v. 5. Seni recocto. Horace applies this epithet to one who has served the office of quinquevir, or proconsul's notary, and who was therefore master of all the arts of chicanery. These are his words, Sat. v. lib. 2:
Plerumque recoctus
Scriba ex quinqueviro corvum deludit hiantem.
A seasoned scrivener, bred in office low,
Full often dupes and mocks the gaping crow. Francis.
The modern Italians say of a man of this stamp, Egli ha cotto il culo ne' ceci rossi. The phrase seni recocto may imply one who enjoys a green and vigorous old age, as if made young again, as the old woman was by wine, of whom Petronius speaks, Anus recocta vino; or Æson, who was re-cooked by Medaea. That witch, says Valerius Flaccus, Recoquit fessos aetate parentes.
C. lvi. v. 6. Trusantem. Many read crissantem, which means the movement of the loins in women; ceventem being the like of a man. As the expression refers to the lad, crissantem cannot be correct.
v. 7. Pro telo. Alluding to the custom of punishing adulterers by transfixing them with darts. The double-entendre of Telo with Mentula is evident, and makes clear the apology to Venus. See lib. 9 of Apuleius for a similar passage.
C. lvii. v. 7. Erudituli. The accomplishments alluded to are not literary, but Priapeian. It is in this sense Petronius calls Gito doctissimus puer. Œzema, a grave German jurist, parodied a part of this piece. His epigram can be read without danger of having one's stomach turned.