[1161] Puls annua. Cf. Dionys. Hal., ii., 9, θεούς τε γάρ ἡγοῦνται τοὺς τέρμονας, καὶ θύουσιν αὐτοῖς ἔτι τῶν μὲν ἐμψύχων οὐδὲν· οὐ γάρ ὅσιον αἰμάττειν τοὺς λίθους· πελάνους δὲ Δήμητρος, καὶ ἄλλας τινὰς καρπῶν ἀπαρχάς. "For they hold the boundary stones to be gods; and sacrifice to them nothing that has life, because it would be impious to stain the stones with blood; but they offer wheaten cakes, and other first-fruits of their crops." The divisions of land were maintained by investing the stones which served as landmarks with a religious character: the removal of these, therefore, added the crime of sacrilege to that of dishonesty, and brought down on the heathen the curse invoked in the purer system of theology, "Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor's landmark." Deut., xxvii., 17. To these rude stones, afterward sculptured (like the Hermæ) into the form of the god Terminus above, the rustics went in solemn procession annually, and offered the produce of the soil; flowers and fruits, and the never-failing wine, and "mola salsa." Numa is said by Plutarch to have introduced the custom into Italy, and one of his anathemas is still preserved: "Qui terminum exarasit, ipsus et boves sacrei sunto." Cf. Blunt's Vestiges, p. 204. Hom., Il., xxi., 405. Virg., Æn., xii., 896.
[1162] Cæditio. xiii., 197, "Pœna sævior illis quas et Cæditius gravis invenit et Rhadamanthus." But it is very doubtful whether the same person is intended here, as also whether Fuscus is the same whose wife's drinking propensities are hinted at, xii., 45, "dignum sitiente Pholo, vel conjuge Fusci." (Pliny has an Epistle to Corn. Fuscus, vii., 9.) He is probably the Aurelius Fuscus to whom Martial wrote, vii., Ep. 28.
[1163] Sufflamine.
"Nor are their wealth and patience worn away
By the slow drag-chain of the law's delay." Gifford.
[1164] Testandi vivo patre. Under ordinary circumstances the power of a father over his son was absolute, extending even to life and death, and terminating only at the decease of one of the parties. Hence "peculium" is put for the sum of money that a father allows a son, or a master a slave, to have at his own disposal. But even this permission was revocable. A soldier, who was sui juris, was allowed to name an heir in the presence of three or four witnesses, and if he fell, this "nuda voluntas testatoris" was valid. This privilege was extended by Julius Cæsar to those who were "in potestate patris." "Liberam testandi factionem concessit, D. Julius Cæsar: sed ea concessio temporalis erat: postea vero D. Titus dedit: post hoc Domitianus: postea Divis Nerva plenissimam indulgentiam in milites contulit: eamque et Trajanus secutus est." "Julius Cæsar granted them the free power of making a will; but this was only a temporary privilege. It was renewed by Titus and Domitian. Nerva afterward bestowed on them full powers, which were continued to them by Trajan." Vid. Ulpian, 23, § 10. The old Schol., however, says this privilege was confined to the "peculium Castrense;" but he is probably mistaken.
[1165] Labor. Ruperti suggests "favor," to avoid the harshness of the phrase "labor reddit sua dona labori." Browne reads reddi.
[1166] Dona. Cf. Sil., xv., 254, "Tum merita æquantur donis et præmia Virtus sanguine parta capit: Phaleris hic pectora fulget: Hic torque aurato circumdat bellica colla."
[1167] Phaleris. Cf. ad xi., 103, "Ut phaleris gauderet equus." Siccius Dentatus is said to have had 25 phaleræ, 83 torques, 18 hastæ puræ, 160 bracelets, 14 civic, 8 golden, 3 mural, and 1 obsidional crown. Plin., VII., xxviii., 9; xxxiii., 2.
Here the Satire terminates abruptly. The conclusion is too tame to be such as Juvenal would have left it, even were the whole subject thoroughly worked up. It is probably an unfinished draught. The commentators are nearly equally balanced as to its being the work of Juvenal or not; but one or two of the touches are too masterly to be by any other hand.