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frontemque repugnantis signat. I extract the following words from Brissonius. At Beda refert morem in ecclesia inolevisse scriptum reliquit, ut sacerdotes illius his, quos percipiendis baptismi sacramentis prepararent, prius inter cetera consecratis exordia de saliva oris sui nares tangerent, et aures, dicentes ephata, &c.

Ver. 35. Tunc manibus quatit, &c.

This ceremony had a very ancient and illustrious example; and these lines will naturally recur to the recollection of the learned reader.

Αὐτὰρ ὅγ ὁν φίλον υιὸν επει κυσε πῆλε τε χερσιν,
Εἶπεν ἐπευξάμενος Διΐ, τ ̓ ἄλλοισίν τε θεοῖσι. Ιλιαδ. ζ.

Spem macram for infantem tenellum.

Ver. 36. Nunc Licini in campos, &c.

This was probably Licinius Stolo, who, according to Livy, was condemned to pay a fine by Popilius Lena, for possessing together with his son, more land than was permitted by the law which he himself had made. Some have supposed that the person meant here, was Licinus, and not Licinius. Licinus was a freedman of Augustus, and possessed great riches. The immense wealth of Crassus is expatiated upon by Plutarch. The word mittit here is borrowed from a law phrase; and the old woman is ludicrously represented as putting the child in possession of houses and estates in the same language,

which was employed by the Prætor, when he adjudged

what was due to the right owner.

Ver. 40.

Color autem (says Tully) albus pre

cipue decorus Deo est, &c.

In the mysteries of Isis and of Ceres the priests were robed in white. Nec ulla lina eis candore mollitiave præferenda, says Pliny, speaking of garments made of cotton: vestes inde (adds he) sacerdotibus Ægypti gratissima. Apuleius affords a yet stronger testimony. Tunc influunt turba sacris divinis initiatæ viri, fæminæque omnis dignitatis, et omnis ætatis, lintea vestis candore puro luminosi. Ovid says, speaking of the festivals of Ceres, Festa pia Cereri celebrabant annua matres Illa, quibus nivea velata corpora veste, &c.

again, in his Fasti;

Met. L. x.

Alba decent Cererem, vestes Cerealibus albas
Sumite, nunc pulli vellaris usus abest.

The custom of wearing white garments was also common among the Druids and the priests of Gaul. Plin. L. xvi. c. 43.

Ver. 42.

tucetaque crassa.

Tucetum was originally a word taken from the language of the Gauls. See the Thesaurus of R. Stephanus.

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Persius is here supposed by most of his commentators to mean fifty brazen statues of the sons of Ægyptus, which stood in the porch of Apollo's temple. These statues were consulted as oracles.

Ver. 58.

sitque illis aurea barba.

Videntur (Romani) aureas barbas diis de se bene meritis apposuisse. Casaubon.

Ver. 61. O curva in terris animæ, et cœlestium inanes!
Quid juvat hoc, templis nostros immittere mores,
Et bona Diis ex hac scelerata ducere pulpa?
Hac sibi corrupto casiam dissolvit olivo:

Et Calabrum coxit vitiato murice vellus:

Hæc baccam concha rasisse, et stringere venas
Ferventis massa crudo de pulvere jussit.
Peccat et hæc, peccat: vitio tamen utitur: at vos
Dicite pontifices, in sancto quid facit aurum?
Nempe hoc, quod Veneri donatæ à virgine puppa.
Quin damus id superis, de magna quod dare lance
Non possit magni Messala lippa propago:
Compositum jus fasque animo, sanctosque recessus

Mentis, et incoctum generoso pectus honesto?

Hæc cedo ut admoveam templis, et farre litabo. Some of these verses have much poetical merit; and contain much excellent instruction. Are there not even Christian temples, where they deserve to be written up in letters of gold?

This satire is founded upon the second Alcibiades of Plato, which I recommend to the student to read along with it. I have already observed in my Preface, that if ever Persius abandons the doctrines of the Stoics, it is in this poem. The Stoics contended for the existence of a govora; but they adopted with this belief all the superstitions of the popular worship. Cicero, in the third book of his treatise de Natura Deorum, charges them with admitting all the puerile and contradictory fables, which had imposed upon vulgar credulity; and alludes to that very practice, of offering bribes to the Deity, which Persius condemns with so much just severity.

Ver. 2.

SATIRE III.

et angustas extendit lumine rimas. Hypallage: non enim rimæ extenduntur, aut dilatantur, quod ineptè quidam scribunt: sed lumen extenditur, transmittente sole radios suos per rimas. Casaubon.

Ver.3.

Ver. 4.

Stertimus, for stertitis.

Quintâ dum linea tangitur umbrâ.

Most of the commentators upon Persius have understood him in this place, to mean eleven o'clock, A. M. I have not specified the particular hour. The Romans divided the natural day, i. e. from sun-rising to sunsetting, into twelve hours. Hence the length of those hours was the same only twice a year. The distinction made by the Romans, between the civil and the natural day, is thus explained by Censorinus. Dies partim naturalis, partim civilis. Naturalis dies, tempus ab oriente sole, ad solis occasum, cujus contrarium est tempus nox, ab occasu solis ad ortum; civilis autem dies vocatur tempus. quod fit uno cœli circuitu, quo dies verus et nox continentur.

It appears that the Romans were acquainted with the use of sun-dials before the first Punic war. Pliny says, that Lucius Papirius Cursor placed a dial on the temple

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