Page images
PDF
EPUB

loved to hear the greeting on gala days in the theatre 'domino et dominae feliciter!' He also began his rescripts 'dominus vester ac deus.' 72. patinae mensura, 'a dish of the right size.'

73. proceres. Those prominent men of the senate whom he deemed vile enough to be worthy of forming his privy council: he hated all the senate, and would fain have got rid of them all at one blow.

75. Liburnus. The 'servus admissionis:' a native of Illyricum, whence came the best lecticarii iii. 240.

76. The abolla was a stout cloak to keep off the rain. The Cynics wore it, cf. Mart. iv. 53. Pegasus probably wore it to please the Emperor, who affected to approve of a rough, old-fashioned simplicity.

77. Pegasus had lately been created praefectus urbi: cf. Tac. Ann. vi. 11. The epithet vilicus implies that he was the head of a gang of slaves (the Roman populace), who belonged to the Emperor, who was 'dominus' of the city.

78. quorum optimus. 'Pegasus was the best of these praefecti urbi, but even he, during that Reign of Terror, thought that he did his duty in administering simple justice and avoiding to take up arms in her sacred cause.' Pegasus is mentioned as a celebrated lawyer in the Institutes and Digests: Inst. ii. 23. 5; Dig. i. 2. 53.

[ocr errors]

81. Crispi, pecunia potentia ingenio inter claros magis quam inter bonos' Tac. Hist. ii. 10. He was proconsul of Africa under Domitian. Cf. Suetonius, Dom. 3. Quintilian, X. I. 119, praises his bonhomie at the expense of his eloquence. Mart. iv. 54. 7 speaks of his great wealth. 82. mores, character.' 'Mores' are the traits or qualities which collectively make up the whole character. Cf. Plautus, Most. 171 'ut lepide omnis mores tenet sententiasque amantum.' Cf. also Verg. Georg. i. 51 Mores caeli.'

6

[ocr errors]

86. violentius, 'more capricious:'liable to more unreasoning outbursts. 89. igitur. 'And so, in consequence of his good nature, and of the risk being too great, he would never swim against the stream.'

90. 'He was not a good enough citizen to risk his life in the cause of truth.' 93. solstitia is used for 'summers,' as in Verg. Georgics i. 266. The ancient division of the year was into winter and summer only.

94. Acilius. The father and son. M'. Acilius Glabrio was consul with Trajan in A.D. 44, and was murdered in the eleventh year of Domitian's reign, after surviving a contest with a lion at the Albanum on the occasion of the Juvenalia: Dio lxvii. § 14. The amphitheatre is situated between the Church of S. Paolo and that of the Capuchin convent. . . . It is supposed to have been the scene of the feats performed by Domitian in killing with his own hands hundreds of wild beasts with arrows and javelins, and also of the degradation of Acilius Glabrio' Burn, Old Rome. 96. olim. 'Long since old age and nobility have ceased to go together, and so I would prefer to be one of those who can boast no ancestry but mother earth. I will be content to be the "little brother" of mother earth's giant brood.' 'Ignobiles' are spoken of as 'terrae filii.' 'Olim' would in classical Latin have been 'iamdudum;' cf. iii. 163.

100. 'It did him no good to have sought to win the Emperor's favour by descending into the lists as a common gladiator: by this time a mere simpleton could see through the tricks of the patricians to win favour.' Cf. Satire viii. 185, where Juvenal describes the way in which the patricians descended to the level of common gladiators.

Juvenal says that Acilius tried to make the Emperor believe that he was half-witted, or at least politically harmless, by condescending to fight wild beasts like a common gladiator.

103. See xvi. 31; cf.' intonsi Catonis' Hor. Od. ii. 15. 11. Barbers were said to have been introduced into Rome from Sicily about the year 300 B.C.

104. nec melior.

[ocr errors]

Rubrius did not look more cheerful, low as his birth may have been.' Rubrius Gallus was sent against the rebels in Spain, under Nero, and espoused Galba's cause. He is mentioned twice in Tacitus, Hist. ii. 51 and 99. The Scholiast asserts that he had an intrigue with Julia, the daughter of Titus.

105. offensae. This genitive is commonly called 'the genitive of accusation.' It is really a defining genitive, some one of the numerous law phrases, like 'crimine,' ' iudicio,' ' nomine,' or 'lege,' being understood. Brugman in Müller's Hdbch. cites Cic. De Off. ii. 51 'ne quem innocentem iudicio capitis arcessas :' and compares it with Cornif. i. 11. 18 'Teucer inimicum fratris capitis arcessit.' Analogy spread this use of this genitive more and more widely; Vergil talks about 'voti reus,' and Nepos has even voti damnari.'

106. improbus is applied to any one who exceeds due bounds: it is opposed to 'pudicus.' Here it is applied to one who exceeds the natural bounds of liberty allowed to speech; 'more impudent.'

107. Montanus was a noted gourmand: he is noticed by Tacitus, Hist. iv. 42. He is also mentioned in the Annals as 'Montanum detestanda carmina factitantem' xvi. 28.

[ocr errors]

abdomine. The word properly applies to swine. His paunch delayed him.'

108. matutino. He did not wait until the regular time, viz. the bath before dinner, to perfume himself.

109. The corpse was perfumed by the 'pollinctor' to avoid the natural smell and to preserve the body as long as possible. The body was exposed, in the case of rich families, for seven days. For the construction 'saevus aperire' cf. Hor. Ep. i. 15. 30 'Quaelibet in quemvis opprobria fingere saevus.'

[ocr errors]

110. Pompeius, possibly the Pompeius Silianus mentioned by Tac. Hist. ii. 86 as a spy and informer.

tenui, insinuating;' it is the word used by Vergil, Georg. i. 92, of the rain which makes its way into the earth.

112. Fuscus. Cornelius Fuscus, praefectus praetorio under Domitian, met his death in the Dacian war, 86-87 A.D. Tac. Hist. ii. 86 speaks of him as a warm supporter of Vespasian, and a regular Hotspur in war.

meditari means 'to think out,'' compose the plan of,' as a warrior in repose would naturally do.

113. Fabricius Veiento. Spoken of in Tacitus, Ann. xiv. 50, as one who had libelled the senate and priests.

Catullo. L. Valerius Catullus Messalinus, spoken of by Pliny, Ep. iv. 22. 5, as a man who had been rendered by his blindness pitiless and incapable of blushing.

116. a ponte. The bridges were the regular resort of beggars. Cf. Mart. xii. 32. 25 'haec sarcinarum pompa convenit ponti.' If Catullus had once been a beggar it must have been long before this, as he had since been a Roman governor and probably consul. Juvenal may mean that Catullus was no better than a pestering beggar from the bridge.

117. 'He was a worthy rival of those princes of beggars, the Aricians.' Aricia was on the high road from Rome to Puteoli; the beggars posted on the hill craved an alms, and if they received it, blew a kiss to the donors as they sped down the hill. Cf. Mart. ii. 19. 3.

119. He plays on the word stupuit. He was really amazed or aghast at the fish, for he admired it, taking it to be on the left, while it was really on the right.

121. Cilicis, 'a gladiator,' in the armour of his native country.

122. pegma, a machine whereby actors were raised from the floor into the air. The English word 'pageant' is derived from this: see Skeat s. v. Velaria, 'awnings.'

124. Bellona, the symbol of blood-thirstiness. Her gadfly pursued Io through the world. Cf. Ovid, Met. i. 725.

127. Arviragus. A British chieftain, not mentioned, however, by either Tacitus or Dio. The word has been supposed to be connected with Ardriagh, 'high king:' and Arthur is supposed to be another derivative from the same root.

128. erectas in terga. This strange accusative, where we should have expected an ablative, must mean 'backwards.' The sudes or 'palisades,' which would remind a Roman of his camp entrenchment, point towards the fish's tail.

hoc defuit, i. e. he seemed to know so much about the fish that it was surprising that he did not name its country and its age as he had told all besides.

[ocr errors]

130. quidnam igitur. The words of the president of the council. conciditur, cut it up?' The use of the indicative implies that the answer must be plain, viz. No. Cf. line 28.

131. alta. That none of the fish's juices may be lost.

132. Prometheus. Some divine potter. Weidner aptly quotes Lucian, Prom. 2 οἱ ̓Αθηναῖοι τοὺς χυτρέας καὶ ἰχνοποιοὺς καὶ πάντας ὅσοι πηλουργοὶ Προμηθέας ἀπεκάλουν.

134. sed. But let this be a warning, Caesar, from this time forth, to run no more risks from lack of potters !'

137. iam medias. The 'iam' denotes that the midnights came upon them by surprise.

SATIRE IV. NOTES, ll. 138–154.

138. 'A fresh, unnatural appetite procured by drinking.' Others take aliam famem to mean 'and other unreal appetites produced by emetics.' 141. The best oysters were those from Circeii: 'his neque dulciora neque teneriora esse ulla compertum est' Pliny, N. H. xxxii. 6. 21 (§§ 60, 62). Next ranked the Lucrine, and last those from Rutupiae, Richborough.

143. 'He could actually tell whence came an echinus without tasting it at all.' The sea-urchin was much prized as an article of diet; cf. Hor. Sat. ii. 4. 30.

145. dux magnus. The Emperor really was defeated by these tribes, but held a triumph none the less. Cf. Tac. Agricola 39 'Falsum e Germania triumphum egit emptis per commercia quorum habitus et crines in captivorum speciem formarentur.'

149. pinna seems to be a technical term referring to 'pinnatae literae,' in which bad news was announced, whereas good news was borne by a messenger with a spear bound with myrtle. Simcox quotes Statius, Silv. v. 1. 92, 93 ‘Omnia nam laetas pila attollentia frondes Nullaque famosa signatur lancea pinna.'

153. The handicraftsmen ;' just as we use the word 'snob,' which properly means a bootmaker's apprentice. We have followed Mayor in printing the word with a capital letter, implying that it is used generically as a proper name denoting a class, much as we speak of Hodge and Dick.' Cf. Juvenal's previous use of Titius and Seius, iv. 13.

154. L. Aelius Lamia was put to death by Domitian: cf. Suet. 10. Horace addresses two Odes to him, viz. i. 26 and iii. 17, and this seems to be another of the numerous passages in which Juvenal has had Horace's lines running in his mind: cf. De Iuvenale Horatii imitatore, by Schwartz, where the whole subject is fully treated.

SATIRE V.

ON NIGGARDLY PATRONS AND THEIR PARASITES.

THERE is nothing to determine the date of this Satire, but from the style, which more distinctly recalls Horace, Satires lib. ii. 8, than any other of Juvenal's, and from the care with which allusions to Domitian are excluded, and examples of oppression or stupidity chosen from the times of Nero and Claudius, there is a slight probability that it is one of the poet's earliest, and was composed while Domitian was alive.

The Satire is an outburst of indignation against the professional diners out and hangers-on of the wealthy at Rome, who could condescend to sell their wit and sink their self-respect for a good dinner. We have a good description of such parasites in Plautus, Captivi i. iii. 1, and in a fragment preserved to us of Eupolis, in which the chorus of Kóλakes describe their policy; and specimens of their wit, such as it was, are preserved to us in Horace, Satires i. 5. 51-69, where Sarmentus and Cicirrus banter each other in a way which we can hardly deem witty. This

Satire affords us a good picture of the life of the millionaires at Rome, with their outward affectation of pristine Roman simplicity and 'gravitas,' and their private life of luxury and self-indulgence. For the sensuality described see Lecky's History of European Morals vol. i. ch. ii.

You must be the vilest of men if you can bear the life of a parasite, while there is a beggar's stand unoccupied on which you may squat and eat dogcake,ll. 1-11. An invitation once in two months is considered ample return for all your arduous dancing of attendance, ll. 12-23. What a feast! You get sour and heady wine out of a cobbler's pot; he drinks the generous juice of the grape mellowed by centuries out of goblets plated with amber and studded with gems, 11. 24-49. For him the iced water served by the graceful Asiatic boy; for you the tepid draught handed carelessly by the sinister-looking and gaunt negro, ll. 50–66. Your host has the soft rolls of white bread; and you get the hard crusts that shine with age. Was it for that you trudged through hail and fog, leaving your wife's side? 11. 67-79. Note the difference of the fine cray-fish put before the lord; the paltry crab served to yourself; contrast his sauce of clear olive-oil with yours of stinking lamp-oil,—the mullet or lamprey the great man brings from Corsican or Sicilian waters, with your eel or pike that has fattened in the Roman drains, 11. 80-106. And let the rich man observe that no one wants him to be generous; we only wish him to observe the courtesy of equal fellowship at his meals, 11. 107-113.

Look again at the capon, the boar, the truffles; hear the patron's vaunt of wealth; watch the graces of the professional carver; and observe the strict etiquette that is enforced, ll. 113-127. No poor man can talk with his host on equal terms, 127-131. But become rich, and you are Virro's friend; be childless, and he in turn will be your flatterer; yet even if you have a large family, your wealth will purchase you consideration, 11. 132-145. Even to mushrooms and dessert will the distinction of ranks be preserved at that table, 146-155. Do you think all this is Virro's economy? First, he does it to enjoy the comedy of a disappointed parasite, and to watch your looks as you calculate whether a costly dish will hold out till it reaches you. He appraises you at your true value, a possible buffoon, ll. 156–173.

2. quadra, 'table,' as in Vergil, Aen. vii. 114.

3. Sarmentus. Plutarch (Ant. 59) tells us of a Sarmentus, a favourite of Augustus. Sarmentus was also the name of the opponent of Cicirrus in Horace, referred to on p. 126. The Scholiast, quoted by Heinrich, tells us of a Sarmentus who, by his wit, attained a fortune and the office of 'decuria quaestoria.' Elated by this, he appeared in the theatre as a Roman knight, on which the populace composed on him the following pasquinade:

« PreviousContinue »