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Ecce dabit jam de clunibus apri. Inde parato

Spes bene coenandi vos decipit.
Semesum leporem, atque aliquid
Ad nos jam veniet minor altilis.
Intactoque omnes et stricto pane tacetis.
Ille sapit, qui te sic utitur. Omnia ferre
Si potes, et debes. Pulsandum vertice raso
Praebebis quandoque caput, nec dura timebis
Flagra pati, his epulis et tali dignus amico.

Roman customs, was probably Etru-
rian hence Etruscum,' 1. 164.

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166-169.] "The fact is, you think the good dinner must come at last; which it never does."

168. minor] half eaten.

169. stricto ready for action; like a drawn sword.

170

171. vertice raso] Like a slave. Slaves, on manumission, had the head shaved, and a felt hat (pileus') given them. See Pers. Sat. v. 82, Haec mera libertas, hanc nobis pilea donant." Plaut. Amphit. i. 1. 306, "Ut ego hodie raso capito calvus capiam pileum."

66

SATIRA VI

WOMEN.

The sex may have been vir

tuous in

the golden age;

Credo pudicitiam Saturno rege moratam In terris, visamque diu, quum frigida parvas Praeberet spelunca domos, ignemque laremque Et pecus et dominos communi clauderet umbra: Silvestrem montana torum quum sterneret uxor 5 Frondibus et culmo vicinarumque ferarum Pellibus, haud similis tibi, Cynthia, nec tibi, cujus Turbavit nitidos exstinctus passer ocellos, Sed potanda ferens infantibus ubera magnis, Et saepe horridior glandem ructante marito. Quippe aliter tunc orbe novo coeloque recenti Vivebant homines, qui rupto robore nati Compositive luto nullos habuere parentes. hardly in Multa pudicitiae veteris vestigia forsan, the silver. Aut aliqua, exstiterint et sub Jove; sed Jove non

dum

Barbato, nondum Graecis jurare paratis
Per caput alterius, quum furem nemo timeret

1-28.] "I think it possible that in the golden age (1-13) there was such a thing as female virtue. Even in the silver (14-24) it had not quite departed. But now (25-28) do you think of marrying ?-You must be mad."

1. Sat. rege] In the golden age. Virg. Aen. viii. 324, "Aurea quae perhibent, illo sub rege fuerunt saecula" (scil. Saturno).

7. Cynthia] Mistress of Proper

tius.

11.] Lesbia, mistress of Catullus. See the well-known Ode, "In funus

10

15

Passeris" (Cat. Od. iii. last two lines),—

"Tua nunc opera meae puellae Flendo turgiduli rubent ocelli."

12, 13.] So Virg. Aen. viii. 315, "Gensque virum truncis, et duro robore nata."

13. Compositive luto] See note on Sat. iv. 133.

15. sub Jove] in the silver age. 16-18.] Before there were either perjurers or thieves.

17. per caput alt.] Cf. Virg. Aen.

Ursidius in search

20

Caulibus aut pomis, et aperto viveret horto.
Paulatim deinde ad superos Astraea recessit
Hac comite, atque duae pariter fugere sorores.
Antiquum et vetus est, alienum, Postume, lectum
Concutere, atque sacri genium contemnere fulcri.
Omne aliud crimen mox ferrea protulit aetas:
Viderunt primos argentea saecula moechos.

26

Conventum tamen et pactum, et sponsalia nostra of a wife. Tempestate paras, jamque a tonsore magistro Pecteris, et digito pignus fortasse dedisti? Certe sanus eras! Uxorem, Postume, ducis? Dic, qua Tisiphone, quibus exagitare colubris? Ferre potes dominam, salvis tot restibus, ullam? Quum pateant altae caligantesque fenestrae ? Quum tibi vicinum se praebeat Aemilius pons? Sed placet Ursidio lex Julia: tollere dulcem Cogitat heredem, cariturus turture magno,

ix. 300: "Per caput hoc juro, per quod pater ante solebat."

20. Hac] scil. " pudicitia." 20-24. "So early dates female dishonour. Other crimes arose in the iron age;-this only in the silver."

22.] The bridal bed was usually placed in the atrium; see note on Sat. i. 12. As the source of existence, it was sacred to the "Genius" (see note on Sat. iv. 66), and was called "lectus genialis." Cf. Hor. Ep. i. 1. 87, "lectus genialis in aula est. See also Sat. x. 334.

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25. Conventum] This seems to be much what we call "an engagement;"-the consent of the parties themselves previous to any formal

contract.

ib. pactum] The preliminary settlement of the terms of the contract.

ib. sponsalia] The marriage contract itself. See note on Sat. ii. 119.

26, 27. a tonsore-pecteris] Have your hair dressed by some masterhand in the art. Or perhaps it means, "by the proprietor himself;" not the assistant.

31

27. digito] of your bride. It has been inferred from this passage that the giving a ring to the bride formed part of the marriage contract.

28. eras] "used to be." 30-32." When you might hang yourself, or jump out of window or off a bridge.'

31. caligantes] dizzy;' i. e. making those who looked from it dizzy, from its height.

32. Aemilius pons] Now Ponte Rialto. It was commenced B.C. 179, in the censorship of M. Aemilius Lepidus.

33. Ursidio] Posthumus.

ib. lex Julia] i. e. the "lex Julia et Papia Poppaea," for regulating marriages. To discourage celibacy, it precluded a bachelor from taking any haereditas' or legacy, unless he married within 100 days from the testator's death.

ib. tollere] A new-born child was lifted from the ground by its father, which precluded him from afterwards questioning its legitimacy. The term is therefore equivalent to 'habere' "he looks forward to having a child of his own."

39, 40.] "Although he will lose

He expects a good one!

Even in

40

45

Mullorumque jubis, et captatore macello.
Quid fieri non posse putes, si jungitur ulla
Ursidio? si moechorum notissimus olim
Stulta maritali jam porrigit ora capistro,
Quem toties texit perituri cista Latini?
Quid? quod et antiquis uxor de moribus illi
Quaeritur? O medici, mediam pertundite venam!
Delicias hominis! Tarpeium limen adora
Pronus, et auratam Junoni caede juvencam,
Si tibi contigerit capitis matrona pudici.
Paucae adeo Cereris vittas contingere dignae,
Quarum non timeat pater oscula. Necte coronam
Postibus, et densos per limina tende corymbos.
Unus Iberinae vir sufficit? Ocius illud

Extorquebis, ut haec oculo contenta sit uno.

50

Magna tamen fama est cujusdam rure paterno 55 the coun- Viventis. Vivat Gabiis, ut vixit in agro, try, you Vivat Fidenis! Et agello, cedo, paterno.

cannot

the presents of the legacy-hunters." See note on Sat. iv. 18-22.

40. jubis] for barbis.' The mullet has a beard, and is hence called barbatulus.' Cic. Par. v. 2.

44.] "Whom the chest of the imperilled Latinus has so often concealed:" i. e. whose hair-breadth escapes have been the subject of so many farces. Latinus had often represented Ursidius on the stage as hiding in a chest from the husband's chastisement. For Latinus, see note on Sat. i. 36.

man !

47. Delicias hominis] Ridiculous Lit. the trifling (i. e. folly) of the man. 'Deliciae gets this meaning from its sense of a beloved object; hence, the caresses bestowed

on one.

ib. Farp. lim.] The temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.

48. auratam] with the horns gilt. Virg. Aen. ix. 627, “aurata fronte juvencum."

ib. Junoni] See Virg. Aen. iv. 59," Junoni ante omnes, cui vincla jugalia curae.'

50.]

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Ceres;" i. e. to join in her festival. On fête-days the images of the gods were crowned with garlands. See Virg. Aen. ii. 168, Virgineas ausi, Divae contingere vittas.' At the Greek festival of Ceres (Thesmophoria) strict purity was required; and the usage seems to have been retained in the Roman "Cerealia." See Dion. Hal. i. 83, idpúo avto de καὶ Δήμητρος ἱερὸν, καὶ τὰς θυσίας αὐτῇ διὰ γυναικῶν τε καὶ νηφα λίους ἔθυσαν.

51, 52. Necte-corymbos] The wedding festivities took place at the bridegroom's house, to which the bride was escorted in the evening. The doorway was festooned with flowers and clusters of ivy-berries (corymbi).

53. Iberinae] his intended wife.

55-58.] "In the country indeed you do find a reputation here and there. Let its possessor (when married) live up to it, even in the quietest of towns, and I will grant it was merited."

56, 57. Gabiis-Fidenis] These towns were so deserted that they "To touch the chaplets of had passed into a proverb. See Sat.

F

ensure

that ;

in reach

of the

Porticibusne tibi monstratur femina voto

60

but with- Digna tuo? Cuneis an habent spectacula totis,
Quod securus ames, quodque inde excerpere possis ?
Ast aliae, quoties aulaea recondita cessant,
Et vacuo clausoque sonant fora sola theatro,
Atque a plebeiis longe Megalesia, tristes

theatres !

Personam thyrsumque tenent, et subligar Acci. 70
Urbicus exodio risum movet Atellanae

x. 109; and cf. Hor. Epist. i. 11. 7, "Gabiis desertior atque Fidenis vicus."

60. porticibus] The public porticoes round the Forum, Campus Martius, and elsewhere, which were resorted to both for business and recreation. Or the porticoes of the 'thermae' may be meant. See note on Sat. vii. 233.

61. Cuneis] The "blocks," or compartments of seats at the theatre. They were called 'cunei,' because the benches were arranged in semicircular tiers rising one above the other; see note on Sat. iii. 154. The circumference was thus greater in the top tiers than at the bottom; and the rows of stairs which gave access to them divided the whole into compartments of the shape of a blunt wedge.

61-81.] "Will you find a blameless character among the spectators at the theatre?-Why, they act farces themselves at home (67-70); or, worse still, admit the comedians to their favours."

67. aulaea rec. cessant] The dramatic performances were exhibited only at certain festivals; see line 69, also Sat. iii. 174. When they were over, the stage machinery was put away (recondita'), including of course the aulaea,' or curtain. The latter was technically called "siparium." It differed from our stage-curtain in being lowered by machinery under the floor, instead of lifted, at the commencement of the piece. See Hor. Ep. ii. 1. 189, "Quatuor, aut plures, aulaea premuntur in horas." When

the piece was over, the 'siparium ' was raised;-where our curtain

drops.
ib. cessant] Rest.
68. foru] The law-courts.
69.1

6

"And there is the long break between the 'Plebeii ludi' and the Megalesia' (when the theatres will open again)." The Plebeii ludi' were in November, the 'Megalesia' in April. The former commemorated the termination of the dispute between the plebs and patricians, after the first secession of the former to the Mons Sacer. The Megalesia were the festival of Cybele, the usɣáλn μŃTηρ: see notes on Sat. iii. 137, and Sat. xi. 191.

66

69, 70. tristes-Acci] They are dull, and have private theatricals.” 70. persona] 66 mask."

ib. thyrsus] The pole carried by the Bacchanals;-here, of course, the dramatic thyrsus, carried by the dancers, who personated them. Its upper part terminated in a fir-cone, or a cone-shaped bunch of ivy and acanthus leaves.

ib. subligar Acci] The drawers of Accius. He was a performer of the day, like Urbicus, Echion, and the other names in this passage.

71. exodio Atell.] See note on Sat. iii. 175.

71, 72. ris. movet-gestibus Autonoes] "draws down the house by his personation (lit. gestures) of Autonoe." Pentheus, king of Thebes, disturbed the Bacchanals in their rites, and was torn to pieces by his mother Agave. His aunt Autonoë assisted. This was a favourite tragic subject (see Eurip. Bacchae'), and

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