FOOTNOTES:
[396] Stemmata. "The lines connecting the descents in a pedigree," from the garlands of flowers round the Imagines set up in the halls (v., 19) and porticoes (vi., 163) of the nobiles; which were joined to one another by festoons, so that the descent from father to son could be readily traced. Cf. Pers., iii., 28. "Stemmate quod Tusco ramum millesime ducis." Of Ponticus nothing is known.
[397] Vultus. Because these Imagines were simply busts made of wax, colored.
[398] Virgâ.
"What boots it on the lineal tree to trace
Through many a branch the founders of our race." Gifford.
[399] Numantinos. Scipio Africanus the Younger got the name of Numantinus from Numantia, which he destroyed as well as Carthage.
[400] Ortu.
"Just at the hour when those whose name you boast
Broke up the camp, and march'd th' embattled host." Hodgson.
[401] Fabius, the founder of the Fabian gens, was said to have been a son of Hercules by Vinduna, daughter of Evander, and by virtue of this descent the Fabii claimed the exclusive right of ministering at the altar consecrated by Evander to Hercules. It stood in the Forum Boarium, near the Circus Flaminius, and was called Ara Maxima. Cf. Ovid, Fast., i., 581, "Constituitque sibi quæ Maxima dicitur, Aram, Hic ubi pars urbis de bove nomen habet." Cf. Virg., Æn., viii., 271, "Hanc aram luco statuit quæ Maxima semper dicetur nobis, et erit quæ Maxima semper." Quintus Fabius Maximus Æmilianus, the consul in the year B.C. 121, defeated the Allobroges at the junction of the Isère and the Rhone, and killed 130,000: for which he received the name of Allobrogicus. Cf. Liv., Ep. 61. Vell., ii., 16.
[402] Euganea, a district of Northern Italy, on the confines of the Venetian territory.
[403] Pumice. The pumice found at Catana, now Catania, at the foot of Mount Ætna, was used to rub the body with to make it smooth (cf. ix., 95, "Inimicus pumice lævis." Plin., xxxvi., 21. Ovid, A. Am., i., 506, "Nec tua mordaci pumice crura teras"), after the hairs had been got rid of by the resin. Vid. inf. 114.—Traducit. Vid. ad xi., 31.
[404] Frangendâ. The busts of great criminals were broken by the common executioner. Cf. x., 58, "Descendunt statuæ restemque sequuntur." Tac., Ann., vi., 2, "Atroces sententiæ dicebantur in effigies." Cf. Ruperti, ad Tac., Ann., ii., 32. Suet., Domit., 23.
"He blast his wretched kindred with a bust,
For public justice to reduce to dust." Gifford.
[405] Paulus. He mentions (Sat. vii., 143) two lawyers, bearing the names of Paulus and Cossus, who were apparently no honor to their great names. (For Cossus, cf. inf. Gætulice.)
[406] Gætulice. Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Cossus received the name of Gætulicus from his victory over the Gætuli, "Auspice Augusto," in his consulship with L. Calpurnius Piso Augur. B.C. 1. Vid. Clinton, F. H., in an. Flor., iv., 12.
[407] Silanus. The son-in-law of the Emperor Claudius, who, as Tacitus says (Ann., xvi., 7), "Claritudine generis, and modestâ juventâ præcellebat." Cf. Ann., xii. Suet., Claud., 27.
"Hail from whatever stock you draw your birth,
The son of Cossus, or the son of earth." Gifford.
[408] Osiri invento. Vid. ad vi., 533.
[409] Nanum cujusdam. There is probably an allusion here to Domitian's fondness for these deformities. Cf. Domit., iv., "Per omne spectaculum ante pedes ei stabat puerulus coccinatus, parvo portentosoque capite, cum quo plurimum fabulabatur." Cf. Stat., Sylv., i.; vi., 57, seq.
[410] Scabie.
"That mangy larcenist of casual spoil,
From lamps extinct that licks the fetid oil." Badham.
[411] Creticus. Q. Metellus had this surname from his conquest of Crete, B.C. 67. Vell. Pat., ii., 34. Flor., iii., 7. Cf. ii., 78, "Cretice pelluces." P. Sulpicius Camerinus was one of the triumvirs sent to Athens for Solon's laws. Cf. vii., 90. Liv., iii., 33. Camerinus was a name of the Sulpician gens, and seems to have been derived from the conquest of Cameria in Latium. (Cf. Facciol.) Liv., i., 38. The name of Creticus was actually given in derision to M. Antonius, father of the triumvir, for his disastrous failure in Crete. Vid. Plut. in Ant.
[412] Rubellius Blandus was the father, Plautus the son. Both readings are found here. Of the latter Tacitus says (Ann., xiv., 22), "Omnium ore Rubellius Plautus celebrabatur, cui nobilitas per matrem ex Julia familiâ." His mother Julia was daughter of Drusus, the son of Livia, wife of Augustus. Germanicus, his mother's brother, was father of Agrippina, mother of Nero: hence, inf. 72, "inflatum plenumque Nerone propinquo." Cf. Virg., Æn., i., 288, "Julius a magno demissum nomen Julo."
[413] Aggere. Cf. ad vi., 588.
[414] Vivas.
"Long may'st thou taste the secret sweets that spring
In breasts affined to so remote a king." Gifford.
[415] Nobilis indocti.
"Who help the well-born dolt in many a strait,
And plead the cause of the unletter'd great." Badham.
[416] Marmoreum.
"For 'tis no bar to kindred, that thy block
Is form'd of flesh and blood, and theirs of rock." Gifford.
[417] Fervet. "Frequenter celebratur." Lubin. Some commentators interpret it of the eager clapping of the hands of the spectators: others, of the prize of victory.
"The palm of oft-repeated victories." Hodgson.
"Whom many a well-earned palm and trophy grace." Gifford.
"Whose easy triumph and transcendent speed,
Palm after palm proclaim." Badham.
[418] Nepos, the name of a noted miller at Rome.
[419] Aliquid. "Sometimes great." So i., 74, "Si vis esse aliquis." Hall imitates this beautifully:
"Brag of thy father's faults, they are thine own;
Brag of his lands, if they are not foregone:
Brag of thine own good deeds; for they are thine,
More than his life, or lands, or golden line."
[420] Nerone. Cf. ad l. 39.
[421] Sensus communis. There are few phrases in Juvenal on which the commentators are more divided. Some interpret it exactly in the sense of the English words "common sense." Others, "fellow-feeling, sympathy with mankind at large." Browne takes it to be "tact." Cf. Hor., i., Sat. iii., 66; Phædr., i., Fab. vii., 4. There is a long and excellent note in Gifford, who translates it himself by "a sense of modesty," but allows that in Cicero it means "a polite intercourse between man and man;" in Horace, "suavity of manners;" in Seneca, "a proper regard for the decencies of life:" by others it is used for all these, which together constitute what we call "courteousness, or good breeding." So Quintilian, I., ii., 20. Hodgson turns it,
"For plain good sense, first blessing of the sky,
Is rarely met with in a state so high."
Badham,
"In that high estate
Plain common sense is far from common fate."
[422] Stratus humi.
"Stretch'd on the ground, the vine's weak tendrils try
To clasp the elm they dropped from, fail, and die." Gifford.
[423] Summum crede nefas. See some beautiful remarks in Coleridge's Introduction to the Greek Poets, p. 24, 25.
[424] Pudori.
"At honor's cost a feverish span extend,
And sacrifice for life, life's only end!
Life! I profane the word: can those be said
To live, who merit death? No! they are dead." Gifford.
[425] Gaurana. Gaurus (cf. ix., 57), a mountain of Campania, near Baiæ and the Lucrine Lake, which was famous for oysters (cf. iv., 141, "Lucrinum ad saxum Rutupinove edita fundo Ostrea," Plin., iii., 5. Martial, v., Ep. xxxvii., 3, "Concha Lucrini delicatior stagni"), now called "Gierro."
[426] Cosmus, a celebrated perfumer, mentioned repeatedly by Martial.
[427] Capito. Cossutianus Capito, son-in-law of Tigellinus (cf. i., 155. Tac., Ann., xiv., 48; xvi., 17), was accused by the Cilicians of peculation and cruelty ("maculosum fœdumque, et idem jus audaciæ in provincia ratum quod in urbe exercuerat"), and condemned "lege repetundarum." Tac., Ann., xiii., 33. Thrasea Pætus was the advocate of the Cilicians, and in revenge for this, when Capito was restored to his honors by the influence of Tigellinus, he procured the death of Thrasea. Ann., xvi., 21, 28, 33. Of Numitor nothing is known save that he plundered these Cilicians, themselves once the most notorious of pirates. Cf. Plat. in Pomp. Some read Tutor; a Julius Tutor is mentioned repeatedly in the fourth book of Tac. Hist., but with no allusion to his plundering propensities.
[428] Naulum.
"Nor, though your earthly goods be sunk and lost,
Lose the poor waftage of the wandering ghost." Hodgson.
Cf. iii., 267, "Nec habet quem porrigat ore trientem." Holyday and Ruperti interpret it, "Do not waste your little remnant in an unprofitable journey to Rome to accuse your plunderer." Gifford says it is merely the old proverb, and renders it, "And though you've lost the hatchet, save the haft."
[429] Modo victis. Browne explains this by tantummodo victis, i. e., only subdued, not plundered; and so Ruperti.
[430] Vivebat. "And ivory taught by Phidias' skill to live." Gifford.
[431] Dolabella. There were three "pirates" of this name, all accused of extortion; of whom Cicero's son-in-law, the governor of Syria, seems to have been the worst.
[432] Verres retired from Rome and lived in luxurious and happy retirement twenty-six years.
[433] Altis, or "deep-laden."
[434] Plures.
"More treasures from our friends in peace obtain'd,
Than from our foes in war were ever gain'd." Gifford.
[435] Pater.
"They drive the father of the herd away,
Making both stallion and his pasture prey." Dryden.
[436] Resinata. Resin dissolved in oil was used to clear the skin of superfluous hairs. Cf. Plin., xiv., 20, "pudet confiteri maximum jam honorem (resinæ) esse in evellendis ab virorum corporibus pilis."
[437] Gallicus axis. Cf. Cæs., B. G., i., 51. "The war chariot;" or the "climate of Gaul," as colder than that of Rome, and breeding fiercer men. Cf. vi., 470. "Hyperboreum axem," xiv., 42.
[438] Messoribus. These reapers are the Africans, from whom Rome derived her principal supply of corn. Cf. v., 119. Plin., v., 4.
[439] Circo. Cf. x., 80, "duas tantum res anxius optat, Panem et Circenses." Tac., Hist., i., 4, "Plebs sordida ac Circo et Theatris sueta."
"From those thy gripes restrain,
Who with their sweat Rome's luxury maintain,
And send us plenty, while our wanton day
Is lavish'd at the circus or the play." Dryden.
[440] Marius. Vid. ad i., 47.
[441] Discinxerit. Cf. Virg., Æn., viii., 724, "Hic Nomadum genus et discinctos Mulciber Afros." Sil. Ital., ii., 56, "Discinctos Libyas." Money was carried in girdles (xiv., 296), and the Africans wore but little other clothing. For the amount of his plunder, see Plin., ii., Ep. xi., "Cornutus, censuit septingenta millia quæ acceperat Marius ærario inferenda."
[442] Acersecomes. Some "puer intonsus" with flowing locks like Bacchus or Apollo. Φοῖβος ἀκερσεκόμης. Hom., Il., xx., 39. Pind., Pyth., iii., 26.
[443] Conjuge. Cf. the discussion in the senate recorded Tac., Ann., iii., 33, seq.
[444] Conventus. "Loca constituta in provinciis juri dicundo." The different towns in the provinces where the Roman governors held their courts and heard appeals. The courts as well as the towns were called by this name. They were also called Fora and Jurisdictiones. Vid. Plin., III., i., 3; V., xxix., 29. Cic. in Verr., II., v., 11. Cæs., B. G., i., 54; vi., 44.
[445] Celæno. Cf. Virg., Æn., iii., 211, "dira Celæno Harpyiæque aliæ."
[446] Promethea.
"E'en from Prometheus' self thy lineage trace,
And ransack history to adorn thy race." Hodgson.
[447] Frangis virgas.
"Rods broke on our associates' bleeding backs,
And headsmen laboring till they blunt their axe." Dryden.
[448] Incipit ipsorum.
"The lofty pride of every honor'd name
Shall rise to vindicate insulted fame,
And hold the torch to blazon forth thy shame." Hodgson.
[449] Contra te stare.
"Will to his blood oppose your daring claim,
And fire a torch to blaze upon your shame." Gifford.
[450] Temples. The sealing of wills was usually performed in temples; in the morning, and fasting, as the canon law afterward directed.
[451] Santonico. The Santones were a people of Aquitania, between the Loire and Garonne. Cf. Mart., xiv., Ep. 128, "Gallia Santonico vestit te bardocucullo."
[452] Sufflamine. "The introduction of the drag-chain has a local propriety: Rome, with its seven hills, had just so many necessities for the frequent use of the sufflamen. This necessity, from the change of the soil, exists no longer." Badham.
[453] Testes. Cf. vi., 311, Lunà teste.
[454] Damasippus (cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 16) was a name of the Licinian gens. "Damasippus was sick," says Holyday, "of that disease which the Spartans call horse-feeding."
[455] Hordea. Horses in Italy are fed on barley, not on oats.
[456] Eponam (cf. Aristoph., Nub., 84), the patroness of grooms. Some read "Hipponam," which Gifford prefers, from the tameness of the epithet "solam." Cf. Blunt's Vestiges, p. 29.
"On some rank deity, whose filthy face
We suitably o'er stinking stables place." Dryden.
[457] Amomo, an Assyrian shrub. Cf. iv., 108.
[458] Idumeæ. The gate at Rome near the Arch of Titus, through which Vespasian and Titus entered the city in triumph after their victories in Palestine.
[459] Dominum. Cf. Mart., i., Ep. 113, "Cum te non nossem dominum regemque vocabam." Cf. iv., Ep. 84, 5.
[460] Inscripta lintea. Perhaps "curtains, having painted on them what was for sale within." Others say it means "embroidered with needlework;" or "towels," according to Calderinus, who compares Catull., xxv., 7.
[461] Armeniæ. The allusion is to Corbulo's exploits in Parthia and Armenia in Nero's reign, A.D. 60. Cf. ad iii., 251. There were great disturbances in the same quarters in Trajan's reign, which caused his expedition, in A.D. 114, against the Armenians and Parthians. In A.D. 100, Marius Priscus was accused by Pliny and Tacitus. Vid. Plin., ii., Ep. xi. Probably half way between these two dates we may fix the writing of this Satire.
[462] Mitte Ostia. So most of the commentators interpret it. "Send your Legatus to take the command of the troops for foreign service, waiting for embarkation at Ostia." But if so, "ad" should be expressed, and either Tiberina added, or Ostia made of the 1st declension. Britann., therefore, and Heinrich explain it, "Pass by his own doors;" omitte quærere illic, "he is far away."
[463] Sandapila. The bier or open coffin, on which the poor, or those killed in the amphitheatre, were carried to burial; hence "sandapila popularis." Suet., Domit., 17. Stepney (in Dryden's version) thus enumerates these worthies:
"Quacks, coffin-makers, fugitives, and sailors,
Rooks, common soldiers, hangmen, thieves, and tailors."
[464] Resupinantis. In Holyday's quaint version,
"Among great Cybel's silent drums, which lack
Their Phrygian priest, who lies drunk on his back."
[465] Ergastula. Private prisons attached to Roman farms, in which the slaves worked in chains. The Tuscan were peculiarly severe. Vid. Dennis's Etruria, vol. i., p. xlviii.
[466] Turpia cerdoni. Cf. iv., 13," Nam quod turpe bonis Titio Seioque decebat Crispinum." Pers., iv., 51, "Tollat sua munera cerdo."
"And crimes that tinge with shame the cobbler's face,
Become the lords of Brutus' honor'd race." Hodgson.
[467] Locasti.
"Lets out his voice (his sole remaining boast),
And rants the nonsense of a clam'rous ghost." Hodgson.
[468] Sipario. The curtain or drop-scene in comedy, as Aulæum was in tragedy. Donat.
[469] Phasma. Probably a translation from the Greek. Ter., Eun., pr. 9, "Idem Menandri phasma nunc nuper dedit." Catullus is not to be confounded with C. Valerius Catullus of Verona (the old Schol. says Q. Lutatius Catullus is meant, and quotes xiii., 11, whom Lubinus, ad loc., calls "Urbanus Catullus") as far as the Phasma is concerned.—Laureolus was the chief character in a play or ballet by Val. Catullus, or Laberius, or Nævius: and was crucified on the stage, and then torn to pieces by wild beasts. Martial (de Spect., Ep. vii.) says this was acted to the life in the Roman amphitheatre, the part of the bandit being performed by a real malefactor, who was crucified and torn to pieces in the arena, "Non falsâ pendens in cruce Laureolus."
"And Lentulus acts hanging with such art,
Were I a judge, he should not feign the part." Dryden.
[470] Sedet.
"Sit with unblushing front, and calmly see
The hired patrician's low buffoonery;
Smile at the Fabii's tricks, and grin to hear
The cuffs resound from the Mamerci's ear." Gifford.
[471] Cogente Nerone. Cf. Tac., Ann., xiv., 14, who abstains from mentioning the names of the nobles thus disgraced, out of respect for their ancestors. Cf. Dio., lxi. Suetonius says (Nero, cap. xii.) that 400 senators and 600 knights were thus dishonored (but Lipsius says 40 and 60 are the true numbers).
[472] Nec dubitant. No doubt a spurious line.
[473] Gladios. This is the usual interpretation. Perhaps it would be better to take "gladios" for the death that awaits you if you refuse to comply: as iv., 96; x., 345. So Badham:
"Place here the tyrant's sword, and there the scene;
Gods! can a Roman hesitate between!"
[474] Thymele. Cf. i., 36.
[475] Ludus. Properly, "school of gladiators."
[476] Gracchus. Cf. ii., 143.
[477] Tunicæ. Cf. ii., 143, tunicati fuscina Gracchi. Suet., Cal., 30. The Retiarii wore a tunic only. The gold spira was the band that tied the tall conical cap of the Salii; who wore also a gold fringe round the tunic.
[478] Seneca. There is said to be an allusion here to the plot of Subrius Flavius to murder Nero and make Seneca emperor. It was believed that Seneca was privy to it. Tac., Ann., xv., 65.
[479] Simia. Cf. xiii., 155, "Et deducendum corio bovis in mare cum quo clauditur adversis innoxia simia fatis." The punishment of parricides was to be scourged, then sewn up in a bull's hide with a serpent, an ape, a cock, and a dog, and to be thrown into the sea. The first person thus punished was P. Malleolus, who murdered his mother. Liv., Epit. lxviii.
[480] Culeus. Cf. Suet., Aug., 33. Nero murdered his mother Agrippina, his aunt Domitia, both his wives, Octavia and Poppæa, his brother Britannicus, and several other relations.
[481] Agamemnonidæ. Grangæus quotes the Greek verse current in Nero's time, Νέρων, Ὀρέστης, Ἀλκμαίων μητροκτόνοι. Cf. Suet., Nero, 39.
[482] Virginius Rufus, who was legatus in Lower Germany, Julius Vindex, proprætor of Gaul, and Sergius Galba, præfect of Hispania Tarraconensis, afterward emperor, were the chiefs of the last conspiracy against Nero. In August, A.D. 67, Nero was playing the fool in Greece; in March, 68, he heard with terror and dismay of the revolt of Vindex, who proclaimed Galba. Dio., lxiii., 22.
[483] Quid Nero.
"What but such acts did Rome indignant see
Perform'd in Nero's savage tyranny?" Hodgson.
[484] Prostitui.
"To prostitute his voice for base renown,
And ravish from the Greeks a parsley crown." Gifford.
Nero was in Greece A.D. 67, into which year (though not an Olympiad) he crowded all the games of Greece, "Certamina omnia et quæ diversissimorum temporum sunt cogi in unum annum jussit." Suet., Ner., 23. "Romam introiit coronam capite gerens Olympiam dextrâ manu Pythiam," c. 25.
[485] Domitius was the name both of the father and grandfather of Nero. His father was Domitius Ahenobarbus, governor of Transalpine Gaul. Suetonius (Nero, 6) tells us that the two pædagogi to whom his childhood was intrusted were a saltator and a tonsor. To this perhaps his subsequent tastes may be traced.
[486] Citharam. Cf. Suet., Ner., 12, "Citharæ a judicibus ad se delatam, adoravit ferrique ad Augusti statuam jussit."
"And on the proud Colossus of your sire,
Suspend the splendid trophy of—a lyre!" Hodgson.
"Sacras coronas in cubiculis circum lectos posuit: item statuas suas Citharædico habitu: quâ notâ etiam nummum percussit." Suet., Ner., 25.
[487] Braccatorum. Gallia Narbonensis was called Braccata from the Braccæ, probably "plaid," which the inhabitants wore. Plin., iii., 4. Diod., v., 30. The Senones were a people of Gallia Lugdunensis, who sacked Rome under Brennus; hence Minores, i. e., "as though you had been the hereditary enemies of Rome."
[488] Tunicâ molestâ. Cf. ad i., 155, "a dress smeared with pitch and other combustibles," and then lighted. Cf. Mart., x., Ep. xxv., 5. In some cases Nero buried his victims up to the waist, and then set fire to their upper parts.
[489] Vigilat refers to Cicero's own words, "Jam intelliges multo me vigilare acrius ad salutem, quam te ad pernicem reipublicæ."
[490] Novus. Cicero was the first of the Tullia gens that held a curule magistracy. Arpinum, his birthplace, now Arpino, was a small town of the Volsci. The Municipia had their three grades, of patricians, knights, and plebeians, as Rome had; they lived under their own laws, but their citizens were eligible to all offices at Rome.
[491] Leucas, i. e., "Actium." Thessaliæ, "Philippi." The words following probably refer to the brutal cruelty of Augustus after the battle.
[492] Libera. "When Rome could utter her free unfettered sentiments" (as sup., "Libera si dentur populo suffragia"). Not in the spirit of servile adulation, with which she bestowed the same title on her emperors.
[493] Vitem. The centurion's baton of office as well as instrument of punishment. Cf. xiv., 193; Mart., x., Ep. xxvi., 1. See the story of Lucilius, nicknamed Cedo alteram, in Tac., Ann., i., 23.
[494] Majora cadavera. Besides their fierce gray eyes (xiii., 164), the Germans were conspicuous for their stature and red hair. "Truces et cærulei oculi, rutilæ comæ, magnum corpora et tantum ad impetum valida." Tac., Germ., iv. "Cimbri præ Italis ingentes." Flor., iii.,3.
[495] Lauro secundâ. A double triumph was decreed to Marius; he gave up the second to Q. Lutatius Catulus, his noble colleague, to satisfy his soldiers, who knew, better than Juvenal, that the nobleman's services did not fall short of those of the plebeian. Marius afterward barbarously murdered him.
[496] Deciorum. Alluding to the three immolations of the Decii, father, son, and grandson, in the wars with the Latins, Gauls, and Pyrrhus. All three bore the name of Publius Decius Mus. Juvenal comes very near the formula of self-devotion given in Liv., viii., 6, seq. "Exercitum Diis Manibus matrique terræ deberi."
[497] Ancilla natus. Servius Tullius (Cf. vii., 199) was the sen of Ocrisia, or Ocriculana, a captive from Corniculum. Liv., i., 39. The Trabea was a white robe with a border and broad stripes (trabes) of purple, worn afterward by consuls and augurs: cf. x., 35; the diadema of the ancient kings was a fillet or ribbon, not a crown.
"And he who graced the purple which he wore,
The last good king of Rome, a bondmaid bore." Gifford.
[498] Natavit.
"And she who mock'd the javelins whistling round,
And swam the Tiber, then the empire's bound." Gifford.
[499] Servus. Livy calls him Vindicius; and derives from him the name of the Vindicta, "the rod of manumission." Liv., ii., 7. He was mourned for at his death by the Roman matrons publicly, as Brutus had been.
[500] Legum prima securis. Tarquinius Priscus introduced the axe and fasces with the other regalia. The axe therefore had often fallen for the tyrants; now it is used for the first time in defense of a legal constitution and a free republic.
[501] Thersites. Hom., Il., ii., 212.
[502] Asylo. Cf. Liv., i., 8.