49. Qualiacunque unguenta: ointments such as they were.' 51. Hinc: on the part of the Tentyrites.—Jurgia... incipiunt : i.e. the Tentyrites begin the fray with bitter reproaches and abuse. 57. Alias: i. e. disfigured by blows.

71. Ridet et odit: laughs at men for their weakness, despises them for their badness.

73. Aucti: sc. Ombitæ.-Pars altera: the Tentyrites. 77. Hinc quidam: at this juncture one of the Ombites.' 86. Te sc. O Volusi.

93. Vascones: the Vascons were a people in the north-eastern part of Spain. They were besieged by Metellus and Pompey and reduced to such necessity, that the living were forced to eat the dead, but they were at last relieved by Sertorius, a general of Marius's party.

107. Zenonis: Zeno was the founder of the Stoics, and taught, that, though some things might be done to preserve life (pro vitâ), yet not every thing; nor indeed any thing, that was unbecoming or dishonest.

108. Cantaber: the Vascons were a people of the Cantabrians. -Whence could the Vascons learn the precepts of the Stoics? 110. Nunc ... Athenas: now the whole world has the benefit of Grecian and Roman literature.'-Athenas: i. e. litteras.

114. Saguntus: Saguntum or Saguntus was a city of Spain beyond the river Ebro, a most faithful ally to the Romans. When the inhabitants had held out against Hannibal and were almost famished rather than submit, they chose to burn themselves, their wives, and children; this was the cause of the second Punic war. 115. Mæotide ... arâ: near lake Maotis, there was an altar, sacred to Diana, upon which strangers were sacrificed.

116. Taurica: Diana Taurica, so called from her being worshipped by the people of Taurica, where the altar was.-Or Taurica may mean the country itself, which is called inventrix, because Thoas, king of Chersonesus Taurica, was the inventor of this horrid barbarity.

120. Impulit: impelled these Tentyrites.'

122. Anne... Nilo: commentators explain this passage in various ways. Some thus explain it: These Egyptians, the Tentyrites, had, without any necessity compelling them to it, without any excuse to extenuate their crime, been guilty of so monstrous a wickedness, that they could not have found any other way so likely to provoke the Nile to withhold its waters in a time of drought, and to bring a famine upon the country, as by thus increasing the Nile's unwillingness to help them. This translation is given by another, "What worse impiety could they commit to provoke the Nile to stay within her banks, when the country of Egypt is chapt with drought?"

The interpretation of Ruperti is as follows, Anne alio graviore scelere ita offendere possent Nilum, ut iratus surgere, intumescere et siccam terram Memphitidem, h. e. Ægyptiam, inundatione

suá fecundare nollet et ita in invidiam odiumque veniret eorum, qui nullo suo merito hanc calamitatem paterentur? Ita conseq. positum pro anteced., invidia pro irâ et calamitate illà. Invidiam enim Diis facere dicuntur, qui vel ipsi gravissimas calamitates immeriti patiuntur, vel sceleribus suis efficiunt, ut a Diis iratis illæ immittantur multis, etiam immeritis, qui sinistras inde de Diis opiniones concipiant eosque invidiâ prosequantur, quia illas immiserint sibi vel contingere passi sint. Nilus autem ab Ægyptiis inter principes colebatur Deos, et quidquid ferè mali hominibus contingit, ex communi antiquitatis opinione ab irâ Deorum repetendum est.

The note of Achaintre is this: Quivis Deus populo iratus pestes, famem aliave mala in eum immittebat; tunc populus omnis ad eum placandum maxima sacrificia atque etiam humana parabat; et, quo major hostia erat, eo acriùs, respectu tanti muneris, invidia, æmulatio, Deo crescere putabatur: nam beneficia non sine invidiâ quâdam accipiuntur: inde ad se beneficio liberandum, æmulatio, invidiæ filia, oritur in animo recipientis, cui nihil satis est, donec tale munus munere majore rependerit. Sic invidiam facere Nilo in sensu quidem abstrusiore idem ac cogere eum maximis hostiis et muneribus ut cet., vel excitare ejus segnitiem, ut ferè pariter Ovid. A. A. I, 647 seq.-Itaque sententia h. 1. est: Si Nilus iratus Ægyptiis nollet surgere h. e. Ægyptum inundatione fecundare; numquid ad eum placandum possent aliquid crudelius facere, quàm hominem, immolare et ejus membris vesci.

127. Fictilibus... phaselis: boats, made of clay, hardened in the fire, and varnished, so as to be water-tight, which floated very well down the tranquil current of the Nile.

137. Incerta : doubtful of which sex the sufferer is.

139. Terrá... rogi: the law of the ancient Romans required, that the bodies of infants, who died before they had lived forty days, (or, according to some, before they had teeth, that is, about seven months old,) should not be burnt, but buried.

140. Face... sacerdos: the sacred rites of Ceres were celebrated by night; the worshippers carried lighted torches in their hands, in memory of Ceres, who, by torch-light, had sought her daughter Proserpine, when carried away by Pluto.

None were admitted to these feasts, but those, who were pronounced chaste and good and free from any notorious crime.

142. Ulla.. mala: i. e. can think himself unconcerned in the misfortunes of others. Thus Terence, Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto.

169. Populos: i. e. Tentyritas.

172. Hæc monstra: such monstrous crimes as the Tentyrites had committed.

173. Pythagoras: Pythagoras forbade the eating of animals, on account of his belief in the transmigration of souls; he would not allow himself to eat all kinds of vegetables, but abstained from beans, the cause of which is not known.

SATIRE XVI.

This Satire is supposed to have been written by Juvenal, while he commanded in Egypt: he sets forth, ironically, the advantages and privileges of the soldiery, and how happy they are beyond others, whom he mentions, while, in reality, he is satirizing their extreme licentiousness and insolence.

Many have thought that this Satire was not written by Juvenal.

6. Samiâ genitrix ... arenâ: Juno was worshipped at Samos, a sandy island in the Icarian sea.

10. Prætori: the prætor militaris was commander in chief. 12. Atque... relictum : i. e. one eye put out; the other indeed left, but in such a condition, that the surgeon cannot promise the restoration of sight.

13. Bardaicus suræ: i. e. if a citizen wishes punishment to be inflicted on the soldier, who has injured him, he must apply not to the city judge or prætor, but to a military judge or centurion, who, from his dress and great stature, is humorously described and called Bardaïcus calceus et grandes sura; that is, one whose great legs are covered with military boots is appointed judge, &c.-Calceus probably means here the caliga, which was a sort of harness for the foot and leg.

The complainant is referred to a military judge, who takes his seat on the bench in a military dress.

17. Justissima... querela: these words may be supposed to be spoken by Juvenal to himself; or to be spoken by Gallus to his friend the poet, and mean; The centurions (these were usually the judges of the soldiers on occasions of small importance), before whom the charge is laid, will undoubtedly decide with as much justice as a civil judge.

20. Tota... pudorem: the answer of the poet.

21. Ut sit... injuria: i. e. that vengeance, even greater than the injury complained of, be inflicted upon the plaintiff.

24. Caligas clavorum: the calige of the soldiers were

stuck full of nails.

26. Pylades: the friend of Orestes. See Class. Dict.-Molem aggeris: the Romans used to surround their encampments with vast heaps or banks of earth thrown up by way of rampart. The mass of earth which formed them was called moles aggeris.

31. Dignum... majorum: i. e. a man of primitive simplicity, fidelity, and courage; such as lived in the days of our ancestors. 33. Paganum: the same as togatus, in opposition to miles or armatus.

36. Sacramentorum: when soldiers were enlisted, they took an oath of allegiance and fidelity to the emperor, to their country, and to their general: the word is used here for soldiers themselves.

28. Sacrum... libo: the stones, which were set up for boundaries, were held sacred; it was customary to adorn them with chaplets, and every year to offer, on the top of the boundary stones, to the god Terminus, sacrifices of honey, meal, and oil, made into cakes; this composition was called puls.

41. Vane... digni: see notes to Sat. XIII, 136, 137.

42. Exspectandus. ... annus: every tribe in Rome had three judges, who were appointed to hear and adjust civil causes among the people.

By the word annus we are to understand a certain time of the year, when the judges sat to try causes.

43. Totius populi: i. e. when the courts were open to the people at large.

51. Testandi...jus: by the laws of Rome, a son, during the life of his father, could not dispose of his property by will. But the soldier, by his military oath, became free, and had the right of giving, as he pleased, whatever he had acquired in the service of his country.

NOTES

ΤΟ

THE SATIRES OF PERSIUS.

AULUS PERSIUS FLACCUS was born at Volaterræ, a town of Etruria, A. D. 34. His father was of Equestrian rank, and died when his son was about six years of age. Persius studied at Volaterra, until he had attained his twelfth year: after that he was removed to Rome, and placed under the care of Palemon, a grammarian, and Verginius Flaccus, a rhetorician. At the age of sixteen, he was placed under the tuition of Annæus Cornutus, a Stoic philosopher, to whom the fifth Satire is addressed, and in whose praise it is written. During the reign of Nero, Persius distinguished himself for his satiric compositions, in which he did not even spare the emperor himself. He died at his estate, near Rome, in the twenty-eighth year of his age, in the consulship of Rubrius Marius and Asinius Gallus.

The arguments or designs of the six satires are contained in this verse:

Of poets, wishes, idleness and health,

The statesman, freedom, avarice and wealth.

PROLOGUE.

Persius, after the inanner of dramatic writers, prefaces his Satires with a prologue in Iambic verse. This kind of Iambic verse is called scazon, and requires an iambus in the fifth and a spondee in the sixth place: an iambus, spondee, dactyle, tribrac, and anapest are admissible in the first four places: thus, Nec fōn-tě la- | bră pro- | lùi | căbal- | linō. Hěděræ sequa- | ces ip- | sé sẽ- | mĭpā- | gånūs. Corvos põe- tas et põe- | trias | picàs.

Canta- rè cre- | das Pe- | găsé- | ĭūm | nectar.