worse. 600 Tantum artes hujus, tantum medicamina possunt, Quae steriles facit atque homines in ventre necandos Conducit. Gaude, infelix, atque ipse bibendum Porrige, quidquid erit: nam si distendere vellet Et vexare uterum pueris salientibus, esses Aethiopis fortasse pater; mox decolor heres Impleret tabulas, numquam tibi mane videndus. Transeo suppositos et gaudia votaque saepe Ad Spurcos decepta lacus, atque inde petitos Pontifices, Salios, Scaurorum nomina falso Corpore laturos. Stat Fortuna improba noctu, Arridens nudis infantibus. Hos fovet omnes Involvitque sinu; domibus nunc porrigit altis Secretumque sibi mimum parat. Hos amat, his se Ingerit, atque suos ridens producit alumnos. The wife Hic magicos affert cantus, hic Thessala vendit who prac- Philtra, quibus valeat mentem vexare mariti, 611 Et solea pulsare nates. tises lovecharms Quod desipis, inde est; supposed fathers. 606 603. ad lacus] "tricked;" i. e. excited by a trickery practised at the Spurci lacus. The pool thus named was in the vegetable market ('forum olitorium'), near the columna lactaria.' At the latter, foundlings were exposed, and fed with milk. Women who were childless occasionally passed off one of these foundlings as their own. 603-605.] "and children fetched thence to become pontifices and Salii, and bear the names of our leading families." For "pontifices see note on Sat. iv. 46. For " "Salii see note on Sat. ii. 126. "Scauri," used for any illustrious house. 608. mimum]'a farce.' See on Sat. i. 3. 609. ingerit] "forces herself upon." 610-626.] Description of the love-charms practised by wives upon their husbands. "One 610, 611. Hic-philtra] 611. valeat] scil. the wife. on her husband. The poi soner. say, 615 Inde animi caligo et magna oblivio rerum, make him her humble slave." We ib. inde] From these love-spells. 615. avunculus - Neronis] i. e. Caligula. Caesonia (1. 616) was his wife, and secured his constancy by love-potions, which were thought to have unsettled his intellect. 616. frontem-pulli] i. e. (by an hyperbole) the Hippomanes; see 1. 133 above. This was an alleged excrescence on a foal's forehead, which drove the dam mad if she smelt it; hence the name 'hippomanes. The dam accordingly tore off the substance and swallowed it. She was often, however, anticipated, as it was collected for use in lovecharmis. Cf. Virg. Aen. iv. 515, "nascentis equi de fronte revulsus Et matri praereptus amor." 618. ardebunt-ruebant] From the frantic conduct of Caligula in his derangement, occasioned by Caesonia's potions. See note on 1. 615. "Cuncta," i. e. "the whole empire." 620, 621. Agripp. boletus] See note on Sat. v. 147. ́ 621-623.] "Since that only put an end to one old man.'" 621. pressit] "stopped." 622, 623. tremulum caput;-longam-salivam] Claudius is similarly described by Suetonius; "spumante rictu; caput semper tremulum." Claud. 30. ib. descendere-in coelum] To receive apotheosis. See note on 1. 115. The descendere is of course highly ironical. 624, 625.] "Whereas Caligula's poison ('haec,' see note on 1.615) led to his practising every kind of cruelty." Caligula's thirst for blood was as insatiable as Marat's. It was embodied in his well-known wish, "Utinam populus Romanus unam cervicem haberet!" Suet. Cal. 30. 627-630.] One could not object, perhaps, if they only poisoned their husband's illegitimate children (natos de pellice'), or, as things go, his child by a former marriage (privignum'). The mischief is that, now-a-days, they poison their own." 629. pupilli] A woman was incapacitated from being guardian 630 635 Custodite animas, et nulli credite mensae. ingens Sana facit. Spectant subeuntem fata mariti (tutor'). Where a minor was possessed of property, the tutela' was given to the nearest agnati,' the mother retaining the care of the infant's person. Cf. Hor. Ep. i. 1. 21, 22, ut piger annus Pupillis, quos dura premit custodia matris." 66 633. pappas] A child's term of endearment to the waidaywyos, or children's attendant. 634-638.] Addressed to an incredulous reader. "You think this is all poetical fiction. I wish it were. Look at that affair of Pontia." 634. cothurnum] See note on 1. 506 above. 635. priorum] My predecessors in satire. 636, 637.]"Depict some crime of the Greek tragedy (such, e. g. as 641 650 those of 1. 643), not the real life of Rome." 638. Pontia] She destroyed her own children by poison, in Nero's reign. So Martial ii. 34, “O mater, qua nec Pontia deterior." 643-652.] "One can quite believe now what tragedy tells of Medea and Procne. In fact, I must not pretend to equal these; they were real achievements, considering the period. The only point in which they do not quite come up to us, is that they were not perpetrated for money." Medea is called "Colchis," from her birth place. For Procne, see note on Sat. vii. 92. 649, 650.1 "As rocks broken away from the heights, by which the mountain is reduced, and the side recedes with nodding cliff." The Alcestim, et similis si permutatio detur, comparison of the "feruntur praeci- -" from which the mountain (supporting mass below) is imperceptibly withdrawn." 652-661.] "So much for the way they treat their children. As to their husbands' lives, they are not worth an hour's purchase. Alcestis died to save her husband; our wives, if they were permitted a similar exchange, would sacrifice us to save a pet spaniel." 652. spectant] the stage." "See exhibited on 655. Belides] The Danaides; so called from their grandfather Belus. They were married to the fifty sons of Aegyptus, and murdered them in one night, with the exception of Hypermnestra, who spared her husband Lynceus. The story is well known from Horace: "scelus atque notas Virginum poenas," Od. iii. 11. 25-52. 660 unable to escape, however, as he had promised on his marriage to abide by his wife's judgment on any point in which his own opinion differed from that of Adrastus. In the present case, she had been bribed by Polynices with a necklace to advocate the war. Jupiter opened a chasm in the earth which swallowed Amphiaraus, and he became immortal. 656. mane] "any morning." 657-661.1 The only difference is, that heroine (Clytemnestra) used the axe, while ours adopt the less rude agency of poison. Unless indeed their husbands take antidotes, in which case they will follow the precedent." 659. tenui-rubetae] i. e. by poison. See rubeta' in Lat. Dict. 660. Atrides] i. e. the husband. 661. Pontica-regis] "The Pontic drugs of the thrice-conquered king." In other words, the drugs (antidotes against poison) of the thrice-conquered king of Pontus. Mithridates is meant. On his first accession he was threatened with numerous conspiracies, and as a precaution against them, resorted to the use of antidotes. Cf. Sat. xiv. 254, 255. His constitution in this way became practically poison-proof. In fact, he could not even poison himself, as he tried to do on his final overthrow. He is called "ter victi" here, because successively defeated by Sylla, Lucullus, and Pompey, in the three Mithridatic wars. SATIRA VII. THE PROSPECTS OF LITERATURE. An imperial pa tron. 5 Et spes et ratio studiorum in Caesare tantum : 1. Caesare] Perhaps Domitian. See note on Sat. vi. 387. It is uncertain, however. See note on 1. 92. 4. conducere (hire) balneolum furnos] i. e. turn bath-keepers or bakers. 6, 7. Aganippes vallibus] See their topography in Macleane ad loc. 7. atria] The 'atria auctionaria' of Cicero (de Leg. Agr. i. 3). 8. quadrans] See Smith's Dict. Antiq. voc. as.' ib. Pieria-in arca] In the poet's strong-box. See Sat. i. 90 and note. 9. ames] "acquiesce in ;" like the Gr. στέργειν. ib. Machaerae] Some leading auctioneer of the day. 11. armaria] Fixed presses for books. We must not think of the arrangements of a modern library. The books were manuscript rolls; see note on Sat. i. 5, 6. They were kept either in these presses, or in moveable cases (capsae,' or scrinia'). "Cistas" here is very likely used for scrinia;' cf. Sat. iii. 206; but it may mean boxes for any pur |