There is nothing a woman does not allow herself in ; she thinks no thing base, When she has placed green gems round her neck, and when Mean while, filthy to behold, and to be laugh'd at, her face 460 And hence the lips of her miserable husband are glued together. hither. On account of which she leads forth with her she-asses her attendants, If an exile she be sent to the Hyperborean axis. But that which is cover'd over, and cherish'd with so many changed 470 Medicaments, and receives cakes of baked and wet flour, Shall it be called a face, or an ulcer? It is worth while, to know exactly, for a whole imported various sweet essences and perfumes, as well as the nard, which the ladies made use of. See Esther ii. 12. 466. She opens her countenance, &c.] Takes off the paste, (see l.. 461, note,) and washes off the other materials, only smoothing her skin with asses' milk. Her first coverings.] The plaster or paste. 467. She begins to be known.] To look like herself. With that milk, &c.] The poet alludes here to Poppaa, the wife of Nero, above mentioned, (1. 461.) who, when she was banished from Rome, had fifty she-asses along with her, for their milk to wash in, and to mix up her paste with. 469. Hyp rborean axis.] The northern pole, (from vse supra, and Bopsas, the north) because from thence the north wind was supposed to come. 470-1. Changed medicaments.] Such a variety of cosmetics, or medicines for the complexion, which are for ever changing with the fashions or humours of the ladies. 471. Baked and wet flour.] Siliginis.-Siligo signifies a kind of grain, the flour of which is whiter than that of wheat; this they made a kind of poultice or paste of, by wetting it with asses milk, and then applying it like a moist cake to the face. Offa denotes a pudding, or such like, or paste made with pulse. Also a cake, or any like composition. 472. A face, or an ulcer.] Because the look of it, when these cakes or poultices are upon it, is so like that of a sore, which is treated with poultices of bread and milk, in order to assuage and cleapse it, that it may as well be taken for the one as the other. Quid faciant, agitentque die. Si nocte maritus Coзmetæ tunicas, tarde venisse Liburnus Dicitur, et pœnas alieni pendere somni 475 480 485 475. Turned away.] Turns his back towards her, and goes to sleep. See below, 1. 477. -The housekeeper.] Libraria-a weigher of wool or flax, (from libra, a balance,) a sort of housekeeper, whose office it was to weigh out and deliver the tasks of wool to the other servants for spinning. Is undone.] Ruined-turned out of doors—after being cruelly lashed. The tire-women.] Cosmetæ, from Gr. xoopaw, to adorn, were persons who helped to dress their mistresses, and who had the care of their ornaments, clothes, &c.—something like our valets de chambre, or lady's women. 476. Strip.] Ponunt tunicas-put down their clothes from their backs to be flogged. The Liburnan, &c.] One of her slaves, who carried her lit. ter. These chairmen, as we should call them, were usually from Liburnia, and were remarkably tall and stout. See sat. iii. 1. 240.The lady, in her rage, doesn't spare her own chairmen these she taxes with coming after their time, and punishes. 477. For another's sleep.] Because her husband turned his back to her, and fell asleep. See above, 1. 475. 478. Ferules.] Rods, sticks, or ferules made of a flat piece of wood, wherewith children and slaves were corrected. One poor fellow has one of these broken over his shoulders. -Reddens with the whip.] Is whipped till his back is bloody. 479. The thong.] Scutica a terrible instrument of punishment, made of leathern thongs, though not (according to HoR. Sat. lib. i. sat. iii. 119.) so severe as the flagellum. Horace also mentions the ferula (1. 120.) as the mildest of the three. Tormentors.] Hire people by the year, who, like executioners, put in execution the cruel orders of their employers. 480. He beats, &c.] One of these tormentors, hired for this pur Day, what they do, and how they employ themselves. If at night The husband hath lain turned away, the housekeeper is undone, the tire-women Strip, the Liburnan is said to have come late, And to be punish'd for another's sleep 475 Is compell'd: one breaks ferules, another reddens with the whip, Another with the thong: there are some who pay tormentors by the year. He beats, and she, by the bye, daubs her face; listens to her friends, 480 Or contemplates the broad gold of an embroider'd garment : And as he beats, she reads over the transactions of a long journal : And still he beats, till the beaters being tir'd-" Go,” (She horridly thunders out,)" now the examination is finished.”— The government of the house is not milder than a Sicilian court: 485 For if she has made an assignation, and wishes more becomingly than usual To be dressed, and is in a hurry, and now waited for in the gardens, Or rather at the temple of the bawd Isis, pose, lashes the poor slaves, while madam is employed in her usual course of adorning her person, or conversing with company, or look. ing at some fine clothes. 482. And as he beats, &c.] The fellow still lays on, while she, very unconcernedly, looks over the family accounts. 483. He beats, &c.] Still the beating goes forward, till the beaters are quite tired. "Go," &c.] Then she turns the poor sufferers out of doors, in the most haughty manner." Be gone, now," says she," the "examination is over-all accounts are now settled between us."Cognitio signifies the examination of things, in order to a discovery, as accounts, and the like. Cognitio also signifies trial, or hearing of a cause.-If we are to understand the word in this sense, then she may be supposed to say, in a taunting manner-" Be gone-you have had your trial-the "cause is over." 485. Than a Sicilian court.] Where the most cruel tyrants presided; such as Phalaris, Dionysius, &c. See HoR. lib. i. epist. ii. 1. 58, 9. 486. An assignation.] Constituit-has appointed-i. e. to meet a gallant. See sat. iii. 12, and note. 487. In the gardens ] Of Lucullus-a famous place for pleasant walks, and where assignations were made. 488. At the temple.] Sacraria-places where things sacred to the goddess were kept, which had been transferred from Ægypt to Rome. The bawd Isis.] Or the Isiacan bawd-for her temple was the scene of all manner of lewdness, and attended constantly by pimps, bawds, and the like. See sat. ix. 1. 22 Componit crinem laceratis ipsa capillis Nuda humeros Psecas infelix, nudisque mamillis. 490 Continuo flexi crimen, facinusque capilli. Quid Psecas admisit? quænam est hic culpa puellæ, Si tibi displicuit nasus tuus? Altera lævum Extendit, pectitque comas, et volvit in orbem. 495 500 489. Unhappy Psecas.] Juvenal gives to the waiting-maid the name of one of chaste Diana's nymphs, who attended on the person of the goddess, and assisted at her toilet in the grotto of the vale Gargaphic. OVID. Met. lib. iii. 1. 155-172. This is very humourous, if we consider the character of the lady spoken of, who is attended at her toilet by her filles de chambre, who have each, like Diana's nymphs, a several office in adorning her person, while all these pains, to make herself look more handsome than usual, were because she was going to meet a gallant. The sad condition of poor Psecas bespeaks the violence which she suffered, from her cruel mistress, on every the least offence. However, this circumstance of her torn and dishevelled locks seems a farther humourous parody of the account which Ovid gives of one of Diana's nymphs, who dressed the goḍ. dess's hair; -Doctior illis Ismenis Crocale, sparsos per colla capillos Ov. ubi supr. I. 168-70. 491. "Why is this curl higher?" i. e. Than it ought to besays the lady, peevishly, to poor Psecas. The bull's hide.] Taurea-a leather whip made of a bull's hide, with the strokes of which, on her bare shoulders, (Comp. 1. 490.) poor Psecas must atone for her mistake about the height of the curl. 492. The crime, &c.] The poet humourously satirizes the manstrous absurdity of punishing servants severely for such trifles as setting a curl either too high or too low, as if it were a serious crime— a foul deed (facinus) worthy stripes. 491. If your nose, &c.] If you happen to have a deformity in your features for instance, a long and ugly nose-is the poor girl, who waits on you, to blame for this? are you to vent your displeaure upon her? 495. The left side.] Another maid-servant dresses a different side Unhappy Pecas arranges her hair, herself with torn locks, Naked to the shoulders, and with naked breasts. 490 "Why is this curl higher ?"—The bull's hide immediately punishes The crime and fault of a curled lock. What has Psecas committed? what is here the fault of the girl, If your nose has displeased you? Another extends The left side, and combs the locks, and rolls them into a circle. 495 A matron is in council, and who, put to the wool, Ceases from the discharged crisping-pin her opinion Shall be first: after her, those who are inferior in age and art Were in question; of so great importance is the concern of getting beauty. 500 She presses with so many rows, and still builds with so many join ings, Her high head, that you will see Andromache in front: of the lady's head, combs out the locks, and turns them into rings. Extendit expresses the action of drawing or stretching out the hair with one hand, while the other passes the comb along it. 496. A matron, &c.] She then calls a council upon the subject of her dress-first, an old woman, who has been set to the wool, (i. e. to spin,) being too old for her former occupation of handling dexterously the crisping-pin, and of dressing her mistress's hair-she, as the most experienced, is to give her opinion first-then the younger maids, according to their age and experience. Emerita here is metaphorical; it is the term used for soldiers who are discharged from the service-such were called milites emeriti. 500. Of so great importance, &c.] One would think that her reputation, or even her life itself, was at stake, so anxious is she of appearing beautiful. 501. She presses, &c.] She crowds such a quantity of rows and stories of curls upon her towering head. 502. Andromache.] Wife of Hector, who is described by Ovid as very large and tall. De Art. ii. Omnibus Andromache visa est spatiosior æquo, Unus, qui modicam diceret, Hector erat. 503. Another.] There is so much difference in the appearance of her stature, when viewed in front, and when viewed behind, that you would not imagine her to be the same woman-you would take her for another. Excuse her.] Cedo-da-veniam understood-q. d. To be sure one should in some measure excuse her, if she happen to be a little woman, short-waisted, and, when she has not high shoes on, seeming, in point of stature, shorter than a pigmy, insomuch that she is forced to spring up on tip-toe for a kiss-I say, if such be the case, |