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, Centenasque 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 οὐκ 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.