Page images
PDF
EPUB

been either Cinnamus, or Licinius, the freedman and barber of Augustus.-Gravis... mihi: 'troublesome to me, a youth.'

26. Quum... Crispinus: when Crispinus, one of the lowest of the Egyptians, once a Canopian slave.'-Canopi: a city of Egypt, addicted to all manner of debauchery.

27. Crispinus: from a slave, he had been made master of the horse to Nero.-Tyrias... lacernas: the Romans used to fasten their cloaks (lacerna) round the neck with a loop. Crispinus wore his so loose, that he is here described as raising it up with his shoulders.-Tyrias: dyed with Tyrian purple; which was very expensive.

[ocr errors]

28. Ventilet... aurum: the Romans arrived at such a height of luxury, that they wore large and heavy rings in winter, but lighter ones in summer. The effeminate Egyptian is here represented as 'waving to and fro' (ventilo) his hand in the air, to cool his fingers (or, more probably, to display his ring), on one of which he wore a summer ring.

29. Majoris... gemma: of a larger size,' that is, 'a winter ring.'

31. Tam ferreus: 'so insensible; so much of the nature of

iron.

32. Lectica: this was a sort of' sedan,' with a couch in it, in which the great men were carried by their servants.-Mathonis: Matho had been a lawyer, but turned informer to Domitian, and thereby had amassed a great fortune.

33. Plena ipso: this alludes either to his corpulency, or to the haughty manner, which he assumed while in the sedan.-Delator: critics are divided about the man, who followed Matho. The old Scholiast says it was Heliodorus, the Stoic, who informed against L. Junius Silanus, Massa, and Carus; others, that it was Egnatius Celer, a Stoic philosopher, who, by false testimony, ruined his friend and pupil, Bareas Soranus: but more probably it was M. Regulus, mentioned by Pliny, who carried on the trade of informer under Nero and Domitian. Or, perhaps, the poet did not allude to one informer, but to several.-Magni amici: this means either that the informer was in the employ of some distinguished friend, for instance the Emperor; or that he had laid information against some illustrious friend of himself, or of the Emperor.

34. Comesa: robbed and destroyed by secret accusations, or pillaged by informers for hush-money.

35. Massa: Massa Bebius, an infamous informer.

36. Carus: Metius Carus, another informer, who bribed Regulus to avoid some secret accusation.-Thymele... Latino: Thymele was the wife of Latinus, a famous mimic; she was 'sent privately by her husband and prostituted to Regulus, to avoid some information which Latinus dreaded.

[ocr errors]

38. Quum... prostantis: he now satirizes such guardians as enrich themselves by the spoils of the young men intrusted to

their care; the ward was afterwards reduced by their villany to such poverty, as to be obliged to prostitute himself for his support. -Some texts have pupilla.-Populum... premit: 'presses on, and incommodes the passengers with his train of attendants.'

39. Et hic... bibit: the construction is, et hic Marius exsul damnatus inani judicio (enim quid, &c.) bibit ah octavȧ.-Inani: 'vain,' because, though inflicted on Marius, the injured province received no recompense.

41. Ab octava: the eighth hour of the natural day, or two o'clock, P. M., which may be considered as an instance of great luxury, the Romans not being in the habit of sitting down to their meals sooner than the ninth hour.-Marius: Marius Priscus was pro-consul of Africa, and being prosecuted by the province for cruelty and extortion, was convicted, fined, and banished from Italy. Yet retaining the greater part of his former spoils, he lived in a wanton exile; while the Africans returned home with the wretched consolation of having defrayed their own expenses, and seen the money, levied on their oppressor, carried to the Roman treasury.-Fruitur... iratis: i. e. gaudet irá deorum, i. e. damnatione; though Marius had by his crimes incurred the anger of the gods, and suffered condemnation in a court of justice, still he received no injury, but lived in the highest luxury.

42. Victrix: victrix was a law term, applied to those who gained a suit.

43. Venusinâ... lucernâ: the Venusinian lamp,' that is, 'the pen of Horace himself,' who was born at Venusium, a city of Apulia.

44. Agitem: a metaphor from hunting wild beasts.-Sed... Heracleas: fabulas understood; but why should I rather write poetic fables on the labors of Hercules.'

45. Diomedeas: fabulas understood; the exploits of Diomede.' See Class. Dict.-Mugitum Labyrinthi : i. e. the Minotaur; see Class. Dict.

46. Et... puero: i. e. the story of Icarus. See Class. Dict.Fabrumque volantem, i. e. the story of Dædalus. See Class. Dict.

47. Leno... bona: 'the husband, who turns pander, receives the goods of the adulterer,' as the price of his wife's prostitution.Si... uxori: Domitian made a law which prohibited the use of litters and the right of inheritance to adulterous wives. This was evaded by making their husbands panders to their lewdness, and thus causing the legacies to be given to them.

48. Spectare lacunar: as inobservant of his wife's infamy.

49. Doctus... naso: a cup was also set before the husband (another device), which he pretended to have drunk, and then nodded and snored as if in a drunken sleep.-Vigilanti: the poet uses the epithet vigilanti, here, very humorously, to denote that though the man seemed to be fast asleep by his snoring, yet his nose seemed to be awake by the noise it made.

50. Quum... amica: another cause of indignation. It is un

certain to what person he here alludes; some understand Cornelius Fuscus, who was charioteer to Nero, as Automedon was to Achilles; others, Tigellinus.

51. Bona... præsepibus: has squandered his property in keeping and breeding horses.'

52. Majorum censu: his family estate.'

54. Ipse. quum se jactaret: when he was insinuating himself into the favor.'-Ipse: Nero.-Lacernatæ... amica: we are by this to understand Sporus (Sueton. cap. 28), whom Juvenal humorously mentions in the feminine gender. The Lacerna was worn only by men.

55. Nonne... quadrivio: might not one amuse himself in filling a large book with the objects of satire, which present themselves in the very streets.-Ceras... capaces: 'large waxen tablets; these were thin pieces of wood, covered over with wax, on which the ancients wrote with the point of a sharp instrument, called stylus: it had a blunt end to rub out with.

56. Quum... uda: the construction is, quum jam signator qui fecerat se lautum falso (i. e. crimine falsi), et beatum exiguis tabulis, et gemmâ udâ, feratur sextà cervice, patens hinc, &c.—Sextâ cervice in a litter carried on the shoulders of six slaves.

...

57. Hinc · patens: 'exposed on every side' to the view of the passengers, and not ashamed of the means which he had taken to enrich himself.-Nudâ: 'unveiled;' or it may be rendered almost 'empty,' as filling the sedan himself.

58. Multum... supino: 'much resembling the supine and effeminate Mæcenas." Sat. XII. 37.

59. Falso: i. e. crimine falsi, which, in the Roman law, signified the forging of wills, counterfeiting public money, &c. Some texts have signator falso: it would then signify a signer to a false will;a forger of wills.'-Some suppose that the poet refers particularly to Tigellinus, a favorite of Nero, who poisoned three uncles, and, by forging their wills, made himself heir to their estates.

...

60. Exiguis tabulis : 'short testaments,' which in a few words bequeathed the entire property to one person alone.-Gemmâ . . . uda: a seal, cut from some precious stone or gem, worn in a ring on the finger, and occasionally used to seal deeds, &c. This they used to wet to prevent the wax sticking to it.

61. Occurrit... maritos: another subject for satire presents itself: women who poison their husbands, and that with impunity.-Matrona potens: on account of the epithet potens, some think Agrippina is meant, who poisoned her husband Claudius.Calenum: vinum understood; Cales or Calenum was a town of Campania, in Italy, famous for excellent wine.

62. Viro... sitiente: this may either be the ablative absolute, or sitiente is the ancient form of the dative for sitienti.-Rubetam: a toad, that is, poison extracted from a toad.

63. Rudes: before' unskilled' in the art of poisoning.—Melior

Locusta: a better Locusta,' a greater proficient in the art of poisoning, than Locusta herself. This woman assisted Nero in poisoning Britannicus, and Agrippina in poisoning Claudius.

64. Per famam et populum: i. e. not secretly, but openly, the report of what had been done being generally circulated.Through a crowd of people, who are talking freely of the murder, which had been committed.-Nigros: putrid and black with the effects of the poison.

65. Gyaris: Gyaros, or Gyari, or Gyara, was a small and barren island in the Egean sea, to which criminals were banished by the Romans.

67. Hortos: beautiful retreats, where they had gardens of great taste and expense.-Prætoria: this word denotes the country-seats of noblemen, as well as the palaces of great men in the city.-Mensas tables made of ivory, marble, and other expensive materials.

68. Argentum vetus: 'ancient plate,' valuable on account of the workmanship.-Caprum: the goat, being sacred to Bacchus, was frequently represented in bass relief on drinking vessels, as standing and browsing on the vine.

69. Quem: poëtam understood; where is the poet, that could sleep and not write satires?-Corruptor : the father-in-law who takes advantage of the covetousness of his daughter-in-law, to debauch her.

70. Prætextatus: the prætexta was a white silk gown, trimmed with purple, worn by the sons of the nobility, till they were seventeen years of age.

72. Cluvienus: some wretched poet.

73. Ex quo

libelli: i. e. all the vices, that have existed, and have been increasing ever since the deluge, shall be the subject of my satire.-Deucalion: See Class. Dict. and Ovid's Metamorph., Book I, 244-415.

75. Mollia: becoming soft,' as they gradually warmed with life.'

77. Timor: fear of future evil.'

78. Discursus: the 'inconstancy' of the human mind; or the desires and labors of men in acquiring wealth or power.-Farrago: the composition;' this word signifies a medley,ture,' particularly, of many sorts of corn to feed cattle.

-a mix

79. Quando... sinus: a metaphorical allusion to the sail of a ship when expanded to the wind, the centre of which is called sinus, the bosom.' 'When did avarice spread itself so extensively?'

80. Alea: the die,' a chief instrument of gaming; put here, by metonymy, for 'gaming' itself. All games of hazard were called alea, and were forbidden by the Roman laws.

81. Hos animos: quando alea (sc. cepit or occupavit) hos (i. e. tot) animos; 'when did gaming occupy so many minds? —or habuit understood; animus would then signify 'spirit;' when was gam

[ocr errors]

.

bling carried on with such spirit?'-Neque... arcâ: gaming is carried to such an extent that they are not content to play for what can be carried in their purses, but they stake whole chests of money at a time.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

83. Illic there, among the gamesters.'-Dispensatore... armigero: the armigeri were servants, who followed their masters, bearing their arms when they went to battle. The steward being armor-bearer,' that is, carrying for their masters money and every thing necessary for gambling.

84. Simplexne furor: is it not more than madness?'-Sestertia centum: a hundred thousand sestertii:' about $3570. See Adam's Lat. Gram., p. 289.

85. Horrenti: shivering with cold.'-Reddere: for the simple dare. He here censures those gamblers who had rather lose an immense sum than supply their families with the necessaries of life.

86. Quis totidem: sc. avus.- -Quis...avus : 'which of our ancestors ever supped in private on seven dishes.' The ancient Roman nobles, to display their munificence, were in the habit of giving costly entertainments to their friends and dependants: but the rich men of latter times excluded them, and sat down to sumptuous entertainments, provided for themselves alone.

87. Sportula: this was 'a little basket' or pannier, made of a kind of broom, called sportum. According to Suetonius, Nero forbade clients to be introduced to the entertainments of the rich, as had been the custom among the ancients, but ordered, that a dole of victuals or money might be distributed to them, in little baskets, at the outer gate.

88. Parva: as containing only a trifle of one hundred farthings, or as implying, that the dole was every day diminished in value.-Turba... togata: the common people were called turba togata, from the gowns (toga) they wore.-In the times of the Cœsars, the toga was not in general use, and it was scarcely ever worn then, except by the poorest and lowest of the Roman people.

89. Ille Ruperti understands this as applying to the sordid rich man himself, and not, as most suppose, to the steward of the man who distributed the dole.-Et trepidat: lest the dole should be given to an impostor.

91. Agnitus: 'recognised as one of his clients.'

92. Ipsos Trojugenas: the very descendants of Eneas.' The poet now inveighs against many of the Roman nobility, who were so mean as to scramble among the poor for these donations. The word ipsos makes the sarcasm the stronger.

93. Da... tribuno: these words we may suppose spoken by the rich man to his steward; or we may understand them as spoken by these officers themselves-"Give to me the prætor, &c."-Prætori: the prætor was the chief magistrate of the city, and had the power of judging matters of law between the citizens.-Tribuno: the tribunes, at their first institution, were two,

« PreviousContinue »