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SATIRA IV.

A CABINET COUNCIL.

"Crispi

nus

again."

Ecce iterum Crispinus! Etest mihi saepe vocandus
Ad partes, monstrum nulla virtute redemtum
A vitiis, aeger, solaque libidine fortis.

5

Quid refert igitur, quantis jumenta fatiget
Porticibus? quanta nemorum vectetur in umbra?
Jugera quot vicina foro, quas emerit aedes?
Nemo malus felix; minime corruptor et idem
Incestus, cum quo nuper vittata jacebat
Sanguine adhuc vivo terram subitura sacerdos. 10
Sed nunc de factis levioribus: et tamen alter
Si fecisset idem, caderet sub judice morum.

1. iterum] Juvenal had attacked him in Sat. i. 26.

2. ad partes] To (play) his part. Actors were said agere primas, secundas partes.

5, 6. quantis-umbra] The porticoes of private houses were large enough to admit carriages. See Sat. vii. 178 and note. They were planted with trees: so Hor. Od. iii. 10. 5, 6, "nemus inter pulcra satum tecta remugiat Ventis."

9. incestus] Here, one who has defiled a Vestal, the latter being consecrated.

9, 10. vittata sacerdos] i. e. a Vestal, from the fillet they wore.

10.] A Vestal who had been unchaste was buried alive in the Campus Sceleratus near the Colline gate. She was conducted thither by the Pontifex Maximus, and placed in an underground vault, with a couch,

a lamp, and a small quantity of food. The earth was then filled in over her. This punishment dated from the first Tarquin ;-the laws of Numa prescribed stoning only. It is not known who was the Vestal here referred to.

12. caderet sub] "be condemned by."

ib. judice morum] Under the republic, this was the censor's office. In making out the census, he appended a remark (nota censoria) to the name of any citizen who had been guilty of private or political misconduct. The consequence of such a censure was the citizen's "ignominia," which however did not affect his private rights, although he lost some political privileges. It differed from the "infamia," which resulted from a conviction for crime, or, in some cases, from its mere perpetra

Nam quod turpe bonis, Titio Seioque, decebat
Crispinum. Quid agas, quum dira et foedior omni
Crimine persona est? Mullum sex millibus emit,
Aequantem sane paribus sestertia libris,

Ut perhibent, qui de magnis majora loquuntur.
Consilium laudo artificis, si munere tanto
Praecipuam in tabulis ceram senis abstulit orbi.
Est ratio ulterior, magnae si misit amicae,
Quae vehitur clauso latis specularibus antro.
Nil tale exspectes: emit sibi. Multa videmus,
Quae miser et frugi non fecit Apicius. Hoc tu,
Succinctus patria quondam, Crispine, papyro?
Hoc pretium squamae? Potuit fortasse minoris

tion. The "ignominia" might be
removed by subsequent censors, or
remedied by amendment, while the
"infamia" was perpetual.

Here, by 'judice morum' is meant Domitian, who had revived the office in his own person, and exercised it with severity; of course, sparing his own favourites.

See

Sueton. Domit. cap. 8; and cf. Sat. ii. 29, 30 and note. The purchase of the mullet by Crispinus was an offence against the "leges sumtuariae," and therefore properly cognizable by the censor.

13. Titio Seioque] Generally, for any good man; "A" and "B." They were the names used in discussing points mooted in legal treatises.

15. crimine] "imputation of

crime."

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ib. persona] "The offender." 15, 16.] See note on Sat. i. 106, Aequantem... libris:" "squaring in fact thesestertia' to match the pounds."

18-22.] "There might be some excuse if he had bought it as a legacy-hunter's present. But no, it, was for his own eating." Cf. Sat. iii. 126-130; v. 98. 137-142; vi. 38-40; x. 202; xii. 93-130; and cf. Horace's description of Ulysses turned 'captator,' Sat. ii. 5.

18. Consil. laudo artificis] "I (should) praise the designer's clever

16

20

ness, if" &c. ; i. e. I should recognize the artist's hand.

"The

19. praecipuam ceram] first place in the rich man's will;" lit. first wax in the tablets. See note on Sat. i. 63. The meaning is, got named either as sole haeres,' or for the principal share among several 'cohaeredes.'

20. magnae amicae] See note on Sat. iii. 129.

See Sat. iii.

'Antro,' from the

21. specularibus]
242, and note.
size of the litter.

22, 23. multa-Apicius] "Apicius was abstemiousness itself to what we now see. There were three famous epicures of this name, the most distinguished of whom flourished under Tiberius;-M. Gabius Apicius.

66

23. miser] "mean."

24. Succinct. patria papyro] Bustling about in thy native papyrus." Coarse tunics were made of this material. 'Succinctus' comes to mean 'active' or 'bustling,' from the belt ('cinctus' or 'cinctura') with which the tunic was fastened up round the waist when the wearer was in motion, and which was removed at other times. Cf. Sat. viii. 162. For the same reason, 'discinctus' means 'lazy.'

ib. patria] Because Crispinus came from Egypt. See Sat. i. 26.

A fisherman's

gift.

Piscator, quam piscis, emi. Provincia tanti
Vendit agros; sed majores Appulia vendit.
Quales tunc epulas ipsum glutisse putemus
Endoperatorem, quum tot sestertia, partem
Exiguam et modicae sumtam de margine coenae,
Purpureus magni ructarit scurra Palati,
Jam princeps Equitum, magna qui voce solebat
Vendere municipes Pharia de merce siluros?

26

31

Incipe, Calliope; licet et considere; non est
Cantandum, res vera agitur. Narrate, puellae 35
Pierides prosit mihi, vos dixisse puellas!

Quum jam semianimum laceraret Flavius orbem
Ultimus, et calvo serviret Roma Neroni,
Incidit Adriaci spatium admirabile rhombi
Ante domum Veneris, quam Dorica sustinet Ancon,

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39

burghers. He had probably hawked them dried about the villages. 'Pharia means Egypt generally, from the well-known Pharos.

·

34, 35. licet et considere-cantandum] "And you may as well be seated about it, for it is grave earnest-no mere trick of poetry.'

35. puellae] transl. "maids."

37, 38.] Vespasian, the first of the Flavia gens who became emperor, was succeeded by his sons Titus and (subsequently) Domitian. With the latter the Flavian dynasty terminated at this period, although it was revived in the Constantines.

38. calvo Neroni] "Nero the bald" as if it were an epithet by which one monarch was distinguished from a predecessor of the same name. The meaning of course is that Domitian was Nero over again in tyranny. From a passage in Ausonius, the nickname would seem to have been given by others besides Juvenal. Domitian was extremely sensitive on the score of his baldness.

ib. serviret] Domitian was the first emperor who assumed the title of " Dominus."

40. Dorica] Ancon is a sea-port in Picenum, on the Adriatic; the modern Ancona. It was colonized

Implevitque sinus: neque enim minor haeserat illis,
Quos operit glacies Maeotica, ruptaque tandem
Solibus, effundit torpentis ad ostia Ponti,
Desidia tardos, et longo frigore pingues.
Destinat hoc monstrum cymbae linique magister
Pontifici summo. Quis enim proponere talem 46
Aut emere auderet, quum plena ea litora multo
Delatore forent? dispersi protenus algae
Inquisitores agerent cum remige nudo,
Non dubitaturi fugitivum dicere piscem,
Depastumque diu vivaria Caesaris, inde
Elapsum veterem ad dominum debere reverti.
Si quid Palfurio, si credimus Armillato,
Quidquid conspicuum pulcrumque est aequore toto,
Res fisci est, ubicumque natat. Donabitur ergo,

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46. Pontifici summo] i. e. Maximo. This was one of the titles assumed by the emperors. The

Pontifex Maximus was the head of the college of five pontifices appointed by Numa, but eventually (under Sulla) increased to fifteen. They were a self-elected body (cooptati '). After the 'lex Domitia' however (B.c. 104) the election was practically transferred to the comitia of the tribes, the college receiving what we should call a "congé d'élire" to choose their nominee. The pontifices had the general control of religion, thus differing from the priests attached to particular temples, whose functions

50

were merely ministerial. The duties of the college were detailed in the libri pontificales' of Numa. They consisted chiefly in regulations of ritual, and in deciding on the admission or exclusion of new objects of worship. The pontifices also acted as judges in causes affecting religion.

The Pontifex Maximus was always chosen from the highest families, and the office was compatible with civil and military appointments. Thus the Pontifex Maximus was frequently consul; see Livy xxviii. 38. He was not, however, until the later period of the republic, allowed to leave Italy.

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ib. proponere] sub. venalem." Expose for sale."

48. protenus] "In one hour."

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48, 49.] There would be officials all over the place, hunting up the sea-weed, and litigating with the fisherman.”

53. Si] "In fact if."

ib. Palfurio, Armillato] Informers.

55. Res fisci] Under the empire, the public revenue was distributed in two classes. That administered by the emperors was called 'fiscus (lit. a basket). That which remained

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Ne pereat. Jam letifero cedente pruinis
Auctumno, jam quartanam sperantibus aegris,
Stridebat deformis hyems, praedamque recentem
Servabat: tamen hic properat, velut urgeat Auster.
Utque lacus suberant, ubi, quamquam diruta, servat
Ignem Trojanum et Vestam colit Alba minorem, 61
Obstitit intranti miratrix turba parumper.
Ut cessit, facili patuerunt cardine valvae.
Exclusi exspectant admissa opsonia Patres.
Itur ad Atridem. Tum Picens, Accipe, dixit, 65
Privatis majora focis: genialis agatur

Iste dies; propera stomachum laxare saginis,
Et tua servatum consume in saecula rhombum.
Ipse capi voluit.Quid apertius? Et tamen illi
Surgebant cristae. Nihil est, quod credere de se
Non possit, quum laudatur Dîs aequa potestas. 71

under the senate's control kept its old name of aerarium.'

55. ubicumque natat] Properly, it was only in certain waters that fish could be claimed by the crown. These spies however would have claimed the turbot, from its excellence, wherever taken. This was a wider ground than that of the 'inquisitores,' 1. 49. The latter would only allege that the fish had escaped from the imperial preserves.

56. pereat] "be seized."

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57. sperantibus] Merely "anticipating." It has been rendered, "hoping that these tertian fevers would turn into quartan (come every four days instead of three), which happens late in the autumn. But this is far-fetched.

59. hic] The fisherman.

60, 61.] On the destruction of Alba by Tullus Hostilius (see Livy i. 29), the temples were spared, and continued till the time of the empire. Domitian had a palace there, formerly the property of Cn. Pompeius.

61. Vestam-minorem] As compared with her worship at Rome; "less illustrious." The worship of

Vesta existed at Alba before the foundation of Rome. See Livy i. 20;-Silvia, the mother of Romulus, was a Vestal. Numa did not supersede the worship of Vesta at Alba, although he fixed its principal site at Rome.

65. Atridem] The emperor.

66. genialis agatur] Be "devoted to the genius;" i. e. kept as a holiday. So Hor. Od. iii. 17. 14, "cras genium mero Curabis." The 'genius

was a kind of guardian angel, attached to each person at birth, and having an existence coincident with and causative of his own. Hence, the genius' was worshipped on the birthday and other festive occasions, as the source of life and its enjoyments. In effect, this was the idea of individual life made objective, and invested with a distinct being;-a second self.

67. laxare] "distend."

ib. saginis] With delicacies. Lit. saginae' are a cattle-feed for fattening animals.

69, 70. Et tamen cristae] "Gross as this flattery was, the emperor's comb began to rise under it." 71. potestas] "office" used for

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