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Modest

hopes unrealized.

Pro populo faciens quantum Laufella bibebat. Vivendum recte est, cum propter plurima, tum de his

121

Praecipue causis, ut linguas mancipiorum
Contemnas: nam lingua mali pars maxima servi.
Deterior tamen hic, qui liber non erit illis
Quorum animas et farre suo custodit et aere.
NAEV. Idcirco ut possim linguam contemnere
servi,

Utile consilium modo, sed commune, dedisti:
Nunc mihi quid suades post damnum temporis et

spes

Deceptas? Festinat enim decurrere velox

125

Flosculus, angustae miseraeque brevissima vitae. Portio dum bibimus, dum serta, unguenta, puellas

:

Poscimus, obrepit non intellecta senectus.

O parvi nostrique Lares, quos thure minuto
Aut farre et tenui soleo exornare corona,

Quando ego figam aliquid, quo sit mihi tuta

senectus

A tegete et baculo? viginti millia fenus
Pigneribus positis, argenti vascula puri,
Sed quae Fabricius censor notet, et duo fortes

117. Laufella] some drunken
priestess. Saufeia
reading.

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140

thousand sesterces income" (lit. in66 is another terest) on good security." See note on Sat. i. 106, and on 1.7 of this Satire.

ib. faciens] Like the Greek Totiv οι ρέζειν. Sacrificing."

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121, 122.1 "Although, bad as the slaves may be, the master, who thus lives in servitude to them, is worse." "Illis," i. e. "ab illis;" "liber as metu, cura.' "Illis aere "is of "his periphrasis for a

course

slaves."

124. modo] "just now." 137. nostrique] opp. to the patron's house.

139. figam] "make sure of;" lit. strike down, like an animal of chase. 140. tegete] See Sat. v. 8, and note. "Baculo," the mendicant's staff.

140, 141, viginti-positis] "twenty

141. puri] 'plain,' as in Sat. x. 19. It is opposed to 'argentum asperum' (Sat. xiv. 62);-plate chased or embossed.

142. Fabricius censor] This was the famous Luscinus C. Fabricius, who commanded in the war against Pyrrhus. In his censorship, B.C. 275, he expelled from the senate P. Cornelius Rufinus, for possessing ten pounds of silver-plate. "Notet," in this line, was the technical term for this; see note on Sat. iv. 12. In aftertimes Fabricius was spoken of as the type of the old republican character.

142-144.] "Two strong slaves

De grege Moesorum, qui me cervice locata
Securum jubeant clamoso insistere Circo.
Sit mihi praeterea curvus caelator, et alter,
Qui multas facies pingat cito. Sufficient haec,
Quando ego pauper ero.
Votum miserabile, nec

spes

145

His saltem: nam, quum pro me Fortuna rogatur,
Affigit ceras illa de nave petitas,

Quae Siculos cantus effugit remige surdo.

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150

Of

146, 147. sufficient. course ironical. The establishment he stipulates for is a fairly luxurious one. 148. sultem] even. "His" is for "horum," unless "frui" is understood.

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149, 150. illa-nave] that of Uysses. See Hom. Od. xii. 165— 177. For "ceras see 1. 173 seqq. ἐγὼ κηροῖο μέγαν τροχὸν ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ Τυτθὰ διατμήξας χερσὶ στιβαρῇσι πιέζουν ἐξείης δ' Tápolov ἐπ' οὔατα πᾶσιν ἄλειψα.

SATIRA X.

HUMAN WISHES.

Their objects and results.

Omnibus in terris, quae sunt a Gadibus usque
Auroram et Gangem, pauci dignoscere possunt
Vera bona atque illis multum diversa, remota
Erroris nebula. Quid enim ratione timemus
Aut cupimus? quid tam dextro pede concipis, ut te
Conatus non poeniteat votique peracti?
Evertere domos totas optantibus ipsis

Di faciles. Nocitura toga, nocitura petuntur
Militia. Torrens dicendi copia multis
Et sua mortifera est facundia.

6

Viribus ille

10

Confisus periit admirandisque lacertis.

Wealth. Sed plures nimia congesta pecunia cura

Strangulat, et cuncta exsuperans patrimonia census,
Quanto delphinis balaena Britannica major.
Temporibus diris igitur jussuque Neronis
Longinum et magnos Senecae praedivitis hortos

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5, 6. quid—peracti] "What petition do you ever frame so auspiciously, that you have not to repent of your act, and offered vow?" Concipere" and "peragere are the technical terms for a set form of prayer. "Dextro pede" is unusual, except with verbs of motion, but was perhaps suggested by Virgil's "dexter adi pede sacra secundo," Aen. viii. 302.

7. optantibus ipsis] "at their own request" i. e. by granting what they ask...

15

8. toga] Note on Sat. xvi. 8. 10. ille] Probably Milon, the famous athlete of Crotona. His strength was immense, and led to his death, by his attempting, in old age, to force asunder the partiallycleft trunk of a tree. It closed upon him, and wedged him in, until he was devoured by wolves. Milon flourished B.C. 511.

60.

13. census] See note on Sat. i.

14. Britannica] i. e. of the North Sea.

16. Longinum] Cassius Longinus, a famous jurist in the reigns of

Clausit et egregias Lateranorum obsidet aedes
Tota cohors: rarus venit in coenacula miles.
Pauca licet portes argenti vascula puri,

Nocte iter ingressus gladium contumque timebis, 20
Et motae ad lunam trepidabis arundinis umbram;
Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator.

Prima fere vota et cunctis notissima templis
Divitiae, crescant ut opes, ut maxima toto
Nostra sit arca foro. Sed nulla aconita bibuntur
Fictilibus. Tunc illa time, quum pocula sumes 26
Gemmata, et lato Setinum ardebit in auro.
Jamne igitur laudas, quod de sapientibus alter
Ridebat, quoties a limine moverat unum
Protuleratque pedem, flebat contrarius alter? 30
Sed facilis cuivis rigidi censura cachinni :
Mirandum est, unde ille oculis suffecerit humor.
Perpetuo risu pulmonem agitare solebat
Democritus, quamquam non essent urbibus illis

Claudius and Nero. He was exiled
by the latter, on account of the in-
fluence he had acquired by his large
fortune. Longinus was recalled from
banishment by Vespasian.

ib. Senecae] The well-known philosopher and dramatist, put to death by Nero, who had been his pupil. His wealth was enormous, and no doubt contributed to his fate. The immediate cause, however, was a charge of his having been concerned in Piso's unsuccessful conspiracy against Nero, A.D. 65. Seneca was allowed to open his own veins, and his wife Paullina did the same. The philosopher's blood flowed slowly, and his torture was extreme. After taking hemlock ineffectually, he entered a bath to accelerate his death, and was finally suffocated in a vapour-stove. Paullina recovered.

17. Lateranorum] Plautius Lateranus joined in the unsuccessful conspiracy against Nero, A.D. 65, and was executed by that emperor's order.

18. coenacula] Note on Sat. vii. 118,' scalarum."

19. puri argenti] See note on Sat. ix. 141.

25. nostra- -foro] The " arca (strong-box) would be that of the bankers, or argentarii.' Their place of business was in the porticoes which surrounded the forum.

34.

26. fictilibus] sub. "vasibus."
27. Setinum] See note on Sat. v.

28. jamne igitur] "Do you not then ?"

...

28-30. alter-alter] Democritus is the well-known philosopher of Abdera (born B.C. 460), and Heracleitus, an Ephesian philosopher, who flourished about B.C. 513. Democritus took as cheerful a view of human errors as Heracleitus did the reverse. Hence the former became proverbial as the "laughing," the latter as the "crying," philosopher.

31, 32.] "Not indeed that the former was surprising. The satire of a laugh was easy enough; but it is wonderful where Heracleitus could have found his tears." Rigidi," reproving."

66

66

35

Praetexta et trabeae, fasces, lectica, tribunal.
Quid, si vidisset Praetorem in curribus altis
Exstantem, et medii sublimem in pulvere Circi,
In tunica Jovis, et pictae Sarrana ferentem
Ex humeris aulaea togae, magnaeque coronae
Tantum orbem, quanto cervix non sufficit ulla? 40
Quippe tenet sudans hanc publicus, et, sibi Consul
Ne placeat, curru servus portatur eodem.
Da nunc et volucrem, sceptro quae surgit eburno,
Illinc cornicines, hinc praecedentia longi
Agminis officia et niveos ad frena Quirites,
Defossa in loculis quos sportula fecit amicos.
Tunc quoque materiam risus invenit ad omnes
Occursus hominum, cujus prudentia monstrat,

35. praetextatrabeae. lectica] See notes on Sat. i. 78; viii. 259; and i. 32.

ib. tribunal] The praetor's seat for administering justice. See note on Sat. iii. 213. It was erected at one end of the basilica,' or "lawcourt." There were several of these 'basilicae' in Rome, and their size was considerable. On the establishment of Christianity the basilicae' were mostly converted into churches, the altar being placed where the 'tribunal' previously stood.

36-46.] "What would he have said if he had seen the praetor presiding at the Circensian games?" See note on Sat. iii. 223; vii. 87. The praetor rode in procession to the Circus Maximus, and afterwards presided at the chariot races. See note on Sat. iii. 223. The description here (from "praecedentia," 1. 44) seems to apply to the former part of the ceremony, viz. the procession. In Sat. xi. 191-193 it is probably the races at which the praetor is presiding.

38. tunica Jovis] This was kept in the Capitol, and used only on state

occasions.

ib. Sarrana] i. e. Tyrian. "Sarra" was the ancient name of Tyre.

39. aulaea toyue] "curtains of his

45

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