The wife who has merit;and 160 Observant ubi festa mero pede sabbata reges, Sit formosa, decens, dives, fecunda, vetustos knows it. Porticibus disponat avos, intactior omni Crinibus effusis bellum dirimente Sabina : (Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cycno) 165 Quis feret uxorem, cui constant omnia? Malo, Malo Venusinam, quam te, Cornelia mater Gracchorum, si cum magnis virtutibus affers Grande supercilium, et numeras in dote triumphos. Tolle tuum, precor, Hannibalem victumque Syphacem In castris, et cum tota Carthagine migra. prisoned St. Peter (Acts xii.), and ་ 159, 160. observant_ubi-porcis] i. e. in Judaea. The slighting tone of this passage will be noticed. There is one of a similar tendency, Sat. xiv. 103, 104, where see note. 159. mero uncovered; lit. the foot only.' Jewish sacrifices at this period were offered barefoot. This may have been owing to the injunction, Exod. iii. 5. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." A sacrifice thus offered by Beronice herself is mentioned by Josephus. 161-171.] As before, Ursidius speaks, 161, and the poet answers, 162-171. "Well; grant there might be such a rara avis' as a perfect woman;-one would find her perfections rather oppressive." 162, 163. vetustos-avos] See note on Sat. v. 110. 164. bell. dir. Sabina] The intervention of the Sabine women terminated the war which followed their abduction. See Livy i. 13. 6 170 165. nigro-cycno] This was certainly a rara avis to Juvenal, as it is a native of Australia. Swan Bay, a retired inlet near Port Stephens, is a favourite location of these birds, which breed there by thousands. 167. Venusinam] (from Venusia, in Apulia) i. e. a rustic. Horace speaks, Epod. ii. 41, 42, of the simple life of his country-woman, “perusta solibus Pernicis uxor Appuli." 167-171. Cornelia] The wellknown' mother of the Gracchi;' the popular tribunes Tiberius and Caius Gracchus. She was herself the daughter of Scipio Africanus the elder, the conqueror of Hannibal and Syphax. Her daughter Sempronia married Scip. Afric. the younger, by whom Carthage was destroyed. Hence the allusions in 1. 170, 171. 172-177.] "The gods themselves cannot put up with a woman who has so good an opinion of herself." Niobe's arrogance was caused by the number and beauty of her children. It thus illustrates the 'fecunda' in 1. 162. 172. Dea] i. e. Diana. Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus, and wife The wife who adopts Greek 176 Nil pueri faciunt, ipsam configite matrem ! 180 Quaedam parva quidem, sed non toleranda ma ritis. 184 Nam quid rancidius, quam quod se non putat ulla fashions. Formosam, nisi quae de Tusca Graecula facta est? De Sulmonensi mera Cecropis? Omnia Graece, Quum sit turpe magis nostris, nescire Latine. Hoc sermone pavent, hoc iram, gaudia, curas, 189 Hoc cuncta effundunt animi secreta. Quid ultra? Si tibi legitimis pactam junctamque tabellis 200 perious Non es amaturus, ducendi nulla videtur The im wife. Causa; nec est, quare coenam et mustacea perdas, of Amphion (see 1. 174), boasted of her superiority to Latona. The goddess had only two children, Apollo and Diana, while Niobe had six sons and six daughters. Latona's children, being incensed at this presumption, slew those of Niobe. She was herself petrified on Mount Sisyphus. 174. Amphion] The father, Niobe's husband. The exclamation in 1. 173," ipsam configite matrem !" is of course humorous. Niobe might have said this herself; Juvenal makes her husband say it for her. ib. contrahit] "tighter bends;' lit. brings the ends together; the result of drawing the string. 175. extulit] "buried." It is the technical term; lit. carried out for burial. The nom. is Niobe. ib. ipsum parentem] Amphion killed himself through grief. 177. scrofa-alba] Probably in allusion to the legend of the " sus (alba) Triginta capitum foetus enixa," which was found by the Trojans. Virg. Aen. viii. 43. 82. 178-183.1 "And thus with other merits of the sex. See the enumeration line 162, from which one, the fecunda,' has just been selected for illustration. Which of them can compensate for your being perpetually called upon to admire (lit. being debited' with) them? Perfection itself, tainted with vanity, fails to charm. The most devoted husband hates what he is compelled to be always praising.” 183. septenis-horis] "seven hours a day" i. e. more than half of it. See note on Sat. i. 49, 'ab octava.' In the 185. rancidius] more nauseous." 200-230.] "If you marry, it is either for love or not. latter case you may as well save the expense (200—205) of the ceremony. Labente officio, crudis donanda: nec illud, Est animus; submitte caput cervice parata : 205 210 Ferre jugum nullam invenies, quae parcat amanti. 215 Your wife's mother. Nulla umquam de morte hominis cunctatio longa est." O demens, ita servus homo est? Nil fecerit, esto : Ornatas paulo ante fores, pendentia linquet 231 Illa docet spoliis nudi gaudere mariti ; Illa docet, missis a corruptore tabellis, Nil rude, nil simplex rescribere: decipit illa Custodes, aut aere domat. Tunc, corpore sano, 235 Advocat Archigenen, onerosaque pallia jactat. Abditus interea latet et secretus adulter. Scilicet exspectas, ut tradat mater honestos Atque alios mores, quam quos habet? Utile porro Filiolam turpi vetulae producere turpem. Nulla fere causa est, in qua non femina litem her own Moverit. Accusat Manilia, si rea non est. The wife who is 220, 221. Audi-longa est] "Only just hear me. When life is at stake, no delay can be too long." 222. The wife speaks again. 'Ita-est,' is then ?' 'Servus' is subj. and 'homo' predicate. 223. sit voluntas] "let my will stand for argument." 225. flammea] The bride's veil, from its bright yellow colour; see Sat. ii. 124; x. 334. ib. conterit] wears out; by marrying so often. 226. spreti-vestigia lecti] Her first husband. 227. ornatas-fores] See note on 1. 52. 230. auctumnos] The sickly time of year; see 1. 517 and note. ib. titulo-sep.] to be inscribed on her tomb. 231-241.] "If they were dis ་ 241 posed to be good wives themselves, the mothers-in-law would not let them." 234. nil simplex] "No schoolgirl's epistle." 235. corpore sano] "Though her daughter is as well as she ever was, she (the mother) calls in," &c. 236. Archigenen] See xiii. 98. A Greek physician, who practised at Rome under Trajan. ib. jactut] throws back; as though their weight oppressed the invalid. 241. fil. -producere turpem] To educate her child in her own vices. Utile,' because she shares the profit arising from them. 243. Accusat-non est] This may have been suggested by a story in Aulus Gellius. Mancinus, an aedile, prosecuted a certain Manilia for a wound he had received from a stone thrown from her house. Manilia The ath letic wife. 250 counsel. Componunt ipsae per se formantque libellos, defended her own cause, and, on an appeal to the tribunes, succeeded in getting an acquittal. 244. libellos] This was the name given, in some cases, to the written pleadings put in by the plaintiff before the praetor. See note on Sat. iii. 213, vadimonia.' 245. Celso] An eminent jurist under Domitian and the subsequent emperors. "Principium atque locos," "exordium and treatment.' They were technical terms in rhetoric. 246. Endromidas] A thick dress put on by athletes after practising, to prevent their taking cold. ib. Tyrias] i. e. purple. Coarse as these dresses were, the ladies had them smart. ib. ceroma] The mixture of oil and wax with which wrestlers were rubbed, to render the body more slippery. 247. pali] A stake ('palus' or 'stipes) was stuck upright in the ground, and the gladiators practised assaults of arms upon it; hence "vulnera." 249. omnes implet numeros] "observes all the rules." From the primary idea of counted numbers, numeri' came to mean any thing else that was counted. Thus it was applied to the bars in music or feet 255 260 in verse. It was then used of any other regular or prescribed motion, which is the sense here. 249, 250. dignissima — tuba] i. e. to join in celebrating the 'Floralia,' or festival of Flora. This was first instituted B.C. 238, by direction of the Sibylline books, and lasted from 28th April to 2nd May. Indecent shows and farces were exhibited at the festival. There seems to be no speciality about the tuba.' It would naturally form part of a fair,' which the Floralia' much resembled. 251. verae-arenae] "The real thing;" i. e. the gladiator's fight itself. 255. Quale dec. rer.] "What a display of treasures!" ib. conjugis] wardrobe.' "Of your wife's 256, 257. cruris tegimen] i. e. theocrea' (1. 258); a greave or legging used by gladiators. It was made of metal, with a leather lining. 257, 258.] "If she practises with more than one class of gladiators, you will be still better off. She will not have one ocrea' only, but several." See Sat. viii. 202-210. 6 259.] "These are the gentle creatures, who complain so of the heat in the thinnest dresses." "Cyclade:" "bombycinus:" see Macleane's Juvenal ad loc. |