She does not grant, nor yet refuse.”
Elphinston.
In contrast to the hyperbolical expressions of the satirical writers, we are made acquainted in the letters of the younger Pliny, with a number of women of noble character; the historians too, especially Tacitus, as well as inscriptions on the monuments prove—if proof were required—that even in this corrupt age feminine virtue and loftiness of character were not rare. It is natural, that a satirical author should have special keenness of vision for errors and weaknesses.
[158] What Ravidus?. The poem to which Martial here alludes is found Cat. Carm. XL.
“Quaenam te mala mens, miselle Ravide
Agit praecipitem in meos iambos?”
[159] Tryphon, (Lupercus). The episode described here, which seems almost like a satirical allusion to the present time, is only one of Martial’s epigrams transposed into action. (Mart. Ep. I, 117.)
“As oft, Sir Tradewell, as we meet,
You’re sure to ask me in the street,
When you shall send your boy to me,