that! That monstrous fine? What, old Romulus, you turning spaniel? Am I to be touched forsooth and pull out a penny, if a shipwrecked man begins singing me a song? You sing, when you have actually got yourself painted in a wreck to carry on your shoulders ? No a man's tears must come from his heart at the moment, not from his brains overnight, if he would have me bowed down beneath his piteous tale.'

F. But they have given grace and smoothness to our unpolished Roman numbers. Thus it is a point gained to round a verse with Berecynthian Attis and the dolphin that was cutting through seagreen Nereus, or We have fetched off a rib from the long sides of Appenninus.

plies no parallel; v. 96 to the objector, who opens another line of defence, and the rest to Persius, who retorts as before by quoting specimens, on which he indignantly comments. Jahn, however, seems right in giving vv. 92-95 to the objector, as nothing is there said ipso facto disparaging to the poets, and in giving vv. 96, 97 to Persius; but he would have done better by assigning v. 98 not to the objector but to Persius, who asks for a fresh specimen.

F. Well, they have at any rate succeeded in giving polish to our poetry, as, for instance,. P. Shade of Virgil !

what frothy, fungous trash! Oblige me by another specimen of the tenderer sort.' F. gives one. P. And this is manly poetry-mere drivelling, poured out involuntarily from an idiot's lips, not wrung with toil from an artist's brain.'

92. iunctura, as in v. 64, is the welding of the different parts of a verse together so that there may be no roughness. This roughness is expressed by crudis, though through a different metaphor. With crudis compare 5. 5 'quantas robusti carminis offas Ingeris.'

93. claudere.. versum (concludere versum Hor. I S. 4. 40), as Jahn remarks, is not merely to conclude a verse, but to compose it, or to express it in metrical compass. Hor. 2 S. 1. 28 'me pedibus delectat claudere verba.'

Berecyntius Attis would seem to be the nom. to 'didicit,' as Heinr. takes it. 'So Berecyntian Attis is taught to round the measure.' The point of ridicule appears to be the rhythm, which the poet doubtless thought excellent, a long sweeping word like 'Bere

cyntius' being a great point gained. Thus there is no occasion to read Attin' with three MSS., so as to produce a jingle with delphin.' For Attis, see Catullus' poem. Dio says of Nero Kθαρῴδησε τε Αττιν τινὰ ἢ Βάκχας (61. 20).

94. qui.. delphin is another nom. to 'didicit.' Perhaps the expression is meant to be ridiculed as well as the rhythm, as the image of the dolphin cleaving Nereus is nearly as grotesque as Furius of Jupiter spitting snow on the Alps (Hor. 2 S. 5. 41), or as Alpinus' of the muddy head of the Rhine (ib. 1 S. 10. 37). Valerius Flaccus, however (1. 450, quoted by Jahn), has remo Nerea versat.' The dolphin in question may be Arion's, as the schol. thinks. Stat. Theb. 5. 482 has 'Spumea porrecti dirimentes terga profundi.'

95. Both expression and rhythm seem to be ridiculed here. The rhythmical trick evidently is the spondaic ending with the jingle in the middle, like Virgil's (Aen. 3. 549, quoted by the schol.), Cornua velatarum obvertimus antennarum.' The sense is extremely obscure. We can see the absurdity of the image of "fetching off a rib of the Apennine,' as if by the process of carving (compare Juv. 11. 142 Nec frustum capreae subducere nec latus Afrae Novit avis noster'), but it is not easy to understand what was the original reference of the line. The schol. sees in it a metaphor, according to which taking away a rib from the mountain is like taking a syllable from the verse, which is consequently enervated. Ascensius and Plautius understand it of Hannibal: Nebrissensis of the convulsion which

'Arma virum! nonne hoc spumosum et cortice pingui,

ut ramale vetus vegrandi subere coctum?

quidnam igitur tenerum et laxa cervice legendum?'

Torva mimalloneis inplerunt cornua bombis,

et raptum vitulo caput ablatura superbo Bassaris et lyncem Maenas flexura corymbis euhion ingeminat, reparabilis adsonat echo.

'Haec fierent, si testiculi vena ulla paterni viveret in nobis? summa delumbe saliva

97. praegrandi.

separated Sicily from Italy. Gifford seems to have no authority, for asserting that 'subducere' is a military term, meaning to occupy a position by forced marches, as kλée is not parallel. The construction appears to be sic 'costam.. Appennino' ['claudere versum didicit'].

96. Arma virum, rightly understood by Meister as an ejaculation. Persius compares Virgil with these poetasters, as Hor. A. P. 141 contrasts the opening of the Odyssey with Fortunam Priami cantabo.' Persius does not say 'bellum hoc' (v. 87), but nonne hoc spumo

sum.'

100

2. 129, where the meaning is plainly very pale.

suber points specifically to the cork tree, which has two barks, an outer and an inner.

coctum. Compare Prop. 5. 5. 61 Vidi ego odorati victura rosaria Paesti Sub matutino cocta iacere Noto.'

98. igitur is common in interrogations, as we use then.' If these are your specimens of finished versification, give us something peculiarly languishing.' tenerum. 'Aut nimium teneris iuvenentur versibus unquam' Hor. A. P. 246.

laxa cervice. Jahn refers to Meineke, Fr. Com. Gr. 4. p. 612, and to Quint. 9. 4. 31, who says that, in speaking, the neck should not be bent in either direction. Tereti cervice reposta' Lucr. I. 35.

6

99. These lines are commonly supposed to be Nero's, on the authority of the schol., who, however, says elsewhere that they are represented by others as Persius' own. From Dio, quoted on v. 93, it appears that Nero sang a poem on the Bacchae to his harp. The line seems imitated from Catull. 64. 263 'Multis raucisonos efflabant cornua bombos.' Lucr. 4. 544 Et revocat raucum retro cita ("regio cita" Lachm.) barbara

bombum.'

Torva, transferred from aspect to sound, as by Virg. Aen. 7. 399 'torvumque repente Clamat,' which the author may have had in view, as Virgil is describing Bacchanalian ravings.

mimallonis occurs Ov. A. A. I.

P. 'Arms and the Man! Can one call this anything but frothy and fluffy, like an old dried-up branch with a huge overgrown bark upon it? Well, what should you instance as soft and adapted for being recited with a gentle bend of the neck?'

F. Their grim horns they filled with Mimallonean boomings-the Bassarid, ready to tear the scornful calf's head from his shoulders, and the Maenad, ready to rein in the lynx with ivy branches, shout Evios again and again, and the redeeming power of Echo chimes in.

P. Would such things be produced if we had one spark of our fathers' manhood alive in us? Nerveless stuff-it floats in the mouth on the top of the spittle, and comes drivelling out

541 for a Bacchante, and 'mimallones' Stat. Theb. 4. 660.

inplerunt, sc. the Bacchanals.

100. vitulo.. superbo is from Eur. Bacch. 743 ταῦροι δ ̓ ὑβρισταὶ κεἰς κέρας θυμούμενοι τὸ πρόσθεν κ. τ. λ. The Bacchanals overcome powerful bulls and tear them to pieces.

ablatura flexura. See Madvig. §§ 424. 5., 425 a. b., 428. 3. The participle originally denoted only future time; then it came to be used to express an intention, like the fut. part. in Greek; then to express a conditional proposition, where the Greeks would have used av, so that it is sometimes found in the abl. absol., a construction unknown to the older writers. Here it appears to be used attributively, and almost as an adj., the future being probably intended to express habit, as in 2. 5 'tacita libabit

-acerra.'

IOI. Bassaris. Jahn compares Anth. Pal. 6. 74 [Agathias 27. I, Jacobs vol. 4 p. 13.] Βασσαρὶς Εὐρυνόμη σκοπελοδρόμος, ἥ ποτε ταύρων Πολλὰ τανυκραίρων στέρνα χαραξαμένη, Ἡ μέγα κακχάζουσα λέοντοφόνοις ἐπὶ νίκαις, Παίγνιον ἀτλήτου θηρὸς ἔχουσα κάρη. . Non ego te, candide Bassareu, Invitum quatiam' Hor. I Od. 18. II. The lynx was sacred to Bacchus, as the conqueror of India. 'Victa racemifero lynces dedit India Baccho' Ov. M. 15. 413. Quid lynces Bacchi variae?' Virg. G. 3. 264. Elsewhere he is drawn by tigers, as in Hor. 3 Od. 3. 13. Virg. Aen. 6. 804 Nec qui pampineis victor iuga flectit habenis Liber, agens celso Nysae de vertice tigres,' where pampineis habenis' explains corymbis.'

102. Euhion. Euros is an epithet of Bacchus, as invoked with the cry evoî, evá. Soph. Oed. R. 201 (quoted by Jahn) οἰνῶπα Βάκχον εὔιον μαινάδων ὁμόστολον. So that' Euhion' is probably intended here as a Greek acc.

reparabilis, actively, restoring the lost sound. Ov. M. I. II of the moon, 'reparat nova cornua.'

adsonat. 'Plangentibus adsonat Echo' Ov. M. 3.505.

....

.....

103. [Hoc' (an effeminate and artificial style) 'a magno animi malo oritur: illo sano ac valente oratio quoque robusta, fortis, virilis est: si ille procubuit, et cetera ruinam sequuntur ' Sen. Ep. 114. 22.]

104. summa.. saliva, a stronger version of summis labris,' which Seneca uses (Ep. 10. 3) Non a summis labris ista venerunt habent hae voces fundamentum,' apparently from the Greek and Xeλéav, which Plut. Cato Maj. 12 opposes to ȧnò κaрdías. Jahn, who also compares Gell. 1. 15 'qui nullo rerum pondere innixi verbis humidis et lapsantibus diffluunt, eorum orationem bene existimatum est in ore nasci, non in pectore;' and Quint. 10. 3. 2 sine conscientia profectus non a summo petiti, ipsa illa ex tempore dicendi facultas inanem modo loquacitatem dabit, et verba in labris nascentia.' Compare v. 81 above, 'Venerit in linguas.'

delumbis, a rare word. Cic. Or. 69 has concidat delumbetque sententias.' Tac. Or. 18 Ciceronem male audisse a Bruto, ut ipsius verbis utar, tanquam fractum atque elumbem.'

delumbe.. hoc, like 'bellum hoc.'

hoc natat in labris, et in udo est, Maenas et Attis,

nec pluteum caedit, nec demorsos sapit unguis.' Sed quid opus teneras mordaci radere vero auriculas? vide sis, ne maiorum tibi forte limina frigescant: sonat hic de nare canina littera.

'Per me equidem sint omnia protinus alba;

nil moror. euge! omnes, omnes bene mirae eritis res.
hoc iuvat? 'hic' inquis 'veto quisquam faxit oletum.'
pinge duos anguis: pueri, sacer est locus, extra
meite! discedo. secuit Lucilius urbem,

te Lupe, te Muci, et genuinum fregit in illis;

105. labsis (r super s eras. superscr. ut videtur).
107. uero vel su (pro uersu?).
112. inquit, s superscr.

in udo est. Jahn compares ev ὑγρῷ ἐστιν ἡ γλῶττα Theoph. ch. 8, of a talkative man.

106. The schol. seems right in explaining pluteum here of the backboard of the lecticula lucubratoria' (v. 53 note). 'Sponda est exterior pars lecti, pluteus interior.' Suetonius Cal. 26 'cenanti modo ad pluteum, modo ad pedes stare.' Prop. 5. 8. 68 Lygdamus ad plutei fulcra sinistra latens.' The man lies on his couch after his meal, listlessly drivelling out his verses, without any physical exertion or even movement of impatience.

106. caedit, like caedere ostium' Lucil. 29. 35. Heinr. Greek κόπτειν. 'caedit' rhetorical for

caedere facit.'

Compare 2. 64 Haec sibi corrupto casiam dissolvit olivo: Haec Calabrum coxit vitiato murice vellus.'

demorsos sapit unguis. Imitated from Hor. I S. 10. 70, speaking of what Lucilius failed to do in versu faci

106. rapit.

III. omnes et enim.
113. pingue.

105

110

115

endo saepe caput scaberet, vivos et roderet ungues.'

107-123. F. 'Even if this be truth, why tell it? You will only offend those whom it is your interest not to offend.' P. Very well, then-bave it your own way-put up a board against nuisances, and I will leave you. But Lucilius indulged his humour, and Horace his, though in a quicker way-is there no place where I may bury my secret?' F. None.' P. 'Well, I will confide it to my book: listen-All the world are asses. There, that is worth all your Iliads.'

107. teneras .. auriculas, 'molles auriculae' Hor. 2 S. 5. 32.

teneras.. radere. 3. 113 • tenero latet ulcus in ore Putre, quod haud deceat plebeia radere beta.'

mordaci. 5. 86 aurem mordaci lotus aceto.' Mordax verum,' like 'generosum honestum ' 2. 74, opimum pingue' 3. 32.

108. Vide sis signi quid siet' Plaut. Am. 2. 2. 155. vidě shortened like 'cave' Hor. I Ep. 13. 19.

maiorum, imitated from Hor. 2 S. 1. 60 'O puer, ut sis Vitalis metuo, et maiorum ne quis amicus Frigore te feriat.'

109. The coldness of the master is

involuntarily. Maenad and Attis-it involves no battery of the writing-chair, and has no smack of nails bitten down to the quick.'

F. But where is the occasion to let rough truths grate on tender ears? Do take care that you are not frozen some day on a great man's doorstep. Notice-human snarlers kept on the premises.

P. 'Ah, well-paint everything white from this day forward for me-I won't spoil your game. Bravo, you shall be wonders of the world, every one of you. Is that what you would like? No nuisances, say you, to be committed here. Draw a couple of snakes; young gentlemen, the ground is sacred: retire outside. I'm off. Lucilius, though, bit deep into the town of his day, its Lupuses and Muciuses, and broke his jaw-tooth on them. Horace, the

transferred to the threshold, because the door shut leaves the applicant in the cold. Prop. I. 16. 22 Tristis et in tepido limine somnus erit.' 3. 8. 15 Nec licet in triviis sicca requiescere luna.' Hor. 3 Od. 10. 19 'Non hoc semper erit liminis aut aquae Caelestis patiens latus.'

canina littera. R. 'Inritata canes quod homo quam planiu' dicit' Lucil. I. 27. So dogs were said 'hirrire.' The snarl is that of the great man-'ira cadat naso 5. 91, but the image suggested is that of the dog at the door. Cave canem.'

IIO. Per me. · Per me vel stertas licet' Cic. Acad. 2. 29.

equidem, used, though the verb is not in the 1st person, as in 5. 45 'non equidem dubites.' Here it is as if he had said 'equidem concedo.'

protinus, from this day forward.' alba, mark them with white (Hor. 2 S. 3. 246) and I will not blacken them.' The sense is the same as Hor. A. P. 442 'Si defendere delictum quam vertere malles, Nullum ultra verbum aut operam insumebat inanem Quin sine rivali teque et tua solus amares.'

III. nil moror. Not I don't care' (Jahn), but I don't object'=' per me nulla mora est.'

euge, v. 49. You shall all of you be the marvels of creation.'

With mirae res we may compare such expressions as dulcissime rerum Hor. I S. 9. 4, if they are to be explained as partitive. [Omnes etenim' Jahn (1843),

omnes, omnes,' from some of his later copies, Jahn (1868).]

112. hoc iuvat, interrogatively, as in Hor. I S. 1. 78. Jahn. The decree is couched in legal phrase.

113. anguis, as the genii of the place. Virg. Aen. 5. 95. There are some remains of a similar painting and inscription on a wall at Rome which once formed part of Nero's golden palace, where Titus' baths were afterwards built. (A. de Romanis, Le antiche Camere Esquiline,' Rome, 1822. Osann. Syll. p. 494. 45, referred to by Jahn).

114. discedo implies that Persius takes the warning to himself.

secuit is applied to any kind of wound. Ambo (postes) ab infimo tarmes secat' Plaut. Most. 3. 2. 140, 'gnaws. Here we might take it for 'secuit flagello' but for genuinum.' Hor. I S. 10. 3 says of Lucilius, 'sale multo Urbem defricuit.'

115. Lupus and Mucius were enemies of Scipio, Lucilius' patron.

Lupus is said by the schol. on Hor. 2 S. 1. 68 Famosisve Lupo cooperto versibus' to have been P. Rutilius Lupus, who was consul 664 with L. Julius Caesar, but as Lucilius had then been dead thirteen years, it seems more likely to have been L. Lentulus Lupus, who was consul with C. Marcius Figulus 597, which is the opinion of Tarentius in loc. Hor.

Mucius. P. Mucius Scaevola consul 621. 'Quid refert dictis ignoscat Mucius an non?' Juv. 1. 154.