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Nota magis nulli domus est sua, quam mihi lucus
Martis et Aeoliis vicinum rupibus antrum
Vulcani. Quid agant venti, quas torqueat umbras
Aeacus, unde alius furtivae devehat aurum
Pelliculae, quantas jaculetur Monychus ornos,
Frontonis platani convulsaque marmora clamant
Semper, et assiduo ruptae lectore columnae.
Exspectes eadem a summo minimoque poeta !

The writing was usually confined to
one side of the parchment or papyrus,
which was then rolled up, and put
away in a case; hence evolvere
librum' is to read it. In the present
case the poem, after filling up the
proper margin, had then done the
same with the blank space on top of
the roll, and its margin, and finally
overflowed on to the back.

7. lucus Martis] Perhaps that of Alba, where Romulus and Remus were born. But it is of course uncertain.

8,9. antrum Vulcani] i. e. Hiera; one of the "Aeolian isles," N.E. of Sicily. "Aeoliis vicinum rupibus;" i. e. adjacent to Lipara, the abode of Aeolus, which thus gave name to the whole group. So in Virgil, Aen. viii. 416, 417, Vulcan's workshop is described by reference to Lipara; "Insula Sicanium juxta latus Aeoliamque Erigitur Liparen, fumantibus ardua saxis." In Homer, the workshop is in Olympus, and the position of the isle of Aeolus undetermined.

9. Quid agant venti] Perhaps suggested by the "Aeoliis rupibus" above.

ib. torqueat] tortures." 10, 11. furtivae pelliculae] "Bears away the gold of the stolen fleece;" i. e. steals and bears away. In Pindar, Pyth. iv. 430, the fleece is taken with the knowledge of Acetes;-EVVETTEV, žvða viv éktávvσαν Φρίξου μάχαιραι. It was guarded by a dragon. See note on Sat. xiv. 112-114.

11. quantas-ornos] i. e. the battle of the Centaurs and Lapiths.

Monychus was a Centaur leader.

12, 13. Frontonis-columnae] The owners of large houses lent them for recitations (see Sat. vii. 40), which would usually, for coolness, take place in the garden of the house. Hence 'platani,' 1. 12, the plane being the favourite ornamental tree of the Romans. See Hor. Od. ii. 15. 4, 5, "platanusque coelebs Evincet ulmos." "Marmora" and "columnae" are the marble panelling and pillars of the saloon ('oecus'), which opened by folding doors into the garden. These 'oeci' were one of the refinements of later times. In the earlier Roman houses the only sitting-room was the atrium;' -an apartment in the centre of the house, communicating with the garden by a passage. Fronto is probably M. Cornelius Fronto; a successful advocate and teacher of rhetoric in the reign of Hadrian. He purchased the garden laid out by Maecenas on the Esquiline hill. See Hor. Sat. i. 8. 7, vetatque novis considere in hortis;" cf. 1. 14, 15.

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ib. convulsa ruptae] i. e. by the recitation ("lectore" for "lectione") itself:- of course by a strong hyperbole. The applause of the auditory, which is the explanation sometimes given, (cf. Sat. vii. 86,) can hardly be meant here, as it would involve a strained construction of the "assiduo lectore," and, still more of the "clamant" in 1. 12. For 'ruptae' cf. Virg. Georg. iii. 328, "cantu querulae rumpent arbusta cicadae;" and see Macleane ad loc.

Why the author

has selected satire.

16

Et nos ergo manum ferulae subduximus, et nos
Consilium dedimus Sullae, privatus ut altum
Dormiret. Stulta est clementia, quum tot ubique
Vatibus occurras, periturae parcere chartae.

21

24

Cur tamen hoc potius libeat decurrere campo,
Per quem magnus equos Auruncae flexit alumnus,
Si vacat et placidi rationem admittitis, edam.
Quum tener uxorem ducat spado, Maevia Tuscum
Figat aprum et nuda teneat venabula mamma;
Patricios omnes opibus quum provocet unus,
Quo tondente gravis juveni mihi barba sonabat:
Quum pars Niliacae plebis, quum verna Canopi
Crispinus, Tyrias humero revocante lacernas,
Ventilet aestivum digitis sudantibus aurum,
Nec sufferre queat majoris pondera gemmae :
Difficile est, satiram non scribere. Nam quis
iniquae

Tam patiens urbis, tam ferreus, ut teneat se,
Causidici nova quum veniat lectica Mathonis

15-17.] "We too have declaimed at the rhetoric school ;"and are therefore qualified to write poetry. This was true of the declamatory poetry of the day.

16, 17. consilium-dormiret] A frequent "thesis" in the schools of rhetoric.

18. periturae] i. e. which some one else will spoil, if you do not.

20. Aur. alumnus] Lucilius; born at Suessa Aurunca: so called to distinguish it from the Latian Suessa Pometia, which gave name to the Pomptine marshes.

22, 23. Tuscum figat &c.; teneat venabula] Probably, enters the lists in a "venatio," or fight with wild beasts in the amphitheatre. See Macleane ad loc. Sat. vi. 246267, describes the female gladiator of the day; and from a passage of Suetonius, Domit. 4 (" venationes gladiatoresque nec virorum modo pugnas sed et feminarum"), it may be inferred that women engaged in the "venatio," or fight with beasts, as well. The men who did this were

called 'bestiarii.'

30

23. nuda] transl. "exposed." 24. unus] Probably Licinus, the freedman and barber of Augustus. See 1. 109 and note.

25.] Parody on Virg. Ecl. i. 29: "Candidior postquam tondenti barba cadebat."

26, 27.1" When one of the Nile rabble, when Crispinus, the homebirth of Canopus," &c. He was Domitian's favourite; Sat. iv. 1— 33. For the character of Canopus, see Sat. xv. 45, 46.

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27. humero lacernas] "With the mantle thrown back on his shoulder;" lit. "his shoulder summoning back the mantle." This was to show his rings.

29. nec-gemmae] Ironicè.

32. Mathonis] He was an "eminent counsel" of the day; see Sat. vii. 129. The "lectica," or litter, came into common use under the empire, both for men and women, and was frequently of great size. Cf. Sat. iii. 240, and lines 64, 65 of this satire. It allowed the occupant to

Plena ipso? post hunc magni delator amici
Et cito rapturus de nobilitate comesa

Quod superest, quem Massa timet, quem munere
palpat

35

Carus et a trepido Thymele submissa Latino?
Quum te submoveant, qui testamenta merentur;—
Unciolam Proculeius habet, sed Gillo deuncem. 40
Accipiat sane mercedem sanguinis, et sic
Palleat, ut nudis pressit qui calcibus anguem,
Aut Lugdunensem rhetor dicturus ad aram.
Quid referam, quanta siccum jecur ardeat ira,
Quum populum gregibus comitum premit hic spo-
liator

Pupilli prostantis? et hic damnatus inani

recline at length, and was thus dis-
tinguished from its varieties, the
'sella,' in which he could only sit,
and the cathedra,' 1. 65, in which
he half reclined and half sat. In
Matho's case, this display was per-
haps requisite to procure him prac-
tice (see Sat. vii. 129. 135-145,
and note on 1. 129); but it seems
to have harmonized with the man's
character. See Sat. xi. 34. Mart.
Ep. iv. 81; x. 46, which imply some-
thing of the ""
Serjeant Buz-fuz"
style.

33. plena ipso] Because he was

so fat.

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46

term for the lictors making way for
a consul. Hor. Od. ii. 16. 10, "neque
consularis summovet lictor." Here
it of course means not the lictor, but
the consul himself; "order you
aside."

ib. testamenta merentur] transl.
serve for their legacies;" i. e. dis-
charge degrading offices.

40. unciolam-deuncem] Fractions from to, with their reduced amounts, , &c., were often called by the names of the 12 parts of the as' (see Smith's Dict. Äntt. 'as') instead of using a numeral. Thus here, 6 unciolam' for unciam' is ; deuncem'. This was especially the case in stating the shares taken by the respective 'haeredes' under a will. So Cicero pro Caecina: "facit haeredem ex deunce et semunciâ Caecinam;"' haeres' of 11 twelfths.

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42. sanguinis] transl. "his life."

44.] Caligula instituted rhetorical contests at Lugdunum (Lyon). They were held at an altar dedicated to Augustus. Cf. Sat. xv. 111.

47. pup. prostantis] transl. "his prostituted ward." The spoliator is unknown; but the plunder of a ward by his guardian_(tutor) was sufficiently common. From a comparison of Sat. x. 222, 223, and xv.

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Judicio (quid enim salvis infamia nummis ?)
Exsul ab octava Marius bibit et fruitur dîs
Iratis; at tu victrix provincia ploras?

50

Haec ego non credam Venusina digna lucerna ?
Haec ego non agitem? Sed quid magis Heracleas,
Aut Diomedeas, aut mugitum Labyrinthi,
Et mare percussum puero, fabrumque volantem?
Quum leno accipiat moechi bona, (si capiendi 55
Jus nullum uxori,) doctus spectare lacunar,
Doctus et ad calicem vigilanti stertere naso;
Quum fas esse putet curam sperare cohortis,
Qui bona donavit praesepibus et caret omni
Majorum censu, dum pervolat axe citato
Flaminiam; (puer Automedon nam lora tenebat,

135-137, it would seem to have
become the specific meaning of the
term circumscriptio;' which in ear-
lier Latin means cozenage of any
kind.

49. Marius (Priscus)] Proconsul in Africa, and convicted of "repetundae" (see Macleane ad loc.) under Trajan.

1b. ab octava] sub. "hora." This was properly the hour for taking the bath, the coena not being taken

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till an hour afterwards.

49, 50. fruitur dis iratis] "Quite enjoys their displeasure."

50. victrix provincia] scil. Africa; see on 1. 49.

51. Venusina] "Horatian;" from his birth-place, Venusia in Apulia.

ib. lucerna] lamp: by the light of which he wrote, and so, his satire. We should say "the Horatian pen," but the classical use is retained in the

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word " lucubration," and also in a phrase, now somewhat antiquated, of a composition "smelling of the lamp," i. e. over-elaborated.

52, 53. Heracl.-Diom.] sub. "fabulas."

53, 54. mugitum-volantem] The stories of Theseus, Icarus, and Daedalus.

55, 56.] "When the husband, (who has sold his wife's honour,)

60

takes the adulterer's 'haereditas' in trust for her; since (si) she, as an adulteress, cannot be a 'haeres' herself." This was under a law of Domitian. See Suet. Dom. 8. The reference might possibly be to the Lex Voconia, by which a wife could not take an "haereditas" if her husband's census exceeded a certain amount. But there would be no special point in this. Domitian's law only applied to a convicted adulteress; but it is obvious that in a case like the present, there would be the risk of a conviction at any time.

56, 57.1 "well schooled to look at the ceiling, or snore, with still wakeful nostril, over his cup," i. e. while the wife and her paramour exchange caresses.

58.] See note on Sat. vii. 88, 89;

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Ipse lacernatae quum se jactaret amicae)
Nonne libet medio ceras implere capaces
Quadrivio? quum jam sexta cervice feratur
Hinc atque inde patens ac nuda paene cathedra
Et multum referens de Maecenate supino
Signator, falso qui se lautum atque beatum
Exiguis tabulis et gemma fecerat uda?
Occurrit matrona potens, quae, molle Calenum
Porrectura, viro miscet sitiente rubetam,
Instituitque rudes melior Locusta propinquas
Per famam et populum nigros efferre maritos.
Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris et carcere dignum,
Si vis esse aliquis: probitas laudatur et alget :
Criminibus debent hortos, praetoria, mensas,

62. Ipse] i. e. Nero; literally "the great man;" as autós is used of Socrates by a pupil, Aristoph. Nub. 220.

ib. lacernatae-amicae] "while he made himself agreeable to his cloaked favourite," a youth named Sporus.

63. ceras] (we should say "pages") forceratas tabulas.' These were the folding tablets, usually of wood, and covered with wax on the inner surface, on which the Romans wrote what was not intended for publication;-published works (libri) were written on papyrus or membrana (see note on 1. 5, 6), as being less liable to be defaced. Tabula,' sing., is any smoothed surface, (see 1. 90 and note,) but usually a picture; 'tabulae, arum' (plur.) are always the writing-tablets above described. 'Codex' (lit. a block of wood) is identical in meaning with the latter, but is usually restricted to accounts and legal documents. See Sat. vii. 109, 110; x. 236.

64, 65.] A litter borne by six slaves, and with the curtains drawn back, so that the whole couch was visible. See note on 1. 32, "lectica."

66. referens de] Resembling. ib. supino] voluptuous; lit., lying on the back; the posture of indolent

70

75

persons. Maecenas was notoriously
effeminate. Cf. Sat. xii. 39.

67, 68. Signator] Sealer (of
forged wills). It is not known who
is ineant. For tabulis,' see note
on 1. 63;-wills were usually written
on them. Cf. Sat. iv. 19.

67. falso]" by fraud." "Tabulisgemma: with. ; abl. of the

means.

68. udal Wetted; for making
an impression on the wax.
69-72.] Cf. Sat. vi. 659.
69. Calenum] From Cales in Cam-
pania.

70. viro-sitiente] abl. absolute.
71. rudes] "less educated."

ib. melior Locusta] "an improved
Locusta." She was employed by
Agrippina to poison Claudius. Sat.
v. 148.

72. per famam et populum] An hendiadys. "The popular talk notwithstanding."

ib. nigros] "blackened" (with the effects of the poison).

73. Gyari, orum] One of the Cyclades in the Aegean ;-otherwise Gyaros, and Gyara, æ. Under the empire, the Cyclades became a customary place of exile; see Sat. vi. 563.

ib. brevibus] "narrow."

75. praetoria] "palaces." Origi

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