage wild, which, from the mountain's side, My housemaid left her spindle to provide; 110 And grapes long kept, yet pulpy still, and fair, And the rich Signian and the Syrian pear; And apples, that in flavor and in smell The boasted Picene equal, or excel:-- Nor need you fear, my friend, their liberal use, 115 For age has mellowed and improved their juice. How homely this! and yet this homely fare A senator would, once, have counted rare; When the good Curius thought it no disgrace O'er a few sticks a little pot to place, 120 With herbs by his small garden-plot supplied-- Food, which the squalid wretch would now deride, Who digs in fetters, and, with fond regret, The tavern's savory dish remembers yet! Time was, when, on the rack, a man would lay 125 The seasoned flitch, against a solemn day; And think the friends who met, with decent mirth, To celebrate the hour which gave him birth, On this, and what of fresh the altars spared (For altars then were honored), nobly fared. 130 Some kinsman, who had camps and senates swayed, Had thrice been consul, once dictator made, From public cares retired, would gayly haste, Before the wonted hour, to such repast, Shouldering the spade, that, with no common toil, 135 Had tamed the genius of the mountain soil.-- Yes, when the world was filled with Rome's just fame, And Romans trembled at the Fabian name, The Scauran, and Fabrician; when they saw A censor's rigor even a censor awe, 140 No son of Troy e'er thought it his concern, Or worth a moment's serious care, to learn, What land, what sea, the fairest tortoise bred, Whose clouded shell might best adorn his bed.-- His bed was small, and did no signs impart 145 Or of the painter's or the sculptor's art, Save where the front, cheaply inlaid with brass, Showed the rude features of a vine-crowned ass; An uncouth brute, round which his children played, And laughed and jested at the face it made! 150 Briefly, his house, his furniture, his food, Were uniformly plain, and simply good. Then the rough soldier, yet untaught by Greece To hang, enraptured, o'er a finished piece, If haply, 'mid the congregated spoils 155 (Proofs of his power, and guerdon of his toils), Some antique vase of master-hands were found, Would dash the glittering bauble on the ground; That, in new forms, the molten fragments dress'd, Might blaze illustrious round his courser's chest, 160 Or, flashing from his burnished helmet, show (A dreadful omen to the trembling foe) The mighty sire, with glittering shield and spear, Hovering, enamored, o'er the sleeping fair, The wolf, by Rome's high destinies made mild, 165 And, playful at her side, each wondrous child. Thus, all the wealth those simple times could boast, Small wealth! their horses and their arms engross'd; The rest was homely, and their frugal fare, Cooked without art, was served in earthen ware: 170 Yet worthy all our envy, were the breast But with one spark of noble spleen possess'd. THEN shone the fanes with majesty divine, A present god was felt at every shrine! And solemn sounds, heard from the sacred walls, 175 At midnight's solemn hour, announced the Gauls, Now rushing from the main; while, prompt to save, Stood Jove, the prophet of the signs he gave! Yet, when he thus revealed the will of fate, And watched attentive o'er the Latian state, 180 His shrine, his statue, rose of humble mould, Of artless form, and unprofaned with gold. Those good old times no foreign tables sought; From their own woods the walnut-tree was brought, When withering limbs declared its pith unsound, 185 Or winds uptore, and stretched it on the ground. But now, such strange caprice has seized the great, They find no pleasure in the costliest treat, Suspect the flowers a sickly scent exhale, And think the ven'son rank, the turbot stale, 190 Unless wide-yawning panthers, towering high-- Enormous pedestals of ivory, Formed of the teeth which Elephantis sends, Which the dark Moor, or darker Indian, vends, Or those which, now, too heavy for the head, 195 The beasts in Nabathea's forest shed-- The spacious ORBS support: then they can feed, And every dish is delicate indeed! For silver feet are viewed with equal scorn, As iron rings upon the finger worn. 200 To me, forever be the guest unknown, Who, measuring my expenses by his own, Remarks the difference with a scornful leer, And slights my humble house and homely cheer. Look not to me for ivory; I have none: 205 My chess-board and my men are all of bone; Nay, my knife-handles; yet, my friend, for this, My pullets neither cut nor taste amiss. I boast no artist, tutored in the school Of learned Trypherus, to carve by rule; 210 Where large sow-paps of elm, and boar, and hare, And phœnicopter, and pygargus rare, Getulian oryx, Scythian pheasants, point, The nice anatomy of every joint; And dull blunt tools, severing the wooden treat, 215 Clatter around, and deafen all the street. My simple lad, whose highest efforts rise To broil a steak in the plain country guise, Knows no such art; humbly content to serve, And bring the dishes which he can not kerve. 220 Another lad (for I have two to-day), Clad, like the first, in homespun russet gray, Shall fill our earthen bowls: no Phrygian he, No pampered attribute of luxury, But a rude rustic:--when you want him, speak, 225 And speak in Latin, for he knows not Greek. Both go alike, with close-cropp'd hair, undress'd, But spruced to-day in honor of my guest; And both were born on my estate, and one Is my rough shepherd's, one, my neatherd's son. 230 Poor youth! he mourns, with many an artless tear, His long, long absence from his mother dear; Sighs for his little cottage, and would fain Meet his old playfellows, the goats, again. Though humble be his birth, ingenuous grace 235 Beams from his eye, and flushes in his face; Charming suffusion! that would well become The youthful offspring of the chiefs of Rome.-- He, Persicus, shall fill us wine which grew Where first the breath of life the stripling drew, 240 On Tibur's hills;--dear hills, that many a day Witnessed the transports of his infant play. But you, perhaps, expect a wanton throng Of Gaditanian girls, with dance and song, To kindle loose desire; girls, that now bound } 245 Aloft with active grace, now, on the ground, } Quivering, alight, while peals of praise go round. } Lo! wives, beside their husbands placed, behold, What could not in their ear, for shame, be told; Expedients of the rich, the blood to fire, 250 And wake the dying embers of desire. Behold? O heavens! they view, with keenest gust, These strong provocatives of jaded lust; With every gesture feel their passions rise, And draw in pleasure both at ears and eyes! 255 Such vicious fancies are too great for me. Let him the wanton dance unblushing see, And hear the immodest terms which, in the stews, The veriest strumpet would disdain to use, Whose drunken spawlings roll, tumultuous, o'er 260 The proud expansion of a marble floor: For there the world a large allowance make, And spare the folly for the fortune's sake.-- Dice, and adultery, with a small estate, Are damning crimes; but venial, with a great; 265 Venial? nay, graceful: witty, gallant, brave, And such wild tricks "as gentlemen should have!" My feast, to-day, shall other joys afford: Hushed as we sit around the frugal board. Great Homer shall his deep-toned thunder roll, 270 And mighty Maro elevate the soul; Maro, who, warmed with all the poet's fire, Disputes the palm of victory with his sire: Nor fear my rustic clerks; read as they will, The bard, the bard, shall rise superior still! 275 Come then, my friend, an hour to pleasure spare, And quit awhile your business and your care; The day is all our own: come, and forget Bonds, interest, all; the credit and the debt; Nay, e'en your wife: though, with the dawning light, 280 She left your couch, and late returned at night; Though her loose hair in wild disorder flowed, Her eye yet glistened, and her cheek yet glowed, Her rumpled girdle busy hands express'd-- Yet, at my threshold, tranquilize your breast; 285 There leave the thoughts of home, and what the haste Of heedless slaves may in your absence waste; And, what the generous spirit most offends, O, more than all, leave there UNGRATEFUL FRIENDS. But see! the napkin, waved aloft, proclaims 290 The glad commencement of the Idæan games, And the proud prætor, in triumphal state, Ascends his car, the arbiter of fate! Ere this, all Rome (if 'tis, for once, allowed, To say all Rome, of so immense a crowd) 295 The Circus throngs, and--Hark! loud shouts arise-- From these, I guess the GREEN has won the prize; For had it lost, all joy had been suppress'd, And grief and horror seized the public breast; As when dire Carthage forced our arms to yield, 300 And poured our noblest blood on Cannæ's field. Thither let youth, whom it befits, repair, And seat themselves beside some favorite fair, Wrangle, and urge the desperate bet aloud; While we, retired from business and the crowd, 305 Stretch our shrunk limbs by sunny bank or stream, And drink, at every pore, the vernal beam. Haste, then: for we may use our freedom now, And bathe, an hour ere noon, with fearless brow-- Indulge for once:--Yet such delights as these, 310 In five short morns, would lose the power to please; For still, the sweetest pleasures soonest cloy, And its best flavor temperance gives to joy.

Satire XII. To Corvinus.

SATIRE XII.

TO CORVINUS.

Not with such joy, Corvinus, I survey My natal hour, as this auspicious day; This day, on which the festive turf demands The promised victims, at my willing hands. A snow-white lamb to Juno I decree, 5 Another to Minerva; and to thee, Tarpeian Jove! a steer, which, from afar, Shakes his long rope, and meditates the war. 'Tis a fierce animal, that proudly scorns The dug, since first he tried his budding horns 10 Against an oak; free mettled, and, in fine, Fit for the knife, and sacrificial wine. O, were my power but equal to my love, A nobler victim should my rapture prove! A bull high fed, and boasting in his veins, 15 The luscious juices of Clitumnus' plains, Fatter than fat Hispulla, huge and slow, Should fall, but fall beneath no common blow-- Fall for my friend, who now, from danger free, Revolves the recent perils of the sea; 20 Shrinks at the roaring waves, the howling winds, And scarcely trusts the safety which he finds! For not the gods' inevitable fire, The surging billows that to heaven aspire, Alone, perdition threat; black clouds arise, 25 And blot out all the splendor of the skies; Loud and more loud the thunder's voice is heard, And sulphurous fires flash dreadful on the yard.-- Trembled the crew, and, fixed in wild amaze, Saw the rent sails burst into sudden blaze; 30 While shipwreck, late so dreadful, now appeared A refuge from the flames, more wished than feared. Horror on horror! earth, and sea, and skies, Convulsed, as when POETIC TEMPESTS rise! From the same source another danger view, 35 With pitying eye--though dire alas! not new; But known too well, as Isis' temples show, By many a pictured scene of votive woe; Isis, by whom the painters now are fed, Since our own gods no longer yield them bread!-- 40 And such befell our friend: for now a sea, Upsurging, poured tremendous o'er the lee, And filled the hold; while, pressed by wave and wind, To right and left, by turns, the ship inclined: Then, while Catullus viewed, with drooping heart, 45 The storm prevailing o'er the pilot's art, He wisely hastened to compound the strife, And gave his treasure to preserve his life. The beaver thus to scape his hunter tries, And leaves behind the medicated prize; 50 Happy to purchase with his dearest blood, A timely refuge in the well-known flood. "Away with all that's mine," he cries, "away!" And plunges in the deep, without delay, Purples, which soft Mæcenases might wear, 55 Crimsons, deep-tinctured in the Bætic air, Where herbs, and springs of secret virtues, stain The flocks at feed, with Nature's richest grain. With these, neat baskets from the Britons bought, Rare silver chargers by Parthenius wrought, 60 A huge two-handed goblet, which might strain A Pholus, or a Fuscus' wife, to drain; Followed by numerous services of plate, Plain, and enchased; with cups of ancient date, In which, while at the city's strength he laughed, 65 The wily chapman of Olynthus quaffed. Yet show me, in this elemental strife, Another, who would barter wealth for life!-- Few GAIN TO LIVE, Corvinus, few or none, But, blind with avarice, LIVE TO GAIN alone. 70 Now had the deep devoured their richest store; Nor seems their safety nearer than before: The last resource alone was unexplored-- To cut the mast and rigging by the board; Haply the vessel so might steadier ride 75 O'er the vexed surface of the raging tide. Dire threats the impending blow, when, thus distress'd, We sacrifice a part, to save the rest! Go now, fond man, the faithless ocean brave, Commit your fortune to the wind and wave; 80 Trust to a plank, and draw precarious breath, At most, seven inches from the jaws of death! Go, but forget not that a storm may rise, And put up hatchets with your sea supplies. But now the winds were hushed; the wearied main 85 Sunk to repose, a calm, unruffled plain; For fate, superior to the tempest's power, Averted from my friend the mortal hour: A whiter thread the cheerful Sisters spun, And lo, with favoring hands their spindles run! 90 Mild as the breeze of eve, a rising gale Rippled the wave, and filled their only sail; Others the crew supplied, of vests combined, And spread to catch each vagrant breath of wind: By aids like these, slow o'er the deep impelled, 95 The shattered bark her course for Ostia held; While the glad sun uprose, supremely bright, And hope returned with the returning light. At length the heights, where, from Lavinum moved, Iülus built the city which he loved, 100 Burst on the view; auspicious heights! whose name From a white sow and thirty sucklings came. And now, the port they gain; the tower, whose ray Guides the poor wanderer o'er the watery way, And the huge mole, whose arms the waves embrace, 105 And stretching, an immeasurable space, Far into Ocean's bosom, leave the coast, Till, in the distance, Italy is lost!-- Less wonderful the bays which Nature forms, And less secure against assailing storms: 110 Here rides the wave-worn bark, devoid of fear; For Baian skiffs might ply with safety here. The joyful crew, with shaven crowns, relate Their timely rescue from the jaws of fate; On every ill a pomp of words bestow, 115 And dwell delighted on the tale of woe. Go then, my boys--but let no boding strain Break on the sacred silence--dress the fane With garlands, bind the sod with ribbons gay, And on the knives the salted offering lay: 120 This done, I'll speed, myself the rites to share, And finish what remains, with pious care. Then, hastening home, where chaplets of sweet flowers Bedeck my Lares, dear, domestic Powers! I'll offer incense there, and at the shrine 125 Of highest Jove, my father's god, and mine; There will I scatter every bud that blows, And every tint the various violet knows. All savors here of joy; luxuriant bay } O'ershades my portal, while the taper's ray } 130 Anticipates the feast, and chides the tardy day: } Nor think, Corvinus, interest fires my breast: Catullus, for whose sake my house is dress'd, Has three sweet boys, who all such hopes destroy, And nobler views excite my boundless joy. 135 Yet who besides, on such a barren friend, Would waste a sickly pullet? who would spend So vast a treasure, where no hopes prevail, Or, for a FATHER, sacrifice a quail?-- But should the symptoms of a slight disease 140 The childless Paccius or Gallita seize, Legions of flatterers to the fanes repair, And hang in rows their votive tablets there. Nay, some with vows of hecatombs will come-- For yet no elephants are sold at Rome; 145 The breed, to Latium and to us unknown, Is only found beneath the burning zone: Thence to our shore, by swarthy Moors conveyed, They roam at large through the Rutulian shade, Kept for the imperial pleasure, envied fate! 150 And sacred from the subject, and the state. Though their progenitors, in days of yore, Did worthy service, and to battle bore Whole cohorts; taught the general's voice to know, And rush, themselves an army, on the foe. 155 But what avails their worth! could gold obtain So rare a creature, worth might plead in vain: Novius, without delay, their blood would shed, To raise his Paccius from affliction's bed; An offering, sacred to the great design, 160 And worthy of the votary and the shrine! Pacuvius, did our laws the crime allow, The fairest of his numerous slaves would vow; The blooming boy, the love-inspiring maid, With garlands crown, and to the temple lead; 165 Nay, seize his Iphigene, prepared to wed, And drag her to the altar, from the bed; Though hopeless, like the Grecian sire, to find, In happy hour, the substituted hind. And who shall say my countryman does ill? 170 A thousand ships are trifles to a Will! For Paccius, should the fates his health restore, May cancel every item framed before (Won by his friend's vast merits, and beset, On all sides, by the inextricable net), 175 And, in one line, convey plate, jewels, gold, Lands, every thing to him, "to have and hold." With victory crowned, Pacuvius struts along, And smiles contemptuous on the baffled throng; Then counts his gains, and deems himself o'erpaid 180 For the cheap murder of one wretched maid. Health to the man! and may he THUS get more Than Nero plundered! pile his shining store High, mountain high; in years a Nestor prove, And, loving none, ne'er know another's love! 185

Satire XIII. To Calvinus.

SATIRE XIII.

TO CALVINUS.

Man, wretched man, whene'er he stoops to sin, Feels, with the act, a strong remorse within; 'Tis the first vengeance: Conscience tries the cause, And vindicates the violated laws; Though the bribed Prætor at their sentence spurn, 5 And falsify the verdict of the Urn. What says the world, not always, friend, unjust, Of his late injury, this breach of trust? That thy estate so small a loss can bear, And that the evil, now no longer rare, 10 Is one of that inevitable set, Which man is born to suffer and forget. Then moderate thy grief: 'tis mean to show An anguish disproportioned to the blow. But thou, so new to crosses, as to feel 15 The slightest portion of the slightest ill, Art tired with rage, because a friend forswears The sacred pledge, intrusted to his cares. What, thou, Calvinus, bear so weak a mind! Thou, who hast left full three-score years behind! 20 Heaven, have they taught thee nothing! nothing, friend! And art thou grown gray-headed to no end!-- Wisdom, I know, contains a sovereign charm, To vanquish fortune, or at least disarm: Blest they who walk in her unerring rule!-- 25 Nor those unblest, who, tutored in life's school, Have learned of old experience to submit, And lightly bear the yoke they can not quit. What day so sacred, which no guilt profanes, No secret fraud, no open rapine stains? 30 What hour, in which no dark assassins prowl, Nor point the sword for hire, nor drug the bowl? THE GOOD, ALAS, ARE FEW! "The valued file," Less than the gates of Thebes, the mouths of Nile! For now an age is come, that teems with crimes, 35 Beyond all precedent of former times; An age so bad, that Nature can not frame A metal base enough to give it name! Yet you, indignant at a paltry cheat, Call heaven and earth to witness the deceit, 40 With cries as deafening, as the shout that breaks From the bribed audience, when Fæsidius speaks. Dotard in nonage! are you to be told What loves, what graces, deck another's gold? Are you to learn, what peals of mirth resound, 45 At your simplicity, from all around? When you step forth, and, with a serious air, } Bid them abstain from perjury, and beware } To tempt the altars--for A GOD IS THERE! } Idle old man! there was, indeed, a time, 50 When the rude natives of this happy clime Cherished such dreams: 'twas ere the king of heaven, To change his sceptre for a scythe was driven; Ere Juno yet the sweets of love had tried, Or Jove advanced beyond the caves of Ide. 55 'Twas when no gods indulged in sumptuous feasts, No Ganymede, no Hebe served the guests; No Vulcan, with his sooty labors foul, Limped round, officious, with the nectared bowl; But each in private dined: 'twas when the throng 60 Of godlings, now beyond the scope of song, The courts of heaven, in spacious ease, possess'd, And with a lighter load poor Atlas press'd!-- Ere Neptune's lot the watery world obtained, Or Dis and his Sicilian consort reigned; 65 Ere Tityus and his ravening bird were known, Ixion's wheel, or Sisyphus's stone: While yet the shades confessed no tyrant's power, And all below was one Elysian bower! Vice was a phœnix in that blissful time, 70 Believed, but never seen: and 'twas a crime, Worthy of death, such awe did years engage, If manhood rose not up to reverend age, And youth to manhood, though a larger hoard Of hips and acorns graced the stripling's board. 75 Then, then was age so venerable thought, That every day increase of honor brought; And children, in the springing down, revered The sacred promise of a hoary beard! Now, if a friend, miraculously just, 80 Restore the pledge, with all its gathered rust, 'Tis deemed a portent, worthy to appear Among the wonders of the Tuscan year; A prodigy of faith, which threats the state, And a ewe lamb can scarcely expiate!-- 85 Struck at the view, if now I chance to see A man of ancient worth and probity, To pregnant mules the MONSTER I compare, Or fish upturned beneath the wondering share: Anxious and trembling for the woe to come, 90 As if a shower of stones had fallen on Rome; As if a swarm of bees, together clung, Down from the Capitol, thick-clustering, hung; Or Tiber, swollen to madness, burst away, And roll'd, a milky deluge, to the sea. 95 And dost thou at a trivial loss repine! What, if another, by a friend like thine, Is stripp'd of ten times more! a third, again, Of what his bursting chest would scarce contain! For 'tis so common, in this age of ours, 100 So easy, to contemn the Immortal Powers, That, can we but elude man's searching eyes. We laugh to scorn the witness of the skies. Mark, with how bold a voice, and fixed a brow, The villain dares his treachery disavow! 105 "By the all-hallowed orb that flames above, I HAD IT NOT! By the red bolts of Jove, By the winged shaft that laid the Centaur low, By Dian's arrows, by Apollo's bow, By the strong lance that Mars delights to wield, 110 By Neptune's trident, by Minerva's shield, And every weapon that, to vengeance given, Stores the tremendous magazine of heaven!-- Nay, IF I HAD, I'll slay this son of mine, And eat his head, soused in Egyptian brine." 115 There are, who think that chance is all in all, That no First Cause directs the eternal ball; But that brute Nature, in her blind career, Varies the seasons, and brings round the year: These rush to every shrine, with equal ease, 120 And, owning none, swear by what Power you please. Others believe, and but believe, a god, And think that punishment MAY follow fraud; Yet they forswear, and, reasoning on the deed, Thus reconcile their actions with their creed: 125 "Let Isis storm, if to revenge inclined, And with her angry sistrum strike me blind, So, with my eyes, she ravish not my ore, But let me keep the pledge which I forswore. Are putrid sores, catarrhs that seldom kill, 130 And crippled limbs, forsooth, so great an ill! Ladas, if not stark mad, would change, no doubt, His flying feet for riches and the gout; For what do those procure him? mere renown, And the starved honor of an olive crown." 135 "But grant the wrath of heaven be great; 'tis slow, And days, and months, and years precede the blow. If, then, to punish ALL, the gods decree, When, in their vengeance, will they come to me? But I, perhaps, their anger may appease-- 140 For they are wont to pardon faults like these: At worst, there's hope; since every age and clime See different fates attend the self-same crime; Some made by villainy, and some undone, And this ascend a scaffold, that a throne." 145 These sophistries, to fix a while suffice The mind, yet shuddering at the thought of vice; And, thus confirmed, at the first call they come, Nay, rush before you to the sacred dome: Chide your slow pace, drag you, amazed, along, 150 And play the raving Phasma, to the throng. (For impudence the vulgar suffrage draws, And seems the assurance of a righteous cause.) While you, poor wretch, suspected by the crowd, With Stentor's lungs, or Mars', exclaim aloud: 155 "Jove! Jove! will naught thy indignation rouse? Canst thou, in silence, hear these faithless vows? When all thy fury, on the slaves accurst, From lips of marble or of brass should burst!-- Or else, why burn we incense at thy shrine, 160 And heap thy altars with the fat of swine, When we might crave redress, for aught I see, As wisely of Bathyllus as of thee!" Rash man!--but hear, in turn, what I propose, To mitigate, if not to heal, your woes; 165 I, who no knowledge of the schools possess, Cynic, or Stoic, differing but in dress, Or thine, calm Epicurus, whose pure mind To one small garden every wish confined. In desperate cases, able doctors fee; 170 But trust your pulse to Philip's boy--or me. If no example of so foul a deed On earth be found, I urge no more: proceed, And beat your breast, and rend your hoary hair; 'Tis just:-for thus our losses we declare; 175 And money is bewailed with deeper sighs, Than friends or kindred, and with louder cries. There none dissemble, none, with scenic art, Affect a sorrow, foreign from the heart; Content in squalid garments to appear, 180 And vex their lids for one hard-gotten tear: No, genuine drops fall copious from their eyes, And their breasts labor with unbidden sighs. But when you see each court of justice thronged With crowds, like you, by faithless friendship wronged, 185 See men abjure their bonds, though duly framed, And oft revised, by all the parties named, While their own hand and seal, in every eye, Flash broad conviction, and evince the lie; Shall you alone on Fortune's smiles presume, 190 And claim exemption from the common doom? --From a white hen, forsooth, 'twas yours to spring, Ours, to be hatched beneath some luckless wing! Pause from your grief, and, with impartial eyes, Survey the daring crimes which round you rise; 195 Your injuries, then, will scarce deserve a name, And your false friend be half absolved from blame! What's he, poor knave! to those who stab for hire, Who kindle, and then spread, the midnight fire? Say, what to those, who, from the hoary shrine, 200 Tear the huge vessels age hath stamped divine, Offerings of price, by grateful nations given, And crowns inscribed, by pious kings, to heaven? What to the minor thieves, who, missing these, Abrade the gilded thighs of Hercules, 205 Strip Neptune of his silvery beard, and peel Castor's leaf gold, where spread from head to heel? Or what to those, who, with pernicious craft, Mingle and set to sale the deadly draught; Or those, who in a raw ox-hide are bound, 210 And, with an ill-starred ape, poor sufferer! drowned? Yet these--how small a portion of the crimes, That stain the records of those dreadful times, And Gallicus, the city præfect, hears, From light's first dawning, till it disappears! 215 The state of morals would you learn at Rome? No farther seek than his judicial dome: Give one short morning to the horrors there, And then complain, then murmur, if you dare! Say, whom do goitres on the Alps surprise? 220 In Meroë, whom the breast's enormous size? Whom locks, in Germany, of golden hue, And spiral curls, and eyes of sapphire blue? None; for the prodigy, among them shared, Becomes mere nature, and escapes regard. 225 When clouds of Thracian birds obscure the sky, To arms! to arms! the desperate Pigmies cry: But soon, defeated in the unequal fray, Disordered flee; while, pouncing on their prey, The victor cranes descend, and, clamoring, bear 230 The wriggling manikins aloft in air. Here, could our climes to such a scene give birth, We all should burst with agonies of mirth; There, unsurprised, they view the frequent fight, Nor smile at heroes scarce a foot in height. 235 "Shall then no ill the perjured head attend, No punishment o'ertake this faithless friend?" Suppose him seized, abandoned to your will, What more would rage? to torture or to kill; Yet still your loss, your injury would remain, 240 And draw no retribution from his pain. "True,; but methinks the smallest drop of blood, Squeezed from his mangled limbs, would do me good: Revenge, THEY SAY, and I believe their words, A pleasure sweeter far than life affords." 245 WHO SAY? the fools, whose passions, prone to ire, At slightest causes, or at none take fire; Whose boiling breasts, at every turn, o'erflow With rancorous gall: Chrysippus SAID not so; Nor Thales, to our frailties clement still; 250 Nor that old man, by sweet Hymettus' hill, Who drank the poison with unruffled soul, And dying, from his foes withheld the bowl. Divine philosophy! by whose pure light We first distinguish, then pursue the right, 255 Thy power the breast from every error frees, And weeds out all its vices by degrees:-- Illumined by thy beam, revenge we find, } The abject pleasure of an abject mind, } And hence so dear to poor, weak, womankind. } 260 But why are those, Calvinus, thought to scape Unpunished, whom, in every fearful shape, Guilt still alarms, and conscience, ne'er asleep, Wounds with incessant strokes, "not loud but deep," While the vexed mind, her own tormentor, plies 265 A scorpion scourge, unmarked by human eyes! Trust me, no tortures which the poets feign, Can match the fierce, the unutterable pain He feels, who night and day, devoid of rest, Carries his own accuser in his breast. 270 A Spartan once the Oracle besought To solve a scruple which perplexed his thought, And plainly tell him, if he might forswear A purse, of old confided to his care. Incensed, the priestess answered--"Waverer, no! 275 Nor shalt thou, for the doubt, unpunished go." With that, he hastened to restore the trust; But fear alone, not virtue, made him just: Hence, he soon proved the Oracle divine, And all the answer worthy of the shrine; 280 For plagues pursued his race without delay, And swept them from the earth, like dust, away. By such dire sufferings did the wretch atone The crime of meditated fraud alone! For, IN THE EYE OF HEAVEN, a wicked deed 285 Devised, is done: What, then, if we proceed?-- Perpetual fears the offender's peace destroy, And rob the social hour of all its joy: Feverish, and parched, he chews, with many a pause, The tasteless food, that swells beneath his jaws: 290 Spits out the produce of the Albanian hill, Mellowed by age;--you bring him mellower still, And lo, such wrinkles on his brow appear, As if you brought Falernian vinegar! At night, should sleep his harassed limbs compose, 295 And steal him one short moment from his woes, Then dreams invade; sudden, before his eyes The violated fane and altar rise; And (what disturbs him most) your injured shade, In more than mortal majesty arrayed, 300 Frowns on the wretch, alarms his treacherous rest, And wrings the dreadful secret from his breast. These, these are they, who tremble and turn pale At the first mutterings of the hollow gale! 305 Who sink with terror at the transient glare Of meteors, glancing through the turbid air! Oh, 'tis not chance, they cry; this hideous crash Is not the war of winds; nor this dread flash The encounter of dark clouds; but blasting fire, Charged with the wrath of heaven's insulted sire! 310 That dreaded peal, innoxious, dies away; Shuddering, they wait the next with more dismay, As if the short reprieve were only sent To add new horrors to their punishment. Yet more; when the first symptoms of disease, 315 When feverish heats, their restless members seize, They think the plague by wrath divine bestowed, And feel, in every pang, the avenging God. Racked at the thought, in hopeless grief they lie, And dare not tempt the mercy of the sky: 320 For what can such expect! what victim slay, That is not worthier far to live than they! With what a rapid change of fancy roll The varying passions of the guilty soul!-- Bold to offend, they scarce commit the offense, 325 Ere the mind labors with an innate sense Of right and wrong;--not long, for nature still, Incapable of change, and fixed in ill, Recurs to her old habits:--never yet Could sinner to his sin a period set. 330 When did the flush of modest blood inflame The cheek, once hardened to the sense of shame? Or when the offender, since the birth of time, Retire, contented with a single crime? And this false friend of ours shall still pursue 335 His dangerous course, till vengeance, doubly due, O'ertake his guilt; then shalt thou see him cast In chains, 'mid tortures to expire his last; Or hurried off, to join the wretched train Of exiled great ones in the Ægean main. 340 THIS, THOU SHALT SEE; and, while thy voice applauds The dreadful justice of the offended gods, Reform thy creed, and, with an humble mind, Confess that Heaven is NEITHER DEAF NOR BLIND!

Satire XIV. To Fuscinus.

SATIRE XIV.

TO FUSCINUS.

Yes, there are faults, Fuscinus, that disgrace The noblest qualities of birth and place; Which, like infectious blood, transmitted, run, In one eternal stream, from sire to son. If, in destructive play, the senior waste 5 His joyous nights, the child, with kindred taste, Repeats, in miniature, the darling vice, Shakes the small box, and cogs the little dice. Nor does that infant fairer hopes inspire, Who, trained by the gray epicure, his sire, 10 Has learned to pickle mushrooms, and, like him, To souse the becaficos, till they swim!-- For take him, thus to early luxury bred, Ere twice four springs have blossomed o'er his head, And let ten thousand teachers, hoar with age, 15 Inculcate temperance from the stoic page; His wish will ever be, in state to dine, And keep his kitchen's honor from decline! Does Rutilus inspire a generous mind, Prone to forgive, and to slight errors blind; 20 Instill the liberal thought, that slaves have powers, Sense, feeling, all, as exquisite as ours; Or fury? He, who hears the sounding thong With far more pleasure than the Siren's song; Who, the stern tyrant of his small domain, 25 The Polypheme of his domestic train, Knows no delight, save when the torturer's hand Stamps, for low theft, the agonizing brand.-- O, what but rage can fill that stripling's breast, Who sees his savage sire then only blest, 30 When his stretched ears drink in the wretches' cries, And racks and prisons fill his vengeful eyes! And dare we hope, yon girl, from Larga sprung, Will e'er prove virtuous; when her little tongue Ne'er told so fast her mother's wanton train, 35 But that she stopped and breathed, and stopped again? Even from her tender years, unnatural trust! The child was privy to the matron's lust:-- Scarce ripe for man, with her own hand, she writes The billets, which the ancient bawd indites, 40 Employs the self-same pimps, and looks, ere long, To share the visits of the amorous throng! So Nature prompts: drawn by her secret tie, We view a parent's deeds with reverent eye; With fatal haste, alas! the example take, 45 And love the sin, for the dear sinner's sake.-- One youth, perhaps, formed of superior clay, And warmed, by Titan, with a purer ray, May dare to slight proximity of blood, And, in despite of nature, to be good: 50 One youth--the rest the beaten pathway tread, And blindly follow where their fathers led. O fatal guides! this reason should suffice To win you from the slippery route of vice, This powerful reason; lest your sons pursue 55 The guilty track, thus plainly marked by you! For youth is facile, and its yielding will Receives, with fatal ease, the imprint of ill: Hence Catilines in every clime abound; But where are Cato and his nephew found! 60 Swift from the roof where youth, Fuscinus, dwell, Immodest sights, immodest sounds expel; THE PLACE IS SACRED: Far, far hence, remove, Ye venal votaries of illicit love! Ye dangerous knaves, who pander to be fed, 65 And sell yourselves to infamy for bread!

Reverence To Children, As To Heaven, Is Due

REVERENCE TO CHILDREN, AS TO HEAVEN, IS DUE: When you would, then, some darling sin pursue, Think that your infant offspring eyes the deed; And let the thought abate your guilty speed, 70 Back from the headlong steep your steps entice, And check you, tottering on the verge of vice. O yet reflect! for should he e'er provoke, In riper age, the law's avenging stroke (Since not alone in person and in face, 75 But even in morals, he will prove his race, And, while example acts with fatal force, Side, nay outstrip, you, in the vicious course), Vexed, you will rave and storm; perhaps, prepare, Should threatening fail, to name another heir! 80 --Audacious! with what front do you aspire To exercise the license of a sire? When all, with rising indignation, view The youth, in turpitude, surpassed by you, By you, old fool, whose windy, brainless head, 85 Long since required the cupping-glass's aid! Is there a guest expected? all is haste, All hurry in the house, from first to last. "Sweep the dry cobwebs down!" the master cries, Whips in his hand, and fury in his eyes, 90 "Let not a spot the clouded columns stain; Scour you the figured silver; you, the plain!" O inconsistent wretch! is all this coil, Lest the front hall, or gallery, daubed with soil (Which, yet, a little sand removes), offend 95 The prying eye of some indifferent friend? And do you stir not, that your son may see The house from moral filth, from vices free! True, you have given a citizen to Rome; And she shall thank you, if the youth become, 100 By your o'er-ruling care, or soon or late, A useful member of the parent state: For all depends on you; the stamp he'll take, From the strong impress which, at first, you make; And prove, as vice or virtue was your aim, 105 His country's glory, or his country's shame. The stork, with snakes and lizards from the wood And pathless wild, supports her callow brood; And the fledged storklings, when to wing they take, Seek the same reptiles, through the devious brake. 110 The vulture snuffs from far the tainted gale, And, hurrying where the putrid scents exhale, From gibbets and from graves the carcass tears, And to her young the loathsome dainty bears; Her young, grown vigorous, hasten from the nest, 115 And gorge on carrion, with the parent's zest. While Jove's own eagle, bird of noble blood, Scours the wide champaign for untainted food, Bears the swift hare, or swifter fawn away, And feeds her nestlings with the generous prey; 120 Her nestlings hence, when from the rock they spring, And, pinched by hunger, to the quarry wing, Stoop only to the game they tasted first, When, clamorous, from the shell, to light they burst. Centronius planned and built, and built and planned; 125 And now along Cajeta's winding strand, And now amid Præneste's hills, and now On lofty Tibur's solitary brow, He reared prodigious piles, with marble brought From distant realms, and exquisitely wrought: 130 Prodigious piles! that towered o'er Fortune's shrine, As those of gelt Posides, Jove, o'er thine! While thus Centronius crowded seat on seat, He spent his cash, and mortgaged his estate; Yet left enough his family to content: 135 Which his mad son, to the last farthing, spent, While, building on, he strove, with fond desire, To shame the stately structures of his sire! Sprung from a father who the sabbath fears, There is, who naught but clouds and skies reveres; 140 And shuns the taste, by old tradition led, Of human flesh, and swine's, with equal dread:-- This first: the prepuce next he lays aside, And, taught the Roman ritual to deride, Clings to the Jewish, and observes with awe 145 All Moses bade in his mysterious law: And, therefore, to the circumcised alone Will point the road, or make the fountain known; Warned by his bigot sire, who whiled away, Sacred to sloth, each seventh revolving day. 150 But youth, so prone to follow other ills, Are driven to AVARICE, against their wills; For this grave vice, assuming Virtue's guise, Seems Virtue's self, to undiscerning eyes. The miser, hence, a frugal man, they name; 155 And hence, they follow, with their whole acclaim, The griping wretch, who strictlier guards his store, Than if the Hesperian dragon kept the door.-- Add that the vulgar, still a slave to gold, The worthy, in the wealthy, man behold; 160 And, reasoning from the fortune he has made, Hail him, A perfect master of his trade! And true, indeed, it is--such MASTERS raise Immense estates; no matter, by what ways; But raise they do, with brows in sweat still dyed, 165 With forge still glowing, and with sledge still plied. The father, by the love of wealth possest, Convinced--the covetous alone are blest, And that, nor past, nor present times, e'er knew A poor man happy--bids his son pursue 170 The paths they take, the courses they affect, And follow, at the heels, this thriving sect. Vice boasts its elements, like other arts; These, he inculcates first: anon, imparts The petty tricks of saving; last, inspires, 175 Of endless wealth, the insatiable desires.-- Hungry himself, his hungry slaves he cheats, With scanty measures, and unfaithful weights; And sees them lessen, with increasing dread, The flinty fragments of his vinewed bread. 180 In dog-days, when the sun, with fervent power, Corrupts the freshest meat from hour to hour, He saves the last night's hash, sets by a dish Of sodden beans, and scraps of summer fish, And half a stinking shad, and a few strings 185 Of a chopped leek--all told, like sacred things, And sealed with caution, though the sight and smell Would a starved beggar from the board repel. But why this dire avidity of gain? This mass collected with such toil and pain? 190 Since 'tis the veriest madness, to live poor, And die with bags and coffers running o'er. Besides, while thus the streams of affluence roll, They nurse the eternal dropsy of the soul, For thirst of wealth still grows with wealth increast, 195 And they desire it less, who have it least.-- Now swell his wants: one manor is too small, Another must be bought, house, lands, and all; Still "cribbed confined," he spurns the narrow bounds, And turns an eye on every neighbor's grounds: 200 There all allures; his crops appear a foil To the rich produce of their happier soil. "And this, I'll purchase, with the grove," he cries, "And that fair hill, where the gray olives rise." Then, if the owner to no price will yield 205 (Resolved to keep the hereditary field), Whole droves of oxen, starved to this intent, Among his springing corn, by night, are sent, To revel there, till not a blade be seen, And all appear like a close-shaven green. 210 "Monstrous!" you say--And yet, 'twere hard to tell, What numbers, tricks like these have forced to sell. But, sure, the general voice has marked his name, And given him up to infamy and shame:-- "And what of that?" he cries. "I valued more 215 A single lupine, added to my store, Than all the country's praise; if cursed by fate With the scant produce of a small estate."-- 'Tis well! no more shall age or grief annoy, But nights of peace succeed to days of joy, 220 If more of ground to you alone pertain, Than Rome possessed, in Numa's pious reign! Since then, the veteran, whose brave breast was gored, By the fierce Pyrrhic, or Molossian sword, Hardly received for all his service past, 225 And all his wounds, TWO ACRES at the last; The meed of toil and blood! yet never thought His country thankless, or his pains ill bought. For then, this little glebe, improved with care, Largely supplied, with vegetable fare, 230 The good old man, the wife in childbed laid, And four hale boys, that round the cottage played, Three free-born, one a slave: while, on the board, Huge porringers, with wholesome pottage stored, Smoked for their elder brothers, who were now, 235 Hungry and tired, expected from the plow.-- TWO ACRES will not now, so changed the times, Afford a garden plot:--and hence our crimes! For not a vice that taints the human soul, More frequent points the sword, or drugs the bowl, 240 Than the dire lust of an "untamed estate"-- Since, he who covets wealth, disdains to wait: Law threatens, Conscience calls--yet on he hies, And this he silences, and that defies, Fear, Shame--he bears down all, and, with loose rein, 245 Sweeps headlong o'er the alluring paths of gain! "Let us, my sons, contented with our lot, Enjoy, in peace, our hillock and our cot" (The good old Marsian to his children said), "And from our labor seek our daily bread. 250 So shall we please the rural Powers, whose care, And kindly aid, first taught us to prepare The golden grain, what time we ranged the wood, A savage race, for acorns, savage food! The poor who, with inverted skins, defy 255 The lowering tempest and the freezing sky, Who, without shame, without reluctance go, In clouted brogues, through mire and drifted snow, Ne'er think of ill: 'tis purple, boys, alone, Which leads to guilt--purple, to us unknown." 260 Thus, to their children, spoke the sires of yore. Now, autumn's sickly heats are scarcely o'er, Ere, while deep midnight yet involves the skies, The impatient father shakes his son, and cries, "What, ho, boy, wake! Up; pleas, rejoinders draw, 265 Turn o'er the rubric of our ancient law; Up, up, and study: or, with brief in hand, Petition Lælius for a small command, A captain's!--Lælius loves a spreading chest, Broad shoulders, tangled locks, and hairy breast: 270 The British towers, the Moorish tents destroy, And the rich Eagle, at threescore, enjoy!" "But if the trump, prelusive to the fight, And the long labors of the camp affright, Go, look for merchandise of readiest vent, 275 Which yields a sure return of cent. per cent. Buy this, no matter what; the ware is good, Though not allowed on this side Tiber's flood: Hides, unguents, mark me, boy, are equal things, And gain smells sweet, from whatsoe'er it springs. 280 This golden sentence, which the Powers of heaven, Which Jove himself, might glory to have given, Will never, never, from your thoughts, I trust-- NONE QUESTION WHENCE IT COMES; BUT COME IT MUST." This, when the lisping race a farthing ask, 285 Old women set them, as a previous task; The wondrous apophthegm all run to get, And learn it sooner than their alphabet. But why this haste? Without your care, vain fool! The pupil will, ere long, the tutor school: 290 Sleep, then, in peace; secure to be outdone, Like Telamon, or Peleus, by your son. O, yet indulge awhile his tender years: The seeds of vice, sown by your fostering cares, Have scarce ta'en root; but they will spring at length, 295 "Grow with his growth, and strengthen with his strength." Then, when the firstlings of his youth are paid, And his rough chin requires the razor's aid, Then he will swear, then to the altar come, And sell deep perjuries for a paltry sum!-- 300 Believe your step-daughter already dead, If, with an ample dower, she mount his bed: Lo! scarcely laid, his murderous fingers creep, And close her eyes in everlasting sleep. For that vast wealth which, with long years of pain, 305 You thought would be acquired by land and main, He gets a readier way: the skill's not great, The toil not much, to make a knave complete. But you will say hereafter, "I am free: He never learned those practices of me." 310 Yes, all of you:--for he who, madly blind, Imbues with avarice his children's mind, Fires with the thirst of riches, and applauds The attempt, to double their estate by frauds, Unconscious, flings the headlong wheels the rein, 315 Which he may wish to stop, but wish in vain; Deaf to his voice, with growing speed they roll, Smoke down the steep, and spurn the distant goal! None sin by rule; none heed the charge precise, THUS, AND NO FARTHER, MAY YE STEP IN VICE; 320 But leap the bounds prescribed, and, with free pace, Scour far and wide the interdicted space. So, when you tell the youth, that FOOLS alone Regard a friend's distresses as their own; You bid the willing hearer riches raise, 325 By fraud, by rapine, by the worst of ways; Riches, whose love is on your soul imprest, Deep as their country's on the Decii's breast; Or Thebes on his, who sought an early grave (If Greece say true), her sacred walls to save. 330 Thebes, where, impregned with serpents' teeth, the earth Poured forth a marshaled host, prodigious birth! Horrent with arms, that fought with headlong rage, Nor asked the trumpet's signal, to engage.-- But mark the end! the fire, derived, at first, 335 From a small sparkle, by your folly nurst, Blown to a flame, on all around it preys, And wraps you in the universal blaze. So the young lion rent, with hideous roar, His keeper's trembling limbs, and drank his gore. 340 "Tush! I am safe," you cry; "Chaldæan seers Have raised my Scheme, and promised length of years." But has your son subscribed? will he await The lingering distaff of decrepit Fate? No; his impatience will the work confound, 345 And snap the vital thread, ere half unwound. Even now your long and stag-like age annoys His future hopes, and palls his present joys. Fly then, and bid Archigenes prepare An antidote, if life be worth your care; 350 If you would see another autumn close, And pluck another fig, another rose:-- Take mithridate, rash man, before your meat, A FATHER, you? and without medicine eat! Come, my Fuscinus, come with me, and view 355 A scene more comic than the stage e'er knew. Lo! with what toil, what danger, wealth is sought, And to the fane of watchful Castor brought; Since MARS THE AVENGER slumbered, to his cost, And, with his helmet, all his credit lost! 360 Quit then the plays! the FARCE OF LIFE supplies A scene more comic in the sage's eyes. For who amuses most?--the man who springs, Light, through the hoop, and on the tight-rope swings; Or he, who, to a fragile bark confined, 365 Dwells on the deep, the sport of wave and wind? Fool-hardy wretch! scrambling for every bale Of stinking merchandise, exposed to sale; And proud to Crete, for ropy wine, to rove, And jars, the fellow-citizens of Jove! 370 THAT skips along the rope, with wavering tread, Dangerous dexterity, which brings him bread; THIS ventures life, for wealth too vast to spend, Farm joined to farm, and villas without end! Lo! every harbor thronged and every bay, 375 And half mankind upon the watery way! For, where he hears the attractive voice of gain, The merchant hurries, and defies the main.-- Nor will he only range the Libyan shore, But, passing Calpé, other worlds explore; 380 See Phœbus, sinking in the Atlantic, lave His fiery car, and hear the hissing wave. And all for what? O glorious end! to come, His toils o'erpast, with purse replenished, home, And, with a traveler's privilege, vent his boasts, 385 Of unknown monsters seen on unknown coasts. What varying forms in madness may we trace!-- Safe in his loved Electra's fond embrace, Orestes sees the avenging Furies rise, And flash their bloody torches in his eyes; 390 While Ajax strikes an ox, and, at the blow, Hears Agamemnon or Ulysses low: And surely he (though, haply, he forbear, Like these, his keeper and his clothes to tear) Is just as mad, who to the water's brim 395 Loads his frail bark--a plank 'twixt death and him! When all this risk is but to swell his store With a few coins, a few gold pieces more. Heaven lowers, and frequent, through the muttering air, The nimble lightning glares, or seems to glare: 400 "Weigh! weigh!" the impatient man of traffic cries, "These gathering clouds, this rack that dims the skies, Are but the pageants of a sultry day; A thunder shower, that frowns, and melts away." Deluded wretch! dashed on some dangerous coast, 405 This night, this hour, perhaps, his bark is lost; While he still strives, though whelmed beneath the wave, His darling purse with teeth or hand to save. Thus he, who sighed, of late, for all the gold Down the bright Tagus and Pactolus rolled, 410 Now bounds his wishes to one poor request, A scanty morsel and a tattered vest; And shows, where tears, where supplications fail, A daubing of his melancholy tale! Wealth, by such dangers earned, such anxious pain, 415 Requires more care to keep it, than to gain: Whate'er my miseries, make me not, kind Fate, The sleepless Argus of a vast estate! The slaves of Licinus, a numerous band, Watch through the night, with buckets in their hand, 420 While their rich master trembling lies, afraid Lest fire his ivory, amber, gold, invade, The naked Cynic mocks such restless cares, His earthen tub no conflagration fears; If cracked, to-morrow he procures a new, 425 Or, coarsely soldering, makes the old one do. Even Philip's son, when, in his little cell Content, he saw the mighty master dwell, Owned, with a sigh, that he, who naught desired, Was happier far, than he who worlds required, 430 And whose ambition certain dangers brought, Vast, and unbounded, as the object sought.-- Fortune, advanced to heaven by fools alone, Would lose, were wisdom ours, her shadowy throne. "What call I, then, ENOUGH?" What will afford 435 A decent habit, and a frugal board; What Epicurus' little garden bore, And Socrates sufficient thought, before: These squared by Nature's rules their blameless life-- Nature and Wisdom never are at strife. 440 You think, perhaps, these rigid means too scant, And that I ground philosophy on want; Take then (for I will be indulgent now, And something for the change of times allow), As much as Otho for a knight requires:-- 445 If this, unequal to your wild desires, Contract your brow; enlarge the sum, and take As much as two--as much as three--will make. If yet, in spite of this prodigious store, Your craving bosom yawn, unfilled, for more, 450 Then, all the wealth of Lydia's king, increast By all the treasures of the gorgeous East, Will not content you; no, nor all the gold Of that proud slave, whose mandate Rome controlled, Who swayed the Emperor, and whose fatal word 455 Plunged in the Empress' breast the lingering sword!

Satire XV. To Volusius Bithynicus.

SATIRE XV.

TO VOLUSIUS BITHYNICUS.

Who knows not to what monstrous gods, my friend, The mad inhabitants of Egypt bend?-- The snake-devouring ibis, these enshrine, Those think the crocodile alone divine; Others, where Thebes' vast ruins strew the ground, 5 And shattered Memnon yields a magic sound, Set up a glittering brute of uncouth shape, And bow before the image of an ape! Thousands regard the hound with holy fear, Not one, Diana: and 'tis dangerous here, 10 To violate an onion, or to stain The sanctity of leeks with tooth profane. O holy nations! Sacro-sanct abodes! Where every garden propagates its gods! They spare the fleecy kind, and think it ill, 15 The blood of lambkins, or of kids, to spill: But, human flesh--O! that is lawful fare. And you may eat it without scandal there. When, at the amazed Alcinous' board, of old, Ulysses of so strange an action told, 20 He moved of some the mirth, of more the gall, And, for a lying vagrant, passed with all. "Will no one plunge this babbler in the waves (Worthy a true Charybdis)--while he raves Of monsters seen not since the world began, 25 Cyclops and Læstrigons, who feed on man! For me--I less should doubt of Scylla's train, Of rocks that float and jostle in the main, Of bladders filled with storms, of men, in fine, By magic changed, and driven to grunt with swine, 30 Than of his cannibals:--the fellow feigns, As if he thought Phæacians had no brains." Thus, one, perhaps, more sober than the rest, Observed, and justly, of their traveled guest, Who spoke of prodigies till then unknown; 35 Yet brought no attestation but his own. --I bring my wonders, too; and I can tell, When Junius, late, was consul, what befell, Near Coptus' walls; tell of a people stained With deeper guilt than tragedy e'er feigned: 40 For, sure, no buskined bard, from Pyrrha's time, E'er taxed a whole community with crime; Take then a scene yet to the stage unknown, And, by a nation, acted--IN OUR OWN! Between two neighboring towns a deadly hate, 45 Sprung from a sacred grudge of ancient date, Yet burns; a hate no lenients can assuage, No time subdue, a rooted, rancorous rage! Blind bigotry, at first, the evil wrought: For each despised the other's gods, and thought 50 Its own the true, the genuine, in a word, The only deities to be adored! And now the Ombite festival drew near: When the prime Tent'rites, envious of their cheer, Resolved to seize the occasion, to annoy 55 Their feast, and spoil the sacred week of joy.-- It came: the hour the thoughtless Ombites greet, And crowd the porches, crowd the public street, With tables richly spread; where, night and day, Plunged in the abyss of gluttony, they lay: 60 (For savage as the nome appears, it vies In luxury, if I MAY TRUST MY EYES, With dissolute Canopus:) Six were past, Six days of riot, and the seventh and last Rose on the feast; and now the Tent'rites thought, 65 A cheap, a bloodless victory might be bought, O'er such a helpless crew: nor thought they wrong, Nor could the event be doubtful, where a throng Of drunken revelers, stammering, reeling-ripe, And capering to a sooty minstrel's pipe. 70 Coarse unguents, chaplets, flowers, on this side fight, On that, keen hatred, and deliberate spite! At first both sides, though eager to engage. With taunts and jeers, the heralds of their rage, Blow up their mutual fury; and anon, 75 Kindled to madness, with loud shouts rush on; Deal, though unarmed, their vengeance blindly round, And with clenched fists print many a ghastly wound. Then might you see, amid the desperate fray, Features disfigured, noses torn away, 80 Hands, where the gore of mangled eyes yet reeks, And jaw-bones starting through the cloven cheeks! But this is sport, mere children's play, they cry-- As yet beneath their feet no bodies lie, And, to what purpose should such armies fight 85 The cause of heaven, if none be slain outright? Roused at the thought, more fiercely they engage, With stones, the weapons of intestine rage; Yet not precisely such, to tell you true, As Turnus erst, or mightier Ajax, threw: 90 Nor quite so large as that two-handed stone, Which bruised Æneas on the huckle-bone; But such as men, in our degenerate days, Ah, how unlike to theirs! make shift to raise. Even in his time, Mæonides could trace 95 Some diminution of the human race: Now, earth, grown old and frigid, rears with pain A pigmy brood, a weak and wicked train; Which every god, who marks their passions vile, Regards with laughter, though he loathes the while. 100 But to our tale. Enforced with armed supplies. The zealous Tent'rites feel their courage rise, And wave their swords, and, kindling at the sight, Press on, and with fell rage renew the fight. The Ombites flee; they follow:--in the rear, 105 A luckless wretch, confounded by his fear, Trips and falls headlong; with loud yelling cries, The pack rush in, and seize him as he lies. And now the conquerors, none to disappoint Of the dire banquet, tear him joint by joint, 110 And dole him round; the bones yet warm, they gnaw, And champ the flesh that heaves beneath their jaw. They want no cook to dress it--'twould be long, And appetite is keen, and rage is strong. And here, Volusius, I rejoice at least, 115 That fire was unprofaned by this cursed feast, Fire, rapt from heaven! and you will, sure, agree To greet the element's escape, with me. --But all who ventured on the carcass, swore They never tasted--aught so sweet before! 120 Nor did the relish charm the first alone-- Those who arrived too late for flesh, or bone, Stooped down, and scraping where the wretch had lain, With savage pleasure licked the gory plain! The Vascons once (the story yet is rife), 125 With such dire sustenance prolonged their life; But then the cause was different: Fortune, there, Proved adverse: they had borne the extremes of war, The rage of famine, the still-watchful foe, And all the ills beleaguered cities know. 130 (And nothing else should prompt mankind to use Such desperate means.) May this their crime excuse! For after every root and herb were gone, And every aliment to hunger known; When their lean frames, and cheeks of sallow hue, 135 Struck even the foe with pity at the view, And all were ready their own flesh to tear, They first adventured on this horrid fare. And surely every god would pity grant To men so worn by wretchedness and want, 140 And even the very ghosts of those they ate, Absolve them, mindful of their dreadful state! True, we are wiser; and, by Zeno taught, Know life itself may be too dearly bought; But the poor Vascon, in that early age, 145 Knew naught of Zeno, or the Stoic page.-- Now, thanks to Greece and Rome, in wisdom's robe The bearded tribes rush forth, and seize the globe; Already, learned Gaul aspires to teach Your British orators the Art of Speech, 150 And Thulé, blessings on her, seems to say, She'll hire a good grammarian, cost what may. The Vascons, then, who thus prolonged their breath, And the Saguntines, true, like them, to death, Brave too, like them, but by worse ills subdued, 155 Had some small plea for this abhorred food. Diana first (and let us doubt no more The barbarous rites we disbelieved of yore) Reared her dread altar near the Tauric flood, And asked the sacrifice of human blood: 160 Yet there the victim only lost his life, And feared no cruelty beyond the knife. Far, far more savage Egypt's frantic train, They butcher first, and then devour the slain! But say, what causa impelled them to proceed, 165 What siege, what famine, to this monstrous deed? What could they more, had Nile refused to rise, And the soil gaped with ever-glowing skies, What could they more, the guilty Flood to shame, And heap opprobrium on his hateful name! 170 Lo! what the barbarous hordes of Scythia, Thrace, Gaul, Britain, never dared--dared by a race Of puny dastards, who, with fingers frail, Tug the light oar, and hoist the little sail, In painted pans! What tortures can the mind 175 Suggest for miscreants of this abject kind, Whom spite impelled worse horrors to pursue, Than famine, in its deadliest form, e'er knew! NATURE, who gave us tears, by that alone Proclaims she made the feeling heart our own; 180 And 'tis her noblest boon: This bids us fly, To wipe the drops from sorrowing friendship's eye, Sorrowing ourselves; to wail the prisoner's state, And sympathize in the wronged orphan's fate, Compelled his treacherous guardian to accuse, 185 While many a shower his blooming cheek bedews, And through his scattered tresses, wet with tears, A doubtful face, or boy or girl's, appears. As Nature bids, we sigh, when some bright maid Is, ere her spousals, to the pyre conveyed; 190 Some babe--by fate's inexorable doom, Just shown on earth, and hurried to the tomb. For who, that to the sanctity aspires Which Ceres, for her mystic torch, requires, Feels not another's woes? This marks our birth; 195 The great distinction from the beasts of earth! And therefore--gifted with superior powers, And capable of things divine--'tis ours, To learn, and practice, every useful art; And, from high heaven, deduce that better part, 200 That moral sense, denied to creatures prone, And downward bent, and found with man alone!-- For He, who gave this vast machine to roll, Breathed LIFE in them, in us a REASONING SOUL; That kindred feelings might our state improve, 205 And mutual wants conduct to mutual love; Woo to one spot the scattered hordes of men, From their old forest and paternal den; Raise the fair dome, extend the social line, And, to our mansion, those of others join, 210 Join too our faith, our confidence to theirs, And sleep, relying on the general cares:-- In war, that each to each support might lend, When wounded, succor, and when fallen, defend; At the same trumpet's clangor rush to arms, 215 By the same walls be sheltered from alarms, Near the same tower the foe's incursions wait, And trust their safety to one common gate. --But serpents, now, more links of concord bind: The cruel leopard spares the spotted kind; 220 No lion spills a weaker lion's gore, No boar expires beneath a stronger boar; In leagues of friendship tigers roam the plain, And bears with bears perpetual peace maintain. While man, alas! fleshed in the dreadful trade, 225 Forges without remorse the murderous blade, On that dire anvil, where primæval skill, As yet untaught a brother's blood to spill, Wrought only what meek nature would allow, Goads for the ox, and coulters for the plow! 230 Even this is trifling: we have seen a rage Too fierce for murder only to assuage; Seen a whole state their victim piecemeal tear, And count each quivering limb delicious fare. O, could the Samian Sage these horrors see, 235 What would he say? or to what deserts flee? He, who the flesh of beasts, like man's, declined, And scarce indulged in pulse--of every kind!

Satire XVI. To Gallus.

SATIRE XVI.

TO GALLUS.

Who can recount the advantages that wait, Dear Gallus, on the Military State?-- For let me once, beneath a lucky star, Faint as I am of heart, and new to war, But join the camp, and that ascendant hour 5 Shall lord it o'er my fate with happier power, Than if a line from Venus should commend My suit to Mars, or Juno stand my friend! And first, of benefits which all may share: 'Tis somewhat--that no citizen shall dare 10 To strike you, or, though struck, return the blow: But waive the wrong; nor to the Prætor show His teeth dashed out, his face deformed with gore, And eyes no skill can promise to restore! A Judge, if to the camp your plaints you bear, 15 Coarse shod, and coarser greaved, awaits you there: By antique law proceeds the cassocked sage, And rules prescribed in old Camillus' age; To wit, ~Let soldiers seek no foreign bench,~ ~Nor plead to any charge without the trench~. 20 O nicely do Centurions sift the cause, When buff-and-belt-men violate the laws! And ample, if with reason we complain, Is, doubtless, the redress our injuries gain! Even so:--but the whole legion are our foes, 25 And, with determined aim, the award oppose. "These sniveling rogues take special pleasure still To make the punishment outweigh the ill." So runs the cry; and he must be possest Of more, Vagellius, than thy iron breast, 30 Who braves their anger, and, with ten poor toes, Defies such countless hosts of hobnailed shoes. Who so untutored in the ways of Rome, Say, who so true a Pylades, to come Within the camp?--no; let thy tears be dried, 35 Nor ask that kindness, which must be denied, For, when the Court exclaims, "Your witness, here!" Let that firm friend, that man of men, appear, And testify but what he saw and heard; And I pronounce him worthy of the beard 40 And hair of our forefathers! You may find False witnesses against an honest hind, Easier than true (and who their fears can blame?), Against a soldier's purse, a soldier's fame! But there are other benefits, my friend, 45 And greater, which the sons of war attend: Should a litigious neighbor bid me yield My vale irriguous, and paternal field; Or from my bounds the sacred landmark tear, To which, with each revolving spring, I bear, 50 In pious duty to the grateful soil, My humble offerings, honey, meal, and oil; Or a vile debtor my just claims withstand, Deny his signet, and abjure his hand; Term after Term I wait, till months be past, 55 And scarce obtain a hearing at the last. Even when the hour is fixed, a thousand stays Retard my suit, a thousand vague delays: The cause is called, the witnesses attend, Chairs brought, and cushions laid--and there an end: 60 Cæditius finds his cloak or gown too hot, And Fuscus slips aside to seek the pot; Thus, with our dearest hopes the judges sport, And when we rise to speak, dismiss the Court! But spear-and-shield-men may command the hour; 65 The time to plead is always in their power; Nor are their wealth and patience worn away, By the slow drag-chain of the law's delay. Add that the soldier, while his father lives, And he alone, his wealth bequeaths or gives; 70 For what by pay is earned, by plunder won, The law declares, vests solely in the son. Coranus therefore sees his hoary sire, To gain his Will, by every art, aspire!-- He rose by service; rank in fields obtained, 75 And well deserved the fortune which he gained. And every prudent chief must, sure, desire, That still the worthiest should the most acquire; That those who merit, their rewards should have, Trappings, and chains, and all that decks the brave. 80

PERSIUS.

PROLOGUE.

'Twas never yet my luck, I ween, To drench my lips in Hippocrene; Nor, if I recollect aright, On the forked Hill to sleep a night, That I, like others of the trade, 5 Might wake--a poet ready made! Thee, Helicon, with all the Nine, And pale Pyrene, I resign, Unenvied, to the tuneful race, Whose busts (of many a fane the grace) 10 Sequacious ivy climbs, and spreads Unfading verdure round their heads. Enough for me, too mean for praise, To bear my rude, uncultured lays To Phœbus and the Muses' shrine, 15 And place them near their gifts divine. Who bade the parrot χαῖρε cry; And forced our language on the pie? The BELLY: Master, he, of Arts, Bestower of ingenious parts; 20 Powerful the creatures to endue With sounds their natures never knew! For, let the wily hand unfold The glittering bait of tempting gold, And straight the choir of daws and pies, 25 To such poetic heights shall rise, That, lost in wonder, you will swear Apollo and the Nine are there!

Satire I.

Alas, for man! how vain are all his cares! And oh! what bubbles, his most grave affairs! Tush! who will read such trite--Heavens! this to me? Not one, by Jove. Not one? Well, two, or three; Or rather--none: a piteous case, in truth! 5 Why piteous? lest Polydamas, forsooth, And Troy's proud dames, pronounce my merits fall Beneath their Labeo's! I can bear it all. Nor should my friend, though still, as fashion sways, The purblind town conspire to sink or raise, 10 Determine, as her wavering beam prevails, And trust his judgment to her coarser scales. O not abroad for vague opinion roam; The wise man's bosom is his proper home: And Rome is--What? Ah, might the truth be told!-- 15 And, sure it may, it must.--When I behold What fond pursuits have formed our prime employ, Since first we dropped the playthings of the boy, To gray maturity, to this late hour, When every brow frowns with censorial power, 20 Then, then--O yet suppress this carping mood. Impossible! I could not if I would; For nature framed me of satiric mould, And spleen, too petulant to be controlled. Immured within our studies, we compose; 25 Some, shackled metre; some, free-footed prose; But all, bombast; stuff, which the breast may strain, And the huge lungs puff forth with awkward pain. 'Tis done! and now the bard, elate and proud, Prepares a grand rehearsal for the crowd. 30 Lo! he steps forth in birthday splendor bright, Combed and perfumed, and robed in dazzling white; And mounts the desk; his pliant throat he clears, And deals, insidious, round his wanton leers; While Rome's first nobles, by the prelude wrought, 35 Watch, with indecent glee, each prurient thought, And squeal with rapture, as the luscious line Thrills through the marrow, and inflames the chine. Vile dotard! Canst thou thus consent to please! To pander for such itching fools as these! 40 Fools--whose applause must shoot beyond thy aim, And tinge thy cheek, bronzed as it is, with shame! But wherefore have I learned, if, thus represt, The leaven still must swell within my breast? If the wild fig-tree, deeply rooted there, 45 Must never burst its bounds, and shoot in air? Are these the fruits of study! these of age! O times, O manners--Thou misjudging sage, Is science only useful as 'tis shown, And is thy knowledge nothing, if not known? 50 "But, sure, 'tis pleasant, as we walk, to see The pointed finger, hear the loud That's he, On every side:--and seems it, in your sight, So poor a trifle, that whate'er we write Is introduced to every school of note, 55 And taught the youth of quality by rote? --Nay, more! Our nobles, gorged, and swilled with wine, Call, o'er the banquet, for a lay divine. Here one, on whom the princely purple glows, Snuffles some musty legend through his nose; 60 Slowly distills Hypsipyle's sad fate, And love-lorn Phillis, dying for her mate, With what of woeful else is said or sung; And trips up every word, with lisping tongue. The maudlin audience, from the couches round, 65 Hum their assent, responsive to the sound.-- And are not now the poet's ashes blest! Now lies the turf not lightly on his breast! They pause a moment--and again, the room Rings with his praise: now will not roses bloom, 70 Now, from his relics, will not violets spring, And o'er his hallowed urn their fragrance fling! "You laugh ('tis answered), and too freely here Indulge that vile propensity to sneer. Lives there, who would not at applause rejoice, 75 And merit, if he could, the public voice? Who would not leave posterity such rhymes, As cedar oil might keep to latest times; Rhymes, which should fear no desperate grocer's hand, Nor fly with fish and spices through the land! 80 Thou, my kind monitor, whoe'er thou art, Whom I suppose to play the opponent's part, Know--when I write, if chance some happier strain (And chance it needs must be) rewards my pain, Know, I can relish praise with genuine zest; 85 Not mine the torpid, mine the unfeeling breast: But that I merely toil for this acclaim, And make these eulogies my end and aim, I must not, can not grant: for--sift them all, Mark well their value, and on what they fall: 90 Are they not showered (to pass these trifles o'er) On Labeo's Iliad, drunk with hellebore? On princely love-lays driveled without thought, And the crude trash on citron couches wrought? You spread the table--'tis a master-stroke, 95 And give the shivering guest a threadbare cloak, Then, while his heart with gratitude dilates At the glad vest and the delicious cates, Tell me, you cry--for truth is my delight, What says the Town of me, and what I write? 100 He can not:--he has neither ears nor eyes. But shall I tell you, who your bribes despise? --Bald trifler! cease at once your thriftless trade; That mountain paunch for verse was never made. O Janus, happiest of thy happy kind!-- 105 No waggish stork can peck at thee behind: No tongue thrust forth, expose to passing jeers; No twinkling fingers, perked like ass's ears, Point to the vulgar mirth:--but you, ye Great, To a blind occiput condemned by fate, 110 Prevent, while yet you may, the rabble's glee, And tremble at the scoff you can not see!-- "What says the Town"--precisely what it ought: All you produce, sir, with such skill is wrought, That o'er the polished surface, far and wide, 115 The critic nail without a jar must glide; Since every verse is drawn as straight and fine As if one eye had fixed the ruddled line. --Whate'er the subject of his varied rhymes, The humors, passions, vices of the times; 120 The pomp of nobles, barbarous pride of kings, All, all is great, and all inspired he sings! Lo! striplings, scarcely from the ferule freed, And smarting yet from Greek, with headlong speed Rush on heroics; though devoid of skill 125 To paint the rustling grove, or purling rill; Or praise the country, robed in cheerful green, Where hogs, and hearths, and osier frails are seen, And happy hinds, who leap o'er smouldering hay, In honor, Pales, of thy sacred day. 130 --Scenes of delight!--there Remus lived, and there, In grassy furrows Quinctius tired his share; Quinctius, on whom his wife, with trembling haste, The dictatorial robes, exulting, placed, Before his team; while homeward, with his plow, 135 The lictors hurried--Good! a Homer, thou! There are, who hunt out antiquated lore; And never, but on musty authors, pore; These, Accius' jagged and knotty lines engage, And those, Pacuvius' hard and horny page; 140 Where, in quaint tropes, Antiopa is seen To--prop her dolorific heart with teen! O, when you mark the sire, to judgment blind, Commend such models to the infant mind, Forbear to wonder whence this olio sprung, 145 This sputtering jargon which infests our tongue; This scandal of the times, which shocks my ear, And which our knights bound from their seats to hear! How monstrous seems it, that we can not plead, When called to answer for some felon deed, 150 Nor danger from the trembling head repel, Without a wish for--Bravo! Vastly well! This Pedius is a thief, the accusers cry. You hear them, Pedius; now, for your reply? In terse antitheses he weighs the crime, 155 Equals the pause, and balances the chime; And with such skill his flowery tropes employs, That the rapt audience scarce contain their joys. O charming! charming! he must sure prevail. THIS, charming! Can a Roman wag the tail? 160 Were the wrecked mariner to chant his woe, Should I or sympathy or alms bestow? Sing you, when, in that tablet on your breast, I see your story to the life exprest; A shattered bark, dashed madly on the shore, 165 And you, scarce floating, on a broken oar!-- No, he must feel that would my pity share, And drop a natural, not a studied tear. But yet our numbers boast a grace unknown To our rough sires, a smoothness all our own. 170 True: the spruce metre in sweet cadence flows, And answering sounds a tuneful chime compose: Blue Nereus here, the Dolphin swift divides; And Idè there, sees Attin climb her sides: Nor this alone--for, in some happier line, 175 We win the chine of the long Apennine! Arms and the man--Here, too, perhaps, you find A pithless branch beneath a fungous rind? Not so;--a seasoned trunk of many a day, Whose gross and watery parts are drawn away. 180 But what, in fine (for still you jeer me), call For the moist eye, bowed head, and lengthened drawl, What strains of genuine pathos?--O'er the hill The dismal slug-horn sounded, loud and shrill, A Mimallonian blast: fired at the sound, 185 In maddening groups the Bacchants pour around, Mangle the haughty calf with gory hands, And scourge the indocile lynx with ivy wands; While Echo lengthens out the barbarous yell, And propagates the din from cell to cell! 190 O were not every spark of manly sense, Of pristine vigor quenched, or banished hence, Could this be borne! this cuckoo-spit of Rome, Which gathers round the lips in froth and foam! --The haughty calf, and Attin's jangling strain, 195 Dropped, without effort, from the rheumy brain; No savor they of bleeding nails afford, Or desk, oft smitten for the happy word. But why must you, alone, displeased appear, And with harsh truths thus grate the tender ear? 200 O yet beware! think of the closing gate! And dread the cold reception of the great: This currish humor you extend too far, While every word growls with that hateful gnar! Right! From this hour (for now my fault I see) 205 All shall be charming--charming all, for me: What late seemed base, already looks divine, And wonders start to view in every line! Tis well, you cry: this spot let none defile, Or turn to purposes obscene and vile. 210 Paint, then, two snakes entwined; and write around, URINE NOT, CHILDREN, HERE; 'TIS HOLY GROUND. Awed, I retire: and yet--when vice appeared, Lucilius o'er the town his falchion reared; On Lupus, Mutius, poured his rage by name, 215 And broke his grinders on their bleeding fame. And yet--arch Horace, while he strove to mend, Probed all the foibles of his smiling friend; Played lightly round and round the peccant part, And won, unfelt, an entrance to his heart. 220 Well skilled the follies of the crowd to trace, And sneer, with gay good humor in his face. And I!--I must not mutter? No; nor dare-- Not to myself? No. To a ditch? Nowhere. Yes, here I'll dig--here, to sure trust confide 225 The secret which I would, but can not, hide. My darling book, a word;--"King Midas wears (These eyes beheld them, these!) such ass's ears!"-- This quip of mine, which none must hear, or know, This fond conceit, which takes my fancy so, 230 This nothing, if you will; you should not buy With all those Iliads that you prize so high. But thou, whom Eupolis' impassioned page, Hostile to vice, inflames with kindred rage, Whom bold Cratinus, and that awful sire, 235 Force, as thou readest, to tremble and admire; O, view my humbler labors:--there, if aught More highly finished, more maturely wrought, Detain thy ear, and give thy breast to glow With warmth, responsive to the inspiring flow-- 240 I seek no farther:--Far from me the rest, Yes, far the wretch, who, with a low-born jest, Can mock the blind for blindness, and pursue With vulgar ribaldry the Grecian shoe: Bursting with self-conceit, with pride elate, 245 Because, forsooth, in magisterial state, His worship (ædile of some paltry town) Broke scanty weights, and put false measures down. Far too be he--the monstrous witty fool, Who turns the numeral scale to ridicule; 250 Derides the problems traced in dust or sand, And treads out all Geometry has planned-- Who roars outright to see Nonaria seize, And tug the cynic's beard--To such as these I recommend, at morn, the Prætor's bill, 255 At eve, Calirrhoë, or--what they will.

SATIRE II.

TO PLOTIUS MACRINUS (ON HIS BIRTHDAY).

Health to my friend! and while my vows I pay, O mark, Macrinus, this auspicious day, Which, to your sum of years already flown, Adds yet another--with a whiter stone. Indulge your Genius, drench in wine your cares:-- 5 It is not yours, with mercenary prayers To ask of Heaven what you would die with shame, Unless you drew the gods aside, to name; While other great ones stand, with down-cast eyes, And with a silent censer tempt the skies!-- 10 Hard, hard the task, from the low, muttered prayer, To free the fanes; or find one suppliant there, Who dares to ask but what his state requires, And live to heaven and earth with known desires! Sound sense, integrity, a conscience clear, 15 Are begged aloud, that all at hand may hear: But prayers like these (half whispered, half supprest) The tongue scarce hazards from the conscious breast: O that I could my rich old uncle see, In funeral pomp!--O that some deity 20 To pots of buried gold would guide my share! O that my ward, whom I succeed as heir, Were once at rest! poor child, he lives in pain, And death to him must be accounted gain.-- By wedlock, thrice has Nerius swelled his store, 25 And now--is he a widower once more! These blessings, with due sanctity, to crave, Once, twice, and thrice in Tiber's eddying wave He dips each morn, and bids the stream convey The gathered evils of the night, away! 30 One question, friend:--an easy one, in fine-- What are thy thoughts of Jove? My thoughts! Yes; thine. Wouldst thou prefer him to the herd of Rome? To any individual?--But, to whom? To Staius, for example. Heavens! a pause? 35 Which of the two would best dispense the laws? Best shield the unfriended orphan? Good! Now move The suit to Staius, late preferred to Jove:-- "O Jove! good Jove!" he cries, o'erwhelmed with shame, And must not Jove himself, O Jove! exclaim? 40 Or dost thou think the impious wish forgiven, Because, when thunder shakes the vault of heaven, The bolt innoxious flies o'er thee and thine, To rend the forest oak and mountain pine? --Because, yet livid from the lightning's seath, 45 Thy mouldering corpse (a monument of wrath) Lies in no blasted grove, for public care To expiate with sacrifice and prayer; Must, therefore, Jove, unsceptred and unfeared, Give to thy ruder mirth his foolish beard? 50 What bribe hast thou to win the Powers divine, Thus, to thy nod? The lungs and lights of swine. Lo! from his little crib, the grandam hoar, Or aunt, well versed in superstitious lore, Snatches the babe; in lustral spittle dips 55 Her middle finger, and anoints his lips And forehead:--"Charms of potency," she cries, "To break the influence of evil eyes!" The spell complete, she dandles high in air Her starveling hope; and breathes a humble prayer, 60 That heaven would only tender to his hands All Crassus' houses, all Licinius' lands!-- "Let every gazer by his charms be won, And kings and queens aspire to call him son: Contending virgins fly his smiles to meet, 65 And roses spring where'er he sets his feet!" Insane of soul--but I, O Jove, am free. Thou knowest, I trust no nurse with prayers for me: In mercy, then, reject each fond demand, Though, robed in white, she at thy altar stand. 70 This begs for nerves to pain and sickness steeled, A frame of body that shall slowly yield To late old age:--'Tis well, enjoy thy wish.-- But the huge platter, and high-seasoned dish, Day after day the willing gods withstand, 75 And dash the blessing from their opening hand. That sues for wealth: the laboring ox is slain, And frequent victims woo the "god of gain." "O crown my hearth with plenty and with peace, And give my flocks and herds a large increase!" 80 Madman! how can he, when, from day to day, Steer after steer in offerings melt away?-- Still he persists; and still new hopes arise, With harslet and with tripe, to storm the skies. "Now swell my harvests! now my fields! now, now, 85 It comes--it comes--auspicious to my vow!" While thus, poor wretch, he hangs 'twixt hope and fear, He starts, in dreadful certainty, to hear His chest reverberate the hollow groan Of his last piece, to find itself alone? 90 If from my sideboard I should bid you take Goblets of gold or silver, you would shake With eager rapture; drops of joy would start, And your left breast scarce hold your fluttering heart: Hence, you presume the gods are bought and sold; 95 And overlay their busts with captured gold. For, of the brazen brotherhood, the Power Who sends you dreams, at morning's truer hour, Most purged from phlegm, enjoys your best regards, And a gold beard his prescient skill rewards! 100 Now, from the temples, GOLD has chased the plain And frugal ware of Numa's pious reign;. The ritual pots of brass are seen no more, And Vesta's pitchers blaze in burnished ore. O groveling souls! and void of things divine! 105 Why bring our passions to the Immortals' shrine, And judge, from what this CARNAL SENSE delights, Of what is pleasing in their purer sights? THIS, the Calabrian fleece with purple soils, And mingles cassia with our native oils; 110 Tears from the rocky conch its pearly store, And strains the metal from the glowing ore. This, this, indeed, is vicious; yet it tends To gladden life, perhaps; and boasts its ends; But you, ye priests (for, sure, ye can), unfold-- 115 In heavenly things, what boots this pomp of gold? No more, in truth, than dolls to Venus paid (The toys of childhood), by the riper maid! No; let me bring the Immortals, what the race Of great Messala, now depraved and base, 120 On their huge charger, can not;--bring a mind, Where legal and where moral sense are joined With the pure essence; holy thoughts, that dwell In the soul's most retired and sacred cell; A bosom dyed in honor's noblest grain, 125 Deep-dyed:--with these let me approach the fane, And Heaven will hear the humble prayer I make, Though all my offering be a barley cake.

SATIRE III.

What! ever thus? See! while the beams of day In broad effulgence o'er the shutters play, Stream through the crevice, widen on the walls, On the fifth line the gnomon's shadow falls! Yet still you sleep, like one that, stretched supine, 5 Snores off the fumes of strong Falernian wine. Up! up! mad Sirius parches every blade, And flocks and herds lie panting in the shade. Here my youth rouses, rubs his heavy eyes, "Is it so late? so very late?" he cries; 10 "Shame, shame! Who waits? Who waits there? quick, my page! Why, when!" His bile overflows; he foams with rage, And brays so loudly, that you start in fear, And fancy all Arcadia at your ear. Behold him, with his bedgown and his books, 15 His pens and paper, and his studious looks, Intent and earnest! What arrests his speed, Alas! the viscous liquid clogs the reed. Dilute it. Pish! now every word I write Sinks through the paper, and eludes the sight; 20 Now the pen leaves no mark, the point's too fine; Now 'tis too blunt, and doubles every line! O wretch! whom every day more wretched sees-- Are these the fruits of all your studies? these! Give o'er at once: and like same callow dove, 25 Some prince's heir, some lady's infant love, Call for chewed pap; and, pouting at the breast, Scream at the lullaby that woos to rest! "But why such warmth? See what a pen! nay, see!"-- And is this subterfuge employed on me? 30 Fond boy! your time, with your pretext, is lost; And all your arts are at your proper cost. While with occasion thus you madly play, Your best of life unheeded leaks away, And scorn flows in apace: the ill-baked ware, 35 Rung by the potter, will its fault declare; Thus--But you yet are moist and yielding clay: Call for some plastic hand without delay, Nor cease the labor, till the wheel produce A vessel nicely formed, and fit for use. 40 "But wherefore this? My father, thanks to fate, Left me a fair, if not a large, estate:-- A salt unsullied on my table shines, And due oblations, in their little shrines, My household gods receive; my hearth is pure, 45 And all my means of life confirmed and sure: What need I more?" Nay, nothing; it is well. --And it becomes you, too, with pride to swell, Because, the thousandth in descent, you trace Your blood, unmixed, from some high Tuscan race; 50 Or, when the knights march by the censor's chair, In annual pomp, can greet a kinsman there! Away! these trappings to the rabble show: Me they deceive not; for your soul I know, Within, without.--And blush you not to see 55 Loose Natta's life and yours so well agree? --But Natta's is not life: the sleep of sin Has seized his powers, and palsied all within; Huge cawls of fat envelope every part, And torpor weighs on his insensate heart: 60 Absolved from blame by ignorance so gross, He neither sees nor comprehends his loss; Content in guilt's profound abyss to drop, Nor, struggling, send one bubble to the top! Dread sire of gods! when lust's envenomed stings 65 Stir the fierce natures of tyrannic kings; When storms of rage within their bosoms roll, And call, in thunder, for thy just control, O, then relax the bolt, suspend the blow, And thus, and thus alone, thy vengeance show, 70 In all her charms, set Virtue in their eye, And let them see their loss, despair, and--die! Say, could the wretch severer tortures feel, Closed in the brazen bull?--Could the bright steel, That, while the board with regal pomp was spread, 75 Gleamed o'er the guest, suspended by a thread, Worse pangs inflict than he endures, who cries (As on the rack of conscious guilt he lies, In mental agony), "Alas! I fall, Down, down the unfathomed steep, without recall!" 80 And withers at the heart, and dares not show His bosom wife the secret of his woe! Oft (I remember yet), my sight to spoil. Oft, when a boy, I bleared my eyes with oil, What time I wished my studies to decline, 85 Nor make great Cato's dying speeches mine; Speeches my master to the skies had raised, Poor pedagogue! unknowing what he praised; And which my sire, suspense 'twixt hope and fear, With venial pride, had brought his friends to hear. 90 For then, alas! 'twas my supreme delight To study chances, and compute aright, What sum the lucky sice would yield in play, And what the fatal aces sweep away: Anxious no rival candidate for fame 95 Should hit the long-necked jar with nicer aim; Nor, while the whirling top beguiled the eye, With happier skill the sounding scourge apply. But you have passed the schools; have studied long, And learned the eternal bounds of Right and Wrong, 100 And what the Porch (by Mycon limned, of yore, With trowsered Medes), unfolds of ethic lore, Where the shorn youth, on herbs and pottage fed, Bend, o'er the midnight page, the sleepless head: And, sure, the letter where, divergent wide, 105 The Samian branches shoot on either side, Has to your view, with no obscure display, Marked, on the right, the strait but better way. And yet you slumber still! and still opprest With last night's revels, knock your head and breast! 110 And stretching o'er your drowsy couch, produce Yawn after yawn, as if your jaws were loose! Is there no certain mark at which to aim?-- Still must your bow be bent at casual game? With clods, and potsherds, must you still pursue 115 Each wandering crow that chance presents to view; And, careless of your life's contracted span, Live from the moment, and without a plan? When bloated dropsies every limb invade. In vain to hellebore you fly for aid: 120 Meet with preventive skill the young disease, And Craterus will boast no golden fees. Mount, hapless youths, on Contemplation's wings, And mark the Causes and the End of things:-- Learn what we are, and for what purpose born, 125 What station here 'tis given us to adorn; How best to blend security with ease, And win our way through life's tempestuous seas; What bounds the love of property requires, And what to wish, with unreproved desires; 130 How far the genuine use of wealth extends; And the just claims of country, kindred, friends What Heaven would have us be, and where our stand, In this GREAT WHOLE, is fixed by high command. Learn these--and envy not the sordid gains 135 Which recompense the well-tongued lawyer's pains; Though Umbrian rustics, for his sage advice, Pour in their jars of fish, and oil, and spice, So thick and fast, that, ere the first be o'er, A second, and a third, are at the door. 140 "But here, some brother of the blade, some coarse And shag-haired captain, bellows loud and hoarse; Away with this cramp, philosophic stuff! My learning serves my turn, and that's enough. I laugh at all your dismal Solons, I; 145 Who stalk with downcast looks, and heads awry, Muttering within themselves, where'er they roam, And churning their mad silence till it foam! Who mope o'er sick men's dreams, howe'er absurd, And on protruded lips poise every word; 150 Nothing can come from nothing. Apt and plain! Nothing return to nothing. Good, again! And this it is for which they peak and pine, This precious stuff, for which they never dine!" Jove, how he laughs! the brawny youths around 155 Catch the contagion, and return the sound; Convulsive mirth on every cheek appears, And every nose is wrinkled into sneers! "Doctor, a patient said, employ your art, I feel a strange wild fluttering at the heart; 160 My breast seems tightened, and a fetid smell sets my breath--feel here; all is not well," Medicine and rest the fever's rage compose, And the third day his blood more calmly flows. The fourth, unable to contain, he sends 165 A hasty message to his wealthier friends, And just about to bathe--requests, in fine, A moderate flask of old Surrentin wine. "Good heavens! my friend, what sallow looks are here?" Pshaw! nonsense! nothing! "Yet 'tis worth your fear, 170 Whate'er it be: the waters rise within, And, though unfelt, distend your sickly skin." --And yours still more! Whence springs this freedom, tro'? Are you, forsooth, my guardian? Long ago I buried him; and thought my nonage o'er: 175 But you remain to school me! "Sir, no more."-- Now to the bath, full gorged with luscious fare, See the pale wretch his bloated carcass bear; While from his lungs, that faintly play by fits, His gasping throat sulphureous steam emits!-- 180 Cold shiverings seize him, as for wine he calls, His grasp betrays him, and the goblet falls! From his loose teeth the lip, convulsed, withdraws, And the rich cates drop through his listless jaws. Then trumpets, torches come, in solemn state; 185 And my fine youth, so confident of late, Stretched on a splendid bier, and essenced o'er, Lies, a stiff corpse, heels foremost at the door. Romans of yesterday, with covered head, Shoulder him to the pyre, and--all is said!-- 190 "But why to me? Examine every part; My pulse:--and lay your finger on my heart; You'll find no fever: touch my hands and feet, A natural warmth, and nothing more, you'll meet." 'Tis well! But if you light on gold by chance, 195 If a fair neighbor cast a sidelong glance, Still will that pulse with equal calmness flow, And still that heart no fiercer throbbings know? Try yet again. In a brown dish behold, Coarse gritty bread, and coleworts stale and old: 200 Now, prove your taste. Why those averted eyes? Hah! I perceive:--a secret ulcer lies Within that pampered mouth, too sore to bear The untender grating of plebeian fare! Where dwells this natural warmth, when danger's near, 205 And "each particular hair" starts up with fear? Or where resides it, when vindictive ire Inflames the bosom; when the veins run fire, The reddening eye-balls glare; and all you say, And all you do, a mind so warped betray, 210 That mad Orestes, if the freaks he saw, Would give you up at once to chains and straw!

SATIRE IV.

What! you, my Alcibiades, aspire To sway the state!--(Suppose that bearded sire, Whom hemlock from a guilty world removed, Thus to address the stripling that he loved.) On what apt talents for a charge so high, 5 Ward of great Pericles, do you rely? Forecast on others by gray hairs conferred, Haply, with you, anticipates the beard! And prompts you, prescient of the public weal, Now to disclose your thoughts, and now conceal! 10 Hence, when the rabble form some daring plan, And factious murmurs spread from man to man, Mute and attentive you can bid them stand, By the majestic wafture of your hand! Lo! all is hushed: what now, what will he speak, 15 What floods of sense from his charged bosom break! "Romans! I think--I fear--I think, I say, This is not well:--perhaps, the better way."-- O power of eloquence! But you, forsooth, In the nice, trembling scale can poise the truth, 20 With even hand; can with intentive view, Amid deflecting curves, the right pursue; Or, where the rule deceives the vulgar eye With its warped foot, the unerring line apply: And, while your sentence strikes with doom precise, 25 Stamp the black Theta on the front of vice! Rash youth! relying on a specious skin, While all is dark deformity within, Check the fond thought; nor, like the peacock proud, Spread your gay plumage to the applauding crowd, 30 Before your hour arrive:--Ah, rather drain Whole isles of hellebore, to cool your brain! For, what is YOUR chief good? "To heap my board With every dainty earth and sea afford; To bathe, and bask me in the sunny ray, 35 And doze the careless hours of life away." Hold, hold! you tattered beldame, hobbling by, If haply asked, would make the same reply. "But I am nobly born." Agreed. "And fair." 'Tis granted too: yet goody Baucis there, 40 Who, to the looser slaves, her pot-herbs cries, Is just as philosophic, just as wise.-- How few, alas! their proper faults explore! While, on his loaded back, who walks before, Each eye is fixed.--You touch a stranger's arm, 45 And ask him if he knows Vectidius' farm? "Whose," he replies? That rich old chuff's, whose ground Would tire a hawk to wheel it fairly round. "O ho! that wretch, on whose devoted head Ill stars and angry gods their rage have shed! 50 Who on high festivals, when all is glee, And the loose yoke hangs on the cross-way tree, As, from the jar, he scrapes the incrusted clay, Groans o'er the revels of so dear a day; Champs on a coated onion dipt in brine; 55 And while his hungry hinds exulting dine On barley broth, sucks up, with thrifty care, The mothery dregs of his palled vinegar!" But, if "YOU bask you in the sunny ray, And doze the careless hours of youth away," 60 There are, who at such gross delights will spurn, And spit their venom on your life in turn; Expose, with eager hate, your low desires, Your secret passions, and unhallowed fires.-- "Why, while the beard is nursed with every art, 65 Those anxious pains to bare the shameful part? In vain:--should five athletic knaves essay To pluck, with ceaseless care, the weeds away, Still the rank fern, congenial to the soil, Would spread luxuriant, and defeat their toil!" 70 Misled by rage, our bodies we expose, And while we give, forget to ward, the blows; This, this is life! and thus our faults are shown, By mutual spleen: we know--and we are known! But your defects elude inquiring eyes!-- 75 Beneath the groin the ulcerous evil lies, Impervious to the view; and o'er the wound The broad effulgence of the zone is bound! But can you, thus, the inward pang restrain, Thus cheat the sense of languor and of pain? 80 "But if the people call me wise and just, Sure I may take the general voice on trust!"-- No:--If you tremble at the sight of gold; Indulge lust's wildest sallies uncontrolled; Or, bent on outrage, at the midnight hour, 85 Girt with a ruffian band, the Forum scour; Then, wretch! in vain the voice of praise you hear, And drink the vulgar shout with greedy ear. Hence, with your spurious claims! Rejudge your cause And fling the rabble back their vile applause; 90 To your own breast, in quest of worth, repair, And blush to find how poor a stock is there!

SATIRE V.

TO ANNÆUS CORNUTUS.

PERSIUS. Poets are wont a hundred mouths to ask, A hundred tongues--whate'er the purposed task; Whether a tragic tale of Pelops' line For the sad actor, with deep mouth, to whine; Or Epic lay;--the Parthian winged with fear, 5 And wrenching from his groin the Roman spear. CORNUTUS. Heavens! to what purpose (sure I heard thee wrong), Tend those huge gobbets of robustious song, Which, struggling into day, distend thy lungs, And need a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues? 10 Let fustian bards to Helicon repair, And suck the spongy fogs that hover there, Bards, in whose fervid brains, while sense recoils, The pot of Progne, or Thyestes boils, Dull Glyco's feast!--But what canst thou propose? 15 Puffed by thy heaving lungs no metal glows; Nor dost thou, mumbling o'er some close-spent strain, Croak the grave nothings of an idle brain; Nor swell, until thy cheeks, with thundering sound, Displode, and spurt their airy froth around. 20 Confined to common life, thy numbers flow, And neither soar too high, nor sink too low; There strength and ease in graceful union meet, Though polished, subtle, and though poignant, sweet; Yet powerful to abash the front of crime, 25 And crimson error's cheek with sportive rhyme. O still be this thy study, this thy care: Leave to Mycenæ's prince his horrid fare, His head and feet; and seek, with Roman taste, For Roman food--a plain but pure repast. 30 PERSIUS. Mistake me not. Far other thoughts engage My mind, Cornutus, than to swell my page With air-blown trifles, impotent and vain, And grace, with noisy pomp, an empty strain. Oh, no: the world shut out, 'tis my design, 35 To open (prompted by the inspiring Nine) The close recesses of my breast, and bare To your keen eye each thought, each feeling, there; Yes, best of friends! 'tis now my wish to prove How much you fill my heart, engross my love. 40 Ring then--for, to your practiced ear, the sound Will show the solid, and where guile is found Beneath the varnished tongue: for THIS, in fine, I dared to wish a hundred voices mine; Proud to declare, in language void of art, 45 How deep your form is rooted in my heart, And paint, in words--ah! could they paint the whole-- The ineffable sensations of my soul. When first I laid the purple by, and free, Yet trembling at my new-felt liberty, 50 Approached the hearth, and on the Lares hung The bulla, from my willing neck unstrung; When gay associates, sporting at my side. And the white boss, displayed with conscious pride, Gave me, unchecked, the haunts of vice to trace, 55 And throw my wandering eyes on every face, When life's perplexing maze before me lay, And error, heedless of the better way, To straggling paths, far from the route of truth, Woo'd, with blind confidence, my timorous youth, 60 I fled to you, Cornutus, pleased to rest My hopes and fears on your Socratic breast, Nor did you, gentle Sage, the charge decline: Then, dextrous to beguile, your steady line Reclaimed, I know not by what winning force, 65 My morals, warped from virtue's straighter course; While reason pressed incumbent on my soul, That struggled to receive the strong control, And took like wax, tempered by plastic skill; The form your hand imposed; and bears it still! 70 Can I forget how many a summer's day, Spent in your converse, stole, unmarked, away? Or how, while listening with increased delight, I snatched from feasts the earlier hours of night? --One time (for to your bosom still I grew), 75 One time of study, and of rest, we knew; One frugal board where, every care resigned, An hour of blameless mirth relaxed the mind. And sure our lives, which thus accordant move (Indulge me here, Cornutus), clearly prove 80 That both are subject to the self-same law, And from one horoscope their fortunes draw; And whether Destiny's unerring doom In equal Libra poised our days to come; Or friendship's holy hour our fates combined, 85 And to the Twins a sacred charge assigned; Or Jove, benignant, broke the gloomy spell By angry Saturn wove;--I know not well-- But sure some star there is, whose bland control Subdues, to yours, the temper of my soul! 90 Countless the various species of mankind, Countless the shades which separate mind from mind; No general object of desire is known; Each has his will, and each pursues his own; With Latian wares, one roams the Eastern main, 95 To purchase spice, and cummin's blanching grain; Another, gorged with dainties, swilled with wine, Fattens in sloth, and snores out life, supine; This loves the Campus; that, destructive play; And those, in wanton dalliance melt away:-- 100 But when the knotty gout their strength has broke, And their dry joints crack like some withered oak, Then they look back, confounded and aghast, On the gross days in fogs and vapors past; With late regret the waste of life deplore, 105 No purpose gained, and time, alas! no more. But you, my friend, whom nobler views delight, To pallid vigils give the studious night; Cleanse youthful breasts from every noxious weed, And sow the tilth with Cleanthean seed. 110 There seek, ye young, ye old, secure to find That certain end which stays the wavering mind; Stores, which endure, when other means decay, Through life's last stage, a sad and cheerless way. "Right; and to-morrow this shall be our care." 115 Alas! to-morrow, like to-day, will fare. "What! is one day, forsooth, so great a boon?" But when it comes (and come it will too soon), Reflect, that yesterday's to-morrow's o'er.-- Thus "one to-morrow! one to-morrow! more," 120 Have seen long years before them fade away; And still appear no nearer than to-day! So while the wheels on different axles roll, In vain (though governed by the self-same pole) The hindmost to o'ertake the foremost tries: 125 Fast as the one pursues the other flies! FREEDOM, in truth, it steads us much to have: Not that by which each manumitted slave, Each Publius, with his tally, may obtain A casual dole of coarse and damaged grain. 130 --O souls! involved in Error's thickest shade, Who think a Roman with one turn is made! Look on this paltry groom, this Dama here, Who at three farthings would be prized too dear; This blear-eyed scoundrel, who your husks would steal, 135 And outface truth to hide the starving meal; Yet--let his master twirl this knave about, And MARCUS DAMA in a trice steps out! Amazing! MARCUS surety?--yet distrust! MARCUS your judge?--yet fear a doom unjust! 140 MARCUS avouch it?--then the fact is clear. The writings!--set your hand, good MARCUS, here." This is mere liberty--a name, alone: Yet this is all the cap can make our own. "Sure, there's no other. All mankind agree 145 That those who live without control are free: I live without control; and therefore hold Myself more free than Brutus was of old." Absurdly put; a Stoic cries, whose ear, Rinsed with sharp vinegar, is quick to hear: 150 True;--all who live without control are free; But that YOU live so, I can ne'er agree. "No? From the Prætor's wand when I withdrew, Lord of myself, why, might I not pursue My pleasure unrestrained, respect still had 155 To what the rubric of the law forbad?" Listen--but first your brows from anger clear, And bid your nose dismiss that rising sneer; Listen, while I the genuine truth impart, And root those old wives' fables from your heart. 160 It was not, is not in the "Prætor's wand," To gift a fool with power, to understand The nicer shades of duty, and educe, From short and rapid life, its end and use; The laboring hind shall sooner seize the quill, 165 And strike the lyre with all a master's skill. Reason condemns the thought, with mien severe, And drops this maxim in the secret ear, "Forbear to venture, with preposterous toil, On what, in venturing, you are sure to spoil." 170 In this plain sense of what is just and right The laws of nature and of man unite; That Inexperience should some caution show, And spare to reach at what she does not know. Prescribe you hellebore! without the skill 175 To weigh the ingredients, or compound the pill?-- Physic, alarmed, the rash attempt withstands, And wrests the dangerous mixture from your hands. Should the rude clown, skilled in no star to guide His dubious course, rush on the trackless tide, 180 Would not Palemon at the fact exclaim, And swear the world had lost all sense of shame! Say, is it yours, by wisdom's steady rays, To walk secure through life's entangled maze? Yours to discern the specious from the true, 185 And where the gilt conceals the brass from view? Speak, can you mark, with some appropriate sign, What to pursue, and what, in turn, decline? Does moderation all your wishes guide, And temperance at your cheerful board preside? 190 Do friends your love experience? are your stores Now dealt with closed and now with open doors, As fit occasion calls? Can you restrain The eager appetite of sordid gain? Nor feel, when in the mire a doit, you note, 195 Mercurial spittle gurgle in your throat? If you can say, and truly, "THESE ARE MINE, And THIS I CAN:"--suffice it. I decline All farther question; you are wise and free, No less by Jove's than by the law's decree. 200 But if, good Marcus, you who formed so late One of our batch, of our enslaved estate, Beneath a specious outside, still retain The foul contagion of your ancient strain; If the sly fox still burrow in some part, 205 Some secret corner, of your tainted heart; I straight retract the freedom which I gave, And hold your Dama still, and still a slave! Reason concedes you nothing. Let us try. Thrust forth your finger. "See." O, heavens, awry! 210 Yet what so trifling?--But, though altars smoke, Though clouds of incense every god invoke, In vain you sue, one drachm of RIGHT to find, One scruple, lurking in the foolish mind. Nature abhors the mixture; the rude clown 215 As well may lay his spade and mattock down, And with light foot and agile limbs prepare To dance three steps with soft Bathyllus' air! "Still I am free." You! subject to the sway Of countless masters, FREE! What datum, pray, 220 Supports your claim? Is there no other yoke Than that which, from your neck, the Prætor broke! "Go, bear these scrapers to the bath with speed; What! loitering, knave?"--Here's servitude indeed! Yet you unmoved the angry sounds would hear; 225 You owe no duty, and can know no fear. But if within you feel the strong control-- If stormy passions lord it o'er your soul, Are you more free than he whom threatenings urge To bear the strigils and escape the scourge? 230 'Tis morn; yet sunk in sloth you snoring lie. "Up! up!" cries Avarice, "and to business hie; Nay, stir." I will not. Still she presses, "Rise!" I can not. "But you must and shall," she cries. And to what purpose? "This a question! Go, 235 Bear fish to Pontus, and bring wines from Co; Bring ebon, flax, whate'er the East supplies, Musk for perfumes, and gums for sacrifice: Prevent the mart, and the first pepper take From the tired camel ere his thirst he slake. 240 Traffic forswear, if interest intervene"-- But Jove will overhear me.--"Hold, my spleen! O dolt; but, mark--that thumb will bore and bore The empty salt (scraped to the quick before) For one poor grain, a vapid meal to mend, 245 If you aspire to thrive with Jove your friend!" You rouse (for who can truths like these withstand?), Victual your slaves, and urge them to the strand. Prepared in haste to follow; and, ere now, Had to the Ægean turned your vent'rous prow, 250 But that sly Luxury the process eyed, Waylaid your desperate steps, and, taunting, cried, "Ho, madman, whither, in this hasty plight? What passion drives you forth? what furies fright? Whole urns of hellebore might hope in vain 255 To cool this high-wrought fever of the brain. What! quit your peaceful couch, renounce your ease, To rush on hardships, and to dare the seas! And while a broken plank supports your meat, And a coiled cable proves your softest seat, 260 Suck from squab jugs that pitchy scents exhale, The seaman's beverage, sour at once and stale! And all for what? that sums, which now are lent, At modest five, may sweat out twelve per cent.!-- "O rather cultivate the joys of sense, 265 And crop the sweets which youth and health dispense; Give the light hours to banquets, love, and wine: THESE are the zest of life, and THESE are mine! Dust and a shade are all you soon must be: Live, thou, while yet you may. Time presses.--See! 270 Even while I speak, the present is become The past, and lessens still life's little sum." Now, sir, decide; shall this, or that, command? Alas, the bait, displayed on either hand, Distracts your choice:--but, ponder as you may, 275 Of this be sure; both, with alternate sway, Will lord it o'er you, while, with slavish fears, From side to side your doubtful duty veers. Nor must you, though in some auspicious hour You spurn their mandate, and resist their power, 280 At once conclude their future influence vain:-- With struggling hard the dog may snap his chain; Yet little freedom from the effort find, If, as he flies, he trails its length behind. "Yes, I am fixed; to Love a long adieu!-- 285 Nay, smile not, Davus; you will find it true." So, while his nails, gnawn to the quick, yet bled, The sage Chærestratus, deep-musing, said.-- "Shall I my virtuous ancestry defame, Consume my fortune, and disgrace my name, 290 While, at a harlot's wanton threshold laid, Darkling, I whine my drunken serenade!" Tis nobly spoken:--Let a lamb be brought To the Twin Powers that this deliverance wrought. "But--if I quit her, will she not complain? 295 Will she not grieve? Good Davus, think again." Fond trifler! you will find her "grief" too late; When the red slipper rattles round your pate, Vindictive of the mad attempt to foil Her potent spell, and all-involving toil. 300 Dismissed, you storm and bluster: hark! she calls And, at the word, your boasted manhood falls. "Mark, Davus; of her own accord, she sues! Mark, she invites me! Can I now refuse?" Yes, Now, and EVER. If you left her door 305 Whole and entire, you must return no more. Right. This is He, the man whom I demand; This, Davus; not the creature of a wand Waved by some foolish lictor.--And is he, This master of himself, this truly free, 310 Who marks the dazzling lure Ambition spreads, And headlong follows where the meteor leads? "Watch the nice hour, and on the scrambling tribes Pour, without stint, your mercenary bribes, Vetches and pulse; that, many a year gone by, 315 Graybeards, as basking in the sun they lie, May boast how much your Floral Games surpast, In cost and splendor, those they witnessed last!" A glorious motive! And on Herod's day, When every room is decked in meet array, 320 And lamps along the greasy windows spread, Profuse of flowers, gross, oily vapors shed; When the vast tunny's tail in pickle swims, And the crude must foams o'er the pitcher's brims; You mutter secret prayers, by fear devised, 325 And dread the sabbaths of the circumcised! Then a cracked egg-shell fills you with affright, And ghosts and goblins haunt your sleepless night. Last, the blind priestess, with her sistrum shrill, And Galli, huge and high, a dread instill 330 Of gods, prepared to vex the human frame With dropsies, palsies, ills of every name, Unless the trembling victim champ, in bed, Thrice every morn, on a charmed garlic-head. Preach to the martial throng these lofty strains, 335 And lo! some chief more famed for bulk than brains, Some vast Vulfenius, blessed with lungs of brass, Laughs loud and long at the scholastic ass; And, for a clipt cent-piece, sets, by the tale, A hundred Greek philosophers to sale! 340

SATIRE VI.

TO CÆSIUS BASSUS.

Say, have the wintry storms, which round us beat, Chased thee, my Bassus, to thy Sabine seat? Does music there thy sacred leisure fill, While the strings quicken to thy manly quill?-- O skilled, in matchless numbers, to disclose 5 How first from Night this fair creation rose; And kindling, as the lofty themes inspire, To smite, with daring hand, the Latian lyre! Anon, with youth and youth's delights to toy, And give the dancing chords to love and joy; 10 Or wake, with moral touch, to accents sage, And hymn the heroes of a nobler age! To me, while tempests howl and billows rise, Liguria's coast a warm retreat supplies, Where the huge cliffs an ample front display, 15 And, deep within, recedes the sheltering bay. The Port of Luna, friends, is worth your note-- So, in his sober moments, Ennius wrote, When, all his dreams of transmigration past, He found himself plain Quintus at the last! 20 Here to repose I give the cheerful day, Careless of what the vulgar think or say; Or what the South, from Afric's burning air, Unfriendly to the fold, may haply bear: And careless still, though richer herbage crown 25 My neighbors' fields, or heavier crops embrown. --Nor, Bassus, though capricious Fortune grace Thus with her smiles a low-bred, low-born race, Will e'er thy friend, for that, let Envy plow, One careful furrow on his open brow; 30 Give crooked age upon his youth to steal, Defraud his table of one generous meal; Or, stooping o'er the dregs of mothery wine, Touch, with suspicious nose, the sacred sign. But inclinations vary:--and the Power 35 That beams, ascendant, on the natal hour, Even Twins produces of discordant souls, And tempers, wide asunder as the poles. The one on birthdays, and on those alone, Prepares (but with a forecast all his own) 40 On tunny-pickle, from the shops, to dine, And dips his withered pot-herbs in the brine; Trembles the pepper from his hands to trust, And sprinkles, grain by grain, the sacred dust. The other, large of soul, exhausts his hoard, 45 While yet a stripling, at the festive board. To USE my fortune, Bassus, I intend: Nor, therefore, deem me so profuse, my friend, So prodigally vain, as to afford The costly turbot for my freedmen's board; 50 Or so expert in flavors, as to show How, by the relish, thrush from thrush I know. "Live to your means"--'tis wisdom's voice you hear-- And freely grind the produce of the year: What scruples check you? Ply the hoe and spade, 55 And lo! another crop is in the blade. True; but the claims of duty caution crave. A friend, scarce rescued from the Ionian wave, Grasps a projecting rock, while in the deep His treasures, with his prayers, unheeded sleep: 60 I see him stretched, desponding, on the ground. His tutelary gods all wrecked around, His bark dispersed in fragments o'er the tide, And sea-mews sporting on the ruins wide. Sell, then, a pittance ('tis my prompt advice) 65 Of this your land, and send your friend the price; Lest, with a pictured storm, forlorn and poor, He ask cheap charity from door to door. "But then, my angry heir, displeased to find His prospects lessened by an act so kind, 70 May slight my obsequies; and, in return, Give my cold ashes to a scentless urn; Reckless what vapid drugs he flings thereon, Adulterate cassia, or dead cinnamon!-- Can I (bethink in time) my means impair, 75 And with impunity provoke my heir?" --Here Bestius rails--"A plague on Greece," he cries, "And all her pedants!--there the evil lies; For since their mawkish, their enervate lore, With dates and pepper, cursed our luckless shore, 80 Luxury has tainted all; and plowmen spoil Their wholesome barley-broth with luscious oil." Heavens! can you stretch (to fears like these a slave) Your fond solicitude beyond the grave? Away!--But thou, my heir, whoe'er thou art, 85 Step from the crowd, and let us talk apart. Hearest thou the news? Cæsar has won the day (So, from the camp, his laureled missives say), And Germany is ours! The city wakes, And from her altars the cold ashes shakes.-- 90 Lo! from the imperial spoils, Cæsonia brings Arms, and the martial robes of conquered kings, To deck the temples; while, on either hand, Chariots of war and bulky captives stand In long array. I, too, my joy to prove, 95 Will to the emperor's Genius, and to Jove, Devote, in gratitude for deeds so rare, Two hundred well-matched fencers, pair by pair. Who blames--who ventures to forbid me? You? Woe to your future prospects! if you do. 100 --And, sir, not this alone; for I have vowed A supplemental largess to the crowd, Of corn and oil. What! muttering still? draw near, And speak aloud, for once, that I may hear. "My means are not so low that I should care 105 For that poor pittance you may leave your heir." Just as you please: but were I, sir, bereft Of all my kin; no aunt, no uncle left; No nephew, niece; were all my cousins gone, And all my cousins' cousins, every one, 110 Aricia soon some Manius would supply, Well pleased to take that "pittance," when I die. "Manius! a beggar of the first degree, A son of earth, your heir!" Nay, question me, Ask who my grandsire's sire? I know not well, 115 And yet, on recollection, I might tell; But urge me one step farther--I am mute: A son of earth, like Manius, past dispute. Thus his descent and mine are equal proved, And we at last are cousins, though removed. 120 But why should you, who still before me run, Require my torch ere yet the race be won? Think me your Mercury: Lo! here I stand, As painters represent him, purse in hand: Will you, or not, the proffered boon receive, 125 And take, with thankfulness, whate'er I leave? Something, you murmur, of the heap is spent. True: as occasion called it freely went; In life 'twas mine: but death your chance secures, And what remains, or more or less, is yours. 130 Of Tadius' legacy no questions raise, Nor turn upon me with a grandsire-phrase, "Live on the interest of your fortune, boy; To touch the principal is to destroy." "What, after all, may I expect to have?" 135 Expect!--Pour oil upon my viands, slave, Pour with unsparing hand! shall my best cheer On high and solemn days be the singed ear Of some tough, smoke-dried hog, with nettles drest; That your descendant, while in earth I rest, 140 May gorge on dainties, and, when lust excites, Give to patrician beds his wasteful nights? Shall I, a napless figure, pale and thin, Glide by, transparent, in a parchment skin, That he may strut with more than priestly pride, 145 And swag his portly paunch from side to side? Go, truck your soul for gain! buy, sell, exchange; From pole to pole in quest of profit range. Let none more shrewdly play the factor's part; None bring his slaves more timely to the mart; 150 Puff them with happier skill, as caged they stand, Or clap their well-fed sides with nicer hand. Double your fortune--treble it--yet more-- 'Tis four, six, ten-fold what it was before: O bound the heap--You, who could yours confine, 155 Tell me, Chrysippus, how to limit mine!

The End. Transcriber'S Notes

THE END.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

Added missing footnote anchors, e. g. p. 21.

Silently corrected simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors.

Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.

Enclosed italics font in underscores.

Enclosed distinctive font in ~tildes~.