Criminibus debent hortos, prætoria, menfas, Argentum vetus, & ftantem extra pocula caprum. 75 8Q felf taken notice of, as a perfon of confequence, at Rome. A fevere reflection on certain favourites of the emperor, who, by being informers, and by other fcandalous actions, had enriched themselves. -Probity is praised, &c.] This seems a proverbial faying and applies to what goes before, as well as to what follows, wherein the poet is fhewing, that vice was, in thofe days, the only way to riches and honours. Honefty and innocence will be commended, but those who poffefs them, be left to ftarve. 75. Gardens.] i. e. Pleasant and beautiful retreats, where they had gardens of great tafte and expence. Palaces.] The word prætoria-denotes noblemen's feats in the country, as well as the palaces of great men in the city. Tables.] Made of ivory, marble, and other expenfive materials. 76. Old filver.] Ancient plate-very valuable on account of the workmanship. A goat ftanding, &c.] The figure of a goat in curious bas-relief-which animal, as facred to Baechus, was very ufually expreffed on drinking cups. 77. Whom.] i. e. Which of the poets, or winters of fatire, can be at reft from writing, or withhold his fatiric rage? The corrupter.] i. e. The father, who takes advantage of the love of money in his fon's wife, to debauch her. 78. Bafe fpoufes.] Lewd and adulterous wives. The noble young adulterer.] Prætextatus, i. e. the youth, not having laid afide the prætexta, or gown worn by boys, fons of the nobility, till feventeen years of age-yet, in this early period of life, initiated into the practice of adultery. 79. Indignation makes verfe.] Forces one to write, however naturally without talents for it. Bo. Such To crimes they owe, gardens, palaces, tables, Old filver, and a goat ftanding on the outfide of cups. 75 Whom does the corrupter of a covetous daughter-in-law fuffer to fleep? Whom base spouses, and the noble young adulterer? Such as it can fuch as I, or Cluvienus. 80 From the time that Deucalion (the fhowers lifting up the fea) Afcended the mountain with his bark, and asked for lots, And the soft stones by little and little grew warm with life, And Pyrrha fhewed to males naked damfels, 80. Such as I, or Clavienus.] i. e. Make or write. The poet names himself with Cluvienus (fome bad poet of his time) that he might the more freely fatirize him, which he at the fame time does, the more feverely, by the comparison. 81. From the time that Deucalion.] This, and the three following lines, relate to the hiftory of the deluge, as described by Ovid. See Met. Lib. i. 1. 264—315. 82. Afcended the mountain, &c.] Alluding to Ovid Mons ibi verticibus petit arduus aftra duobus, Nomine Parnaffus- 1 Hic ubi Deucalion (nam cætera texerat æquor) Afked for lots.] Sortes, here, means the oracles, or billets, on which the answers of the gods were written. Ovid (ubi fuprâ) 1. 367-8. represents Deucalion, and his wife Pyrrha, refolving to go to the temple of the goddefs Themis, to enquire in what manner mankind should be restored. placuit cælefte precari Numen, & auxilium per facras quærere fortes. And 1. 381. Mota Dea eft, fortemque dedit. To this Juvenal alludes in this line; wherein fortes may be rendered-oracular anfwers. 83. The foft ftones, &c.] When Deucalion and Pyrrha, having confulted the oracle how mankind might be repaired, were anfwered, that this would be done, by their cafting the bones of their great mother behind their backs, they picked. ftones C 3 from Quicquid agunt homines, votum, timor, ira, voluptas, 85 Gaudia, difcurfus, noftri eft farrago libelli. Et quando uberior vitiorum copia? quando Major avaritiæ patuit finus? alea quando Hos animos? neque enim loculis comitantibus itur 99 Prælia quanta illic difpenfatore videbis Perdere, & horrenti tunicam non reddere fervo? from off the earth, and cast them behind their backs, and they became men and women, Juffos lapides fua poft veftigia mittunt: Saxa Ponere duritiem cæpêre, fuumque rigorem, Hence Juvenal fays-mollia faxa. Ib. 1. 399-402. It is moft likely, that the whole account of the deluge, given by Ovid, is a corruption of the Mofaical history of that event.Plutarch mentions the dove fent out of the ark. 86. The compofition, &c.] Farrago fignifies a mixture, an hodge-podge as we fay, of various things mixed together, The poet means, that the various purfuits, inclinations, actions, and paffions of men, and all thofe human follies and vices, which have exifted, and have been increasing, ever fince the flood, are the fubjects of his fatires. 88. Bofom of avarice.] A metaphorical allufion to the fail of a ship when expanded to the wind-the centre whereof is called finus-the bofom. The larger the fail, and the more opened and fpred it is, the greater the capacity of the bofom for receiving the wind, and the more powerfully is the fhip driven on through the sea. Thus avarice fpreads itself far and wide; it catches the inclinations of men, as the fail the wind, and thus it drives them on in a full courfe-when more than at present ? fays the poet. The die.] A chief inftrument of gaming-put here for gaming itfelf. Meton. 89. Thefe fpirits.] Animus fignifies fpirit or courage; and in this fense we are to understand it here. As if the poet faid, When was gaming fo encouraged? or when had games of hazard, which were forbidden by the law (except only during the Saturnalia) the courage to appear fo open and frequently as they Whatever men do-defire, fear, anger, pleasure, Joys, difcourfe is the compofition of my little book. 85 And when was there a more fruitful plenty of vices? when Has a greater bofom of avarice lain open? when the dieThefe fpirits-they do not go, with purses accompanying, To the chance of the table, but a cheft being put down is played for. 90 How many battles will you fee there, the steward do now? The fentence is elliptical, and must be supplied with habuit, or fome other verb of the kind, to govern-hos animos. They do not go with purfes, &c.] Gaming has now gotten to fuch an extravagant height, that gamefters are not content to play for what can be carried in their purfes, but ftake a whole cheft of money at a time-this feems to be implied by the word pofitâ. Pono fometimes fignifies-laying a wagerputting down as a ftake. See an example of this fenfe, from Plautus, AINSW. pono, N° 5. 91. How many battles, &c.] i. e. How many attacks on one another at play. The feward.] Difpenfator fignifies a difpenfer, a feward, one that lays out money, a manager. 92. Armour-bearer.] The armigeri were fervants who followed their mafters with their fhields, and other arms, when they went to fight. The poet ftill carries on the metaphor of prælia in the preceding line.-There gaming is compared to fighting; here he humourously calls the steward the armour bearer, as fupplying his mafter with money, a neceffary weapon at a gaming-table, to stake at play, inftead of keeping and difpenfing it, or laying it out for the usual and honeft expences of the family. Simple madness, &c.] All this is a fpecies of madness, but not without mixture of injury and mischief; and therefore may be reckoned fomething more than mere madness, where fuch immenfe fums are thrown away at a gaming table, as that the fervants of the family can't be afforded common decent neceffaries. The Romans had their feftertius and feftertium. The latter is here meant, and contains 1000 of the former, which was worth about 1d. See l. 106, n. 93. And not give a coat, &c.] The poet here puts one inftance, for many, of the ruinous confequences of gaming. Juvenal, by this, feverely cenfures the gamefters, who had C 4 rather Quis totidem erexit villas? quis fercula feptem 95 100 rather lofe a large fum at the dice, than lay it out for the comfort, happiness, and decent maintenance of their families. 94. So many villas.] Houfes of pleasure for the fummer-feafon. These were ufually built and furnished at a vaft expence. The poet having inveighed against their fquandering at the gaming-table, now attacks their luxury, and prodigality in other refpects; and then, the exceffive meannefs into which they were funk. 95. Supped in fecret, &c.] The antient Roman nobility, in order to fhew their munificence and hospitality, used, at certain times, to make an handsome and fplendid entertainment, to which they invited their clients and dependents. Now they thut out these, and provided a fumptuous entertainment for themselves only, which they fat down to in private. Which of our ancestors, fays the poet, did this? Now a little basket, &c.] Sportula-a little basket or pannier, made of a kind of broom called fportum. Kennet, Antiq. p. 375. In this were put victuals, and some small fums of money, to be diftributed to the poor clients and dependents at the outward door of the house, who were no longer invited, as formerly, to the entertainment within. 96. To be fratched, &c.] i. e. Eagerly received by the hungry poor clients, who crowded about the door. The gowned crowd.] The common fort of people were called turba togata, from the gowns they wore, by which they were distinguished from the higher fort. See note before on 1. 3. 97. But he.] i. e. The person who diftributes the dole. First infpects the face.] That he may be certain of the perfon he gives to. And trembles.] At the apprehenfion of being feverely reproved by his mafter, the great man, if he should make a miftake, by giving people who affume a false name, and pretend themselves to be clients when they are not. 99. Acknowledged, &c.] Agnitus-owned-acknowledged, as one for whom the dole is provided. Perhaps, |