(It is forbidden even to mention thee (viz. the penis) in serious discourse. I have begun to do penance for my words and to feel the glow of a secret blush, because forgetful of my modesty I expressed in words that part of the body, which men of the stricter type refuse to admit even into their thoughts.) So the collector of Priapeia appeals to the reader: Conveniens Latio pone supercilium! (Lay aside the disapproving frown that befits Latium); and later on people used to say of such talk, they wished to speak plain Latin, just as we say, speak plain English; while the Greek would excuse himself by his ἄγροικος καὶ ἄμουσός εἰμι, (I am but am unpolished rustic).
[6] Satir. II. 8-13.
[7] Athenaeus, Deipnosoph. bk. XIII. ch. 21.—Comp. Aristotle, Politics bk. VII. ch. 17.
[8] Bk. XII. Epigr. 43.—Comp. H. Paldamus, “Römische Erotik.” Greisswald 1833. large 8vo.
[9] Priapeia, Carm. 1.
Ludens haec ego teste te, Priape,
Horto carmina digna, non libello;
Ergo quidquid est, quod otiosus
Templi parietibus tui notavi
In partem accipias bonam rogamus.