FOOTNOTES:
[922] Fuscinus. Nothing is known of him.
"Fuscinus, those ill deeds that sully fame,
And lay such blots upon an honest name,
In blood once tainted, like a current run
From the lewd father to the lewder son." Dryden.
[923] Alea, i., 89. Cf. Propert., IV., viii., 45, "Me quoque per talos Venerem quærente secundos, Semper damnosi subsiluere Canes." The Romans used four dice in throwing, which were thrown on a table with a rim (alveolus or abacus), out of a dice-box made of horn, box-wood, or ivory. This fritillus was a kind of cup, narrower at the top than below. When made in the form of a tower, with graduated intervals, it was called pyrgus, turricula, or phimus.
[924] Ludit.
"Repeats in miniature the darling vice;
Shakes the low box, and cogs the little dice." Gifford.
[925] Tubera. Cf. v., 116, seq. Mart., Ep. xiii., 50.
[926] Boletum. Cf. v., 147. Mart., Ep. xiii., 48.
[927] Ficedulas. Mr. Metcalfe translates "snipes." Cf. Mart., Ep. xiii., 49, "Cum me ficus alat, cum pascar dulcibus uvis, Cur potius nomen non dedit uva mihi?"
[928] Gula, i., 140.
[929] Septimus. Plin., vii., 16, "Editis infantibus primores dentes septimo gignuntur mense: iidem anno septimo decidunt, aliique sufficiuntur."
[930] Barbatos. Pers., iv., 1, "Barbatum hoc crede magistrum dicere sorbitio tollit quem dira cicutæ." Cic., Fin., iv., "Barba sylvosa et pulchre alita, quamvis res ipsa sit exterior et fortuita, inter hominis eruditi insignia recensetur."
[931] Rutilus. Used probably indefinitely, as in Sat. xi., 2, "Si Rutilus, demens." Rutilus was a surname of the Marcian, Virginian, and Nantian clans.
[932] Servorum. Gifford quotes an apposite passage from Macrobius, i., 2, "Tibi autem unde in servos tantum et tam immane fastidium? Quasi non ex iisdem tibi constent et alantur elementis, eumdemque spiritum ab eodem principe carpant!"
[933] Sirena. Cf. ix., 150.
[934] Antiphates, king of the cannibal Læstrygones. Hom., Odys., x., 114, seq. Ovid, Met., xiv., 233, seq.
[935] Tortore. vi., 480, "Sunt quæ tortoribus annua præstent."
"Knows no delight, save when the torturer's hand
Stamps for low theft the agonizing brand." Gifford.
[936] Ergastula. Cf. ad viii., 180. Put here, as in vi., 151, for the slaves themselves. As 15 freemen were said to constitute a state, and 15 slaves a familia, so "quindecim vincti" form one Ergastulum. It properly means the Bridewell, where they were set to "travaux forcis." Liv., ii., 23; vii., 4. The country prisons were generally under-ground dungeons. Branding on the forehead was a common punishment. Thieves had the word "Fur" burnt in; hence called "literati homines," "homines trium literarum." Plaut., Aul., II., iv., 46. Cicero calls one "compunctum notis, stigmatiam," Off., ii., 7. So "Inscripti vultus," Plin., xviii., 3. "Inscripti," Martial, Ep. viii, 79. Cf. Plin., Paneg., 35. Sat. x., 183. Plaut., Cas., II., vi., 49.
[937] Largæ. Cf. vi., 239, "Scilicet expectas ut tradat mater honestos atque alios mores quam quos habet?" x., 220, "Promptius expediam quot amaverit Hippia mæchos."
[938] Dictante. vi., 223, "Illa docet missis a corruptore tabellis, nil rude, nil simplex rescribere."
[939] Exempla. From Cic, Ep., iv., 3, "Quod exemplo fit, id etiam jure fieri putant."
[940] Exempla domestica.
"Thus Nature bids our home's examples win
The passive mind to imitative sin,
And vice, unquestion'd, makes its easy way,
Sanction'd by those our earliest thoughts obey." Badham.
[941] Luto. Callim., fr. 133, εἴ σε Προμηθεὺς ἔπλασε καὶ πηλοῦ μὴ 'ξ ἑτέρου γέγονας. Ovid, Met, i., 80, "Sive recens tellus seductaque nuper ab alto æthere cognati retinebat semina cœli; Quam satus Iapeto mixtam fluvialibus undis finxit in effigiem moderantûm cuncta Deorum." Cf. Sat. vi., 13, "Compositive luto nullos habuere parentes."
[942] Orbita, from orbis; "the track of a wheel." So by the same metaphor the "routine," or course of life.
[943] Abstineas.
"O cease from sin! should other reasons fail
Lest our own frailties make our children frail." Badham.
[944] Brutus was the son of Servilia, the sister of Cato of Utica (cf. x., 319). So Sen., Ep. 97, "Omne tempus Clodios, non omne Catones fert."
[945] Procul hinc. The formula at religious solemnities. Cf. ii., 89. Ov., Met., vii., 255, "Hinc procul Æsonidem, procul hinc jubet ire ministros, et monet arcanis oculos removere profanos."
[946] Parasiti. Cf. i., 139.
[947] Reverentia.
"His child's unsullied purity demands
The deepest reverence at a parent's hands." Badham.
[948] Censoris. Henninius' reading and punctuation is followed here.
"Oh yet reflect! For should he e'er provoke,
In riper age, the Law's avenging stroke
(Since not alone in person and in face,
But morals, he will prove your son, and trace,
Nay pass your vicious footsteps), you will rail,
And name another heir, should threatening fail!" Gifford.
[949] Cerebro. Plin., ix., 37, "Cerebrum est velut arx sensuum: hic mentis est regimen."
[950] Cucurbita. Properly a kind of gourd, κολοκύνθη thence from its shape, and perhaps too from its use, applied to a cupping-glass. These were made of horn, brass, and afterward of glass. The Greeks, from the same cause, called it σικύα, or κύαθος (cf. Schol. ad Arist., Lys., 444). It is called ventosa from the rarefication of the air in the operation, and was applied to relieve the head. Hence cucurbitæ caput is used for a fool. Cf. Appul., Met., I, "Nos cucurbitæ caput non habemus, ut pro te moriamur!"
[951] Lavet. Browne says, "Who washes silver plate?" and prefers the reading "leve." "But might not his patellæ be of silver?" iii., 261, "Domus intereà secura patellas jam lavat."
[952] Aspera. Cf. i., 76, "Argentum vetus et stantem extrà pocula caprum." v., 38, "Inæquales beryllo phialas." Virg., Æn., ix., 266, "Argento perfecta atque aspera signis pocula." Ovid., Met., v., 81, "Altis exstantem signis cratera." xii., 235, "Signis exstantibus asper Antiquus crater." xiii., 700, "Hactenus antiquo signis fulgentibus ære, Summus inaurato crater erat asper acantho."
"'Sweep the dry cobwebs down!' the master cries,
Whips in his hand, and fury in his eyes:
'Let not a spot the clouded columns stain,
Scour you the figured silver; you the plain!'" Gifford.
[953] Patriæ populoque, an ancient formula. Cf. Liv., v., 41. So Horace joins them, "Hoc fonte derivata clades in patriam populumque fluxit," iii., Od. vi., 20 (vid. Orell. in loc.). Ovid, Met., xv., 572, "Seu lætum est, patriæ lætum, populoque Quirini."
"Thy grateful land shall say 'tis nobly done,
If thou bring'st up to public use thy son;
Fit for the various tasks allotted men,
A warlike chief, a prudent citizen." Hodgson.
[954] Serpente. Pliny (H. N., x., 23) alludes to the same circumstance with regard to storks. "Illis in Thessaliâ tantus honos serpentum exitio habitus est, ut ciconiam occidere capitale sit, eadem legibus pœna, quâ in homicidas."
"Her progeny the stork with serpents feeds,
And finds them lizards in the devious meads:
The little storklings, when their wings are grown,
Look out for snakes and lizards of their own." Badham.
[955] Famulæ Jovis. Æsch., Prom. V., 1057, Διὸς πτηνὸς κύων, δαφοινὸς ἀετός. Hor., iv., Od. iv., 1, "Qualem ministrum fulminis alitem," etc.
[956] Leporem. Virg., Æn., ix., 563, seq., "Qualis ubi aut leporem aut candenti corpora cycnum Sustulit alta petens pedibus Jovis armiger uncis."
"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." Gifford.
[957] Caietæ, now "Mola di Gaeta," called from Æneas's nurse. Virg., Æn., vii., 1, "Tu quoque littoribus nostris, Æneia nutrix, Æternam moriens famam Caieta dedisti. Et nunc servat honos sedem tuus."
[958] Tibur, now "Tivoli," on the Anio, built on a steep acclivity. Hence "supinum," Hor., iii., Od. iv., 23. Cf. iii., 192, "aut proni Tiburis arce."
[959] Præneste, now "Palestrina," said to have been founded by Cæculus, son of Vulcan. Vid. Virg., Æn., vii., 678.
[960] Græcis. Cf. Stat. Sylv., III., i., 5, "Sed nitidos postes Graiisque effulta metallis culmina." The green marble of Tænarus was very highly prized. Vid. Plin., H. N. xxxvi., 7. Prop., III., ii., 9, "Quod non Tænariis domus est mihi fulta columnis." Tibull., III., iii., 13, "Quidve domus prodest Phrygiis innixa columnis, Tænare sive tuis, sive Caryste tuis." Among other foreign marbles, Pliny mentions the Egyptian, Naxian, Armenian, Parian, Chian, Sicyonian, Synnadic, Numidian. Augustus introduced the use of marble in public buildings, and many edifices of his time were constructed of solid marble. All the columns of the temple of Mars Ultor are of marble. (Vid. Niebuhr's Lectures, vol. iii., p. 299. Sat. xi., 182, "Longis Numidarum fulta columnis." Hor., ii., Od. xviii., 4, "Columnas ultimâ recisas Africâ." Lucian, Hipp., p. 507, ed. Bened.) But the more general use of it did not begin till the reign of Nero, when Greek architecture became prevalent.
[961] Fortunæ. The temple of Fortune at Præneste was erected by Augustus. Hence she was called Dea Prænestina, and the oracles delivered there "Sortes Prænestinæ." Suet., Tib., 63. Propert., II., xxxii., 3. Cf. Ov., Fast., vi., 62. (From Stat. Sylv., I., iii., 80, "Quod ni templa darent alias Tirynthia sortes, et Prænestinæ poterant migrare Sorores," it appears that at Præneste, as at Antium, there were two Fortunes worshiped as sister-goddesses. Cf. Suet., Calig., 57. Mart., v., Ep. i., 3. Orell. ad Hor., i., Od. xxxv., 1.) The temple of Hercules at Tibur was built by Marcius Philippus, step-father of Augustus. Cf. Suet., Aug., 29. Prop., II., xxxii., 5.
[962] Posides. Vid. Suet., Claud., 28, "Libertorum præcipuè suspexit Posiden spadonem quem etiam, Britannico triumpho, inter militares viros hastâ purâ donavit." Like Claudius' other freedmen, he amassed immense wealth.
[963] Verpos. Some of the commentators waste a great amount of zeal, and no little knowledge, to show us that these lines prove Juvenal to have been in utter ignorance of the Mosaic law. I presume Juvenal means to tell us what the Jews did, not what the Jewish law taught; which had they followed, they would not have been in Rome for Juvenal to write about. These lines, in fact, instead of contradicting Josephus, confirm his account of the state of his countrymen, and are another valuable testimony to prove that they "had made the word of God of none effect through their traditions." What should we say of Messrs. Johnson, Malone, and Steevens, were they to gravely demonstrate that Shakspeare wrote in ignorance of the tenets of Judaism when he introduces Shylock coveting Signor Antonio's "pound of flesh?"
[964] Septima. Cf. Tac., His., v., 4, "Septimo die otium placuisse ferunt; quia is finem laborum tulerit; dein blandiente inertiâ, septimum quoque annum ignaviæ datum."
[965] Specie. Hor., A. P., 25, "Decipimur specie recti." Pers., v., 105, "Et veri speciem dignoscere calles."
"For this grave vice, assuming Virtue's guise,
Seems Virtue's self to superficial eyes." Gifford.
[966] Frugi. Hor., i., Sat. iii., 49, "Parcius hic vivit, frugi dicatur."
[967] Tutela. Hor., A. P., 169, "Vel quod Quærit, et inventis miser abstinet ac timet uti," and l. 325-333.
[968] Hesperidum. Vid. Ov., Met., iv., 627, seq. Virg., Æn., iv., 480, seq. Athen., iii., p. 82, ed. Dindorf.
[969] Artificem.
"And reasoning from the fortune he has made,
Hail him a perfect master of his trade." Gifford.
[970] Animi. Hor., i., Ep. xv., 45, "Vos sapere et solos aio bene vivere quorum Conspicitur nitidis fundata pecunia villis."
[971] Elementa.
"Vice boasts its elements, like other arts:
These he inculcates first; anon imparts
The petty tricks of saving: last inspires
Of endless wealth th' insatiable desires." Gifford.
[972] Servorum. Juvenal had evidently Theophrastus' αἰσχροκερδὴς in his eye: τὰ δὲ καταλειπόμενα ἀπὸ τῆς τραπέζης ἡμίση τῶν ῥαφανίδων ἀπογράφεσθαι, ἵνα οἱ διακονοῦντες παῖδες μὴ λάβωσι.
[973] Modio iniquo. Cf. Theophr., Char., 80 (π. αίσχροκερδ.), φειδωνίῳ μέτρῳ τὸν πύνδακα ἐγκεκρουσμένῳ μετρεῖν αὐτὸς τοῖς ἔνδον τὰ ἐπιτήδεια σφόδρα ἀποψῶν.
[974] Mucida. v., 68, "Solidæ jam mucida frusta farinæ."
[975] Septembri. The hottest and most unhealthy month in Rome. Cf. vi., 517. Hor., i., Ep. xvi., 16.
[976] Minutal. The μυττωτὸς and περίκομμα of Aristophanes. Martial describes one, lib. xi., Ep. xxxi. Cf. Apic, iv., 3.
[977] Hesternum. So Θοίνην ἕωλον. Athen., vii., 2. Mart., i., Ep. civ., 7, "Deque decem plures semper servantur olivæ, explicat et cœnas unica mensa duas."
[978] Conchem. iii., 293, "Cujus conche tumes."
[979] Lacerti. Mart., x., Ep. 48, "Secta coronabunt rutatos ova lacertos." xii., Ep. 19. Celsus, ii., 18, mentions the Lacertus among the fish "ex quibus salsamenta fiunt, et quorum cibus gravissimus est." The Silurus was a common and coarse Egyptian fish, sent over salted to Rome. Cf. iv., 33.
[980] Porri. iii., 294, "Quis tecum sectile porrum." Cf. Plin., H.N., xix., 6.
[981] Ponte. Cf. iv., 116, "Cæcus adulator dirusque a ponte satelles." v., 8, "Nulla crepido vacat? nusquam pons et tegetis pars dimidia brevior?" Mart., x., Ep. v., 3, "Erret per urbem pontis exsul et clivi, interque raucos ultimus rogatores oret caninas panis improbi buccas." Ovid, Ibis, 420, "Quique tenent pontem."
[982] Phrenesis. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 82, "Danda est Hellebori multo pars maxima avaris: Nescio an Anticyram ratio illis destinet omnem." So Cicero, de Senec., 65, "Avaritia vero senilis quid sibi velit, non intelligo: potest enim esse quidquam absurdius, quam quo minus viæ restat eò plus viatici quærere?"
[983] Crescit. So Ovid, Fast., i., 211, "Creverunt et opes, et opum furiosa cupido et cum possideant plurima plura volunt. Quærere ut absumant, absumta requirere certant: atque ipsæ vitiis sunt alimenta vices."
[984] Proferre. Liv., i., 33. Virg., Æn., vi., 796. Hor., ii., Od. xviii., 17. ii., Sat. vi., 8, "O si angulus ille proximus accedat qui nunc denormat agellum."
[985] Novalia. Put here for the crops on any good land. Plin., H. N., xviii., 19, "Novale est quod alternis annis seritur." Cf. Virg., Georg., i., 71, "Alternis idem tonsas cessare novales et segnem patiere situ durescere campum," with Martyn's note. Varro, de L. L., iv., 4, "Ager restibilis, qui restituitur ac reseritur quotquot annis; Contrà qui intermittitur, à novando novalis est ager." It means properly land recently cleared. "Ager novus cui nunc primum immissum est aratrum (virgin soil), cum antea aut sylva esset, aut terra nunquam proscissa et culta in segetem." Facc. Then it is used for any cultivated land. Virg., Ecl., i., 71. Stat., Theb., iii., 644, 5.
[986] Sævos. So Hor., ii., Sat. vii., 5, "Quæ prima iratum ventrem placaverit esca."
"Turn in by night thy cattle, starved and lean,
Amid his growing crops of waving green;
Nor lead them forth till all the field be bare,
As if a thousand sickles had been there." Badham.
[987] Quid nocet hoc? Cf. i., 48, "Quid enim salvis infamia nummis!" Hor., i., Sat. i., 63, "Ut quidam memoratur Athenis, Sordidus ac dives populi contemnere voces sic solitus: Populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo Ipse domi, simul ac nummos contemplor in arcâ."
[988] Vicinia. Hor., ii., Sat. v., 106, "Egregiè factum laudet vicinia."
[989] Morbis. Cf. Hor., i., Sat. i., 80, "At si condoluit tentatum frigore corpus, aut alius casus lecto te affixit; habes qui assideat, fomenta paret, medicum roget ut te suscitet ac reddat natis carisque propinquis."
"What! canst thou thus bid mortal sickness cease?
Thus from life's lightest cares compel release?
Though twenty plowshares turn thy vast domain,
Shalt thou live longer unchastised by pain?" Badham.
[990] Jugera bina. Liv., vi., 16, "Satricum coloniam deduci jussit; bina jugera et semisses agri assignati." c., 36, "Auderentne postulare, ut quum bina jugera agri plebi dividerentur, ipsis plus quingenta jugera habere liceret?" The colonists sent to occupy the conquered country received, as their allotment of the land taken from the enemy, two acres apiece. The jugerum was nearly five eighths of an English acre, i. e., 2 roods, 19 perches, and a fraction. The semissis is the same as the actus quadratus. Cf. Varro, R. R., i., 10. Plin., H. N., xviii., 2.
[991] Vernula. Cf. x., 117, "Quem sequitur custos angustæ vernula capsæ." The verna (οἰκοτραφὴς) was so called, "qui in villis vere natus, quod tempus duce natura feturæ est." Fest. Others say that it became a term of reproach from having been first given to those who were born in the Ver Sacrum. Cf. Fest, s. v. Mamertini. Strabo, v., p. 404. Liv., xxxiv., 44. Just., xxiv., 4. These home-born slaves, though more despised from having been born in a state of servitude, were treated with great fondness and indulgence. Sen., Prov., i., f., "Cogita filiorum nos modestia delèctari, vernularum licentia: illos tristiori disciplinâ contineri; horum ali audaciam."
[992] Domini. Cf. Plaut., Capt. Pr., 18, "Licet non hæredes sint, domini sunt."
[993] Grassatur. iii., 305, "Interdum et ferro subitus grassator agit rem."
[994] Cito vult fieri. Cf. Menand., οὐδεὶς ἐπλούτησε ταχέως δίκαιος ὤν. Prov., xxviii., 20, "He that maketh haste to be rich, shall not be innocent."
"What law restrains, what scruples shall prevent
The desperate man on swift possessions bent?" Badham.
[995] Numina ruris. Cf. Virg., Georg., i., 7, "Liber et alma Ceres vestro si munere tellus Chaoniam pingui glandem mutavit aristâ." So Fast., i., 671, "Placentur matres frugum Tellusque Ceresque Farre suo gravidæ, visceribusque suis. Consortes operum, per quas correcta vetustas, Quernaque glans victa est utiliore cibo." iv., 399, "Postmodo glans nata est bene erat jam glande reperta, duraque magnificas quercus habebat opes. Prima Ceres homini ad meliora alimenta vocato mutavit glandes utiliore cibo." So Sat., vi., 10, "Et sæpe horridior glandem ructante marito." Sulp., 16, "Non aliter primo quàm cum surreximus ævo, Glandibus et puræ rursus procumbere lymphæ."
[996] Perone. Virg., Æn., vii., 690, "Crudus tegit altera pero." The pero was a rustic boot, reaching to the middle of the leg, made of untanned leather. Cf. Pers., v., 102, "Navem si poscat sibi peronatus arator Luciferi rudis."
"No guilty wish the simple plowman knows,
High-booted tramping through his country snows;
Clad in his shaggy cloak against the wind,
Rough his attire and undebauch'd his mind:
The foreign purple, better still unknown,
Makes all the sins of all the world our own." Hodgson.
[997] Media de nocte. Cf. Arist., Nub., 8, seq.
[998] Rubras. Cf. Pers., v., 90, "Excepto si quid Masuri rubrica vetavit." Ov., Trist., I., i., 7, "Nec titulus minio nec cedro charta notetur." Mart., iii., Ep. ii., "Et te purpura delicata velet, et cocco rubeat superbus index." In ordinary books, the titles and headings of the chapters were written in red letters. But in law-books the text was in red letter, and the commentaries and glosses in black.
[999] Pilosas. ii., 11, "Hispida membra quidem et duræ per brachia setæ promittunt atrocem animum." Combs were usually made of box-wood. Ov., Fast., vi., 229, "Non mihi detonsos crines depectere buxo." Mart., xiv., Ep. xxv., 2, "Quid faciet nullos hic inventura capillos, multifido buxus quæ tibi dente datur."
[1000] Attegias, a word of Arabic origin. The Magalia of Virgil, Æn., i., 425; iv., 259, and Mapalia of Silius Italicus, ii., 437, seq., xvii., 88. Virg., Georg., iii., 340. Low round hovels, sometimes on wheels like the huts of the Scythian nomadæ, called from their shape "Cohortes rotundæ," "hen-coops." Cat. ap. Fest. They are described by Sallust (Bell. Jug., 20) as "Ædificia Numidarum agrestium, oblonga, incurvis lateribus tecta, quasi navium carinæ;" and by Hieron. as "furnorum similes." Probably when fixed they were called Magalia; whence the name of the ancient part of Carthage, from the Punic "Mager." When locomotive, Mapalia. Livy says that when Masinissa fled before Syphax to Mount Balbus, "familiæ aliquot cum mapalibus pecoribusque suis persecuti sunt regem."
[1001] The Brigantes were the most ancient and most powerful of the British nations, extending from sea to sea over the counties of York, Durham, Lancaster, Westmoreland, and Cumberland. Tac., Agric., 17. The famous Cartismandua was their queen, with whom Caractacus took refuge. Tac., Ann., xii., 32, 6. Hist., iii., 45. Hadrian was in Britain, A.D. 121, when his Foss was constructed.
[1002] Lucri bonus est odor. Alluding to Vespasian's answer to Titus. Vid. Suet., Vesp., 23, "Reprehendenti filio Tito, quod etiam urinæ vectigal commentus esset, pecuniam ex primâ pensione admovit ad nares, sciscitans, num odore offenderetur; et illo negante, atqui, inquit ex lotio est." Martial alludes to the fact of offensive trades being banished to the other side of the Tiber. VI., xciii., 4, "Non detracta cani Transtiberina cutis." I., Ep. xlii., 3; cix., 2.
[1003] Poetæ. Ennius is said to have taken this sentiment from the Bellerophon of Euripides. Horace has also imitated it; i., Ep. i., 65, "Rem facias; rem si possis rectè, si non quôcumque modo rem." Cf. Seneca, Epist. 115, "Non quare et unde; quid habeas tantum rogant." (No sentiment of the kind is to be found in the fragments of either.)
"No! though compell'd beyond the Tiber's flood
To move your tan-yard, swear the smell is good,
Myrrh, cassia, frankincense; and wisely think
That what is lucrative can never stink." Hodgson.
[1004] Peleus. Thetis was given in marriage to Peleus, because it had been foretold that she should give birth to a son who should be greater than his father; and therefore Jupiter was obliged to forego his passion for her. Vid. Æsch., Prom. Vinct., 886, seq. Pind., Isthm., viii., 67. Nonnus, Dionys., xxxiii., 356.
[1005] Parcendum teneris. Parodied from Virg., Georg., ii., 363, "Ac dum prima novis adolescit frondibus ætas, parcendum teneris."
[1006] Tangens. In swearing, the Romans laid their hands on the altars consecrated to the gods to whose deity they appealed. Vid. Virg., Æn., pass. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 16. Cf. Sat. xiii., 89, "Atque ideo intrepide quæcunque altaria tangunt." Sil, iii., 82, "Tangat Elissæas palmas puerilibus aras." Liv., xxi., 1, "Annibalem annorum ferme novem, altaribus admotum tactis sacris jurejurando adactum, se quum primum posset, hostem fore populo Romano."
[1007] Mortiferâ. Cf. Pers., ii., 13, "Acri bile tumet. Nerio jam tertia conditur uxor."
"If Fate should help him to a dowried wife,
Her doom is fix'd, and brief her span of life:
Sound in her sleep, while murderous fingers grasp
Her slender throat, hark to the victim's gasp!" Badham.
[1008] Brevior via. So Tacitus (Ann., iii., 66), speaking of Brutidius (cf. Sat. x., 83), says, "Festinatio exstimulabat, dum æquales, dein superiores, postremò suasmet ipse spes anteire parat: quod multos etiam bonos pessum dedit qui, spretis quæ tarda cum securitate, præmatura vel cum exitio properarent."
[1009] The line "Et qui per fraudes patrimonia conduplicare" is now generally allowed to be an interpolation.
[1010] Effundit habenas. So Virg., Georg., i., 512, "Ut cum carceribus sese effudere quadrigæ addunt in spatia, et frustra retinacula tendens Fertur equis auriga, neque audit currus habenas." Æn., v., 818; xii., 499. Ov., Am., III., iv., 15. Cf. Shaksp., King Henry V., Act iii., sc. 3, "What rein can hold licentious wickedness, when down the hill he holds his fierce career?"
"With base advice to poison youthful hearts,
And teach them sordid, money-getting arts,
Is to release the horses from the rein,
And let them whirl the chariot o'er the plain:
Forward they gallop from the lessening goal,
Deaf to the voice of impotent control." Hodgson.
[1011] Donet amico. Hor., i., Sat. ii., 4, "Contra hic, ne prodigus esse Dicatur metuens, inopi dare nolit amico."
[1012] Levet. Cf. Isa., lviii., 6, "To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke." Gal., vi., 2.
[1013] Deciorum. Cf. ad viii., 254. Græcia vera. Cf. x., 174, "Quidquid Græcia mendax audet."
[1014] Menæceus. So called because he chose rather to "remain at home," and save his country from the Argive besiegers by self-sacrifice, than to escape, as his father urged, to Dodona. See the end of the Phœnissæ of Euripides, and the story of the pomegranates that grew on his grave, in Pausanias, ix., cap. xxv., 1. Cf. Cic., T. Qu., i., 48, and the end of the tenth book of Statius' Thebais.
[1015] Sulcis. Ov., Met., iii., 1-130. Virg., Georg., ii., 141, "Satis immanis dentibus hydri, nec galeis densisque virum seges horruit hastis."
[1016] Ignem. Pind., Pyth., iii., 66, πολλὰν τ' ὄρει πῦρ ἐξ ἑνὸς σπέρματος ἐνθορὸν ἀΐστωσεν ὕλαν.
[1017] Leo alumnus. There is said to be an allusion to a real incident which occurred under Domitian. Cf. Mart., Ep., de Spect., x., "Læserat ingrato leo perfidus ore magistrum ausus tam notas contemerare manus: sed dignas tanto persolvit crimine pœnas; et qui non tulerat verbera tela tulit." Æsch., Ag., 717, 34.
[1018] Mathematicis. Suet., Calig., 57; Otho, 4. Cf. Sat. iii., 43; vi., 553, 562. Among these famous astrologers the names of Thrasyllus, Sulla, Theogenes, Scribonius, and Seleucus are preserved. The calculations necessary for casting these nativities are called "numeri Thrasylli," "Chaldaicæ rationes," "numeri Babylonii." Hor., i., Od. xi., 2. Cic., de Div., ii., 47. Ov., Ibis, 209, seq.
[1019] Grave. Cf. Strat., Ep. lxxii., 4, φεῦ μοίρης τε κακῆς καὶ πατρὸς ἀθανάτου.
[1020] Stamine. Cf. iii., 27, "Dum superest Lachesi quod torqueat." x., 251, "De legibus ipse queratur Fatorum et nimio de stamine."
[1021] Cervina. Cf. x., 247, "Exemplum vitæ fuit a cornice secundæ." The crow is said to live for nine generations of men. The old Scholiast says the stag lives for nine hundred years. Vid. Anthol. Gr., ii., 9, ἡ φάος ἀθρήσασ' ἐλάφου πλέον ἡ χερὶ λαιᾷ γῆρας ἀριθμεῖσθαι δεύτερον ἀρξαμένη. In the caldron prepared by Medea to renovate Æson, we find, "vivacisque jecur cervi quibus insuper addit ora caputque novem cornicis sæcula passæ." Auson., Idyll., xviii., 3, "Hos novies superat vivendo garrula cornix, et quater egreditur cornicis sæcula cervus."
[1022] Archigenem. vi., 236; xiii., 98.
[1023] Mithridates. vi., 660, "Sed tamen et ferro si prægustarit Atrides Pontica ter victi cautus medicamina regis." x., 273, "Regem transeo Ponti." Cf. Plin., xxiii., 24; xxv., 11. Mart., v., Ep. 76, "Profecit poto Mithridates sæpe veneno, Toxica ne possent sæva nocere sibi." This composition (Synthesis) is described by Serenus Sammonicus, the physician, and consists of ludicrously simple ingredients. xxx., 578. Cf. Plin., xxiii., 8.
[1024] Ærata. Cf. xi., 26, "Quantum ferratâ distet ab arcâ Sacculus."
[1025] Vigilem Castora. So called, Grangæus says, "quod ante Castoris templum erant militum excubiæ." The temple of Mars Ultor, with its columns of marble, was built by Augustus. Suet., Aug., 29. To which Ovid alludes, Fast., v., 549, "Fallor an arma sonant? non fallimur, arma sonabant: Mars venit, et veniens bellica signa dedit. Ultor ad ipse suos cœlo descendit honores, Templaque in Augusto conspicienda foro."
[1026] Floræ. Cf. vi., 250. Ov., Fast., v., 183-330. The Floralia were first sanctioned by the government A.U.C. 514, in the consulship of Centho and Tuditanus, the year Livius began to exhibit. They were celebrated on the last day of April and the first and second of May. The lowest courtesans appeared on the stage and performed obscene dances. Cf. Lactant., i., 20. Pers., v., 178.
[1027] Cereris. The Ludi Circenses in honor of Ceres (vid. Tac., Ann., xv., 53, 74, Ruperti's note) consisted of horse-racing, and were celebrated the day before the ides of April. Ov., Fast., iv., 389, seq. They were instituted by C. Memmius when Curule Ædile, and were a patrician festival. Gell., ii., 24.
[1028] Cybeles. Cf. vi., 69; xi., 191.
[1029] Petauro. The exact nature of this feat of agility is not determined by the commentators. The word is derived from αὖρα and πέτομαι, and therefore seems to imply some machine for propelling persons through the air, which a line in Lucilius seems to confirm, "Sicuti mechanici cum alto exsiluere petauro." Fr. incert. xli. So Manilius, v., 434, "Corpora quæ valido saliunt excussa petauro, alternosque cient motus: elatus et ille nunc jacet atque hujus casu suspenditur ille, membraque per flammas orbesque emissa flagrantes." Mart., ii., Ep. 86, "Quid si per graciles vias petauri Invitum jubeas subire Ladam." XI., xxi., 3, "Quam rota transmisso toties intacta petauro." Holiday gives a drawing in which it resembles an oscillum or swing. Facciolati describes it as "genus ludi, quo homines per aërem rotarum pulsu jactantur."
[1030] Corycus was the northwestern headland of Crete, with an island of the same name lying off it. [There were two other towns of the same name, in Lydia and Cilicia, both infested with pirates; the latter gave its name to the famous Corycian cave. Pind., Pyth., i. Æsch., P. V., 350.]
[1031] Municipes. The Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται boasted, says Callimachus, that Crete was not only the birthplace, but also the burial-place of Jove. Cf. iv., 33, "Jam princeps equitum magnâ qui voce solebat vendere municipes pacta mercede siluros." So Martial calls Cumæan pottery-ware, "testa municeps Sibyllæ," xiv., Ep. cxiv., and Tyrian cloaks, "Cadmi municipes lacernas." Cf. Aristoph., Ach., 333, where Dicæopolis producing his coal-basket says, ὁ λάρκος δημότης ὁδ' ἐστ' ἐμός. Crete was famous for this "passum," a kind of rich raisin wine, which it appears from Athenæus the Roman ladies were allowed to drink. Lib. x., p. 440, e. Grangæus calls it "Malvoisie."
[1032] Lagenas. Cf. vii., 121.
[1033] Calpe, now Gibraltar. It is said to have been Epicurus' notion, that the sun, when setting in the ocean, hissed like red-hot iron plunged in water. Cf. Stat. Sylv., II., vii., 27, "Felix hen nimis et beata tellus, quæ pronos Hyperionis meatus summis oceani vides in undis stridoremque rotæ cadentis audis."
[1034] Aluta. Cf. vii., 192, "Appositam nigræ lunam subtexit alutæ," where it is used for the shoe-leather, as Mart., xii., Ep. 25, and ii., 29. Ov., A. A., iii., 271. It is a leathern apron in Mart., vii., Ep. 25, and a leathern sail in Cæs., B. Gall., III., xiii. Here it is a leathern money-bag. It takes its name from the alumen used in the process of tanning.
[1035] Oceani monstra. So Tacitus, Ann., ii., 24, "Ut quis ex longinquo revenerat, miracula narrabant, vim turbinum et inauditas volucres, monstra maris, ambiguas hominum et belluarum formas; visa sive ex metu credita."
[1036] Eumenidum. Eurip., Orest., 254, seq. Æsch., Eumen. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 132, seq.
[1037] Bove percusso. Soph., Aj. Cf. ad vii., 115; x., 84.
[1038] Curatoris. The Laws of the xii. tables directed that "Si furiosus essit, agnatorum gentiliumque in eo pecuniâque ejus potestas esto." Tab., v., 7. Cf. Hor., i., Ep. i., 102, "Nec medici credis nec curatoris egere à prætore dati." ii., Sat. iii., 217, "Interdicto huic omne adimat jus prætor."
[1039] Tabulâ. Cf. xii., 57, "Dolato confisus ligno, digitis a morte remotus quatuor aut septem, si sit latissima tæda."
"Who loads his bark till it can scarcely swim,
And leaves thin planks betwixt the waves and him!
A little legend and a figure small
Stamp'd on a scrap of gold, the cause of all!" Badham.
[1040] Cujus votis.
"Lo! where that wretched man half naked stands,
To whom of rich Pactolus all the sands
Were naught but yesterday! his nature fed
On painted storms that earn compassion's bread." Badham.
[1041] Tagus. Cf. iii., 55, "Omnis arena Tagi quodque in mare volvitur aurum." Mart., i., Ep. l., 15; x., Ep. xcvi., "Auriferumque Tagum sitiam." Ov., Met., ii., 251, "Quodque suo Tagus amne vehit fluit ignibus aurum."
[1042] The Pactolus flows into the Hermus a little above Magnesia ad Sepylum. Its sands were said to have been changed into gold by Midas' bathing in its waters, hence called εὔχρυσος by Sophocles. Philoct., 391. It flows under the walls of Sardis, and is closely connected by the poets with the name and wealth of Crœsus. The real fact being, that the gold ore was washed down from Mount Tmolus; which Strabo says had ceased to be the case in his time: lib. xiii., c. 4. Cf. Virg., Æn., x., 141, "Ubi pinguia culta exercentque vivi Pactolusque irrigat auro." Senec., Phœn., 604, "Et quà trahens opulenta Pactolus vada inundat auro rura." Athen., v. It is still called Bagouli.
[1043] Picta tempestate. Cf. ad xii., 27.
"Poor shipwreck'd sailor! tell thy tale and show
The sign-post daubing of thy watery woe." Hodgson.
[1044] Custodia.
"First got with guile, and then preserved with dread." Spenser.
[1045] Licinus. Cf. ad i., 109, "Ego possideo plus Pallante et Licinis."
[1046] Hamis. Hama, "a leathern bucket," from the ἅμη of Plutarch. Augustus instituted seven Cohortes Vigilum, who paraded the city at night under the command of their Præfectus, equipped with "hamæ" and "dolabræ" to prevent fires. Cf. Plin., x., Ep. 42, who, giving Trajan an account of a great fire at Nicomedia in his province, says, "Nullus in publico sipho, nulla hama, nullum denique instrumentum ad incendia compescenda." Tac., Ann., xv., 43, "Jam aqua privatorum licentia intercepta, quo largior, et pluribus locis in publicum flueret, custodes, et subsidia reprimendis ignibus in propatulo quisque haberet: nec communione parietum, sed propriis quæque muris ambirentur." (Ubi vid. Ruperti's note.) These custodes were called "Castellarii." Gruter. Cf. Sat. iii., 197, seq.
[1047] Phrygiaque columnâ. Cf. ad lin. 89.
[1048] Dolia nudi Cynici. Cf. ad xiii., 122. The story is told by Plutarch, Vit. Alex. Cf. Diog. Laert., VI., ii., 6. It is said that Diogenes died at Corinth, the same day Alexander died at Babylon. Cf. x., 171.
"The naked cynic mocks such anxious cares,
His earthen tub no conflagration fears:
If crack'd or broken, he procures a new;
Or, coarsely soldering, makes the old one do." Gifford.
[1049] Nullum numen. Cf. x., 365.
"Where prudence dwells, there Fortune is unknown,
By man a goddess made, by man alone." Badham.
[1050] Sitis atque fames. Hor., i., Sat. i., 73, "Nescis quo valeat nummus quem præbeat usum? Panis ematur, olus, vini Sextarius; adde Queis humana sibi doleat natura negatis."
[1051] Epicure. Cf. xiii., 122, "Non Epicurum suspicit exigui lætum plantaribus horti."
"As much as made wise Epicurus blest,
Who in small gardens spacious realms possess'd:
This is what nature's wants may well suffice;
He that would more is covetous, not wise." Dryden.
[1052] Summam. Cf. iii., 154, "De pulvino surgat equestri Cujus res legi non sufficit." Plin., xxxii., 2, "Tiberio imperante constitutem ne quis in equestri ordine censeretur, nisi cui ingenuo ipsi, patri, avoque paterno sestertia quadringenta census fuisset." Cf. i., 105; iii., 159, "Sic libitum vano qui nos distinxit Othoni."
[1053] Tertia Quadringenta. Suet., Aug., 41, "Senatorum Censum ampliavit, ac pro Octingentorum millium summâ, duodecies sestertio taxavit, supplevitque non habentibus."
[1054] Narcissi. Of his wealth Dio says (lx., p. 688), μέγιστον τῶν τότε ἀνθρώπων ἐδυνήθη μυριάδας τε γάρ πλείους μυρίων εἷχε. Narcissus and his other freedmen, Posides, Felix, Polybius, etc., exercised unlimited control over the idiotic Claudius, but Pallas and Narcissus were his chief favorites, "Quos decreto quoque senatus, non præmiis modo ingentibus, sed et quæstoriis prætoriisque ornamentis ornari libenter passus est:" and so much did they abuse his kindness, that when he was once complaining of the low state of his exchequer, it was said, "abundaturum si à duobus libertis in consortium reciperetur." Claudius would have certainly pardoned Messalina, had it not been for Narcissus. "Nec enim Claudius Messalinam interfecisset, nisi properâsset index, delator adulterii, et quodammodo imperator cædis Narcissus." See the whole account, Tac., Ann., xi., 26-38. Suet., Claud., 26, seq. On the accession of Nero, Narcissus was compelled by Agrippina to commit suicide. Cf. ad x., 330.
"No! nor his heaps, whom doting Claudius gave
Power over all, and made himself a slave;
From whom the dictates of command he drew,
And, urged to slay his wife, obedient slew." Hodgson.