I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS,! J /PAW — A Mhap.. oparigM A'o.».0.£.-. j -^ m§ a : i> | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THE SATIRES OF A. PERSIUS FLACCUS EDITED BY BASIL L. GILDERSLEEVE, Ph.D. (Gottingen), LL.D., PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. tO 60 f ~ j NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE. 1875. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by Harper & Brothers, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. PREFACE. The text of this edition of Persius is in the main that of Jahn's last recension (1868). The few changes are discussed in the Notes and recorded in the Critical Appendix. In the preparation of the Notes I have made large use of Jahn's standard edition, without neglecting the commentaries of Casaubon, Konig, and Heinrich, or the later editions by Maeleane, Pretor, and Conington, or such recent monographs on Persius as I have been able to procure. Special obligations have received special acknowledgment. My personal contributions to the elucidation of Per- sius are too slight to warrant me in following the prev- alent fashion and cataloguing the merits of my work under the modest guise of aims and endeavors. I shall be content, if I have succeeded in making Persius less distasteful to the general student ; more than content, if those who have devoted long and patient study to IV PREFACE. this difficult author shall accord me the credit of an honest effort to make myself acquainted with the poet himself as well as with his chief commentators. In compliance with the wish of the distinguished scholar at whose instance I undertook this work, Pro- fessor Charles Short, of Columbia College, New York, I have inserted references to my Latin Grammar and to the Grammar of Allen and Greenough, here and there to Madvig. B. L. GlLDERSLEEVE. University op Virginia, February, 1875. CONTENTS. Page Introduction . . . vii A. Persii Flacci Saturarum Liber 39 Vita Persii 65 Notes 71 Critical Appendix 207 Index r 211 Quando cerco uome di gusto, vado ad Orazio, il piu amabile; quando ho hisogno di bile contra le umane ribalde?He, visito Giove- nale, il phi splendido; quando mi studio dresser onesto, vivo con Persio, il piu saggio, e con infinito piacere mescolato di vergogna bevo li dettati della ragione su le labbva di questo verecondo e santissimo giovanetto. Vincenzo Monti. ^vviaravTO ol fiev wg tovtov, ol d' tog eKEivov ttXtjv /xovov rov 'Iwvog " liceivog dk jxsgov kavrbv kfyvkaTTZv. AOTKIANOT. . Persius das rechte Ideal eines hoffartigen unci mattherzigen der Poesie bejlissenen Jungen. Mommsen. INTRODUCTION. An ancient Vita JPersii, of uncertain authorship, of evi- dent authenticity, gives all that it is needful for us to know about our poet — much more than is vouchsafed to us for the rich individuality of Lucilius, much more than we can divine for the unsubstantial character of Juvenal. Aulus Persius Flaccus was born on the day before the nones of December, A.IT.C. 78V, A.D. 34, at Volaterrae, in Etruria. That Luna in Liguria was his birthplace is a false inference of some scholars from the words mewn mare in a passage of the sixth satire, where he describes his favorite resort on the Riviera. The family of Persius belonged to the old Etruscan no- bility, and more than one Persius appears in inscriptions found at Volaterrae. Other circumstances make for his Etruscan origin : the Etruscan form of his name, Aules, so written in most MSS. of his Life ; the Etruscan name of his mother, Sisennia ; the familiar spitefulness of his mention of Arretium, the allusions to the Tuscan harusr pex, to the Tuscan pedigree ; the sneering mention of the Umbrians — fat-witted folk, who lived across the Tuscan border. Most of these, it is true, are minute points, and would be of little weight in the case of an author of wider vision, but well-nigh conclusive in a writer like Persius, who tried to make up for the narrowness of his personal experience by a microscopic attention to details. Persius belonged to the same sphere of society as Mae- cenas. Like Maecenas an Etruscan, he was, like Maecenas, Vlll INTRODUCTION. an eques JRomanus, The social class of which he was a member did much for Roman literature ; Etruria's con- tributions were far less valuable, and Mommsen is right when he recognizes in both these men, so unlike in life and in principle — the one a callous wordling, the other a callow philosopher — the stamp of their strange race* a race which is a puzzle rather than a mystery. Indeed, the would-be mysterious is one of the most salient points in the style of Persius as in the religion of the Etruscans, and Persius's elaborate involution of the commonplace is parallel with the secret wisdom of his countrymen. The minute detail of the Etruscan ritual has its counterpart in the minute detail of Persius's style, and the want of a due sense of proportion and a certain coarseness of lan- guage in our author remind us of the defects of Etruscan art and the harshness of the Etruscan tongue. Persius was born, if not to great wealth, at least to an ample competence. His father died when the poet was but six years old, and his education was conducted at Volaterrae under the superintendence of his mother and her second husband, Fusius. For the proper appreciation of the career of Persius, it is a fact of great significance that he seems to have been very much under the influ- ence of the women of his household. To this influence he owed the purity of his habits ; but feminine training is not without its disadvantages for the conduct of life. For social refinement there is no better school; but the pet of the home circle is apt to make the grossest blun- ders when he ventures into the larger wTorld of no man- ners, and attempts to use the language of outside sinners. And so, when Persius undertakes to rebuke the effemi- nacy of his time, he outbids the worst passages of Hor- ace and rivals the most lurid indecencies of Juvenal. When Persius was twTelve years old he went to Rome, INTRODUCTION. IX as Horace and Ovid had done before him, for the purpose of a wider and higher education, and was put to school with Verginius Flaccus, the rhetorician, and Remmius Palaemon, the grammarian. Verginius Flaccus was ex- iled from Rome by Nero, with Musonius Rufus, on ac- count of the prominence which he had achieved as a teacher, and Quintilian quotes him as an authority in his profession. Remmius Palaemon, the other teacher of Per- sius, a man of high attainments and low principles, was one of the most illustrious grammarians of a time when grammarians could be illustrious. A freedman, with a freedman's character, he was arrogant and vain, grasping and prodigal— in short, a Sir Epicure Mammon of a pro- fessor. But his prodigious memory, his ready flow of words, his power of improvising poetry, attracted many pupils during his prolonged life, and after his death he was cited with respect by other grammarians — a rare apotheosis among that captious tribe. The first satirical efforts of ingenuous youth are usually aimed at their pre- ceptors, and the verses which Persius quotes in the First Satire are quite as likely to be from the school of Palae- mon as from the poems of Nero. But the true teacher of Persius, the man to whom he himself attributed whatever progress he made in that 'divine philosophy' which deals at once with the consti- tution of the universe and the conduct of life — his ' spir- itual director,' to' use the language of Christian ascetics — was Cornutus. Persius is one of those literary celeb- rities whose title to fame is not beyond dispute ; and while some maintain his right to high distinction on the ground of intrinsic merit, others seek with perhaps too much avidity for the accidents to which he is supposed to owe his renown. If it is necessary to excuse, as it were, his reputation, the relation of Persius to Cornutus A2 X INTRODUCTION. might go far to explain the care which schoolmasters have taken of the memory of the poet. No matter how crabbed the teacher may be, how austere the critic, the opening of the Fifth Satire, with its warm tribute to the guide of his life and the friend of his heart, calls up the image of the ideal pupil, and touches into kindred the brazen bowels of Didymus. Lucius Annaeus Cornutus, of Leptis in Africa, was a philosopher, grammarian, and rhetorician. It has been conjectured that he was a freedman of the literary family of the Annaei; and this is rendered probable by the fact that Annaeus Lucanus, the nephew of Annaeus Seneca, was his pupil. The year of his life and the year of his death are alike unknown. He was banished from Rome by Nero because he had ventured to suggest that Nero's projected epic on Roman history would be too long if drawn out to four hundred books, and that the imperial poem would find no readers. When one of Nero's flat- terers rejoined that Chrysippus was a still more volumi- nous author, Cornutus had the bad taste to point out the practical importance of the writings of Chrysippus in contrast with Nero's unpractical project ; and Nero, who had a poet's temper, if not a poet's gifts, sent him to an island, there to revise his literary judgment. Cornutus was not only a man of various learning in philosophy, rhetoric, and grammar, but a tragic poet of some note, and perhaps a satirist. Whether the jumble that bears the name of Cornutus or Phurnutus, De JVatwa Deorum, is in any measure traceable to our Cornutus, is not perti- nent to our subject. Of more importance to us than his varied attainments is his pure and lofty character, which made him worthy of the ardent affection with which Per- sius clung to his ' Socratic bosom.' It is recorded to his honor that Persius having bequeathed to him his library INTRODUCTION. , XI and a considerable sum of money, he accepted the books only, and relinquished the money to the family of Persius. Nor did he cease his loving care for his friend after his ashes, but revised his satires, and suppressed the less ma- ture performances of the young poet. The social circle in which Persius moved was not wide. The mark of the beast called Coterie, which is upon the foreheads of the most plentifully belaurelled Roman poets, is on his brow also. But it must be said that the men whom he associated with belonged to the chosen few of a corrupt time, albeit they would have been of more serv- ice to their country if they had not recognized themselves so conspicuously as the elect. The Stoic salon in which Persius lived and moved and had his being reminds M. Martha of a Puritan household ; it reminds us of the se- questered Legitimist opposition to the France of yester- day. We are so apt to see parallels when we are well acquainted with but one of the lines — or with neither. Let us pass in review some of the associates and ac- quaintances of Persius. Among his early friends was Caesius Bassus, to whom the Sixth Satire is addressed : an older contemporary, who had studied with the same master, next to Horace, by a long remove, among the Roman lyrists. To his fellow- pupils belong Calpurnius, who is more than doubtfully identified with the author of the Bucolics ; and Lucan (Annaeus Lucanus), the poet of the Pharsalia, who shared with him the instructions of Cornutus, and is said to have shown the most fervent admiration of the genius of his school-fellow. We are told that when the First Satire was recited, Lucan exclaimed that these were true poems. Whether he accompanied this encomium with a dispar- agement of his own performances, or simply had reference to the modest disclaimer of Persius's Prologue, as Jahn is Xll INTRODUCTION. inclined to think, does not appear. The anecdote is in perfect keeping with the perfervid Spanish temper of Lu- can and Lucan's family. But this momentary burst of admiration is no indication of any genuine sympathy be- tween the effusive and rhetorical Cordovan and the shy, philosophical Etruscan. Nominally they belonged to the same school — the Stoic ; but Persius was ready to resist unto blood, Lucan's Stoicism was a mere parade. While this anecdote leaves us in suspense as to the re- lations between Lucan and Persius, we have express evi- -dence that there was no sympathy between Persius and Seneca. They met, we are informed, but the poet took little pleasure in the society of the essayist. This is not the place to attempt a characteristic of this famous writ- er, who, like Persius, leaves few readers indifferent. Once the idol of the moralists — who of all old birds are the most easily caught with chaff — Seneca has fallen into compara- tive disfavor within the last few decades ; yet sometimes a vigorous champion starts up to do battle for him, such as Farrar in England, and, with more moderation, Constant Martha in France ; and his cause is by no means hopeless if the advocate can keep his hearers from reading Seneca for themselves. It is impossible not to admire Seneca in passages ; it seems very difficult to retain the admiration after reading him continuously. The glittering phrase masks a poverty of thought ; * the belt with its broad gold covers a hidden wound.' To Persius, the youthful Stoic, with his high purpose and his transcendental views of life, Seneca the courtier, the time-server, the adroit flat- terer, must have appeared little better than a hypocrite, or, which is worse to an ardent mind, a practical negation of his own aspirations. The young convert — and Per- sius's philosophy was Persius's religion — in the first glow of his enthusiasm, must have been repelled by the callous- INTRODUCTION. Xlll ness of the older professor of the same faith. And yet so strong was the impress of the age that Persius and Seneca are not so far asunder after all. To understand Persius we must read Seneca; and the lightning stroke of Caligula's tempestuous brain, harena sine calce, illumi- nates and shivers the one as well as the other. If the family of the Annaei did not prove congenial, there were others to whom Persius might look for sym- pathy and instruction. Such was M. Servilius Nonianus, a man of high position, of rare eloquence, of unsullied lame. Such Avas Plotius Macrinus, to whom the Second Satire is addressed, itself a eulogy. Even in his own fam- ily circle there were persons whose lofty characters have made them celebrated in history. His kinswoman Ar- ria, herself destined to become famous for her devotion to her husband, was the wife of Thrasea Paetus, and the daughter of that other Arria, whose supreme cry, non dolet, when she taught her husband how to meet his doom, is one of the most familiar speeches of a period when speech was bought with death. Thrasea, the hus- band of the younger Arria, was one of the foremost men of his time, and bore himself with a moderation which con- trasts strongly with the ostentatious virtue of some of the Stoic chiefs. He rebuked the vices of his time un- sparingly, but steadily observed the respect due to the head of the state ; and even when the decree wTas passed which congratulated Nero on the murder of his mother, he contented himself with retiring from the senate-house. But Thrasea's silent disapproval of one crime fired Nero to another, and his refusal to deprecate the wrrath of the emperor was the cause of his ruin — if that could be called ruin which he welcomed as he poured out his blood in libation to Jupiter the Liberator. That the familiar intercourse with such a man should XIV INTRODUCTION. have inspired a youth of the education and the disposi- tion of Persius with still higher resolves and still higher endeavors is not strange. That it sufficed, as some say, to penetrate Persius with the sober wisdom of maturer years, and made up to him for the lack of personal expe- rience and artistic balance, is attributing more to associa- tion than association can accomplish. To Thrasea's influence Jahn ascribes Persius's juvenile essays in the preparation of praetextae, or tragedies with Roman themes, and it is not unlikely that a poetical de- scription of his travels (odonropiKuiv) referred to some little trip that he took with Thrasea. Thanks to Cornutus, this youthful production — which doubtless was nothing more than a weak imitation of Horace, or haply of Lucilius — was suppressed after the death of the author, and with it his praetexta, and a short poem in honor of the elder Arria also. The purity of Persius's morals, and the love which he bore his mother, his sister, his aunt, stand to each other reciprocally as cause and effect ; and the occasional crudi- ty of his language is, as we have already seen, the crudity of a bookish man, who thinks that the sure way to do a thing is to overdo it. Persius wTas a man of handsome person, gentle bearing, attractive manners, and added to the charm of his society the interest which always gath- ers about those whom the gods love. He died on his estate at the eighth milestone on the Appian Road, vitio stomachi, eight days before the kal- ends of December, A.TJ.C. 815 — A.D. 62 — in the twenty- eighth year of his age. Cornutus first revised the satires of his friend, and then gave them to Caesius Bassus to edit. The only impor- tant change that Cornutus made was the substitution of quis non for Mida rex (1, 121), a subject which is dis- INTRODUCTION. XV cussed in the Commentary. Other traces of wavering ex- pression and duplex recensio are due to the imagination of commentators, who attribute to the young poet a log- ical method and an exactness of development for which the style of Persius gives them no warrant. JRaro et tarde scripsi^the statement of the Life of Persius,explains much. The poems of Persius were received with applause as soon as they appeared, and the old Vita Persii would have us believe that people scrambled for the copies as if the pages were so many Sabine women. Quintilian, in his famous inventory of Greek and Roman literature, says that Persius earned a great deal of glory, and true glory, by a single book, and here and there the great scholar does Persius homage by imitating him ; and Martial holds up Persius with his one book of price, as a contrast to the empty bulk of a half-forgotten epic. But it would not be worth the while to repeat the list of the admirers of Persius in the ages of later Latinity. It suffices to say that he was the special favorite of the Latin Fathers. Au- gustin quotes or imitates him often, and Jerome is sat- urated with the phraseology of our poet. Commended to Christian teachers by the elevation of his moral tone, by the pithiness of his maxims and reflections, and the energy of his figures, he was set up on a high chair, a big school -boy, to teach other school -boys, and scarcely a voice was raised in rebellion for centuries. But since the time of the Scaligers, who were not to be kept back by any consideration for the feelings of the Fathers, there has been much unfriendly criticism of Persius ; and the world owes him a debt of gratitude for provoking an ani- mosity that has opened the way to a freer discussion of the literary merits of the authors of antiquity. To be subject all one's life through fear of literary death to the bondage of antique dullness, as well as to the thraldom XVI INTRODUCTION. of contemporary stupidity, would have been a sad result of the revival of letters. The first and last charge brought against Persius is his obscurity. Admitted by all, it is variously interpreted, variously excused, variously attacked. Now it is ac- counted for by the political necessities of the time. Now it is attributed, to the perverse ingenuity of the poet, which was fostered by the perverse tendencies of an age when, as Quintilian says, Pervasit iam multos ista persua- sio ut id iam demum eleganter dictum patent quod inter- pretandum sit. Some simply resolve the lack of clearness into the lack of artistic power; others intimate that the fault lies more in the reader than in the author, whose dramatic liveliness, which puzzles us, presented no diffi- culties to the critics of his own century. But the con- troversy is not confined to the obscurity of the satires. Persius is all debatable ground. Some admire the pithy sententiousness of the poet ; others sneer at his priggish affectation of superiority. Some point to the bookish reminiscences, which bewray the mere student ; others re- call the example of Ben Jonson, of Moliere, to show that in literature, as in life, the greatest borrowers are often the richest men, and bid us observe with what rare and vivid power he has painted every scene that he has wit- nessed with his own eyes. To some he is a copyist of copyists; to others his real originality asserts itself most conspicuously where the imitation seems to be the closest. Julius Scaliger calls him miserrimus auctor; Mr. Coning- ton notes his kindred to Carlyle. No critic has put the problem with more brutal frank- ness than M. Nisard, who, at the close of his flippant but suggestive chapter on Persius, asks the question, Y a-t-il profit d lire Perse? Though he makes a faint show of balancing the Ayes and Noes, it is very plain how he INTRODUCTION. XV11 himself would vote. The impatient Frenchman is evi- dently not of a mind 'to read prefaces, biographies, mem- oirs, and commentaries on these prefaces, these biogra- phies, these memoirs, and notes on these commentaries, in order to form an idea that will haply be very false and assuredly very debatable, of a work about which no one will ever talk to you, and of a poet about whom you will never find any one to talk to.' But the question, which may be an open one to a critic, is not an open one to an editor; and editors of Persius are especially prone to value their author by the labor which he has cost them, by the material which they have gathered about the text. The thoughts are, after all, so common that parallels are to be found on every hand; the compass is so small that it is an easy matter to carry in thef memory every word, every phrase; and so-called illustrations suggest them- selves even to an ordinary scholar in bewildering num- bers, while the looseness of the connection gives ample scope to speculation. Hence the sarcasm of Joseph Scali- ger : JVon pidehra habet sed in eum pulcherrima possu- mus scribere y and the well-known criticism of the same scholar: Au Perse cle Casaubon la sendee vaut mieux que le poisson. But this artificial love on the part of the edi- tors has not contributed to the popularity of the author, and the youthful poet has been overlaid by his erudite commentators. Besides this disadvantage, Persius, when he is read at all, comes immediately after Juvenal, and, as if to enhance the contrast, is generally bound up with him ; and the homeliness of his tropes, the crabbedness of his dialogue, the roughness of his transitions repel the young student, who finds the riddance of the historical and archaeological work which Juvenal involves a poor compensation for the lack of the large manner and the dazzling rhetoric of the great declaimer. On the other XVlll INTRODUCTION. hand, maturer scholars have been found to reverse the popular verdict, and to say, with Mr. Simcox, that ' the shy, youthful fervor of the dutiful boy, combined with the literary honesty which kept Persius from writing any thing which was not a part of his permanent conscious- ness, makes him improve upon every reading, which is more than can be said of Juvenal, who writes as if he thought and felt little in the intervals of writing.' But, while it is easy to get tired of Juvenal, it is not so easy to become enamored of Persius ; and it must be admitted that the pleasure is questionable. Yet, in spite of M. Nisard, there is no real question about the utility of the study of the poet, who illustrates by what he does not say even more than by what he says the character of an age which is of supreme importance to the historian. Even if we put the study on lower ground, we must ad- mit that Persius's title to a prominent position in the an- nals of Roman literature is indefeasible. However desir- able it may be to get rid of him, an author who has left his impress on Rabelais and Ben Jonson, as well as on Montaigne and Boileau — an author whose poems have furnished so many quotations to modern letters, can not be dismissed from the necessities of a 'polite education' with a convenient sneer. Persius deserves our attention, if it were only as a problem of literary taste. To the end of the study of Persius, it is best to look away from the conflicting views of the critics, and to abandon the attempt to distinguish between the weight of facts and the momentum of rhetoric in the balanced antitheses of praise and blame. The position of the poet will be most accurately determined by the calculation of the statics of his department and his age. The Satire is the only extant form of Latin poetry that can lay claim to a truly national origin ; and the error INTRODUCTION. ' XIX into which the early historians of classical literature were led by the resemblance between the name of the Roman satire and the name of the Greek satyr-drama has long- been corrected. But the truth which this error involves, the connection between the comic drama and the satire, remains. The satire goes back to the popular source of comedy, and holds in solution all the elements which the Greeks combined into various forms of dramatic merri- ment. As the rhythmical movements, which culminate in such perfections as the dactylic hexameter and the iam- bic trimeter, are common to our whole race, and the rude Saturnian verse is one with the heroic, so the rustic songs of harvest and vintage are common to Greece and Italy ; and it is no marvel that, as the satire wTas working itself out to classic proportions, it should have felt its kindred to Greek comedy, and should have drawn its materials and its methods from that literature on which Roman literature in its other departments was more directly de- pendent. And so the satire, though a genuine growth of Italian soil, was none the less subject to Greek influ- ences. It was trained into Greek forms, it was permeated by Greek thought ; a*nd here as elsewhere the retransla- tion into Greek, of which the older commentators were so fond, is often the key to the meaning ; here as elsewhere our appreciation of the author, as a whole, is conditioned by our knowledge of Greek literature. Horace, the master of Roman satire, has more than once drawn the parallel between satire and comedy ; and Per- sius, who follows the literary, though not the philosoph- ical creed of his predecessor, aims even more distinctly than Horace does at reproducing the mimicry of comedy on the narrow stage of the satire. At the close of the First Satire he goes so far as to demand of his readers the intense study of the Old Attic Comedy as the preparation XX INTRODUCTION. for the enjoyment of his poems — an extraordinary de- mand, if we do not make due allowance for the rhetorical expression of high aims and earnest endeavors. A com- parison of the triumvirate of the comoedia prisca of Attica reveals little trace of direct influence, abundant evidence of extreme diversity in expression and conception. I say 'expression,' not 'language.' It is true that the lan- guage of Persius has a virile tone, but the masculine en- ergy of his words is often out of keeping with the scho- lastic tameness of his thoughts. The breezy Pnyx of the Athenian and the stuffy lecticula lucubratoria of the Ro- man are not further apart than Aristophanes and Persius. The New Attic Comedy, the comedy of situation and manners, furnished themes that lay nearer to the genius of Persius, although the grace of a Menander was much further from his grasp than from Terence, the half-Menan- der of Caesar's epigram. One passage is all but trans- lated from Menander's Eunuch ; and if Persius did not borrow traits for his picture of the miser and the spend- thrift from the master of the New Comedy, it was not for lack of models. Indeed, so unreal is Persius, with all the realism of his language, that one 'of the most striking features of his poems — the opposition to the military — loses somewhat of its significance when we remember that the Macedonian period, to which the New Comedy belongs, is crowded with typical soldiers of fortune, with their coarse love of sensual pleasure — their coarse con- tempt of every thing that can not be eaten, drunk, or handled. Every line of Persius's centurion can be repro- duced from the Greek ; and although it would be going too far to say that there was no counterpart to his sketch in his own experience, although, on the contrary, Persius seems to have verified by actual observation whatever he learned from books, the historical value of his portrait is INTRODUCTION. XXI very much reduced by the existence of the Greek type. As a specimen of a kind of clerico-political opposition to an empire which its enemies might call an empire of brute force and military mechanism, the hostility of Persius to a class whose predominance was making itself felt more and more is not without its point and interest, and it is unfortunate that we have to leave its reality in suspense. Yet another form of the comic drama was the Mime, and we have the explicit statement of Joannes Lydus that Persius imitated the famous mimographer, Sophron ; and although the fragments of Sophron are so scanty that this statement can not be verified, it is not without its intrin- sic probability. The mimetic power of Sophron is noto- rious, and Persius might well have taken lessons from the man whom Plato acknowledged as his master. The dia- logue, thus borrowed from the mime, became the artistic form of philosophic composition, and, as Persius's Satires are essentially moral treatises, it is not surprising that he should have made large use of the same machinery. Plato himself furnished the movement for two of his essays, and we can detect a community of models between Persius and some of the later Greek writers. Lucian, the mer- curial, and Persius, the saturnine, often work on the same theme, each in his way ; and when the dialogue is drop- ped, and the bustle of the drama is succeeded by the ef- fects of the scene-painter's craft, we are reminded of an- other group of copyists, and find all the picturesque de- tail for which Persius is so famous in the letters of Al- kiphron and Aristainetos, themselves far-off echoes of the New Comedy. Surely these are originals enough, the Attic Comedy, the Mime, Sophron and Plato, Menander and Philemon. But we find other models nearer home, and, passing by the reflections of Greek comedy in Plautus and Terence, XX11 INTRODUCTION. its refractions in Afranius and Pomponius, we come to the satiric exemplars of Persius — Lucilius and Horace. JSiox ut a scholis et magistris divertit, lecto libro Lucilii decimo, vehementer saturas conponere institidt. This statement of the old Vita Persii is much more consonant with the character of Persius than his own affected mirthfulness. His ' saucy spleen ' had as little to do with his verse- writing as righteous indignation with the rhetorical out- pouring of Juvenal. His laughter was as much a part of the conventionalities of the satire as the Camena was of his confidences to Cornutus. School-boys all imitate cir- cus-riders ; here and there one mimics the clown ; and Persius, who had not outgrown the tendencies of boy- hood, straightway began to make copies of verses in the manner of Lucilius. At the same time he was too much under the influence of Horace to follow Lucilius in his negligences, and too little master of the form to strike the mean between slovenly dictation and painful composition. As an imitator of Lucilius he boldly lashes men of straw where Lucilius flogged Lupus and Mucius, and breaks his milk-teeth on Alkibiades and Dama where Lucilius broke his jaw-teeth on living and moving enemies. As an imi- tator of Horace he appropriates the garb of Horatian diction ; but the easy movement of roguish Flaccus is lost, and the stiff stride of the young Stoic betrays him at every turn. As in the case of the Old Attic Comedy, Persius's intel- lectual affinity with Lucilius was purely imaginary ; and for the purposes of this study it is unnecessary to repro- duce the lines of Horace's portrait of the ' great nursling of Aurunca,' or to attempt to form a mosaic out of the chipped chips of Lucian Mtiller's recent collection. The wide range of theme, the manly carelessness of style, the bold criticism, the bright humor, the biting wit — in short, INTRODUCTION. XX111 almost every characteristic of Lucilius that we can distin- guish, shows how little kindred there must have been be- tween the two men. The dozen scattered verses of the Tenth Book of Lucilius, which is said to have suggested the theme of the First Satire of Persius, and the fragments of the Fourth Book, which is imitated by Persius in his Third Satire, though more significant, give us no clew to the manner or the extent of his indebtedness. Here and there a verse, a hemistich, a jingle may have been taken from Lucilius, and he may have enriched his vocabulary here and there from Lucilius's store of drastic words ; but his obligations to Lucilius, real and imaginary, are all as nothing in comparison with the large drafts which he drew on the treasury of Horace. The obligations of Persius to Horace have been the theme of all the editors. The scholiasts themselves have quoted parallels, and Casaubon has written a special trea- tise on the subject, and commentators, with almost child- ish rivalry, have vied with each other in noting verbal co- incidences and similar trains of thought. The fact of the imitation is too evident to need proof, and it would have been much more profitable to examine the causes and significance of this dependence, and to study the modifi- cations of the language and the thought as they passed through the alembic of Persius's brain, than to multiply examples of words and phrases that are common, not only to Horace and Persius, but to the language of every-day life. Indeed, some go so far as to make Persius quibble on Horace ; and ' How green you are,' of the modern street, and ' What means that trump ?' of the modern card-table, are as much Shakespearian as some of Per- sius's ' borrowings ' are Horatian. Horace had long been a classic when Persius dodged his school-tasks and was a dab at marbles. Indeed, noth= XXIV INTRODUCTION. ing is more remarkable about Roman literature than the rapidity with which the images of its Augustan heroes took on the patina of age. The half-century that lay be- tween Horace and Persius drew itself out to a distant perspective, and Virgil and Horace had all the authority of veteres. They not only dictated the forms of poetry, but permeated and dominated prose. True, the hostility to Virgil and Horace had not ceased ; the antiquarii were not dead ; but the ground had been shifted. The admir- ers of republican poetry in the time of Horace were re- publicans— in the time of Persius they were imperialists; and the maintenance of the authors of the Augustan age as the true classics was a part of the programme of the opposition. The court literature of the Neronian period found its models in the earlier epic essays of Catullus rather than in the poems of Virgil. Virgil had modified the Greek norms to suit the Latin tongue; but these men went back of malice aforethought to the Greek standard, and emulated the proportions of the Greek versification of the Alexandrian period. They were impatient of the classic vocabulary, and found the classic rhythms tame; and so they betook themselves to the earlier language, and set it to more exact harmonies. It was no heresy with this set to consider Virgil at once light and rough. The mouth-filling words of the older and bolder period, marshaled in serried ranks, no gap, no break, as they kept time to a rhythmical cadence that was marked by all the music of consonance and assonance — this was the ideal of the school which Persius assailed, just as an ad- mirer of Pope or Goldsmith might assail the dominant poetry of our day, wTith its sensuous melody and its revived archaisms. Surely the worshippers of recent poets might pause before accepting the narrow literary creed of Persius. But, not to imitate the example of Ni- INTKODUCTION. XXV sard, and indulge in dangerous parallelisms, it is sufficient for our purpose to note that Persius's close study of the language of Horace was not only a part of a liberal edu- cation, but a necessity of the school to which he belonged. If he was to write satire at all, he must needs take Hor- ace for his model. If he had written an epic, he would have taken Virgil. Besides this, we may boldly say that reminiscence is no robbery. The verses, the phrases, the arguments that we know by heart often become so wholly ours that they weave themselves unconsciously into the texture of our speech. We use them as convenient forms of expression, without the least thought of plagiarism. We quote them, thinking that they are as familiar to others as they are to ourselves. They constitute, as it were, a sympathetic medium between men of culture. And so Persius repeat- ed group after group of the words of Horace as innocent- ly as the Augustan poets translated their Greek models, and thought no more harm than did the Emperor Julian when he Platonized, or Thackeray when he transfused the classics that he learned at the Charter House into his own matchless English. That he did it to excess is not to be denied. He never learned the lesson of Apelles — what is enough. Having thus briefly disposed of those turns which are common to the Latin tongue, and those which ran freely into the pen of the writer, we have now to deal with a con- siderable number of passages in which the memory of Per- sius must have lingered over the words of Horace, in which his painstaking genius has hammered the thoughts of Horace into a more compact or a more angular utterance. To the majority of readers his condensations and his am- plifications will alike appear to be so many distortions of the original. So, notably, where he characterizes Horace B XXVI INTRODUCTION. himself, and substitutes for the simple naso adunco the puzzling excusso naso, where ' the dreams of a sick man ' become the ' dreams of a sick dotard,' where ' telling straight from crooked' is twisted into 'discerning: the straight line where it makes its way up between crooked lines,' and where he wrings from the natural phrase 'drink in with the ear' the odd combination 'bibulous ears.' In the longer passages the wresting is still more pro- nounced ; and those who refuse to take into consid- eration the moral attitude of Persius may well wonder at the perversity with which he distorts the lines and overcharges the colors of the original. But it is tolera- bly evident that, with all Persius's admiration of Horace as an artist, he felt himself immeasurably superior to him morally, and looked upon these adaptations and alterations as so much gained for the effect of his dis- course. The slyness of Horace might have answered well enough for his day and for the kind of vices that he reproved, but the depth over which Persius stood gave him a more than Stoic stature. Horace might have been content with a flute ; nothing less resonant than a trumpet would have suited the moral elevation of Persius. Horace is a consummate artist, and not less an artist in the conduct of his life than in the composition of his poems. Persius is the prototype of the sensational preach- er, and preachers of all centuries, from Augustin and Je- rome to Macleane and Meriv ale,' have had a weakness for him. Aside from the moral tone, which is enough to give a different ring to the most similar expressions in the two poets, there is an artistic difference of great significance in the handling of the dramatic element, which they both recognized as fundamental in the satire. The dramatic satires of Horace will not bear dislocation without de- INTRODUCTION. XXVli struction. In Persius the characters are always shifting, always fading away into an impersonal Tu. This may be partly due to the interval which he allowed to elapse between the periods of composition ; but it is possible that he recognized the limitation of his own powers, that his satires were intended to be a knotted thong, and not a smooth horsewhip. This piecemeal composition, be it the result of poverty or of economy, makes Persius the very author for 'Elegant Extracts.' Hence it is not hard to defend him, as it is not hard to defend Seneca, and on similar grounds. Single verses ring in the ear for months and years. What line, for instance, more quoted than Tecum habita : noris quam sit tibi curta supellex ? What line sinks deeper than the sombre verse, Virtutem videant intabescantque relicta ? Single scenes, whether of dialogue or of description, pos- sess every requirement of dramatic vividness. On every page of the commentary we call him bookish, and yet his pictures stand out from the canvas with a boldness which makes us concede that his books did not keep him from seeing, if they did not teach him to see, what was going on around him. What is not a little remarkable in so young a man is the honesty of his painting. A home- keeping youth, Persius gives us living pictures of what he saw at home, whether at Rome, at Volaterrae, or at Luna; in the school -room, in the lecture - room, in the court of justice, on the wharf, at the country cross-roads. He has watched the carpenter stretching his line, the potter whirling his wheel, the physician adjusting his scales. He has heard the horse-laugh of the burly cen- turion, and shivered ; has heard, with a young Stoic sneer, a cooing and mincing declaimer. He knows all about ink and paper and parchment and reeds ; he has not outlived XXV111 INTRODUCTION. his knowledge of marbles, and one might fancy that the lustral spittle of his aunty was still fresh on his brow. The fact that there is no breeziness about his poems, nothing that tells us of the liberal air beyond, is another sign of his truthfulness. His life is like his own ' ever re- treating bay ' of the Sixth Satire, with the cliffs of Stoic philosophy between him and the wintry sea without. Ar- retium he knows — it was not so far from Volaterrae — and Bovillae, in the neighborhood of which he had a farm, and Luna, and the world of Rome ; but the rest of his geography is in the inane. Horace, on the other hand, ambles all over Italy, and treats us every now and then to a foreign tour with the air of a man who had run across the sea in his time; and even if he who takes us in his sweeping flight from Cadiz to Ganges be not the real Juvenal,, the undisputed Juvenal has a far wider geo- graphical outlook than Persius. This very limitation is one of the best signs of the artistic worth of Persius, and justifies the regret that he had not made himself the Crabbe of Roman poetry. We have seen that Persius was not slavishly depend- ent on Horace, assimilated the material that he derived from him, raised the worldly wisdom of Horace to the ideal standard of the Stoic, and followed a different canon of dramatic art. To this we may add that Persius, with a certain aristocratic disdain of conventionalities, goes deeper into the current of vulgar diction than the freed- man's son dared. Persius felt that he could afford to talk slang, and he talked it ; and the commentators have found it necessary to hold Petronius in the left hand, as well as Horace in the right. We now proceed to yet another formal element, which is no less significant to the close student of antique liter- ature. The Roman handling of the hexameter was arti- INTRODUCTION. XXIX ficial in the extreme. Reasoning backward from the Latin hexameter, scholars have been prone to transfer the conscious symbolism of the Roman poets to the Greek originals; and if they had stopped, say, at Apollonius Rhodius, they might have been justified, for in the later Greek poets something of the sort is not to be denied. But the healthier period of Greek poetic art was lifted far above such toying adaptations of sound to sense as commentators still discover in Homer when they enlarge on the symbolism of this or that spondaic verse, the beau- ty of this or that combination of diaeresis and caesura. A recent comparison of Homer with his successors has shown that, of all the spondaic verses in Homer, scarcely one in a hundred can be traced to any ' picturesque ' motive, and the rapid movement of so many five-dactyl hexame- ters is simply the normal pace of the verse. When we come to Latin metres, however, we must take a different standard, and recognize a conscious modification of the Greek rule. The Ovidian pentameter of the best period — to cite a familiar instance — is subject to minute laws, which are transgressed at every turn in Greek elegiac poetry, and the different ideals of Persius and Horace are distinctly traceable in their treatment of the hexameter. Horace, as is well known, broke the lofty movement of the hexameter to suit the easy gait of the satire. Per- sius is more rhetorical than Horace, and, although he ad- mits elision with as great freedom as his master, his verse has a more mechanical structure than the verse of Hor- ace, and many of the conversational peculiarities of the Horatian hexameter are much less conspicuous in Persius. Horace weakens the caesura, employs a great number of spondaic words, and neglects the variety at which the epic aims ; and perhaps the trained ear of a determined scholar might hear in the jog-trot of his satiric rhythms XXX INTRODUCTION. the hoofs of his bob-tailed mule and the lazy flapping of his portmanteau. Persius, on the other hand, hammers out his thoughts in a far more orthodox cadence. Com- paring the first six hundred and fifty verses of the first book of the satires of Horace with the six hundred and fifty verses of Persius, we find that more than eight per cent, have five spondees against less than five per cent, in Persius. The so-called third trochee or feminine caesura of the third foot is found in one of ten of Horace's hexam- eters, and only in one of twenty-six in Persius — a low pro- portion even for a Latin poet. Still more striking is the rare use which Persius makes of the masculine caesura of the sixth foot, with its consequent monosyllabic close. Aside from all idle symbolism, this arrangement, which is comparatively common in Horace, gives the verse a cer- tain familiar roughness, especially where the final word forces a union with the following line. These diversities can not be accidents, and serve to show that, although Persius might weave himself a garment from the dyed threads of Horatian diction, he was not bold enough to wTear the discincta tunica of Horace's Muse. But we must not forget to be just, and it is only fair to add that such a garb would have been as inappropriate to his severe and lofty, though narrow spirit, as the Coan vestments of Ovid's ' kept goddess ' — if we may borrow the deesse entre- tenue of Heinrich Heine. A comparison of Persius with Juvenal — a favorite theme with editors — does not enter into the plan of this study. It suffices for our present purpose to note that the practiced rhetorician of the time of Trajan could not have shared Quintilian's admiration of his youthful pred- ecessor. The parallel passages which have been cited belong to the common stock of satirical strokes or to the thesaurus of proverbial phrases. Who can believe that INTRODUCTION. XXXI Juvenal took usque adeo from Persius, or borrowed from him the familiar vara avis? There are three or four touches in the Tenth Satire which recall some of the more striking expressions of Persius; but Ribbeck's objections to the genuineness of this sophistic declamation, if not- convincing, are at least sufficiently well founded to make us pause in citing them. In moral earnestness, Persius is as far superior to Juvenal as he is inferior to him in the rhetorical treatment of his themes ; and so 4ong as men will take into consideration this moral element, which modern critics are prone to eliminate from works of art, so long as they will say pectus est quod satiricum facit as well as quod theologiim, Persius will command a personal esteem which does not attach to the satires of Juvenal. The ingenious theory of Boissier, that the great satirist of the Caesars was a snubbed snob, brings out in still more striking contrast the figure of Persius as the reserved pro- vincial aristocrat, and may be worthy of a more ample development than it has yet received. But Juvenal is a dangerous theme. As M. Martha has admirably ob- served, Juvenal is an author whose declamatory tone has infected his eulogists; and those who are not carried away by an ' admiration which disfigures while it exalts,' may readily be tempted into the opposite extreme. Let us turn, then, to other matters which illustrate more di- rectly the character of our author's compositions. And first a word or two of Stoicism. With the strong practical tendencies of the Romans, the only systems of Greek philosophy that ever found large acceptance at Rome were the Epicurean and the Stoic ; and in the Stoic school the only doctrines that commanded much attention were the ethic. The subtle dialectic of the Stoics, of which we have some unjoyous specimens in Cicero's philosophical compilations, was not XXX11 INTRODUCTION. congenial to the Roman mind ; but the Stoic creed was the creed of the nobler spirits of the imperial time. Ex- cluded from public life, or, at all events, from the satis- factory exercise of public functions, the elect few took refuge in Stoic philosophy.* The object of Stoicism is by means of virtue and knowl- edge to make men independent of all without them, and happy in that independence. It is a pantheism : God re- vealed in every thing; God's law recognized in every thing; God the substance from which every thing pro- ceeds, to which every thing returns ; the Original Fire, from which every thing is born again. God is the all- pervasive Spirit, Fate, Providence. Obedience to his eter- nal laws constitutes virtue and happiness. Good and evil are to be measured by this standard. All that brings us toward this is Good ; all that carries us away from it is Evil. Every thing else is indifferent. In Grace or out of Grace, says the Christian ; or, as Cal- vin expresses it in his nervous language, Qui Christum dimidium habere vult, totum perdit. In Virtue or out of Virtue, says the Stoic. There is nothing between. The wise are perfectly wise ; the foolish are totally foolish. ' There is not a half-ounce of rectitude in the fool.' The vicious man is as mad as Orestes — nay, madder. The difference between human beings is slight. Alki- biades, the high-born and the handsome, is no better than shriveled old Baukis, who makes her livelihood by selling greens. All external distinctions sink into utter insig- nificance by the side of this great contrast of knowledge and ignorance into which virtue and vice are resolved. All humanity is one people ; all the world one state ; * In this section of the Introduction I follow Zeller's Essay on Mar- cus Aurelius {Vortrdge u. Abhandlungen) so closely that some special acknowledgment seems to be necessary. INTRODUCTION. XXX111 its ruler the Deity ; its constitution the eternal law of the universe. The more unconditionally a man submits to the guidance of this law, the more exclusively he seeks his happiness in virtue, the more independent he will be of all without him, the more contented in himself, and yet the readier to enter into communion with others, and to do his duty to the whole of which he is a part. But it is to be observed that the Stoicism of Persius, like the Stoicism of Marcus Antoninus, was of a softer, milder, more religious character than that of Zeno and Chrysippus ; and when the Stoic discourses on the noth- ingness of all earthly things, the ills of life, man's moral weakness, and his need of help, we hear language that reminds us now of the epistles of the New Testament, now of the doctrines of Buddha. ' The philosopher,' says Zeller, * is a physician for the soul, a priest and servant of the Deity among men, and this he shows by the most unlimited, devoted, unreserved philanthropy.' And not only so, but the Stoic does not disdain to make life bright- er in the social circle; and the Sixth Satire of our author, which Nisard considers to be a youthful escapade of the poet — qui s'evertue comme un ecolier qui sort de classe — is no less truly Stoic than the high-strung Third. In speaking of this subject it is difficult to keep from using the word religion, for the emotional element, which is so characteristic of religion, is not wanting in a system which is the popular synonym for suppression of emo- tion. This is the thesis which M. Martha has brought out into clear relief, and illumined by many apposite ex- amples— a thesis which will not be strange to those who have studied with any care the social aspects of the later life of antiquity. Under the empire morality was more than morality — it was a religion; and all the formulae of certain phases of Christian ascetics may be applied to B2 XXXIV INTRODUCTION. the ethical side of Stoic philosophy. It is difficult to ap- proach the subject without seeming irreverence ; but the faith of the Christian must be far from robust who can shrink from a parallel that goes no farther than the ma- chinery— that does not involve the motive power. It is not the aim of this study to determine whether this paral- lelism is to be recognized as a praeparatio JEvangelica, or as the like result of similar forces at work in different systems of thought and belief. It is enough to present the parallelism, to excuse the phraseology. Our ancestors, at all events, were not afraid to recog- nize * natural Christians' in such men as Socrates, in sucli youths as Persius. Why, even Seneca figured for a long- time as St. Seneca; and Jeremy Taylor was following old example when he cited the Stoic as well as the Christian code. It is only one step from the recognition of this spiritual kindred to the recognition of the practical meth- ods of spiritual work as anticipated in the life of antiq- uity— practical methods which for our purposes are even better described by an unbeliever like Lucian than by a believer like Marcus Antoninus. In that age of transi- tion we find father confessors, private chaplains, mendi- cant friars, missions, revivals, conversions, ecstasies — all showing the deep needs of the human heart, which re- fused to be satisfied with the outworn gods of the Pan- theon, and, in ignorance of the divine Person, who alone can answer a personal love, sought solace in the mechan- ism of morality. In characterizing Cornutus, I have al- ready borrowed a phrase from M. Martha, and called him, as M.Martha calls Seneca, a spiritual director; and I have already ventured to call Persius a sensational preacher. His stock of philosophy or theology is not as large as some commentators suppose ; and all the elaborate attempts to show by the satires that Per- INTRODUCTION. XXXV sins was a thoroughly trained and consistent Stoic have failed. The most elementary knowledge of Stoic ethics is sufficient for the comprehension of Persius. Whatever else he knew he kept back for practical considerations. He sticks to the marrow of morality, and reiterates the cardinal doctrines of Stoicism with the vehemence of a Poundtext. This vehemence, this enthusiasm, may be explained by his youth, his Etruscan blood, his profes- sion as a moral reformer. A critic with M. Taine's re- sources might account for it by the climate of Volater- rae ; but, however it may be accounted for, certain it is that he himself is much impressed with the profundity of the doctrines which he professes ; that he warms and glows as he imparts to his auditors the great secret that they are not free because they are slaves to vice ; that a man who does not understand his relations to his Maker can not move a finger without sinning ; that in the flesh there is no good thing ; and that the anguish of a tortured conscience is the worst of hells. But the difficulties of Persius are not due to recondite Stoic thought, and can not be cleared up by reference to Stoic philosophy. The trouble lies in the slangy expressions, the lack of organic development, the restless zeal to force his message home to the heart of every hearer, and the consequent shifting of the personages of his dialogue to suit the cases as they rose before his mind. Persius, then, was a preacher of Stoicism — Stoicism, at once the philosophy and the religion of a time when se- rious and noble natures had no city of refuge except in their inmost selves, when the only possible activity seemed to be submission to the inevitable. The hydrostatic press- ure of the imperial time forced all the better elements into this mould ; and in so far Persius bears the stamp of his period, and the very absence of political and personal allu- XXXVI INTRODUCTION. sions shows how imperfect life must have been. But one school of commentators, headed by Casaubon, and repre- sented to-day in Germany by Lehmann, in England by Pretor, see in Persius much more than a disciple of the Stoa; and the satires of our author — especially the First and Fourth — are supposed to be full of more or less ob- lique references to Nero's person, his habits, his literary pretensions, his aristocratic birth. At one time it seemed as if this thesis, which was suggested by the scholiast, had been abandoned, but the field for historical ingenuity is too tempting ; and one of the vaguest of all the satires, the Fifth, has been discovered by Lehmann to be full of the most stinging allusions to Nero. It is not enough to grant to this school that Nero, as the type of his age, may have been present to the mind of the author. They scornfully reject this concession, and resort to all manner of legerdemain in order to explain away the impossibili- ties of such an attack and the improbabilities of its exe- cution. With such scope as these scholars allow them- selves we may find parallels every where, and covert assaults may be detected in the most innocent literary performances. But it would not answer the purpose of this Introduction to enter into an elaborate discussion of this question, which seems to be destined to an uncom- fortable resurrection as often as it is laid. Every plausi- ble coincidence has been mentioned in the Notes, and it will be sufficient for ingenuous youth to know the opin- ions of distinguished scholars on the subject. If this essay had not been prolonged beyond the limit proposed, it might be well to give some account of the grammatical and rhetorical peculiarities of the style of Persius ; but the grammar of Persius will present few difficulties to those who are at all familiar with the po- etic syntax of the Latin language ; and enough has been INTRODUCTION. XXXV11 said to prepare the student, in a measure, for coping with the labored terseness of our author. The manuscripts of Persius are remarkable for their age, their number, and the stupid bewilderment of the tran- scribers. The best is the Codex Montepessulanus, or Mont- pellier manuscript, with which the Codex Vaticanus close- ly coincides ; but, in the words of Jahn, JVullus Persii co- dex tantae auctoritatis est ut in rebus dubiis eius vestigia tuto sequaris sed semper inter complures optio eaque non raro incerta datur. A. PERSII FLACCI SATURARUM LIBEE. A. PERSII FLACCI SATURARUM LIBER. PROLOGUS. Nee fonte labra prolui caballino, nee in bicipiti somniasse Parnaso inemini, ut repente sic poeta prodirem. Heliconidasque pallidamque Pirenen 5 illis reinitto, quorum imagines lambunt hederae sequaces: ipse semipaganus ad sacra vatum carmen adfero nostrum, quis expedivit psittaco suum chaere picamque docuit nostra verba conari % 10 magister artis ingenique largitor venter, negatas artifex sequi voces; quod si dolosi spes refulserit nummi, corvos poetas et poetridas picas cantare credas Pegaseium nectar. 40 PERSII SATUEA I. O curas hominum ! o quantum est in rebus inane ! ' Quis leget haec V Min tu istud ais ? nemo hercule ! < Nemo?' Yel duo, vel nemo. l Turpe et miserabile !' Quare ? ne mihi Polydamas et Troiades Labeonem 5 praetulerint ? nugae. non, si quid turbida Roma elevet, accedas examenque inprobum in ilia castiges trutina, nee te quaesiveris extra. nam Romae quis non — ? a, si fas dicere — sed fas turn, cum ad canitiem et nostrum istud vivere triste lOaspexi ac nucibus facimus quaecumque relictis, cum sapimus patruos; tunc, tunc, ignoscite — 'Nolo.' Quid faciam? sed sum petulanti splene cachinno. Scribimus inclusi, numeros ille, hie pede liber, grande aliquid, quod pulmo animae praelargus anhelet. 15 scilicet haec populo pexusque togaque recenti et natalicia tandem cum sardonyche albus sede leges celsa, liquido cum plasmate guttur mobile collueris, patranti fractus ocello. hie neque more probo videas nee voce serena 20 ingentis trepidare Titos, cum carmina lumbnm intrant, et tremulo scalpuntur ubi intima versu. tun, vetule, auriculis alienis colligis escas ? auriculis, quibus et dicas cute perditus ohe. ' Quo didicisse, nisi hoc fermentum et quae semel intns SATUEA I. 41 25innata est rupto iecore exierit caprificus?' En pallor seniumque! o mores! usque adeone scire tuum nihil est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter ? 'At pulchrum est digito monstrari et dicier hie est! ten cirratorum centum dictata fuisse 30 pro nihilo pendas?' Ecce inter pocula quaerunt Komulidae saturi, quid dia poemata narrent. hie aliquis, cui circa umeros hyacinthia laena est, rancid tilum quiddam balba de nare locutus, Phyllidas Hypsipylas, vatum et plorabile si quid, 35eliquat ac tenero supplantat verba palato. adsensere viri: nunc non cinis ille poetae felix? non levior cippus nunc inprimit ossa? laudant convivae : nunc non e manibus illis, nunc non e tumulo fortunataque favilla 40 nascentur violae ? ' Rides ' ait c et nimis uncis naribus indulges, an erit qui velle recuset os populi meruisse et cedro digna locutus linquere nee scombros metuentia carmina nee tus V Quisquis es, o, modo quern ex ad verso dicere feci, 45 non ego cum scribo, si forte quid aptius exit, quando haec rara avis est, si quid tamen aptius exit, laudari metuam, neque enim mihi cornea fibra est ; sed recti finemque extremumque esse recuso euge tuum et belle, nam belle hoc excute totum : 50 quid non intus habet % non hie est Ilias Atti ebria veratro ? non si qua elegidia crudi dictarunt proceres? non quidquid denique lectis scribitur in citreis? calidum scis ponere sumen, 42 PERSII scis comitem horridulum trita donare lacerna, 55 et 'verum' inquis 'amo: verum mihi dicite de me.' qui pote ? vis dicam ? nugaris, cum tibi, calve, pinguis aqualiculus protenso sesquipede exstet. o lane, a tergo quern nulla ciconia pinsit, nee manus auriculas imitari mobilis albas, 60 nee linguae, quantum sitiat canis Apula, tantae ! vos, o patricius sanguis, quos vivere fas est occipiti caeco, posticae occurrite sannae ! Quis populi sermo est? quis enim, nisi carmina molli nunc demum numero fluere, ut per leve severos 65efrundat iunctura unguis? scit tendere versum non secus ac si oculo rubricam derigat uno. sive opus in mores, in luxum, in prandia regum dicere, res grandis nostro dat Musa poetae. ecce modo heroas sensus adferre videmus 70 nugari solitos graece, nee ponere lucum artifices nee rus saturum laudare, ubi corbes et focus et porci et fumosa Palilia faeno, unde Eemus, sulcoque terens dentalia, Qninti, cum trepida ante boves dictatorem induit uxor 75 et tua aratra domum lictor tulit — euge poeta ! est nunc Brisaei quern venosus liber Acci, sunt quos Pacuviusque et verrucosa moretur Antiopa, aerumnis cor luctificabile fulta. hos pueris monitus patres infundere lippos 80 cum videas, quaerisne, unde haec sartago loquendi venerit in linguas, unde istuc dedecus, in quo trossulus exsnltat tibi per subsellia levis ? SATURA I. 43 mine pudet capiti non posse pericula cano pellere, quin tepidum hoc optes audire decenter f 85 'Fur es' ait Pedio. Pedius quid? crimina rasis librat in antithetis : doctas posuisse figuras laudatur ' bellum hoc !' hoc belluin ? an, Romule, ceves % men moveat? quippe et, cantet si naufragus, assem protulerim. cantas, cum fracta te in trabe pictum 90 ex umero portes ? verum, nee nocte paratum plorabit, qui me volet incurvasse querela. 'Sed numeris decor est et iunctura addita crudis. cludere sic versum didicit Berecyntius Attis et qui caeruleum dirimebat Nerea delphin 95 sic costam longo subduximus Apj?en?iino. Arma virum, nonne hoc spumosum et cortice pingui, ut ramale vetus vegrandi subere coctum?' 4 Quidnam igitur tenerum et laxa cervice legendum \ Torva mimalloneis iivplerunt cornua bombis, 100 et raptum vitulo caput ablatura superbo Bassaris et lyncem Maenas jiexura corymbis euhion ingeminate reparabilis adsonat echo V haec fierent, si testiculi vena ulla paterni viveret in nobis? summa delumbe saliva 105 hoc natat in labris, et in udo est Maenas et Attis, nee pluteum caedit, nee demorsos sapit unguis. 1 Sed quid opus teneras mordaci radere vero auriculas ? vide sis, ne maiorum tibi forte limina frigescant: sonat hie de nare canina HOlittera.' Per me equidem sint omnia protinus alba; 44 PERSII nil moror. euge ! omnes, omnes bene mirae eritis res. hoc iuvat? 'liic ? inquis 'veto quisquam faxit oletum.' pinge duos anguis : pueri, saoer est locus, extra meite ! discedo. secuit Lucilius urbem, 115 te Lupe, te Muci, et genuinum f regit in illis; omne vafer vitium ridenti Flaccus amico tangit et admissus circum praecordia ludit, callidus excusso populum suspendere naso: men muttire nefas? nee clam, nee cum scrobe? nus- quam ? 120 hie tamen infodiam. vidi, vidi ipse, libelle : auriculas asini quis non habet? hoc ego opertum, hoc ridere meum, tarn nil, nulla tibi vendo Iliade. audaci quicumque adilate Cratino iratum Eupolidem praegrandi cum seue palles, 125 aspice et haec, si forte aliquid decoctius audis. inde vaporata lector mihi ferveat aure: non hie, qui in crepidas Graiorum ludere gestit sordidus, et lusco qui possit dicere i lusce,' sese aliquem credens, Italo quod honore supinus 130 fregerit heminas Arreti aedilis iniquas ; nee qui abaco numeros et secto in pulvere metas scit risisse vafer, multum gaudere paratus, si cynico barbam petulans nonaria vellat. his mane edictum, post praudia Calliroen do. SATURA II. 45 SATURA II. Hunc, Macrine, diem numera meliore lapillo qui tibi labentis apponit candidus annos. funde merum genio. non tu prece poscis emaci, quae nisi seduetis nequeas committere divis; 5 at bona pars procerum tacita libabit acerra. haud cuivis promptura est murmurque humilisque su- surros tollere de tempi is et aperto vivere voto. ' Mens bona, fama, fides ' haec clare et ut audiat ho- spes; ilia sibi introrsam et sub lingua murmurat 'o si lOebulliat patruus, praeclarum funus?' et 'o si sub rastro crepet argent! mihi seria dextro Hercule! pupillumve utinam, quern proximns heres inpello, expungam ! namque est scabiosus et acri bile tumet. Nerio iam tertia conditur uxor.' 15 haec sancte ut poscas, Tiberino in gurgite mergis mane caput bis terque et noctem flumine purgas? heus age, responde — minimum est quod scire laboro — de love quid sentis? estne ut praeponere cures hunc — 'cuinam?' cuinam? vis Staio? an scilicet haeres ? 20 quis potior index, puerisve quis aptior orbis % hoc igitur, quo tu Iovis aurem inpellere temptas, die agedum Staio, ' pro Iuppiter ! o bone' clamet 46 PERSII 'Iuppiter!' at sese non clamet Iuppiter ipse? ignovisse putas, quia, cum tonat, ocius ilex 25sulpure discutitur sacro quam tuque domusque? an quia non fibris ovium Ergennaque iubente triste iaces lucis evitandumque bidental, idcirco stolid am praebet tibi vellere barbain Iuppiter? aut quidnam est, qua tu mercede deorum 30emeris auriculas? pulmone et lactibus unctis?. Ecce avia aut metuens divum matertera cunis exemit puerum frontemque atque uda labella infami digito et lustralibus ante salivis expiat, urentis oculos inhibere perita ; 35 tunc manibus quatit et spem macram supplice voto nunc Licini in campos, nunc Crassi mittit in aedis ' liunc optet generum rex et regina ! puellae hunc rapiant! quidquid calcaverit hie, rosa fiat!' ast ego nutrici non mando vota: negato, 40 Iuppiter, haec illi, quamvis te albata rogarit. Poscis opem nervis corpusque fidele senectae. esto age; sed grandes patinae tuccetaque crassa adnuere his superos vetuere Iovemque morantur. Rem struere exoptas caeso bove Mercuriumque 45 arcessis fibra ' da fortunare Penatis, da pecus et gregibus fetum !' quo, pessime, pacto, tot tibi cum in flammas iunicum omenta liqnescant' et tamen hie extis et opimo vincere ferto intendit 'iam crescit ager, iam crescit ovile, 50 iam dabitur, iam iam !' donee deceptus et exspes nequiquam fundo suspiret nummus in imo. SATURA II. 47 Si tibi creterras argenti incusaque pingui auro dona feram, sudes et pectore laevo excutiat guttas laetari praetrepidum cor. 55 hinc illud subiit, auro sacras quod ovato perducis fades; nam fratres inter aenos somnia pituita qui purgatissiina mittunt, praecipui sunto sitque illis aurea barba. aurum vasa Numae Saturniaque inpulit aera 60 Yestalisque urnas et Tuscuin fictile mutat. o curvae in terris animae et caelestium inanes! quid iuvat hoc, templis nostros inmittere mores et bona dis ex hac scelerata ducere pulpa? liaec sibi corrupto casiam dissolvit olivo, 65 haec Calabrum coxit yitiato murice vellus, haec bacam conchae rasisse et stringere venas ferventis massae crudo de pulvere iussit. peccat et haec, peccat: vitio tamen utitur. at vos dicite, pontifices, in sancto quid facit aurum ? 70nempe hoc quod Yeneri donatae a virgine pupae, quin damns id superis, de magna quod dare lance non possit magni Messallae lippa propago: conpositum ius fasque animo sanctosque recessus mentis et incoctum generoso pectus honesto. 75 haec cedo ut admoveam templis et farre litabo. C 48 PERSII SATUEA III. 'Nenipe haec adsidue: iam clarum mane fenestras intrat et angustas extendit lumine rimas: stertimus indomitum quod despumare Falernum sufficiat, quinta dtim linea tangitur umbra. 5 en quid agis ? siccas insana canicula messis iam dudum coquit et patula pecus omne sub ulmo est.' unus ait comitum. "Verunme? itane? ocius adsit hue aliquis ! nemon ?" tnrgescit vitrea bilis : " iindor " — ut Arcadiae pecuaria rndere dicas. 10 iam liber et positis bicolor membrana capillis inque manus chartae nodosaque venit harundo. tunc querimur, crassus calamo quod pendeat umor, nigra quod infusa vanescat sepia lympha; dilutas querimur geminet quod fistula guttas. 15 o miser inque dies ultra miser, hucine rerum venimus? at cur non potius teneroque columbo et similis regum pueris pappare minutum poscis et iratus mammae lallare recusas? "An tali studeam calamo?" Cui verba? quid istas 20suecinis ambages? tibi luditur. effluis aniens, contemnere: sonat vitium percussa, maligne respondet viridi non cocta fidelia limo. udum et molle Latum es, nunc nunc properandus et acri SATURA III. 49 fingendus sine fine rota, sed rure paterno 25 est tibi far modicum, purum et sine labe salinum — ■ quid metuas ? — cultrixque foci secura patella, hoc satis? an deceat pulmonem rumpere ventis, stemmate quod Tusco ramum millesime ducis, censorenme tnum vel quod trabeate salutas? 30 ad populum phaleras! ego te intus et in cute novi. non pudet ad morem discincti vivere Nattae? sed stupet hie vitio et fibris increvit opimum pingue, caret culpa, nescit quid perdat, et alto demersus summa rursum non bullit in unda. 35 magne pater divum, saevos punire tyrannos hand alia ratione velis, cum dira libido moverit ingenium ferventi tincta veneno: virtutem videant intabescantque relicta. anne magis Siculi gemuerunt aera iuvenci, 40 et magis auratis pendens laquearibus ensis purpureas subter cervices terruit, 'irnus, imus praecipites' quam si sibi dicat et intus palleat infelix, quod proxima nesciat uxor? Saepe oculos, memini, tangebam parvus olivo, 45grandia si nollem morituri verba Catonis discere, non sano multum laudanda magistro, quae pater adductis sudans audi ret amicis. iure; etenim id summum, quid dexter senio ferret, scire erat in voto; damnosa canicula quantum 50 raderet ; angustae collo non f allier orcae ; neu quis callidior buxum torquere flagello. hand tibi inexpertum curvos deprendere mores, 50 PERSII quaeque docet sapiens bracatis inlita Medis porticus, insomnis quibus et detonsa iuventus 55invigilat, siliquis et grandi pasta polenta; et tibi quae Samios diduxit littera ramos surgentem dextro monstravit limite callem. stertis adhuc, laxumque caput conpage soluta oscitat hesternum, dissutis undique malis! 60 est aliquid quo tendis, et in quod dirigis arcum? an passim sequeris corvos testaque lutoque, securus quo pes ferat, atque ex tempore vivis? helleborum frustra, cum iam cutis aegra tumebit, poscentis videas: venienti occurrite morbo! 65 et quid opus Cratero magnos promittere montis ? discite, o miseri, et causas cognoscite rerum: quid sumus, et quidnam victim gignimur; ordo quis datus, aut metae qua mollis flexus et unde; quis modus argento, quid fas optare, quid asper 70 utile nummus habet ; patriae carisque propinquis quantum elargiri deceat; quem te deus esse iussit, et humana qua parte locatus es in re. disce, nee invideas, quod multa fidelia putet in locuplete penu, defensis pinguibus Umbris, 75 et piper et pernae, Marsi monumenta clientis, menaque quod prima nondum defecerit orca. Hie aliquis de gente hircosa centurionum dicat 'Quod sapio satis est mihi. non ego euro esse quod Arcesilas aerumnosique Solones, 80 obstipo capite et figentes lumine terram, murmura cum secum et rabiosa silentia rodunt SATUKA III. 51 atque exporrecto trutinantur verba labello, aegroti veteris meditantes somnia, gigni de nihilo nikilum, in nihil um nil jposse reverti. 85 hoc est, quod palles ? cur quis non prandeat, hoc est V His populus ridet, multumque torosa iuventus ingeminat tremulos naso crispante cachinnos. ' Inspice ; nescio quid trepidat mihi pectus et aegris faucibus exsuperat gravis alitus; inspice, sodes!' 90 qui dicit medico, iussus requiescere, postquam tertia conpositas vidit nox currere venas, de maiore domo modice sitiente lagoena lenia loturo sibi Surrentina rogabit. ' Heus, bone, tu palles !' " Nihil est." i Yideas tamen istuc, 95 quidquid id est : surgit tacite tibi lutea pellis.' " At tu deterius palles ; ne sis mihi tutor ; iam pridem hunc sepeli : tu restas." £ Perge, tacebo.' turgidus hie epulis atque albo ventre lavatur, gutture sulpureas lente exalante mefites ; lOOsed tremor inter vina subit calidumque triental excutit e manibus, dentes crepuere retecti, uncta cadunt laxis tunc pulmentaria labris. hinc tuba, candelae, tandemque beatulus alto conpositus lecto crassisque lutatus amomis 105 in portam rigidas calces extendit:*at ilium hesterni capite induto subiere Quirites. ^Tange, miser, venas et pone in pectore dextram. nil calet hie. summosque pedes attinge manusque. non frigent.' Yisa est si forte pecunia, sive 52 PERSII 110 Candida vicini subrisit molle pnelia, cor tibi rite salit? positum est algente catino durum holus et populi cribro decussa farina: temptemus fauces, tenero latet ulcus in ore putre, quod haud deceat plebeia radere beta. 115alges, cum excussit membris timor albus aristas: nunc face supposita fervescit sanguis et ira scintillant oculi, dicisque facisque, quod ipse non sani esse hominis non sanus iuret Orestes. SATURA IV. 53 SATURA IV. 6 Rem populi tractas V barbatum haec crede magistram dicere, sorbitio tollit quern dira cicutae 'quo fretus? die hoc, magui pupille Perieli. scilicet ingenium et rerum prudentia velox 5 ante pilos venit, dicenda tacendaque calles. ergo ubi commota fervet plebecula bile, fert animus calidae fecisse silentia turbae maiestate manus. quid deinde loquere ? " Quirites, hoc puta non iustum est, illud male, recti us illud." lOscis etenim iustum gemina suspendere lance ancipitis librae, rectum discernis, ubi inter curva subit, vel cum fallit pede regula varo, et potis es nigrum vitio praefigere theta. quin tu igitur, summa nequiquam pelle decorns, 15 ante diem blando caudam iactare popello desinis, Anticyras melior sorbere meracas ! quae tibi summa boni est? uncta vixisse patella semper et adsiduo curata cuticula sole? exspecta, baud aliud respondeat haec anus, i nunc 20 " Dinomaches ego sum," suffla " sum candidus." esto ; dum ne detenus sapiat pannucia Baucis, cum bene discincto cantaverit ocima vernae.5 Ut nemo in sese temptat descendere, nemo, sed praecedenti spectatur mantica tergo ! 25quaesieris 'Nostin Yettidi praedia?' "Cuius?" 54 PERSII 'Dives arat Curibus quantum non miluus errat.' "Hunc ais, hunc dis iratis geuioque sinistro, qui, quandoque iugum pertusa ad compita figit, seriolae veterem metuens deradere liraum 30ingemit: hoc bene sit! tunicatum cum sale mordens - caepe et farrata pueris plaudentibus olla pannosam faecem morientis sorbet aceti?" at si imctus cesses et figas in cute solem, est prope te ignotus, cubito qui tangat et acre 35 despuat ' hi mores ! penemque arcanaque lumbi runcantem populo marcentis pandere vulvas! tu cum maxillis balanatum gausape peetas, inguinibus quare detonsus gurgulio exstat? quinque palaestritae licet haec plantaria vellant 40elixasque nates labefactent forcipe adunca, non tamen ista filix ullo mansuescit aratro.' caedimus inque vicem praebemus crura sagittis. vivitur hoc pacto; sic novimus. ilia subter caecum vulnus babes; sed lato balteus auro 45praetegit. ut mavis, da verba et decipe nervos, si potes. c Egregium cum me vicinia dicat, non credamf Yiso si palles, inprobe, nummo, si facis in penem quidquid tibi venit amarum, si puteal multa cautus vibice flagellas: 50nequiquam populo bibulas donaveris aures. ' respue, quod non es; tollat sua munera cerdo; tecum habita: noris, quam sit tibi curta supellex. SATURA V. 55 SATUKA Y. Vatibus hie mos est, centum sibi poscere voces, centum ora et liugnas optare in carmina centum, fabula sen maesto ponatur hianda tragoedo, vulnera seu Parthi ducentis ab inguine ferrum. 5 ' Quorsum haec ? aut quantas robusti carminis offas ingeris, ut par sit centeno gutture niti? grande locuturi nebulas Helicone legunto, si quibus aut Prognes, aut si quibus olla Thyestae fervebit, saepe insulso cenanda Glyconi; 10 tu neque anhelanti, coquitur dum massa camino, folle premis ventos, nee clause- murmure raucus nescio quid tecum grave cornicaris inepte, nee scloppo tumidas intendis rumpere buccas. verba togae sequeris iunctura callidus acri, 15 ore teres modico, pallentis radere mores doctus et ingenuo culpam defigere ludo. hinc trahe quae dicis, mensasque relinque Mycenis cum capite et pedibus, plebeiaque prandia noris.' Non equidem hoc studeo, bullatis ut mihi nugis 20pagina turgescat, dare pondus idonea fumo. secreti loquimur; tibi nunc hortante Camena excutienda damns praecordia, quantaque nostrae pars tua sit, Cornute, animae, tibi, dulcis amice, ostendisse iuvat : pulsa, dinoscere cautus, 25 quid solidum crepet et pictae tectoria linguae^ C2 56 . PEKSII his ego centenas ausim deposcere voces, ut, quantum mihi te sinuoso in peetore fixi, voce trahara pura, totumque hoc verba resignent, quod latet arcana non enarrabile fibra. 30 Cum primum pavido custos mihi purpura cessit bullaque succinctis Laribus donata pependit; cum blandi comites totaque inpune Subura permisit sparsisse oculos iam candidus umbo; cumque iter ainbiguum est et vitae nescius error 35 deducit trepidas ramosa in compita mentes, me tibi supposui : teneros tu suscipis annos Socratico, Cornute, sinu; turn fallere sollers apposita intortos extendit regula mores, et premitur ratione animus vincique laborat 40 artificemque tuo ducit sub pollice vultum. tecum etenim longos memini consumere soles, et tecum primas epulis decerpere noctes: unum opus et requiem pariter disponimus ambo, atque verecunda laxamus seria mensa. 45 non equidem hoc dubites, amborum foedere certo consentire dies et ab uno sidere duci nostra vel aequali suspendit tempora Libra Parca tenax veri, sen nata fidelibus hora dividit in Geminos concordia fata duorum, 50 Saturnumque gravem nostro love frangimus una : nescio quod, certe est, quod me tibi temperat astrnm. Mille hominum species et rerum discolor usus; velle suum cuique est, nee voto vivitur uno. mercibus hie Italis mutat sub sole recenti SAT UK A V. 57 55 rugosum piper et pallentis grana cumini, hie satur inriguo mavult turgescere somno; hie campo iudulget, hunc alea decoquit, ille in Yenerem putris; sed cum lapidosa cheragra fregerit articulos, veteris raraalia fagi, 60 tunc crassos transisse dies lucemque palustrem et sibi iam seri vitam ingemuere relictam. at te nocturnis iuvat inpallescere chartis; cultor enim iuvenum purgatas inseris aures fruge Cleanthea. petite hinc puerique senesque 65nnem ammo certum miserisque viatica canis! ' Cras hoc net.' Idem eras net. ' Quid? quasi magnum nempe diem donas.' Sed cum lux altera venit, iam cras hesternum consumpsimus : ecce aliud cras egerit hos annos et semper paulum erit ultra. 70 nam quamvis prope te, quamvis temone sub uno vertentem sese frustra sectabere eantnm, cum rota posterior curras et in axe secundo. Libertate opus est, non hac, ut, quisque Yelina Publius emeruit, scabiosum tesserula far 75 possidet. lieu steriles veri, quibus una Quiriteni vertigo facit! hie Dama est non tressis agaso, vappa lippus et in tenui farragine mendax : verterit hunc dominus, momento turbinis exit Marcus Dama. papae ! Marco spondente recusas 80 credere tu nummos ? Marco sub iudice palles? Marcus dixit: ita est; adsigna, Marce, tabellas. haec mera libertas ; hoc nobis pillea donant ! i An quisquam est alius liber, nisi ducere vitam 58 PEESII cui licet, ut voluit ? licet ut volo vivere : non sum 851iberior Bruto?' "Mendose colligis," inquit stoicus hie aurem mordaci lotus aceto " haec reliqua accipio ; licet illud et ut volo tolle." 'Vindicta postquam meus a praetore recessi, cur mihi non liceat, iussit quodcumque voluntas, 90excepto si quid Masuri rubrica vetavitf Disce, sed ira cadat naso rugosaque sanna, dum veteres avias tibi de pulmone revello. non praetoris erat stultis dare tenuia rerum officia atque usum rapidae permittere vitae: 95sambucam citius caloni aptaveris alto. stat contra ratio et secretam garrit in aurem, ne liceat facere id quod quis vitiabit agendo, publica lex hominum naturaque continet hoc fas, ut teneat vetitos inscitia debilis actus. 100 diluis helleborum, certo conpescere puncto nescius examen: vetat hoc natura medendi. navem si poscat sibi peronatus arator, luciferi rudis, exclamet Melicerta perisse frontem de rebus, tibi recto vivere talo 105 ars dedit, et veri speciem dinoscere calles, ne qua subaerato mendosum thiniat anro? quaeque seqnenda forent, quaeque evitanda ilia prius creta, mox haec carbone notasti? es modicus voti? presso lare? dulcis amicis ? 110 iam nunc astringas, iam nunc granaria laxes, inque Into fixum possis transcendere nummum, nee glutto sorbere salivam Mercurialem ? SATURA V. 59 Miaec mea sunt, teneo' cum vere dixeris, esto liberque ac sapiens praetoribus ac love dextro, 115 sin tu, cum fueris nostrae paulo ante farinae, pelliculam veterem retines et f route politus astutam vapido servas sub pectore vulpera, quae dederam supra relego f unemque reduco : nil tibi concessit ratio ; digitum exsere, peccas, 120 et quid tam parvum est? sed nullo tare litabis, baereat in stultis brevis ut semuncia recti, baec miscere nefas; nee, cum sis cetera fossor, tris tantum ad numeros satyrum moveare Batlrylli. 'Liber ego.' Unde datum hoc sentis, tot subdite rebus? 125 an dominum ignoras, nisi quern vindicta relaxat ? 'I puer et strigiles Crispini ad balnea defer!' si increpuit, l cessas nugator ;' servitium acre te nihil impellit, nee quicquam extrinsecus intrat, quod nervos agitet; sed si intus et in iecore aegro 130nascuntur domini, qui tu inpunitior exis atque hie, quern ad strigiles scutica et metus egit erilis ? Mane piger stertis. 6 Surge !' inquit Avaritia ' heia surge !' Negas ; instat i Surge !' inquit. " Kon queo." < Surge !' "Et quid again?" 'Kogitas? en saperdam advehe Ponto, 135castoreum, stuppas, hebenum, tus, lubrica Coa; tolle recens primus piper ex sitiente camelo; verte aliquid ; iura.' " Sed Iuppiter audiet." ' Eheu ! varo, regustatum digito terebrare salinum 60 PERSII contentus perages, si vivere cum love tendis!' 140 iam pueris pellem succinctus et oenophorum aptas 6 Ocius ad navem !' nihil obstat, quin trabe vasta Aegaeum rapias, ni sollers Luxuria ante seductum moneat \ Quo deinde, insane, ruis ? quo ? quid tibi vis? ealido sub pectore mascula bilis 145 intumuit, quod non exstinxerit urna cicutae? tu mare transilias ? tibi torta cannabe f ulto cena sit in transtro, Veientanumqne rnbellum exalet vapida laesum pice sessilis obba? quid petis? ut nummi, quos hie quincunce rnodesto 150 nutrieras, pergant avidos sudare deunces? indulge genio, carpamus dulcia! nostrum est quod vivis; cinis et manes et fabula lies. vive memor leti! fugit hora; hoc quod loquor inde est.' en quid agis ? duplici in diversum scinderis hamo. 155 lmncine, an hunc sequeris? subeas alternus oportet ancipiti obsequio dominos, alternus oberres. nee tu, cum obstiteris semel instantique negaris parere imperio, frupi iam vincula' dicas; nam et luctata canis nodum abripit; et tamen illi, 160 cum fugit, a collo trahitur pars longa catenae. 'Dave, cito, hoc credas iubeo, finire dolores praeteritos meditor.' crudum Chaerestratus unguem adrodens ait haec"fan siccis dedecus obstem cognatis? an rem patriam rumore sinistro 1651imen ad obscenum frangam, dum Chrysidis udas ebrius ante fores exstincta cum face canto?' SATURA V. 61 "Enge, puer, sapias, dis depellentibus agnam percute." ' Sed censen plorabit, Dave, relicta V "Nugaris; solea, puer, obiurgabere rubra. 170 ne trepidare velis atque artos rodere casses! nunc ferus et violens; at si vocet, haud mora, dicas: Quidnam igitur faciam f nee nunc, cum arcessat et ultro supplicet, accedam f Si totus et integer illinc exieras, nee nunc." hie hie, quod quaerimus, hie est, 175 non in festuca, lictor quam iactat ineptus. ius habet ille sui palpo, quern ducit hiantem cretata ambitio ? vigila et cicer ingere large rixanti populo, nostra ut Floralia possint aprici meminisse senes : quid pulchrius f at cum 180 Herodis venere dies, unctaque fenestra dispositae pinguem nebulam vomuere lncernae portantes violas, rnbrumque amplexa catinum cauda natat thynni, tumet alba fidelia vino: labra moves tacitus recutitaque sabbata palles. 185 turn nigri lemures ovoque pericula rnpto, turn grandes galli et cum sistro lusca sacerdos incussere deos inflantis corpora, si non praedictum ter mane caput gustaveris alii. Dixeris haec inter varicosos centuriones, 190continuo crassum ridet Pulfennius ingens, et centum Graecos curto centusse licetur. 62 PERSII SATUEA VI. Admovit iam bruma foco te, Basse, Sabino? iamue lyra et tetrico vivunt tibi pectine chordae? mire opifex numeris veterum primordia vocum atque marem strepitum fidis intendisse Latinae, 5mox iuvenes agitare ioeis et pollice honesto egregius lnsisse series, mihi nunc Ligus ora intepet hibernatque meum mare, qua latus ingens dant scopuli et multa litus se valle receptat. Lunai portum, est operae, cognoscite, cives! 10 cor iubet hoc Enni, postquam destertuit esse Maeonides, Qaintus pavone ex Pythagoreo. hie ego securus vulgi et quid praeparet auster infelix pecori, securns et angulus ille vicini nostro quia pinguior, etsi adeo omnes 15 ditescant orti peioribus, usque recusem curvus ob id minui senio aut cenare sine uncto, et signum in vapida naso tetigisse lagoena. discrepet his alius! geminos, horoscope, varo prodncis genio. solis natalibus est qui 20tingat *holus siccum muria vafer in calice empta, ipse sacrum inrorans patinae piper; hie bona dente grandia magnanimus peragit puer. utar ego, utar, nee rhombos ideo libertis ponere lautus, nee tenuis sollers turdarum nosse salivas. 25 messe tenus propria vive et granaria, fas est, SATUEA VI. 63 emole ; quid metuis ? occa, et seges altera in herba est. ast vocat officiwn: trabe rupta Bruttia saxa prendit amicus inops, remque omnem surdaque vota condidit Ionio; iacet ipse in litore et una 30ingentes de puppe dii, iamque obvia mergis eosta ratis lacerae. nunc et de caespite vivo frange aliquid, largire inopi, ne pictus oberret caerulea in tabula. ' Sed cenam funeris heres negleget, iratus quod rem curtaveris; urnae 35ossa inodora dabit, seu spirent cinnama surdum, seu ceraso peccent casiae, nescire paratus. tune bona incolumis minuas? et Bestius urguet doctores Graios : Ita fit, postquam sapere arbi cum piper e etpalmis venit nostrum hoc maris expers ; 40 fenisecae crasso vitiarunt unguine pultes? Haec cinere ulterior metuas? At tu, mens heres quisquis eris, paulum a turba seductior audi, o bone, num ignoras ? missa est a Caesare laurus insignem ob cladem Germanae pubis, et aris 45frigidus excutitur cinis, ac iam postibus anna, iam chlamydes regum, iam lutea gausapa captis essedaque ingentesque locat Caesonia Ehenos. dis igitur genioque ducis centum paria ob res egregie gestas induco; quis vetat ? aude. 50vae, nisi conives! oleum artocreasque popello largior ; an prohibes ? die clare ! ' Kon adeo,' inquis 'exossatus ager iuxta est.' Age, si mihi nulla iam reliqua ex amitis, patruelis nulla, proneptis nulla manet patrui, sterilis matertera vixit, 64 PEESIJ SATTJRA VI. 55 deque a via nihilum superest, accedo Bo villas clivumque ad Virbi, praesto est mihi Manius heres. 'Progenies terrae?' Quaere ex me, quis mihi quartus sit pater: hand prompte, dicam tamen; adde etiam unum, unum etiam: terrae est iam filius, et mihi ritu 60 Manius hie generis prope maior avunculus exit, qui prior es, cur me in decursu lampada poscis? sum tibi Mercurius; venio deus hue ego ut ille pingitur; an renuis? vin tu gaudere relictis? ' Dest aliquid summae.' Minui mihi ; sed tibi totum est, 65 quidquid id est. ubi sit, f uge quaerere, quod mihi quondam legarat Tadius, neu dicta repone paterna: Faenoris accedat merces; hinc exime sum/ptus. quid reliquum est? Keliquum? nunc, nunc inpen- sius ungue, ungue, puer, caules ! mihi festa luce coquetur 70 urtica et fissa f nmosnm sinciput aure, ut tuus iste nepos olim satur anseris extis, cum morosa vago singultiet inguine vena, patriciae inmeiat vulvae? mihi trama figurae sit reliqua, ast illi tremat omento popa venter ? 75 vende animam lucro, mercare atque excute sollers omne latus mundi, nee sit praestantior alter Cappadocas rigida pinguis plausisse castata: rem duplica. 'Feci; iam triplex, iam mihi quarto, iam deciens redit in rugam : depunge, ubi sistam.' 80 Inventus, Chrysippe, tui finitor acervi. VITA A. PERSII FLACCI DE COMMENTARIO PKOBI VALER1I SUBLATA. A. Persius Flaccus natus est pridie nonas Decembris Fabio Persico L. Vitellio coss. decessit YIII kalendas 5 Decembris P. Mario Asinio Gallo coss. natus est in Etruria Yolaterris, eques Romanus, san- guine et affinitate primi ordinis viris coniunctus. de- cessit ad octavum miliarinm in via Appia in praediis suis. 10 pater eum Flaccus pupillum reliquit moriens anno- rum fere sex. Fulvia Sisennia mater nupsit postea Fusio equiti Romano et eum quoque extulit inter paucos annos. studuit Flaccus usque ad annum XII aetatis suae 15 Yolaterris, inde Romae apud grammaticum Remmium Palaemonem et apud rhetorem Yerginium Flavum. cum esset annorum XYI, amicitia coepit uti An- naei Cornuti, ita ut ab eo nusquam discederet. indu- ctus aliquatenus in philosophiam est. 20 amicos habuit a prima adulescentia Caesium Bassum poetam et Calpurnium Staturam, qui vivo eo iuvenis decessit. coluit ut patrem Servilium ISTonianum. co- gnovit per Cornutum etiam Annaeum Lucanum, aequae- vura auditorem Cornuti. [nam Cornutus illo tempore 66 VITA PERSII. tragicus fuit sectae stoicae. sed] Lncanus adeo mira- batur scripta Flacci, ut vix retineret se recitantem cla- more, quin ilia [esse] vera poemata diceret, etsi ipse siia ludos faeeret. sero cognovit et Senecam, sed non nt caperetur eius ingenio. usus est apud Cornutum 5 duorum convictu virorum et doctissimorum et sanctissi- morum, acriter turn philosophantium, Claudii Agathe- meri, mediei, Lacedaemonii, et Petronii Aristocratis, Magnetis, quos unice miratus est et aemulatus, cum ae- quales essent, Cornuti minores et ipsi. 10 idem etiam decern fere arnios summe dilectus a Pae- to Thrasea est, ita ut peregrinaretur quoque cum eo ali- quando, cognatam eias Arriam habente uxorem. fuit mornm lenissimornm, verecundiae vii*ginalis, formae pulchrae, pietatis erga matrem et sororem et 15 amitam exemplo sufficientis. fuit frugi et pudicns. reliquit circa HS vicies matri et sorori. scriptis ta- men ad matrem codicillis Cornuto rogavit ut daret ses- tertia, ut quidam, centum, ut alii volunt et argenti facti 20 pondo viginti et libros circa septingentos Chrysippi sive bibliothecam suam omnem. verum Cornntus sublatis libris pecuniam [sororibus, quas heredes frater fecerat] reliquit. et raro et tarde scripsit. hunc ipsum librum inper- 25 fectum reliquit. versus aliqui dempti sunt ultimo li- bro, ut quasi finitus esset. leviter retractavit Cornutus et Caesio Basso petenti, ut ipsi cederet, tradidit eden- dum. VITA PERSII. 67 scripsit etiam Flaccus in pueritia praetextam f ve- scio et hodoeporicon librum unuiu et paucos in so- crum Thraseae [in Arriae inatrem] versus, quae se ante virum occiderat. omnia ea auctor fuit Cornu- 5 tus matri eius ut aboleret. editum librum continuo mirari et diripere homines coepere. decessit autem vitio stomachi anno aetatis XXX. sed mox ut a scliolis et magistris divertit, lecto libro lOLucilii decimo vehementer saturas conponere instituit. cuius libri principium imitatus est, sibi primo, mox om- nibus detracturus cum tanta recentium poetarum et ora- totum insectatione, ut etiam JNeronem [illius temporis principem] culpa verit. cuius versus in Neronem cum 15 ita se haberet i auriculas asini Mida rex habet,' in eum modum a Cornuto, Persio iam turn mortuo, est comrau- tatus ( auriculas asini quis non habet V ne hoc Nero in se dictum arbitraretur. QU1NTILIANUS X, 1, U multum et verae glo- 20 riae quamvis uno libro Persius meruit. MAETIALIS IY, 9, 7 Saepius in libro numeratur Persius uno, quam levis in tota Marsus Amazonide. IOANNES LYDUS DE MAG. I, 41 Uipmoc g| 25 tov 7roit]Trjv 2w0pova fxinr}., Pyth., 4, 140) is not a sufficient parallel. — refulse- rit : better every way than refulgeat, which Jahn accepts in his ed. of 1868. The Perf. Subj. is more vivid and more correct than the Present. Be- must not be overlooked. Like the English 1 again,' it denotes the reversal of a previous condition. Befidgere, 1 to catch the eye by its glitter,' ' to flash on the sight ' — whereas it lay unnoticed before. — numuii: better translated as a coin. Comp. ' The Splendid Shilling,' ' The Almighty Dollar ;' per- SATIRE I. 75 haps ' The Magic Sixpence.' Comp. Juv., 7, 8 : nam si Pieria quadrans tibi nullus in umbra \ ostendatur, etc. 13.corvos poetas et poetridas picas: 'Raven poets and po- etess pies,' the substantive standing for an epithet, like jpopa ven- ter, 6, 74. Which of the substantives is adjective to the other does not appear. For the corvus, Poe and Dickens will answer as well as Macrob., Sat. 2, 4. The male poet has a female coun- terpart in the magpie (pica). According to Ov. (Met., 5, 294, foil.), the daughters of Pierus, the Macedonian, were changed into magpies because they had challenged the Muses to a con- test, and reviled the victorious goddesses. There seems to be an allusion to the literary ladies of the day, the blue-stockings of Juvenal's Satire (6, 434 foil.). See Friedlander, Sittengeschichte, 1, 481. Poetridas after Gr. analogy. 14. cantare nectar s a poetic extension of the cognate accusa- tive =nectareum carmen cantare (G., 331 ; A., 52, 1, b). Nectar is copied from Pind., 01., 7, 7 (vsKrap xv™v, Moiaav S6Tog eXey%£t7/v dvaSrjaEi — vvv d' eirei wXecra Xabv draaSaXiyuiv t/xy- aiv | aidsopai Tpioag icai TpydSag eXKBanreTrXovg. These are the words of Hector, as he steels his great heart to meet Achilles. Polydamas is the counsellor who had urged him (18, 254) to withdraw the Trojans into Troy, and Hector is ashamed to turn back and encounter the rebuke of Polydamas and the reproaches of his people. Persius uses Polydamas as the type of the Ro- man critic, and by a familiar satiric stroke leaves out the Trojan men, as if they were no men in Rome. Others understand ' Nero and his effeminate court.' The Homeric passage had been well worn by Aristotle and Cicero (Att., 2, 5, 1 ; 7, 1, 4 ; 8, 16, 2) before it came to Persius. There is perhaps a side-thrust at the pride of the old Roman families in their Trojan descent. Comp. Juv., 1, 100: iubet apraecone vocari \ ipsos Troiugenas; also 8, 181. See Friedlander, Sittengesch., 1, 230. — Labeonem: the Attius (Labeo) of v. 50, an unfortunate translator of Homer, who stuck close to the letter. The scholiast has preserved a line. 'Qfxbv j3ef3pwBoig Ii.piap.ov ILpidpoio re 7raidag (II., 4, 35) is rendered thus : crudum manduces Priamum Priamique pisinnos. ' Raw you'd munch both Priam himself and Priam's papooses.' 5. nugae : The accusative is more common. Comp. Gr., 340, R. 1. — non accedas— nee quaesiveris : Non and nee, where Quin- tilian's rigid rule (1, 5, 50) requires ne and neve. G., 266, R. 1 ; A., 41, 2, e. Comp. 3, 73 and 5, 45.— turbida : ' muddle-headed ' (Conington). But comp. Alexandre® turuida, Auson., Clar.Urb., 3,4. 6? 7. elevet : ' reject as light' The figure is taken from weigh- ing, doubtless a common trope in the schools. — examen : (Jllum, ligida) is the 'index, tongue, or needle' which is said to be in- prouum, ' faulty,' ' wilful,' ' untoward,' because it does not move SATIRE I. 79 freely or accurately on its pivot— trutina : (Gr. Tpvravri), a word of doubtful etymology and loose application, means here ' a bal- ance,1 ' a pair of scales,' not, as the scholiast says, the foramen, 'fork' or ' cheeks,' in which the examen plays.— castiges —percu- tias (Schol.) of the tap given to a hitching balance. Gesner, s. v., regards cdstigare here as equivalent to conpescere (5, 100), a view which has a good deal in its favor. The notion is not ' do not correct the popular standard,' but ' do not try to get an exact re- sult by the popular standard (for your guidance).' Hermann (Lect.Pers.,11., 9) follows those who understand the examen and trutina of different instruments : Noli examen tuum inpopuli tru- tina castigare* So Pretor, who translates : ' Do not try to cor- rect the erring tongue of your delicate balance by applying to it a pair of ordinary scales.'— nee te quaesiveris extra: (te) ' Nor look for yourself (what you can find only in yourself) outside of yourself.' ' Be your own norm.' Others arrange : nee quaesive- ris extra te, ' Nor ask any opinion but your own.' 8-12. The distribution followed is that of Jahn (1843), which gives nolo (v. 11) to the interlocutor. The jerky, self-interrupting discourse is supposed to be characteristic of the petulante splene cachinno. ' What is the use of consulting Rome ? Every body there is an— If I might say what ! If I might ? Surely I may, when I consider how old we are become, how grum we are, and all the step-fatherly manner of our lives, since the days of " com- moneys " and " alley tors." Indulge me. It can not be. What am I to do ? Nothing ? But I am a man of laughter with a saucy spleen.' 8. nam Rcmae quis non? The suppressed predicate is to be supplied from the general scope of the passage. The sentence is not completed in v. 121 (auriculas asini habet), for the simple reason that Persius did not write quis non in that passage, but Mida rex. * No satisfactory treatment of this subject is accessible to me. The Greek and Latin dictionaries are wildly at variance with one another and with the au- thorities. Examen seems to have been originally the strap by which the beam was suspended— not from ag, but from ap. See Isiooe., Orig., 16, 23, and comp. amentum (ammentum). Add Lttcil., 16, 14 (L. Muller). Eustathios's rpvrdvti enl i>yoi5 h TtipojUfi/ri tuJ f3Jpei twv 07KW1/ points to the pivot (knife-edge) as the first meaning of trutina. D2 80 NOTES. 9. cum — aspexi: Cum is equivalent to postquam here. G., 567 ; A., 62, 3, e. — canitiem : ' premature old age,' ' loss of youth- ful freshness. ' All through this satire the poet lashes old age, as commentators have observed. So here, and 22. 26. 56. 79. The ' hoary head ' is not a ' crown of glory,' but a sign of de- bauchery ; the ' fair, round belly,' which is not uncomely in the elderly justice, is nothing but a swagging paunch ; the bald pate is not a mirror of honor, but a mirror of dishonor ; in short, ' no fool like an old fool.' Especially severe is Persius on the ' used- up ' man ; and the affected moralizing of young men, who had outlived their youth before they had had time to forget the games of boyhood, drove him to satire. On the Neronian hy- pothesis, Persius is endeavoring to masquerade as an old man. — nostrum istud vivere triste : ' sour way of life.' This is a so- called Jigura Graeca, which out-Greeks the Greeks. Good au- thors are very cautious in adding an attribute to the infinitive, and do not go beyond ipsum, hoc ipsum. Scire tuum, v. 27 ; ridere meum, v. 122 ; Telle suum, 5, 53 ; sapere nostrum, 6, 38, can not be rendered literally into the language from which they are sup- posed to be imitated. Nursery infinitives (3, 17) belong to a different category. 10. nucibus : The modern equivalent is ' marbles.' The very games survive. (See 3, 50.) It is hardly necessary to prove that putting away such childish things means becoming a man. Da nuces pueris, iners \ conciibine: satis diu j lusisti nucious, Ca- tull., 61, 127-9. 11. patruos: On the accusative, see G., 329, K. 1 ; A., 52, 1, c. The patruorum rigor was proverbial. Owing to the legal posi- tion of the paternal uncle, who was often the guardian, it is the patruus, not the avunculus, who is the type of severity. So the cruel uncle of the ballad of the ' children in the wood ' is the la- ther's brother. 12. quid faciam? G., 258 ; A., 57, 6.— sed : (I know you want me to do nothing), ' but ' (I can't keep quiet) ' I am a laugher born.' — petulante : literally, ' given to butting,' hence ' saucy ' — splene : The seat of laughter. — cachinno : a substantive, per- haps built by Persius on the analogy of bibo, epulo, erro, etc. Comp. glutto, 5, 112; palpo, 5, 176. Hermann, following Hein- SATIRE I. 81 dorf, makes cacMnno a verb, and reads : tunc, tunc — ignoscite, nolo; quidfaciam sed sum petulante splene — cachinno, ' Then — then — ex- cuse me — I would rather not — what am I to do ? — I can't help it — my spleen is too much for me — I must have my laugh.' Jahn (1868) accepts tunc, tunc — ignoscite, nolo, but goes no fur- ther. 13-23. The battery opens. Verse-wright and writer of prose alike care for nothing except applause. Follows a vivid picture of a popular recitation. 13. Scribimus inclusi: Coinp. scribimus indocti, etc. Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 117.— inclusi: 'in closet pent7 (Gilford's Baviad), to show the artificial and labored character of the composition in contrast with the beggarly result. Markland's ingenious conject- ure, inclusus numeris, is not necessary. Heinr. admires Markl., but retains numeros as a Greek accusative ! — numeros : ' poetry ;' pede liber =pede libero, ' foot-loose,' ' prose,' soluta oratio. 14. grande : ' vast,' ' grandiose.' Grandis is always used with intention, which our word ' grand ' sometimes fails to give. See 1, 68; 2, 42; 3, 45.55; 5, 7.186; 6, 22.— quod pulmo: 'some- thing vast enough to make a lung generous of breath pant in the utterance of it.' Jahn (1868) reads quo for quod; quo is not so vigorous. — animae praelargus: a stretch of the adjectives of fulness (G., 373, R. 6 ; A., 50, 3, o) ; praelargus == capacissimus. 15. scilicet: Ironical sympathy, ' O yes !' — haec: The position is emphatic. — populo: 'to the public,' 'in public' The polit- ical force of populus has ceased. — pexus: 'with hair and beard well dress'd.' ' Combed ' hardly conveys the notion : say ' sham- pooed.'— togaque recenti : ' fresh ' (from the fuller). 16. natalicia sardonyche : Jewelry reserved for great occa- sions. The brilliancy of the sardonyx is a common theme. Bufe mdes ilium subsellia prima tenentem \ cuius et Mnc lucet sar- donychata manus, Mart., 2, 29, 1-2 — tandem: shows impa- tience.— dJbus = albatus (coinp. 2, 40; Hor., Sat., 2, 2, 61) on ac- count of the toga recens. So niveos ad frena Quirites, Juv., 10, 45. Heinr. argues at length in favor of ' pale.' 17. sede celssL=ex cathedra.— leges: So Jahn (1868), despite the MSS. Legens may be explained at a pinch as ledums, a com- ma being put after ocello; Hermann combines with pulmo, and 82 NOTES. comp. Juv., 10, 238 sq., where os stands for the owner of the same. Add cana gula, Juv., 14, 10. But pexus and alius make such a synecdoche incredible. — liquido : quia liquidam wcem effi- cit. Comp. Hor., Od., 1, 24, 3: cui liquidam pater \ wcem cum cithara dedit. The attribute is put for the effect, as in pallidum Pirenen, Prol., 4. — plasmate: according to Quint., 1, 8, 2, a technical name for the professional training of the voice, a kind of rhetorical solfeggio. Others understand the plasma of a gargle to clear the throat. 18. mobile collueris : Mobile is predicative. Translate : ' after gargling your throat to suppleness by filtering modulation.' — patranti ocello : ' an eye that would be doing,' ' a leering, lustful eye.' Quint. (8, 3, 44) says ofpatrare: mala consuetudine in obsce- num intellectum sermo detortus. Comp. ' do ' in Shaksp., Troil. and Cressida, 4, 2 : Go hang yourself, you naughty, mocking uncle ! You bring me to do, and then you flout me too. — fractus = effeminatus, 'debauched,' 'languishing,' icXadapog. Conington translates : ' with a languishing roll of your wanton eye.' 19. neque more probo nee voce serena : Litotes. See Prol., 1. 20. ingentis Titos : Comp. celsi BTiamnes, Hor., A. P., 342. Here, however, there is a reference to size of body (like ingens Pulfennius, 5, 190; torosa iuventus, 3, 86; caloni alto, 5, 95), for which Persius seems to have had a Stoic contempt. Titi, per- haps another form of Tities, the old Sabine nobility (Mommsen, Rom. Oesch., B. 1, K. 4), of whom much aristocratic virtue might have been expected (sanctos licet Twrrida mores \ tradiderit domus ac veteres imitata Sabinos, Juv., 10, 298-9). Instead of that we have great, hulking debauchees. — trepidare : ' quiver.' The word is used indifferently of pleasant and unpleasant agitation. The quavering measure thrills them so that they can not sit still. On the infinitive, see 3, 64. 21. scalpuntur intima : ' their marrow is tickled.' Scalpere is opposed to radere, 1, 107. Comp. 3, 114 ; 5, 15. 22. tun : -ne is often found in rhetorical questions. — vetule : 4 you old reprobate,' ' you old sinner.' — escas : ' tidbits ;' escas col- ligere,'1 ' cater.' 23. quibus et dicas : Et belongs to cute perditus, which is va- riously explained 'dropsical,' 'unblushing,' 'thoroughly dis- SATIEE I. 83 eased.' The context requires a tough subject, and ' hide-bound ' or ' case-hardened ' might answer as a rendering. — ohe : a remi- niscence of Hor., Sat. 2, 5, 96: importunus amat laudari ; donee iOhe iam"1 \ ad caelum manibus sublatis dixerit, urge, \ crescent em tumidis injia sermonibus utrem, which last line helps us to under- stand cute perditus. Persius, as is his wont, tries to improve on Horace, and makes his man inelastic. 24-43. M. Study is useless except to show what a man has in him. — P. A low ideal for a student. — M. Fame is a fine thing. — P. It would be a fine thing if it were not shared by every dinner- table poet. — M. You are too captious. . It is a great thing to have written poems that are proof against trunk-maker and pastry- cook. 24. (Juo didicisse % The exclamatory infinitive with involved subject. G., 534 (340) ; A., 57, 8, g. 25. iecore : the seat of the passions. Here ' heart ' or ' breast ' would seem to be more appropriate. — capriflcus : the wild fig- tree sprouts in the clefts of rocks and cracks of buildings, which it rends in its growth. Ad quae \ discutienda valent mala robora fici, Juv., 10, 145. 26. En pallor seniumque : ' So that's the meaning of your stu- dious pallor (v. 124; 3,85; 5,62) and your (early) old age.' With senium o,om$. Hon., Ep., 1, 18,47 : inhumanae senium depone Camenae. Persius mocks at the weariness to the flesh which the student has undergone for so paltry a result. This is the arrangement of Jahn (1843) and Hermann. Jahn (1868) follows Heinr. in giving the line to the remonstrant. En, originally an interrogative, is, after the time of Sallttst, confounded with em, and combined with the nom. in the sense of em, which properly takes the accus. alone. So Ribbeck, Beitrage zur Lehre von den latein. Partikeln, S. 35. — o mores : Cicero's famous ejaculation. — usque adeone: Usque adeone mori miserum est, Vergl, Aen., 12, 646 ; usque adeo nihil est, Juv., 3, 84. 27. scire tuum nihil est, etc. : ' And is thy knowledge nothing if not known' (Gifford). These jingles were much admired in antiquity. The passage from Lucilius, which Persius is said to have imitated, reads, according to L. Miiller (fr. inc., 40, 73) : ne dampnum faciam, scire hoc sibi nesciat is me. A better example in Lucr., 4, 470. 84 NOTES. 28. At ; objects. See G., 490 ; A., 43, 3, b. — digito monstrari : datcTvXy StiKweSai (SaKTv\odeiKTel(TBai). Quod monstror digito praetereuntium, Hon., Od., 4, 3, 22 ; saepe aliquis digito vatem de- signat euntem, Ov., Am., 3, 1. 19. — hie est: ovtoq ticeZvog, in the well-known story of Demosthenes. Cic, Tusc. Dis., 5, 36. — di- cier: On the form, see G\, 191, 2; A., 30, 6, e, 4. So fallier, 3, 50. 29. cirratorum : ' curl-pates.' Jahn cites Mart., 9, 29, 7 : Ma- tutini cirrata caterva magistri. School-boys wore their hair long, but Persius does not waste his epithets, and ' youths of quality ' are doubtless meant. Comp.the lautorum pueros of Juv., 7, 177. — dietata: 'Persius takes not only higher schools, but higher lessons, dietata being passages from the poets read out by the master (for want of books) and repeated by the boys ' (Co- nington). Translate ' a lesson-book,' a ' school classic' 30. Ecee : introduces a satiric sketch of ' classic poets at work.' — inter pocula: 'over their cups.' Poems were read at table by an avayvworrjg, as lives of the saints are still read in re- ligious houses. 31. Roinulidae: Comp. Titos, v. 20; trossulus, v. 82; Romule, v. 87. — dia: Ssla, an affected word. 'Let us hear,' say the com- pany, ' what his charming verses are about ' (Pretor). Conington renders : ' What news from the divine world of poesy ?' 32. hyacinthia laena : The dandies of the day wore upper garments of military cut and gay colors. A similar military dan- dyism on the part of non-military men is observable in the Mace- donian period. Comp. x^a^'^opoi dvdpeg, Theocr., 15, 6, with the commentators. 33. ranciduluin quiddam: 'affected stuff,' 'namby-pamby trash.' — balba de n&re = de nare balbutiens, 'with a nasal lisp,' ' with a snuffle and a lisp ' (Conington). BaTbus is especially used of the introduction of an aspirate, and ' lisp,' which involves a spirant, is only approximate. Comp. Savfia fisya, inquid balba, Luctl., 6, 20, with L. Muller's note. — locutus: Perf. Part, where we should expect a Present. G-., 278, R. 34. Phyllidas Hypsipylas : Phyllis, fearing that she had been deserted by her lover, Demophon, hanged herself, and was changed into an almond-tree (Ov., Her., 2). Hypsipyle of Lem- SATIRE I. 85 nos, after bearing two children to Jason, was forsaken by him (Ov., Her., 6). These doleful themes (plorabilia) were popular in Persius's time. The plural is contemptuous in Latin as in En- glish. 35. eliquat: 'filters.' Every rough particle is strained out so as to make the voice ' liquid.' The passage from Apul., Flor., p. 351, Elm., cited by Jahn, canticum videtur ore tereti semihmnti- bus in conatu labellis eliquare, indicates a cooing position of the lips, in which the mouth simulates a colander. — supplantat: v7ro6v. The passage is imitated by Quint., 12, 10, 26. 46. quando: gives the reason for his saying si forte. There is no necessity of writing quanquam, but the translation ' although ' is not unnatural, as causative particles are often adversative. Comp. cum and Gr. lirei. — rara avis : proverbial as in the famous line of Juv., 6, 165. 47. laudari inetnam: So Hor., metuens audiri, Ep., 1, 16, 60; SATIKE I. 87 metuit tangi, Od., 3, 11, 10. In prose the construction is less common with metuo than with vereor. G., 552, R. 1 ; M., 376, Obs. — cornea : ' of horn.' The metaphorical use seems to be novel. Comp. HoM., Od., 19, 211: otySaXfioi d' tog ee icepa 'iaraaav tje aidr]- pog.— flora : ' heart.' See 5, 29. 48. recti flnemque extremumque : 'the ultimate standard.' Conington renders ' be-all and end-all.' 49. euge, belle : like decenter (v. 84), are current expressions of approbation at public readings. Euge, ' bravo !' belle, ' well said !' decenter, ' pretty fair !' Martial gives us a list of popular comments (2, 27, 3-4): Effecte! graviter ! stf nequiter ! euge! beate! \ hoc voluif — excute: a favorite word with Persius as with Seneca, Ep., 13, 8 ; 16, 7 ; 22, 10 ; 26, 3 ; De Ira, 3, 36 (Jahn). The metaphor is taken from shaking clothes in order to get out any thing that may be concealed in them — Gr., Ikguziv. We should say ' analyze.' 50. quid lion intus hahet : The figure is kept up. ' What is not covered up in that beggarly rag of a belief' — non = nonne. G., 445 and R. ; A., 71, 1.— Atti: See v. 4.— Hias ebria: Comp. ebrius sermo, Sen., Ep., 19, 9. 51. veratro: white hellebore (album multum terribilius nigro, Plin., H. N., 25, 5, 21), a strong emetic, wThich students took 'to quicken their wits.' The modern veratrum is a different drug. — elegidia: contemptuous, 'bits of elegies' on such themes as Phyllis and Hypsipyle. E. a Greek word not in Greek lexicons, like poetridas, Prol., 13. — crudi: with their dinners undigested and their brains muddled. 52. dictarunt: 'extemporize.' — lectis: 'sofas.' The ancients wrote in a recumbent posture far more frequently than we do. 53. citreis : ' of citron wood,' ' wood of the thyia' (Thyia ar- ticulator, African Arbor Vitae, Plin., 15, 29). The fabulous cost of tables of this material is well known. Cic, Verr., 4, 17, 37. — scis : ' you know how.' Scire in this sense is related to posse, as Fr. savoir to pouvoir, a traditional distinction. — calidum : ' hot- and-hot' (Pretor). — ponere: 1. 'serve up;' 2. 'cause to serve up,' 'treat to.' Heri non tarn bonum posui et multo honestiores cena- bant, Petron., 34. — suinen : a dainty dish in the eyes of Greek and Roman. Comp. vulva nil pulchrius ampla, Hor., Ep., 1, 15, 88 NOTES. 41; Plut., Sanit. Praec., 124 F; Alciphk., Ep., 1, 20; and the joke in Alexis, fr. 188 (3, 473 Mein.).- 54. comiteiu horridulum trita donare lacerna : This is the kind of patronage that galled Lucian (De Merced. Cond., 37), who mentions the paltry present of an l NOTES. of a poem used to indicate the poem itself — Mrjviv aside the Iliad, "AvSpa fioi IwsTcs the Odyssey, Arma virum the Aeneid — but the first verses were considered peculiarly significant. So the met- rical structure of the first verse of the Iliad is very different from that of the first verse of the Odyssey. Arma virum, etc., with its short words and its frequent caesurae, was harsh to the ear of the interlocutor, and is compared with the rough, cracked bark of the cork-tree. — spumosum et cortice pingui : ' frothy and fluf- fy ' (Conington). As usual, Persius works out his comparison into minute details. 97.yegrandi sufoere: So Jahn, instead of praegrandi subere. Do not translate 'huge, overgrown bark' (Conington), but ' dwarfed, stunted cork-tree.' See Ribbeck (Beitrdge zur Lehre von den lateinisclien Partikeln, S. 9), who has discussed ve and this verse at some length. Both Conington and Pretor admire the metaphysics of Jahn, who has ' explained, after Festus and No- nius, vegrandis as male grandis, so as to include the two senses at- tributed to it by Gell., 5, 12 ; 16, 5, of too small and too large? But ve- means separation (Vanicek, Etym.Wb., S. 166) ; ve-cor-s, 1 out of one's mind ;' ve-sanu-s, ' out of one's sound senses ;' ve- grandis, ' shrunken,' ' dwarfed,' ' undergrown ' (if the word is admissible). For the growth of the cork-tree, R. refers to Plin., N. H., 16, 8, 13: suberi minima arbor — cortex tdntum in fructu, praecrassus ac renascens atque etiam in denos pedes undique explana- tus. Some of the best commentators give these two verses (96 and 97) to Persius, and consider Arma virum as an invocation of the shades of Vergil, ' as Horace, A. P., 141, contrasts the opening of the Odyssey with Fortunam Priami cantaboS Hoc is supposed to refer to the specimen verses. Eibbeck also (1. c.) re- gards the swollen, light bark of the low cork-tree as the image of the genus tumidum et leve, as opposed to the grande et grave. — coctum : ' thoroughly dried.' 98. Quidnam igitur : Igitur is not unfrequently used in ques- tions, as our l then.' So quidnam igitur censes t Juv., 4, 130. But, unless the question is a rejoinder, it is not very appropriate. ' If the Aeneid is rough, give us something really soft,' would be a fit reply to Arma virum, etc., in the mouth of the objector. Co- nington, who gives 96-98 to Persius, connects thus: 'If these SATIRE I. 97 are your specimens of finished versification, give us something peculiarly languishing.' — laxa cervice : the attitude of the mobile guttur, v. 18. 99. Torya miinalloneis: Persius can not wait for a spec- imen, and gives one himself. This is much more dramatic than the arrangement, which makes the respondent cite the verses. The verses are attributed to Nero by the scholiast, and in fact Nero is said to have composed a poem on the Bacchae, Dio., 61, 20. The theme is so common that no conclusion is to be drawn from that statement. Mr. Pretor, who understands by iunctura ' a resetting of old verses,' regards 99-102 as a weak recliauffe of Catull., 64, 257 seqq., and compares Tac, Ann., 14, 16. — Torva: 'grim.' So torvumque repente \ clamdt, Verg., Aen., 7, 399 (of Bacchanalian madness).— mimalloneis: from Mimas, on the coast opposite Chios. With the whole verse comp. rnultis rau- cisonos effldbant cornua lomibos, Cattjll., 64, 264, and Luck., 4, 544. 100. vitulo superbo : variously caricatured as ' the haughty, the scornful calf.' No such effect could have been produced by the original. Comp. ravpoi vppiarai, Eur., Bacch., 743 (Jahn) ; yavpoTEpa fjioax^i Theocr., 11, 21 ; equae superbiunt, Pun., 10, 63. The Bacchanal rending of animals is familiar. — ablatura: On this free use of the future participle, see G., 672 ; A., 72, 4. 101. Bassaris: a Bacchante. Jahn cites a Greek epigram (Anth. Pal., 6, 74), which shows how close a resemblance may be due simply to community of theme. — lyncem: 'The lynx was sacred to Bacchus as the conqueror of India.' 102. euhion: Gr. tviov, Accus. of eviog (commonly but falsely spelled Mvius), Euhius, Bacchus. — reparabilis: Actively, as Horace's dissociabilis, Od., 1, 3, 22 ; ' renewing,' ' restoring,' ' re- awakening.' So Ov., Met., 1, 11, of the moon: reparat nova cornua.— adsonat: ' chimes in.' 103. testiculi vena ulla paterni: 'Honestius expressit, Ov., Her., 16, 291 : si sint vires in semine avorumJ1 ' If we had one spark of our fathers' manhood alive in us' (Conington). 104. delumbe : ' backboneless,' ' marrowless.' Comp. itrxtoppio- jikoq. — saliva: Spittle is 'foolish rheum' as well as tears. 105. in udo est Maenas et Attis : ' Your Maenas and your Attis — it drivels away.' 98 NOTES. 106. nee pluteum caedit> etc. : Pluteus, which is commonly rendered ' desk,' is, ' according to the scholiast, the back-board of the lecticula lucuhratoria] or studying-sofa, such as Augustus indulged in, Suet., Aug., 78 ; comp. v. 53. ' The man lies on his couch after his meal, listlessly drivelling out his verses, with- out any physical exertion or even motion of impatience ' (Co- nington). Persius underrates the artistic finish, as he has over- drawn the moral conclusion. — demorsos: 'bitten down to the quick.' Et in versu faciendo \ saepe caput sedberet vivos et roderet ungues, Hon., Sat., 1, 10, 70. 107-121. M. But what is the use of offending people? We must not tell the truth at all times. You will have a cool re- ception at certain great houses. Nay, the dog will be set on you. — P. Well ! I make no struggle. Every thing is lovely. No nuisance, you say. All right. Boys, let us go somewhere else. But there was LucrLius— he wielded the lash, he gnawed the bones of his victims. There was Horace — he probed his friend's heart and punched him in the ribs, and had the town dangling from the gibbet of his tip-tilted nose. And I am not to say — Bo! Not all to myself? Not with a ditch for my confidant? Nowhere? Nowhere, you say? But I will. I have found a place — a ditch. It is my book. Here, book, is my great secret : ' All the world's an ass.' What a relief! 107. quid : What case ? — radere : ' rasp.' — mordaci vero : Ve- rum is so completely a substantive that there is no difficulty about mordaci vero (comp. G., 428, R. 2). Much bolder is generoso honesto, 2, 74 ; opimum pingue, 3, 32. 108. vide : like cave, and other iambic Imperatives. G., 704, 2; A., 78, 2, d. — sis — si vis, to soften the Imperative, 'pray do.' — maiorum tibi forte : Hor., Sat., 2, 1, 60 : O puer ut sis \ vitalis metuo et maiorum ne guis amicus \frigore teferiat. Maiores = ' grandees.' 109. limina frigescant : like the modern slang, 'leave one out in the cold.' Limen is used in many Latin turns where ' threshold ' would be too stately in English. Mrs. Gamp would render : ' the great man's cold doorsteps will settle on your lungs.' — cani- na littera: 'R is for the dog,' Shaksp., Romeo and Jul.; 'A dog snarling R,' Ben Jonson. See Dictionaries, s. v. hirrire. Gr. SATIRE I. 99 apap'iluv. An allusion to the familiar cave canem. ' The snarl is that of the great man' (Scholiast). Conington compares ira ca- dat naso, 5, 91. The obvious interpretation is the right one. ' There is a sound of snarling in the air,' refers simply to the great man's clog, which will be set on the unwelcome satirist. 110. per me: 'for all I care,1 ifiov y eWa, a familiar use of the preposition per : per me habeat licet, Platjt., Mercat., 5, 4, 29. — equidem : Not for ego quidem, although this opinion affected the practice of Cicero, Horace, Vergil, Quintilian, the younger Pliny. Sallust, like Varro, combines equidem with every per- son. So Ribbeck (1. c. S. 36), who derives equidem from e interj. and quidem. Conington tries to save the rule here by making the ex- pression equivalent to equidem concedo. Another exception is found 5, 45, where C. goes through the same legerdemain : non equidem dubites, 'I would not have you doubt.' — alba: 'lovely,' ' whitewash them as much as you please.' 111. nil inoror, etc. : The whole line, indeed the whole pas- sage, is strongly conversational in its tone. Nil moror, ' I don't wish to be in your way, to spoil sport.' Comp. Ter., Eun., 3, 2, 7, and Gesner, s. v. moror. — bene : Comp. Cic, Fam., 7, 22 : oene po- tus. See also note on 4, 22. — mirae res : ' wonders of the world ' (Conington), 'miracles of perfection.' 112. hociuvat? 'I hope that is satisfactory.' — veto quisquam faxit oletum : ' commit no nuisance.' Observe the legal tone. Quisquam, on account of the negative idea. The negative ne is omitted after veto as often after caveo. G., 548, R. 2 ; A., 57, 7, a. Faxit, a disputed form. G., 191, 5 ; A., 30, 6, e. 113. pinge duos anguis: 'a sign of dedication rather than of prohibition ' (Pretor). The dedication involves the prohibi- tion. This is one of the innumerable phases of serpent-worship. For the serpent, as the symbol of the genius loci, which is Greek as well as Latin, see Vergl, Aen., 5, 95, and the commentators. The reading pinguedo sanguis of some of the best MSS. may be men- tioned, animi causa. 114. secuit: 'cut to the bone.' — Lucilius: The loci classici are Hor., Sat., 1, 4, 6 ; 1, 10, 1 ; 2, 1, 62 ; Juv., 1, 19, 165. The testi- monia de Lucilio have been collected and annotated by L. Miiller, Lucil., p. 170 seqq. ; p. 288 seqq. 100 NOTES. 115. Lupe, Muci: L. Cornelius Lentulus Lupus Cons. A. U. C. 598, and P. Mucius Scaevola Cons. A. U. C. 621, Juv., 1, 154.— genuinuin : ' Breaking the back-tooth ' shows the eagerness with which the satirist gnawed the bones of his victims. Comp. Pe- tron., 58 : venies sub dent em, ' you will be " chawed " up.' 116. A deservedly admired characteristic of Horace. — vafer : a hard word to catch. Vafer crowns the formidable list of syno- nyms in the well-known passage of Cic, Off., 3, 13, 57 : versuti, obscuri, astuti, fallacis, malitiosi, callidi, veteratoris, vafri, ' a shuf- fler, a hoodwinker, a trickster, a cheat, a designing rascal, a cun- ning fox, a blackleg, a sly dog.'' The indirectness of vafer may sometimes be rendered by ' politic,' ' adroit.' ' Rogue ' is a toler- able equivalent. — ainico : is much happier than amid would be ; it "makes the friend a party to the game. Horatius qui ridendo veruyii dicit (Sat., 1, 1, 24) tarn leniter vitia tangit, ut ipse, quern tangit, amicus rideat et poetam, qui dum ludere videtur intima aggreditur, lubens admittat et excipiat (Jahn, after Teuffel). — adniissus : ' gets himself let in,' 'gains his entrance' (Conington, after Grifford). 117. praecordia : ' heartstrings.' 118. excusso : Persius would not be Persius, if he did not give us a problem even in his best passages. Excusso naso stronger than emunctae naris, Hor., Sat., 1, 4, 8 (Jahn). According to Heinr., excusso -=sur sum iactato, like excussa orachia, Ov., Met., 5, 596, which seems to suit suspendere. Conington renders, ' with a sly talent for tossing up his nose and catching the public on it,' doubtless with reference to ' tossing in a blanket,' a pas- time not unknown to the ancients : Ibis ab excusso missus in astra sago, Mart., 1, 3, .8. Comp. Suet., Otho, 2 ; Cervantes, Don Quijote, 1, 17; and on the sagatio, see Friedlander, Sittengesch., 1, 25. As the blanket is drawn tight in order to effect the elevation of the person tossed, we may combine with this figure the old version of an ' unwrinkled nose,' a nose that is ' kept straight ' (exporrectus) by the owner to disguise his merriment (ac si nihil tale ageret). But this is over-interpretation, the besetting sin of the editors of Persius. — callidus suspendere : On the construc- tion, see Prol., 11. — naso: Naso suspendis adunco, Hor., Sat., 1, 6, 5. Comp. 2, 8, 64. 119. men : On ne in rhetorical questions, see v. 22. — nee clam SATIRE I. 101 — nec cum scrolbe : ' neither to myself nor with a hole in the ground for my listener.' The negative in nefas is subdivided by nec— nec, G., 444, R. Others supply fas, G., 446, R.— nusquam : The answer of the critic, Jalm (1843). In the ed. of 1868 he writes with Hermann, nusquam? as a part of Persius's question. The arrangement in the text seems to be more in accordance with Persius's fashion of anticipating an answer (avSviroipopa). ' Nowhere ? you say.' — scrofoe : Allusion to the story of Midas and his barber, for which no reader will need to be referred to Ov., Met., 11, 180 seqq. 121. quis non habet % According to the Vita Persii,t\\e poet had written Mida rex habet, intended for King Populus. Cornutus, afraid that Nero would take the fling to himself, changed the words to quis non habet? The story is not very consistent with the theory that Persius went so far as to ridicule Nero's poetry. 122. ridere meuni: See v. 9.— nulla: G., 304, R. 2. — vendo: 'I am going to sell;' familiar present for future ; hence =zvendito. 123. Iliade : Probably the Iliad of Labeo. Homer's Iliad would be too extravagant. — audaci quicunique, etc. : The poet distinctly points to the mordant Old Attic Comedy as his model ; yet there is little trace of direct imitation of the worthies whom he cites, and the interval of conception is abysmal. — adflate: Persius, like some other Roman poets, goes beyond reasonable bounds in the use of the Vocative as a predicate. G., 324, R. 1 ; A., 35, b. The Greeks were cautious, and in Vergil the Voca- tive can be detached and felt as such, but not here, nor in 3, 28. — Cratino : the oldest of the famous comic triumvirate : Eupolis atque Gratinus Aristophanesque poetae, Hor., Sat., 1, 4, 1. Crati- nus was the Archilochus of the Attic stage, hence audax. See the famous characteristic in Aristophanes, Eq., 527. 124. iratum Eupolidem: The epithet is borne out by the fragments. — praegrandi cum sene : Aristophanes. The adjec- tive refers to his greatness : ' the old giant.' Sene is not to be pressed. Men who come before the public early are often called old before their time. Hannibal calls himself an old man when he was only in his forty-fourth year, Liv., 30, 30. Others under- stand sene as a compliment to an l ancient ' author. Instead of Aristophanes, Heinrich and others suppose that Lucilius is 102 NOTES. meant. Comp. Hoe., Sat., 2, 1, 34 : vita senis, although Luctlius was only about forty-five at the time of his death — but see L. Miil- ler, Lucilius, p. 288. — palles: 'study yourself pale over.' The combination with the Accusative is bold, but not bolder than other cognate Accusatives. ' Gain a Eupolidean pallor ' = ' a pal- lor due to Eupolis.' For different phases of pallere with Accus., see 3, 43. 85 ; 5, 184, 125. decoctius ; The figure is from wine that is 'T>oiled down,' ' well refined.' Not ' opposed to the spumosus of v. 96 ' (Coning- ton), as is shown by coctum, v. 97. — audis: 'have an ear for' (Conington). 126. iMe = ab iis, 'by these' (G., 613, R. 1 ; A., 48, 5), 'by the study of these,' dependent on vap&rata. — vaporata : ' steamed,' hence ' cleansed,' 'refined ' (J aim). Com]). pur gatas aures, 5, 63 ; aurem mordaci lotus aceto, 5, 86. — lector mihi ferveat : Mihi real- ly depends on ferveat, though it may be conveniently translated by ' my ' with lector. ' Let my reader be one who comes to me with his ears aglow from the pure effluence of such poetry.' 127. lion hie : Hie is different in tone from is, more distinctly demonstrative, and hence more distinctly contemptuous. — in crepidas s The simple Accusative with ludere is the regular con- struction. Grepidae, a part of the Greek national dress. Comp. Suet., Tib., 13 : redegit se [Tiberius], deposito patrio liabitu, adpial- lium et crepidas. Hence J alulae crepidatae of tragedies with Greek plots. — Graiornm: the rarer and more stilted form for Graecorum, perhaps by way of rebuking the impertinence of this stolid would-be wag. 128. sordidus : 'low creature,' 'dirty dog.' Himself vulgar, he can not understand refinement of manners or attire. — qui possit: Casaubon reads poscit to match gestit. But Indicative and Subjunctive may well be combined, the former of a fact, the latter of a characteristic : ' a man who — and a man to — .' So in the famous line ; sunt qui non Jiabeant, est qui non curat habere, Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 182.— lusce: 'Old One-eye' (Conington). The loWness of the wit is evident. In v. 56 the poet appears to break his own rule, but baldness and corpulence are in his eyes badges of vice, not simple misfortunes. 129. aliquem: G., 301. — Italo: 'provincial.' — supinns = su- SATIRE I. 103 perbus. The head is thrown back with the chin in the air, a fa- miliar stage attitude. Others render ' lolling at his ease.' 130. freg-erit : G., 541 ; A., 63, 2. — heminas iniquas : ' short half-pint measures.1 This was the duty of the aedile. — Arreti : Arretium in Etruria. So Juvenal takes Ulubrae as the type of a small provincial town : vasa minora \ frangere pannosus vacuis aedilis TJlubris, 10, 102. 131. abaco : The abacus was a slab of marble or other material which was covered with sand (pidvis), for the purpose of draw- ing mathematical figures or making calculations (Jahn). Or pulvere may be dissociated from abaco, and then abacus would be a counting-board, pulvis, the sand on the ground (eruditus pulvis, Cic, N. D., 2, 18, 48), familiar from the story of the murder of Archimedes. — metas : ' cones.' 132. scit: as if this were a feat. Comp. v. 53.-— risisse : yeXa- aca, ' to have his laugh at,' one of the Perfect Infinitives mention- ed in note on v. 41. — vafer : ironical. — g-audere paratus: Para- tus, as a Participle from parare, takes the Infinitive with ease. The grammars generally treat it as an exceptional Adjective. Here paratus is olog ; ' Just your man to have a fit of glee.' Comp. Petron., 43 : paratus fuit quadrantem de stercore mordicus tollere. 133. Cynico barbam : ' a Cynic's beard for him.' G., 343, R. 2. Vellunt tibi barbam \ lascivi pueri, Hor., Sat., 1, 3, 133 (of a Stoic). The beard was the badge of a philosopher. — nonaria : so called because women of that class were not allowed to ply their trade before the 'ninth hour'— ' callet,' 'trull.'— vellat: because de- pendent; otherwise gaudet si vellit. G., 666; A., 66, 2. The Cynic philosopher and the nonaria (6 kox t) kvuv) belong to each other by elective affinity, Alciphron, 3, 55, 9. See an amusing parallel between philosopher and courtesan in the same sophist, 1, 34 ; and on the worst specimens of the ' Capuchins of antiq- uity,' as the Cynics have been called, comp. Friedlander, Sitten- gesch., 3, 572. 134. edictum: 'play-bill,' after Sen., Ep., 117, 30. Others, ' the business of the courts,' the praetor's court being a favorite lounging-place.— prandia : See v. 67.— Calliroen : possibly one of the elegidia procerum (v. 51), after the order of Phyllis and Hypsipyle (v. 34). Comp. Ov., Met., 9, 407, Rem. Am.. 455-6. E 2 104 NOTES. Others suppose that Persius meant a nonarla. See note on 6, 73, and comp. Plutarch, Quaest. Conv., 3, 6, 4. With this gracious permission, Casaubon compares the edict of Hor., Ep., 1. 19, 8: Forum putealque Libonis \ manddbo siccis, adimam cantare severis. SECOND SATIRE. The theme of this Satire is the Wickedness and Folly of Popular Prayers. The true philosopher is the only man that knows how to pray aright, and the Stoic is your only true philosopher. Compare, on the subject of prayer, the Second Alcibiades ascribed to Plato. Argument. — Macrinus, you may well salute your returning- birthday. Your wishes on that day of wishes are pure, whereas most of our mag- nates pray for what they dare not utter aloud. Any one can hear their requests for sound mind and good report, but the petitions for the death of an uncle, a ward, a wife, the prayer for sudden gain, are mere whis- pers (1-15). Strange that, in order to prepare for such impieties as these, men should go through all manner of lustral services, and trust to the ear of Jove what they would not breathe to any mortal (15-23). Strange that men should fancy because Jove is not swift to strike the sinner dead that he may be insulted with safety, or easily bought off' by a lot of greasy chitterlings (24-30). Pass from wicked to foolish prayers. Grandam and aunt would have skinny Master Hopeful a wealthy nabob, would have him make a great match. Girls are to scramble for him, and roses spring up beneath his feet. Silly petitions ! Refuse them, Jupiter (31-40). Nor less silly are those prayers whose fulfilment the suppliant himself defeats — prayers for a hale old age, despite rich made-dishes (41-43); prayers for wealth, while the worshipper expends his whole substance in sacrifice (44-51). The trouble lies in this, that men judge the gods by themselves. Be- cause gold brings a joyous flutter to their hearts, they think to sway the gods by gold, and change to gold the vessels of the sanctuary. The gods are measured by our 'accursed blubber,' that flesh which corrupts all that it handles. Yet the flesh tastes what it touches, and enjoys the ruin which it has wrought. But what can a pure god do with our gold ? To him it is a spent toy, an idle offering. Let us give the gods honest and upright hearts, and a handful of meal will suffice to gain their bless- ing (52-75). Although the colors of the piece pale before the rhetorical glare of SATIRE II. 105 Juvenal's Tenth Satire, which treats of a kindred theme — the ' Vanity of Human Wishes' — the philosophical commonplace is handled with con- siderable vigor, and with all the picturesque detail of the author's style. And Montaigne, who, as a moralist, quotes Persius very often, has garnished the 56th essay of his First Book with copious extracts from this Satire. 1-15. Macrinus, your prayers are pure, you need no private audience of the gods. Not so the petitions of many of our fore- most men. Far different is what they say and what they whis- per, when they come before the gods in prayer. 1. Hunc diem : The birthday was always a high-day in Rome, as elsewhere. In French, fete is a synonym of birthday. — Ma- crine : * Plotius Macrinus, the scholiast says, was a learned man, who loved Persius as his son, having studied in the house of the same preceptor, Servilius. He had sold some property to Persius at a reduced rate ' (Conington). — meliore : sc. solito. G., 312, 2 • A., 17, 5.— lapillo : The Scythians used to drop into a quiver a stone for every day, white for the good and black for the bad, and when life was over the stones were counted. There is a similar story of the Thracians, Plin., H. N., 7, 40, 41 (Jahn). The phrase ' white stone ' is so common that one passage will suffice as a parallel : Felix utraque lux diesque nobis | signandi melioribus lapillis, Mart., 9, 52, 4. 2. labentis : not simply an epitlieton ornans, ' the gliding years,' but ' the years as they glide away.' E~heu,fugaces, Postume, Postu- me | labuntur anni, Hor., Od., 2, 14, 1. — appoint: 'puts to your account.' Comp. quern fors dierum cumque ddbit lucro \ ap- pone, Hor., Od., 1, 9, 15. Each day lived may be a clay gained or a day lost. Comp. also Hor., Od., 2, 5, 15. — candidus: \evkt) ilfiepa, \evkov evdfiepov g av exoi) bene sit, would change the wish into a thought. In this passage the apodosis, which is involved in praeclarum funus, comes limping in as an afterthought. 10. ebulliat : is slang. Comp. tarn tonus Chrysanihus animam ebulliit, Petron., 42 (nos non pluris sumus quam bullae, ibid.) ; Sen., Apocolocynt., 4. Conington renders 'go off.' 'Kick the bucket ' would be worthy of Persius. Ebulliat must be read ebulljat (G., 717). The best MSS. have ebullit, but such a Sub- junctive would be more than doubtful (G., 191, 3; Neue, Formenl, 2, 339). — praeclarum funus: Either 'that would be a grand funeral,' or ' that would be a corpse worth seeing.' In the for- mer case the man of prayer tries to salve his conscience by prom- ising his uncle (comp. 1, 11) a ' first-class funeral.' Comp. funus egregie factum laudet vieinia, Hor., Sat., 2, 5, 105. In the latter, he is welcoming the death of the crabbed old man. For funus, in this connection, Jahn compares Prop., 1, 17, 8: haecine parva meum funus harena teget? The half-light of the passage is well suited to the paltering knavery of the prayer. 11. sub rastro, etc.: Hor., Sat., 2, 6, 10: 0 si urnam argenti fors quae inihi monstret, ut illi \ thesauro invento, qui mercennarius agrum \ ilium ipsum mercatus aravit, dives amico \ Hercule. 12. Hercule : This is Hercules ttXovtoUt^q, to whom the Eo- mans consecrated a tithe of their gains. Mommsen and others dissociate this Hercules from the Greek 'Hpaickrjg. According to Casaubon and the schol. (v. 44), Hermes (Mercury) is the bestow- er of windfalls found on the way, Hercules the patron of sought treasures. — pupillum : ' The Twelve Tables provided that where no guardian was appointed by will, the next of kin would be guardian, and he would of course be heir' (Conington, after Jahn). 13. inpello: 'whose kibe I gall,' 'whom I tread hard upon.' — expungam : ' get him out ' (of his place in the will). — namque : gives an explanation, which serves at once to heighten and to excuse the hope. ' You see he is in a bad way already. He is going to die at any rate, and death would really be a relief to all parties.'— scabiosus : ' scrofulous.' — acri | bile : dpifisla xoXr/, Ca- 108 NOTES. saubon, who compares Juv., 6, 565 : consulit ictericae lento de funere matris. 14. tumet : Comp. turgescit vitrea bilis, 3, 8 ; mascula bilis \ in- tumuit, 5, 145. — Nerio : Nerius is the usurer in Horace, Sat., 2, 3, 69. Persius borrows his names from Horace, as Horace borrows his from Lucilius — progressive bookishness, of which there are several examples. Comp. Pedius, 1, 85 ; Craterus, 3, 65; Bestius, 6, 37. — conditur: So Jahn (1868) and Hermann. Jahn (1843) reads dueitur with many MSS. Dueitur is not to be explained of ' being carried out to burial ' (Servius ad Verg., Georg., 4, 256), but in its ordinary sense of ' being married.' Ne- rius has got rid of two wives, and ' is actually marrying a third.' Conditur is best supported by MS. authority, and gives a suffi- ciently good sense. Hermann quotes, in support of conditur, Mart., 5, 37, where a man survives the loss of a rich wife, and yvvatKa Scnrruv KpEirrov kariv y\ yajitiv, ChAEREMON, ap. Sto- baeum, Sermon., 88, 22. Among the wishes in Lucian's Icaro- men., 25, we find u> Beoi, rbv Trarkpa fioi rax^g cnroBaveiv (comp. v. 10), and dSe K\r)povofiriv [ivxog, Theocr., 29, 3 (Jahn). 74. incoctum : ' thoroughly imbued.' — generoso honesto : ' with the honor of a gentleman.' See note on mordaci vero, 1, 107. 75. cedo: Notice the quantity. G., 190, 4; A., 38, 2,/. Ce- do, ' give here,' ' let.' For the construction : cedo ut bibam, Plaut., Most., 2, 1, 26 ; cedo ut inspiciam, Cure, 5, 2, 54. — admo- vere : a sacrificial word. — farre litabo : Coinp. Hon., Od., 3, 23, 19 : mollivit aversos Penatis \ farre pio et saliente mica. Litare is the Greek KaXXiepelv, ' offer acceptably.' The sentiment may be illustrated without end. Comp. Svcria /iey/orr? r<£ Se£ to y evae/Selv, Men., Mon., 246, and Eur., fr. 329 and 940 (Nauck). THIRD SATIRE. Argument. — The Satire opens dramatically. A young Roman of the upper classes is discovered asleep, snoring off the effects of yesterday's debauch. To him one of his familiars, half companion, half tutor, who rouses him by telling him that the sun is already high in the heavens, and it is time to be up. The young fellow bawls for his servants, brays for them, and makes a show of going to work. But nothing suits him. He curses the ink because it is too thick, then he curses it because it is too thin, and finally swears at pen and ink both. ' You big baby,' ex- claims the monitor. 'Do you expect me to study with such a pen?' asks the young man with a whine. ' Don't come to me with your puling nonsense, you dab of untempered mortar, you unformed lump of clay. You are lazing away the time, when every minute is of moment, when the potter's wheel should fly faster and faster, and deft hands should mould the vessel of your life (1-24). But I see }'OU think that you have already attained perfection. You are satisfied with your position in life, move in a good circle. Tell that to the profane vulgar. I know you, every inch of you. Shame on you, that you, with your training, should live like a brutish creature, who does not know what a rich jewel he is flinging away, who sinks without a struggle in the slough of vice, whose soul dies and makes no sign. But you, who know better, will have a dire fate. No worse doom could Jove himself bring down on cruel t}Trants than the vain yearning for lost virtue, which they can never hope to regain. Nay, worse than" the brazen bull of Phalaris and SATIRE III. 119 the pendent sword of Damocles is the consciousness of sin, the pallor that blanches not the cheek only, but the very heart (25-43). You are past the age of childhood, and have not the excuse of tender years. If you were a child, I could understand your behavior. I remember my own childhood, how hateful and unprofitable task-work alternated with frivolous play, how I dodged the learning of the piece I had to speak, how I had no thought for any thing save dice and marbles and tops (44- 51). But you have reached a higher level. You know the great norms of life, the doctrines of the Porch ; you understand the distinctions of Right and Wrong. Pshaw ! As I live, you are snoring still. Wake up, I say, and tell me— have you any aim in life ? Or are you nothing better than a boy following sparrows with a pinch of salt?' (52-62). Here the poet drops the dramatic form, deserts the individuality of the student, and makes his exhortation general, reserving, of coui-se, the right to pick out at will any member of his congregation for rebuke. He mounts the pulpit and begins to preach. His text is : 'Be wise to-day; 'tis madness to defer.' Go back to the first princi- ples of all true philosophy, the constitution of the universe, the posi- tion of man in that universe, the great laws of Ethic as derived from the great laws of Physic. In brief, study your Stoic catechism. Do not allow yourself to be diverted from higher study by success in the lower ranges of life. You lawyer there, for instance, do not let hams and sprats, the gifts of thankful clients, seduce you from the ambrosia of true philosophy (63-76). But hark ! some one is talking out in church. It is the voice of the unsavory centurion. ' I have got all the sense I want. I would not be for all the world one of your painful philosophers, with head tucked down, eyes riveted on the ground, mumbling and muttering a lot of metaphysic trash — chi- maera bombinans in vacuo — and the rest of the scholastic stuff. What ! get pale for that ? What ! miss my breakfast for that !' Great applause in the galleries, and a rippling reduplication of laugh- ter from the muscular humanity of the period (77-87). A sudden turn, or rather a sudden return to the figure of v. 63. The connection, if there be a connection, seems to be this: Such men as the centurion are hopelessly lost, have already ' imbodied and imbruted.' Like Natta, they are unconscious of their moral ruin. But there are those who, half-conscious of their condition, consult a physician of the soul, a spiritual director. The state of this class is set forth in a dramatic parable. A man feels sick, goes to see a doctor, fol- lows his advice for a while, gets better, and then, despite all remon- strance, violates the plainest rules of diet and falls dead (88-106). But before our preacher can make the application, he is interrupted by an impatient hearer, perhaps, none other than the yawning youth, F 120 NOTES. whose acquaintance we made in the beginning of the Satire. Whoever he is, he is so literal that he does not understand the drift of the apo- logue. 'Sick! Who's sick? Not I. No fever in my veins. No chill in hands or feet.' 'But,' says our resolute moralist, 'the sight of money, the meaning smile of a pretty girl, makes your heart beat a devil's tattoo. Coarse flour shows that you are mealy-mouthed, and tough cabbage brings out the ulcer in your throat. Kindle the fire of wrath beneath the cauldron of your blood, and Orestes is sane in comparison ' (107-118). According to Jahn, this Satire is aimed at those that have received a thorough training in ethics, but, owing to the weakness of human nat- ure, fail to follow the true guide of life ; and, although well aware of their short-comings, imitate the example of those brutish souls whose sins are excused by their ignorance. In short, the Satire is an expansion of the old theme — Video meliora proboque. Knickenberg (Be Ratione Stoica in Persii Satiris Apparenie, p. 16 seqq.) maintains that in conformity with Stoic doctrine, it is not so much the weakness of human nature as imperfect knowledge — the inscitia debilis of v. 99 — that is the source of the vices which the author lashes in the present Satire. According to the Stoic, virtue is knowledge, and the snoring youth, with his half-knowledge, which keeps him from rising to the height of virtue, is the pattern of the false philosophy of the time. But Persius is not an expounder of the Stoic philosophy, as a system, any more than Seneca is ; and commentators have attributed to him a profounder knowledge of philosophy than he had, certainly a profound- cr knowledge than it would have been artistic to show. Persius re- peats the catechism of the sect, expands some of their favorite theses, elaborates some of their pet figures, and finds fault with his fellow-stu- dents in the lofty tone which he had caught from his teachers. A glar- ing paradox, such as we find in 5, 119, he is but too happy to reproduce, but the subtle analysis for which the Stoics were famous does not ap- pear in his poems. The Satire is said by the Scholiast to be imitated from the Fourth Book of Lucilius. 1-24. A young student is roused by one of his companions, who, after meditating on his snoring form (1-4), remonstrates with him against lying abed so long. Yawning and headachy, he attempts to go to work, calls his servants testily, has his writ- ing materials brought, swears at them, and is rebuked by his SATIRE III. 121 sage friend for his babyishness, and urged to make use of this golden season of life. 1 . Nempe : The opening is made very lively by the use of nempe, which implies a preceding statement, and thus plunges at once into the thick of the dialogue. ' And so ' — a olear imita- tion of Hon., Sat., 1, 10, 1. Comp. the English use of ' and ' in the first verse of lyrics, and the common stage trick of beginning a scene with conjunctions : Farquhar, Beaux' Stratagem, 2, 2 : ' And was she the daughter of the house V Cibber, The Provoked Wife, 5, 4 : 'But what dost thou think will come of this business V This effect is lost by bringing in the comes at v. 5, as some do. — mane: Substantive, the Abl. of which, mane (mani), is in more common use as an Adverb. — fenestras: 'windows,' here for ' window-shutters.' 2. extendit: 'makes wider,' 'makes seem wider,' a familiar optical effect— rimas : ' chinks ' (between the shutters). 3. stertimus: Ironical First Person, excluding the speaker. — indomitum: 'heady,' 'unmanageable' (Conington). Falernian was a strong wine: ardens, Hor., Od., 2, 11, 9; severum, Od., 1, 27, 19; forte, Sat., 2, 4, 24. Add Ltjcan, 10, 162: Indomitum Meroe cogens spumare Fa I er num. — quod sufficiat : 'what ought to be enough.' G., 633 ; A., 65, 2.— despumare : ' work off,' ' carry off the fumes of (Conington). Despumare is a technical term 'skim' (Verg., Georg., 1, 296), like 'rack' in English. 4. quinta dum linea tangitur umbra : where we should ex- pect quinta linea umbra, by what is called Hypallage. Coning- ton compares Aeschyl., Ag., 504 : deKar^ tre iK6priv eTovg. See Schneidewin's note.— dum : ' while,' ' whereas,' ' and yet,' Comp. G., 572, R. ; A., 72, 1, c— linea: of the sun-dial. The fifth hour (about 11 o'clock) was the time of the prandium, according to Auson., Ephem. Loc. Ordin. Coqui, 1, 2 (Casaubon) : Sosia, prandendum est, quartam iam totus in lioram \ sol calet: ad .quint am fiectitur umbra notam. In Horace's time breakfast was after 10 (Sat., 1, 5, 25). The sophist Alciphron implies that 12 was the hour in his day (3, 4, 1). 5. en quid agis ? Comp. en quid ago? Verg., Aen., 4, 534. In lively questions the present is often used as a future, ns:^Quoi dono lepidum novum libellum? Catull., 1, 1.— siccas: proleptic 122 NOTES. or predicative, to be combined with coquit. Conington renders ' is baking the crops dry,' but coquere is too common in this sense for such a translation, a criticism which applies to a very large proportion of Conington's picturesque versions. Coquere is the regular word for ' ripen ' — Gr. irkaaio— Varro, K. R., 1, 7, 4 ; 54, 1. Tr. 'is ripening hard' (in the broiling sun). — insana canicula: 'the mad dog-star' is, of course, the 'mad dog's star ' (Conington). Comp. Hor., Od., 3, 29, 18 ; Ep., 1, 10, 16. 7. coinitum : Gomes is a wide term, embracing fellow-students and tutors. The Greek word is ol (rwovrsg. See Lttcian's fa- mous tract, mpi tGjv IttI fiicSy (twovtwv (de mercede conductis). 8. aliquis: 'somebody,' 'r^,' of a servant. Aperite aliquis actutum ostium, Ter., Adelphi, 4, 4, 46. "Qa-rrep lv olicy Zvioi $e- GTroTai TrpooraTTOvcn, "Irii) rig £