FOOTNOTES:
[772] Natali. The birthday was sacred to the "Genius" to whom they offered wine, incense, and flowers: abstaining from "bloody" sacrifices, "ne die quâ ipsi lucem accepissent aliis demerent," Hor., ii., Ep. 144. "Floribus et vino Genium memorem brevis avi," Pers., ii., 3. "Funde merum Genio," Censorin., de D. N., 3. Virg., Ecl. iii., 76. Compare Hor., Od., IV., xi., where he celebrates the birthday of Mæcenas as "sanctior pœne natali proprio." Cf. Dennis's Etruria, vol. ii., p. 65.
[773] Cæspes. Hor., Od., III., viii., 3, "Positusque carbo in cæspite vivo." Tac., Ann., i. 18.
[774] Niveam. A white victim was offered to the Dii Superi: a black one to the Inferi. Cf. Virg., Æn., iv., 60," Junoni ante omnes, Ipsa tenens dextrâ pateram pulcherrima Dido Candentis vaccæ media inter cornua fundit." Tibull., I., ii., 61, "Concidit ad magicos hostia pulla deos." Hor., i., Sat. viii., 27," Pullam divellere mordicus agnam."
[775] Gorgone. Cf. Vir., Æn., viii., 435, seq.; ii., 616.
[776] Extensum. It was esteemed a very bad omen if the victim did not go willingly to the sacrifice. It was always led, therefore, with a long slack rope.
[777] Matris. Cf. Hor., iv., Od. ii., 54, "Me tener solvet vitulus, relicta matre."
[778] Nascenti. Hor., iii., Od. xiii., 4, "Cui frons turgida cornibus Primis et Venerem, et prælia destinat."
"He flies his mother's teat with playful scorn,
And butts the oak-trees with his growing horn." Hodgson.
[779] Hispulla. Cf. vi., 74, "Hispulla tragædo gaudet." (This was the name of the aunt of Pliny the Younger's wife, iv., Ep. 19; viii., 11.)
"Huge as Hispulla: scarcely to be slain
But by the stoutest servant of the train." Badham.
[780] Clitumnus was a small river in Umbria flowing into the Tinia, now "Topino," near Mevania, now "Timia." The Tinia discharges itself into the Tiber near Perusia. Pliny (viii., Ep. 8) gives a beautiful description of its source, now called "La Vene," in a letter which is, as Gifford says, a model of elegance and taste. Its waters were supposed to give a milk-white color to the cattle who drank of them. Virg., Georg., ii., 146, "Hinc albi, Clitumne, greges, et maxima taurus victima." Propert., II., xix., 25, "Quà formosa suo Clitumnus flumina luco Integit et niveos abluit unda boves." Sil., iv., 547, "Clitumnus in arvis Candentes gelido perfundit flumine tauros." Claudian., vi., Cons. Hon., 506.
[781] Ignis. Grangæus interprets this of the meteoric fires seen in the Mediterranean, which, when seen single, were supposed to be fatal. Plin., ii., 37, "Graves cum solitarii venerunt mergentesque navigia, et si in carinæ ima deciderint, exurentes." These fires, when double, were hailed as a happy omen, as the stars of Castor and Pollux. "Fratres Helenæ lucida sidera," Hor., I., Od. iii., 2; cf. xii., 27. The French call it "Le feu St. Elme," said to be a corruption of "Helena." The Italian sailors call them "St. Peter and St. Nicholas." But these only appear at the close of a storm. Cf. Hor., ii., seq., and Blunt's Vestiges, p. 37.
[782] Poetica tempestas.
"So loud the thunder, such the whirlwind's sweep,
As when the poet lashes up the deep." Hodgson.
[783] Pictores. So Hor., i., Od. v., 13, "Me tabulâ sacer votivâ paries indicat noida suspendisse potenti vestimenta maris Deo." It seems to have been the custom for persons in peril of shipwreck not only to vow pictures of their perilous condition to some deity in case they escaped, but also to have a painting of it made to carry about with them to excite commiseration as they begged. Cf. xiv., 302, "Naufragus assem dum rogat et pictâ se tempestate tuetur." Pers., i., 89, "Quum fractâ te in trabe pictum ex humero portes." VI., 32, "Largire inopi, ne pictus oberret cæruleâ in tabulâ." Hor., A. P., 20, "Fractis enatat exspes navibus, ære dato qui pingitur." Phæd., IV., xxi., 24. Some think that this picture was afterward dedicated, but this is an error.
[784] Castora. Ov., Nux., 165, "Sic ubi detracta est a te tibi causa pericli Quod superest tutum, Pontice Castor, habes!" This story of the beaver is told Plin., viii., 30; xxxvii., 6, and is repeated by Silius, in a passage copied from Ovid and Juvenal. "Fluminei veluti deprensus gurgitis undis, Avulsâ parte inguinibus causâque pericli, Enatat intento prædæ fiber avius hoste," xv., 485. But it is an error. The sebaceous matter called castoreum (Pers., v., 135), is secreted by two glands near the root of the tail. (Vid. Martyn's Georgics, i., 59, "Virosaque Pontus Castorea," and Browne's Vulgar Errors, lib. iii., 4.) Pliny, viii., 3, tells a similar story of the elephant, "Circumventi a venantibus dentes impactos arbori frangunt, prædâque se redimunt."
[785] Bæticus. The province of Bætica (Andalusia) takes its name from the Bætis, or "Guadalquivir," the waters of which were said to give a ruddy golden tinge to the fleeces of the sheep that drank it. Martial alludes to it repeatedly. "Non est lana mihi mendax, nec mutor aëno. Si placeant Tyriæ me mea tinxit ovis," xiv., Ep. 133. Cf. v., 37; viii., 28. "Vellera nativo pallent ubi flava metallo," ix., 62. "Aurea qui nitidis vellera tingis aquis," xii., 99.
"Away went garments of that innate stain
That wool imbibes on Guadalquiver's plain,
From native herbs and babbling fountains nigh,
To aid the powers of Andalusia's sky." Badham.
[786] Urnæ. Vid. ad vi., 426. Pholus was one of the Centaurs. Virg., Georg., ii., 455. Cf. Stat., Thebaid., ii., 564, seq., "Qualis in adversos Lapithas erexit inanem Magnanimus cratera Pholus," etc.
[787] Conjuge Fusci. Vid. ad ix., 117.
[788] Bascaudas. The Celtic word "Basgawd" is said to be the root of the English word "basket." Vid. Latham's English language, p. 98. These were probably vessels surrounded with basket or rush work. Mart., xiv., Ep. 99. "Barbara de pictis veni bascauda Britannis; sed me jam mavolt dicere Roma suam."
[789] Olynthi. Philip of Macedon bribed Lasthenes and Eurycrates to betray Olynthus to him. Pliny (xxxiii., 5) says he used to sleep with a gold cup under his pillow. Once, when told that the route to a castle he was going to attack was impracticable, he asked whether "an ass laden with gold could not possibly reach it." Plut., Apophth., ii., p. 178.
"A store
Of precious cups, high chased in golden ore;
Cups that adorn'd the crafty Philip's state,
And bought his entrance at th' Olynthian gate." Hodgson.
[790] Digitis. Cf. xiv, 289, "Tabulâ distinguitur undâ." Ovid. Amor. ii. xi. 25, "Navita sollicitus qua ventos horret iniquos; Et prope tam letum quam prope cernit aquam."
"Trust to a little plank 'twixt death and thee,
And by four inches 'scape eternity." Hodgson.
[791] Ventre-lagenæ. "A gorbellied flagon." Shakspeare.
[792] Secures.
"His biscuit and his bread the sailor brings
On board: 'tis well. But hatchets are the things." Badh.
[793] Staminis albi. The "white" or "black" threads of the Parcæ were supposed to symbolize the good or bad fortune of the mortal whose yarn Clotho was spinning. Mart. iv. Ep. 73, "Ultima volventes oraba pensa sorores, Ut traherent parva stamina pulla morâ." VI. Ep. 58, "Si mihi lanificæ ducunt non pulla sorores Stamina." Hor. ii. Od. iii. 16, "Sororum fila trium patiuntur atra."
[794] Prælata Lavino. Virg. Æn. i. 267, seq. Liv. i. 1, 3. Tibull. II. v. 49.
[795] Scrofa. Virg. Æn. iii. 390, "Littoreis ingens inventa sub ilicibus sus, Triginta capitum fœtus enixa jacebit, Alba solo recubans, albi circum ubera nati. Is locus urbis erit, requies ea certa laborum,"—and viii., 43.
[796] Moles. This massive work was designed and begun by Julius Cæsar, executed by Claudius, and repaired by Trajan. It is said to have employed thirty thousand men for eleven years. Suetonius thus describes it (Claud., c. 20): "Portum Ostiæ exstruxit circumducto dextrâ sinistrâque brachis, et ad introitum profundo jam solo mole objectâ, quam quò stabilius fundaret, navem ante demersit, quâ magnus obeliscus, ex Ægypto fuerat advectus; congestisque pilis superposuit altissimam turrim in exemplum Alexandrini Phari, ut ad nocturnos ignes cursum navigia dirigerent." (Cf. vi., 83. The Pharos of Alexandria was built by Sostratus, and accounted one of the seven wonders of the world.)
"Enter the moles, that running out so wide
Clasp in their giant arms the billowy tide,
That leave afar diminishing the land,
More wondrous than the works of nature's hand." Hodgson.
[797] Vertice raso. It was the custom in storms at sea to vow the hair to some god, generally Neptune: and hence slaves, when manumitted, shaved their heads, "quod tempestatem servitutis videbantur effugere, ut naufragis liberati solent." Cf. Pers., iii., 106, "Hesterni capite inducto subiere Quirites." Hodgson has an excellent note on the "mystical attributes" of hair.
[798] Linguis animisque faventes. Cic., de Div., i., 102, "Omnibus rebus agendis, Quod bonum, faustum, felix, fortunatumque esset, præfabantur: rebusque divinis, quæ publicè fierent, ut faverent linguis imperabant: inque feriis imperandis ut litibus et jurgiis se abstinerent." Cf. Hor., iii., Od. i., 2, "Favete linguis." Virg., Æn., v., 71, "Ore favete omnes." Hor., Od., III., xiv., 11; Tibull., II., ii., 2, "Quisquis ades linguâ, vir, mulierque fave." So εὐφημεῖν; cf. Eurip., Hec., 528, seq.
[799] Sacro quod præstat; i. e., the sacrifices mentioned in the beginning of the Satire, viz., to Juno, Pallas, and Tarpeian Jove, and therefore more important than those to the Lares.
[800] Placabo. Cf. Hor., i., Od. 36, 1. Orell.
[801] Nostrum, i. e., his own Lar familiaris. Cf. ix., 137, "O Parvi nostrique Lares." For the worship of these Lares, Junones, and Genius, see Dennis's Etruria, vol. i., p. lv.
[802] Erexit janua ramos. Cf. ad ix., 85.
[803] Operatur festa. Perhaps read with Lipsius, "operitur festa," "in festive-guise is covered with." Virgil, however, uses "operatus" similarly. Georg., i., 339, "Sacra refer Cereri lætis operatus in herbis." Cf. ad ix., 117.
"All savors here of joy: luxuriant bay
O'ershades my portal, while the taper's ray
Anticipates the feast and chides the tardy day." Gifford.
[804] Gallita. Tacitus (Hist., i., 73) speaks of a Gallita Crispilina, or, as some read, Calvia Crispinilla, as a "magistra libidinum Neronis," and as "potens pecuniâ et orbitate, quæ bonis malisque temporibus juxtà valent." Paccius Africanus is mentioned also Hist., iv., 41.
[805] Tabellis. Cf. ad x., 55, "Propter quæ fas est genua incerare deorum."
[806] Hecatomben. The hecatomb properly consisted of oxen, 100 being sacrificed simultaneously on 100 different altars. But sheep or other victims were also offered. The poor sometimes vowed an ὠῶν ἑκατόμβη. Emperors are said to have sacrificed 100 lions or eagles. Suetonius says, that above 160,000 victims were slaughtered in honor of Caligula's entering the city. Calig., c. 14.
[807] Nostris ducibus. Curius Dentatus was the first to lead elephants in triumph. Metellus, after his victory over Asdrubal, exhibited two hundred and four. Plin., viii., 6. L. Scipio, father-in-law to Pompey, employed thirty in battle against Cæsar. The Romans first saw elephants in the Tarentine war, against Pyrrhus; and as they were first encountered in Lucania, they gave the elephant the name of "Bos Lucas." So Hannibal. See x., 158, "Gætula ducem portaret bellua luscum."
[808] Ister Pacuvius. Cf. ii., 58.
[809] Iphigenia. Cf. Æsch., Ag., 39, seq., and the exquisite lines in Lucretius, i., 85-102; but Juvenal seems to have had Ovid's lines in his head, Met., xii., 28, seq., "Postquam pietatem publica causa, Rexque patrem vicit, castumque datura cruorem Flentibus ante aram stetit Iphigenia ministris: Victa dea est, nubemque oculis objecit, et inter Officium turbamque sacri, vocesque precantum, Supposita fertur mutâsse Mycenida cervâ."
[810] Mille. στόλον Ἀργείων χιλιοναύτην. Æsch., Ag., 44.
[811] Libitinam. Properly an epithet of Venus (the goddess who presides over deaths as well as births), in whose temple all things belonging to funerals were sold. Cf. Plut., Qu. Rom., 23. Servius Tullius enacted that a sestertius should be deposited in the temple of Venus Libitina for every person that died, in order to ascertain the number of deaths. Dion. Halic., iv., 79. Cf. Liv., xl., 19; xli., 21. Suet., Ner., 39, "triginta funerum millia in rationem Libitinæ venerunt." Hor., iii., Od. xxx., 6; ii., Sat. vi., 19.
[812] Nassa is properly an "osier weel," κύρτη for catching fish. Plin., xxi., 18, 59.
[813] Solo. Cf. i., 68, "Exiguis tabulis;" ii., 58, "Solo tabulas impleverit Hister Liberto;" vi., 601, "Impleret tabulas."
"What are a thousand vessels to a will!
Yes! every blank Pacuvius' name shall fill." Hodgson.
[814] Nestora. Cf. Hom., Il., i., 250; Od., iii., 245. Mart., vi., Ep. lxx., 12, "Ætatem Priami Nestorisque." X., xxiv., 11. Cf. ad x., 246.
[815] Rapuit Nero. Vid. Tac., Ann., xv., 42, Brotier's note. Suetonius (Nero, c. 32), after many instances of his rapacity, subjoins the following: "Nulli delegavit officium ut non adjiceret Scis quid mihi opus sit:" et "Hoc agamus ne quis quidquam habeat." "Ultimot emplis compluribus dona detraxit."
[816] Nec amet.
"Nor ever be, nor ever find, a friend!" Dryden.