Put garlands on the temples, and meal on the knives, 85 I'll soon follow, and the sacred business, which is best, being duly finish'd, I will then return home; where, little images, shining Here I will placate our Jupiter, and to my paternal Lares Will give frankincense, and will throw down all the colours of the violet. All things shine. My gate has erected long branches, 90 Nor let these things be suspected by you, Corvinus: Catullus, For whose return I place so many altars, has three Little heirs I should be glad to see who would bestow 95 A hen, sick and closing her eyes, on a friend So barren but this is an expence too great. No quail : Will ever fall for a father. If rich Gallita and Paccius, the doors are long branches of laurel. This was usual on these festal occasions. 92. Joyful.] Having a joyful and festival appearance. -Celebrates.] Operatur. The verb operor, like facio, (see sat. ix. 1. 117.) when it stands without any addition, signifies performing sacrifice. See also VIRG. ecl. iii. 77; and Georg. i. 1. 339. So the word y, in Hebr. See PARK. Heb. and Eng. Lex. Wy, No. 5. The poet here means to say, that the very gates of his house bore a part in the solemnity on this joyful occasion. Some are for reading operitur, covered-i. e. the gates were covered with lamps as well as with laurel-branches. This makes a very clear sense; but I question whether operatur, as above explained, does not more exactly coincide with the epithet festa in this line. Operatur here is metaphorical, like Virgil's ridet ager. -Morning lamps.] It was a custom, on any joyful occasion, either of a public or private nature, to adorn the gates of their houses with branches of laurel, and with lamps, even in the day-time; which Tertullian mentions, in his apology, in the following passage: "Cur die "læto non laureis postes adumbramus? lucernis diem infringimus?" Why, on a joyful day, do we not ❝ nec 93. Suspected, &c.] As if done with a mercenary view, or for selfish ends; as if to flatter my friend Catullus into making me his heir. 94, 5. Three little heirs.] Has three children to inherit his estate. 95. Glad to see.] Libet expectare-literally, it liketh me to expect; which certainly answers to the English idiom in the translation. 96, 7. A friend so barren, &c.] So unlikely to leave any thing in his will to any body but his own family; who would sacrifice for such a one, I won't say a fine cock to Esculapius for his recovery, but even an old rotten hen ? even this would not be worth while. 97. No quail.] Not even one of the least of birds. 98. Ever fall.] . e. Be killed and offered in sacrifice. -A father.] i. e. For a man that is. the father of children, and who, like Catullus, has heirs to his estate. Si cœpit locuples Gallita et Paccius, orbi, Partem aliquam belli, et euntem in prælia turrim. 98. Gallita and Paccius.] Two rich men who were childless, which made them fine objects for the hæredipetæ, or legacy-hunters. 99. Perceive heat.] To be attacked with a fever. -Every porch, &c.] Tota is here equivalent to omnis. q. d. The whole of the porches, i. e. all the porches of the temples, are covered, as it were, with vo. tive tablets for their recovery. These votive tablets were inscribed with the vows and prayers of those who hung them up. If the party, for whom these tablets were hung up, recovered, the offerers of the tablets thought themselves bound to perform their vows. 100. According to law.] Legitime here seems to mean, according to the stated custom and usual practice of such people, who made it a kind of law among them to act in this manner on such oceasions; not that there was any public law to compel them to it, 101. There exist, &c.] Some there are, who would not scruple to vow an hun. dred oxen in sacrifice. Hecatombe is compounded of ixarov, an hundred, and Bous, an ox; but it also denotes a sacrifice of an hundred sheep, or of any other animals, though primarily is to be understood of oxen, according to the etymology. 102. Elephants, &c.] q. d. They can't get elephants indeed, or else they would Vow an hecatomb of them. 102, 3. Here nor in Latium.] Either 100 105 110 here at Rome, or in the country of Italy at large. See note, sat. xi. 115. 104. Conceived.] i, e. Bred. -A dusky nation.] From the Moors, or the Indians, who are of a swarthy or black complexion. See sat. xi. l. 125, note. 105. The Rutulian woods, &c.] In the forest near Lavinum, where Turnus the king of the Rutuli reigned, the country was called Etruria; now the dukedom of Tuscany. 106. The herd of Cæsar.] Domitian, as a matter of state and curiosity, transported into Italy numbers of elephants; and, in the forest above mentioned, an herd of them might be seen together. 106, 7. No private man.] They were not procured to be at any private man's command, but at the emperor's only, for his pleasure and amusement, in seeing them in the forest, and exhibiting them in public shows in the Circus. 107. Ancestors of these.] The elephants of former days were put to a nobler use. -Indeed.] Prateus, in his Interpretatio in usum Delph. explains the siquidem by enimvero, verily, truly, indeed— Marshall, by vero, which is much of the same import, and seems to mark a sarcastical contrast between the use of those noble animals by the warlike kings and generals of old time, and Domitian's getting them to Rome at a vast expence, for the empty gratification of his pride. and ostentation, Who are childless, begin to perceive heat, every porch Forasmuch as there are no elephants to be sold, neither here Man the ancestors of these, indeed, used to obey Tyrian 110 Some part of the war, and a tower going to battles. 107, 8. Tyrian Hannibal.] Who got them from India, with persons to manage and train them up. Hannibal is called Tyrian, because Dido, who built Carthage, came from Tyre: for this reason Virgil calls Carthage, Tyriam urbem. The Carthaginians, Tyrii. In the second Punic war, when he came over the Alps into Italy, he brought elephants with him. See sat. x. 1. 157, note. 108. Our generals.] Who took vast numbers of them. Metellus had two hundred and four elephants which followed his triumph after the defeat of Asdrubal the Carthaginian general. Scipio, the father-in law of Pompey, had also elephants in his army in Africa. Appian says, thirty. 108. Molossian king.] Pyrrhus, king of the Molossians, first used elephants in Italy, when he came to help the Tarentines against the Romans. 109. Cohorts.] A cohort was a tenth part of a legion; several of these were in towers on the backs of elephants, and made part of the warlike force-partem belli. 110. A tower, &c.] Towers, made of wood, and filled with armed men, were put on the backs of elephants, and thus carried into battle, where, partly by the trampling of elephants, partly by the arrows, javelins, and other missile weapons, discharged from the towers, great havoc was made. 111. Therefore no delay, &c.] There fore it is not the fault of Novius, &c. that elephants are not offered, but because they can't get them. If these legacy-hunters could procure elephants to sacrifice for the recovery of the people whom they have a design upon, they would not hesitate a moment about doing it. 112. Ivory.] Elephants, per meton. Here elephants are called ivory, from their large teeth of ivory. Georg. iii. 26. Æn. vi. 895. Virgil, on the contrary, calls ivory, elephant, by synec. 113. Before the Lares of Gallita.] In order to procure their assistance and favour towards him, that they may recover him from his sickness. The word Lares, in the largest sense, denotes certain demons, genii, or spirits, believed to preside on various occasions, distinguished by their epithets. As, Lares cœlestes, some of the Dii majorum gentium; Lares marini, as Neptune, Palæmon, Thetis, &c.; Lares urbium, who were guardians of cities. The Lares also were public, as compitales, or viales, which were worshipped in the highways; or private, as the Lares domestici, or familiares, household or family deities, household gods, the protectors of the house and family. These last are usually intended by the word Lares, when used singly. See 1. 89, note. See AINSW. Lar. The notæ selectæ on this line suppose this Gallita to have been some rich childless matron, whom Tacitus calls Cruspelina. Others believe it to be a Tantis digna Deis, et captatoribus horum. Alter enim, si concedas mactare, vovebit 115 De grege servorum magna, aut pulcherrima quæque Corpora; vel pueris, et frontibus ancillarum Post meritum sane mirandum; atque omnia soli rich old man of that name. It matters not to the subject which is right. See Juv. edit. 4to. 1695. 114. Worthy, &c.] The poet ironically styles these elephants worthy victims for such important deities as the Lares, who presided over the safety of such men, and worthy to express the huge friendship which the offerers bore them. Or, perhaps, by the word tantis, we may understand an humourous contrast, between the hugeness of the animal of fered, and the littleness of the figures of the Lares before which they were offered; for the images of these were very small. See 1. 87, note. Captatores were people who flattered rich men, in hopes of being their heirs, legacy-hunters. See sat. x. 1. 202, note; and see HOR. lib. ii. sat. v. 1. 23, &c. 115. The one.] Pacuvius. Alter, where two have been mentioned, means one of them. That Pacuvius is here meant, appears from what follows, 1. 125-8. -If you allow, &c.] If he could have his own will, and could be permitted to do such a thing. -Vow.] i. e. Devote to death. 116. Flock of servants, &c.] He would pick out, from the number of his slaves, the stoutest of the men, or every one (quæque) of the most beautiful of either sex, to sacrifice. 117. His boys, &c.] He would even sacrifice those who were the instruments of his abominable pleasures. 118. Put fillets.] The vittæ were ribbands, or garlands, put on the foreheads 120 125 both of the priests and of the victims. 118, 19. Marriageable Iphigenia.] Any daughter in the prime of youth and beauty. Matura virgo-HOR. lib. iii. od. vi. 1. 22. Comp. HoR. lib. i. od. xxiii. l. 11, 12. This alludes to the story of Agamemnon sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia, in order to procure a favourable wind for the departure of the Grecian fleet from Aulis, where, through the anger of the goddess Diana, it had been windbound for a considerable time, because the Greeks had called an hind belonging to the goddess. The oracle was consulted, and the answer was returned, that no wind could be had for their purpose,unless Agamemnon, the chief in the expedition, would offer up his daughter Iphigenia to ap. pease the anger of Diana. Agamemnon, for the public good, brought his daughter to the altar, but the goddess, relenting, conveyed her away, and put an hind in her place. 119. Give her, &c.] Offer her up as a sacrifice. 120. Furtive expiation.] Alluding to Diana's stealing away Iphigenia, and substituting the hind in her place. -Tragic hind.] Which had become a subject for the tragic writers, as Sophocles, Euripides, and others. Pacuvius would consent to offer his daughter, though he were certain that nothing of this sort would happen to save her. 121. I praise my citizen.] I highly you 115 Worthy of deities so great, and of the flatterers of these men. A thousand ships: for if the sick man should escape Libitina, procure. Let Pacuvius live, I beg, even all Nestor. commend my fellow-citizen Pacuvius for his wisdom and address. -Nor do I compare, &c.] To be sure the safety of a thousand ships, which could bring no peculiar and immediate profit to Agamemnon, and only answer a public purpose, is not to be compared with the last will and testament of a rich man, by which Pacuvius was to be come so richly benefited as to possess his whole estate. Pacuvius therefore is certainly more justifiable than Agamemnon, in being willing to sacrifice his daughter. A strong irony! 122. Escape Libitina.] i. e. Should recover from his sickness. Libitina was a name given to Proserpine, as presiding over funerals; in her temple at Rome all things pertaining to funerals were sold, and the undertakers were called Libitinarii; hence, Libitina sometimes signifies death itself. 123. Cancel his will.] Lit. blot out thetables. It has been before observed (sat. ii. 1. 58.) that the Romans wrote on thin planks of wood, called tabulæ: these were smeared over with wax, on which the letters were made with the point of a sort of bodkin, called stylus, which was flat at one end, in order to blot out, or erase, such of the writing as they meant to cancel or alter. See HOR. Sat. x. lib. i. 1. 72. -Prison of a net.] Nassa signifies a net made of twigs, with a bait put into it, to catch fish. The rich man is here represented as 125 fairly hampered int he net which Pacuvius had laid for him-thoroughly taken in, as we say. 124. Desert truly wonderful.] On account of such wonderful merit towards him, as Pacuvius had shewn, in lavishing such sacrifices for his recovery. 125. Will give shortly, &c.] Having cancelled his will, and erased all the legacies which he had left in it to other people, he now in a few words (breviter) makes Pacuvius his sole heir. 125, 6. Will strut, &c.] Incedo sometimes means to walk or go in state. (Divûm incedo regina, says the haughty Juno, En. i. 1. 50.) The poet here means, that this fellow will take state upon him, and strut with an insolence in his look and gait, triumphing over all those who had been his competitors for Gallita's favour. 126. Therefore you see, &c.] q. d. You see of what use the example of Agamemnon was to Pacuvius; for if that king of Mycenae had not offered his daughter to have her throat cut, Pacuvius had never thought of sacrificing his daughter for the recovery of the rich man who made him heir to all his estate. 128. Let Pacuvius live, &c.] Long live Pacuvius! say I; (iron.) for the longer such a man lives, the more miserable must he be. -All Nestor.] Even to Nestor's age. See sat. x. 1. 246, 7, note. |