question. Go, then, mouth it out. My mother was a Dinomache. I inherit her beauty;' by all means, only remember that old shrivelled Baucis is just as good a philosopher as you, when she cries basil to a low creature of a slave."

How utter, utter is the dearth of men who venture down into their own breasts, and how universally they stare at the wallet on the man's back before them! Suppose you ask, 'Do you know Vettidius' property?' 'Whose?' 'That great proprietor who has estates at Cures which a kite cannot fly over.' 'Him, do you mean?

23-41. None of us knows himselfevery one thinks only of his neighbour. Inquire about some rich man, and you will hear how he pinches himself; even on state occasions hardly bringing himself to open a bottle of wine, which has been kept till it has turned to vinegar, to drink with his onions. But you with your luxury and effeminacy are laying yourself open to remarks of the same kind on your personal habits.'

23. descendere in sese-' to explore the depths of his own bosom :' an extension of the metaphor which attributes depth to the secrets of the mind.

24. Jupiter, according to Phaedrus (4. 10), has furnished every man with two wallets, one containing his neighbour's faults, to hang round his neck, the other containing his own, to hang behind his back. So Catull. 22. 21 Sed non videmus manticae quod in tergo est.' Hor. 2 S. 3. 299 Respicere ignoto discet pendentia tergo.' Persius improves on the image by giving every one a single wallet to hang behind him, and making him look exclusively at that which hangs on the back of his neighbour who is walking before.

25. It is not easy to account for the distribution of the dialogue that follows.

quaesieris apparently refers to the person who is addressed in the preceding lines, and again in the following. From vv. 42 foll. it would seem to be Persius' object to expose the inconsistency with which he ridicules his neighbour's avarice, being himself guilty of vices of another kind. Yet vv. 27-32, which contain the picture of the miser, are spoken not by him but by the person to whom he is talking, unless we follow the Scholiast in dividing v. 27 Hunc ais?' 'Hunc,' etc., contrary to the natural meaning of the line. We must then either understand 'quaesieris' loosely in the sense of ' quae

sierit quispiam,' and reverse the order of the speakers, so as to leave vv. 27-32 for the representation of Alcibiades, or suppose that Persius means his hero not to ridicule the miser himself, but to listen while others do so, and flatter himself that nothing of the kind is said of him, not knowing that the scandals of his own life are dwelt upon with quite as much relish.

Vettidi is restored by Jahn for 'Vectidi' on the authority of numerous inscriptions.

Cuius? comp. 2. 19 'Cuinam?' The person questioned does not know who is meant, till a description of the man is given.

as

26. aro, in the sense of possessing arable land. Hor. Epod. 4. 13, referred to by Jahn Arat Falerni mille fundi iugera.' Curibus, possibly mentioned, Jahn thinks, to remind us of the old Sabines and their simple life, which the miserly owner of the latifundium' caricatures so grossly.

quantum non miluus oberret. Imitated by Juv. 9. 54 foll. Cui tot montis, tot praedia servas Apula, tot miluos intra tua pascua lassos.' According to the Scholiast quantum milui volant' was a proverbial expression for distance. [Jahn in his text of 1868 reads 'errat' from some of his later MSS.]

tem.'

6

27. dis iratis for 'Deos iratos haben'Iratis natus paries Dis atque poetis' Hor. 2 S. 3. 8. Dis inimice senex' is Horace's address to a miser, v. 123 of the same Satire. There, as here, the expression seems to imply folly or madness, as in Ter. Andr. 4. 1. 40 'mihi deos satis Scio fuisse iratos, qui auscultaverim,' which Jahn compares.

genio sinistro, as refusing the enjoyments which his nature claims, see note on 2. 3. The Scholiast compares Ter. Phorm. 1. 1. 10 Suum defraudans ge

qui, quandoque iugum pertusa ad compita figit, seriolae veterem metuens deradere limum

ingemit: hoc bene sit! tunicatum cum sale mordens
caepe et farratam pueris plaudentibus ollam
pannosam faecem morientis sorbet aceti?'

ac si unctus cesses et figas in cute solem,
est prope te ignotus, cubito qui tangat et acre
despuat hi mores! penemque arcanaque lumbi
runcantem populo marcentis pandere vulvas!
tu cum maxillis balanatum gausape pectas,
inguinibus quare detonsus gurgulio extat?
quinque palaestritae licet haec plantaria vellant
elixasque nates labefactent forcipe adunca,
non tamen ista filix ullo mansuescit aratro.'

28. compta (e superscr.)
36. buluas.

6

nium, compersit miser:' the Delph. ed. compares Plaut. Truc. 1. 2. 87' Isti qui cum geniis suis belligerant parcipromi,' which is the same as the prosaic ventri Indico bellum' of Hor. I S. 5. 7. The whole line is imitated by Juv. 10. 129 'Dis ille adversis genitus fatoque sinistro.'

28. Referring to the feast of 'Compitalia' (see Dict. Antiqq.), one of the rustic holidays, like the Paganalia' (Prol. 6) and the Palilia' (1. 72), celebrated with sacrifices and games. 'Ut quoque turba bono plaudat signata (?) magistro, Qui facit egregios ad pervia compita ludos' Calp. 4. 125 foll. To these Hor. refers 1 Ep. 1. 49 Quis circum pagos et circum compita pugnax.' The yoke was hung up, with the other parts of the plough, as a symbol of the suspension of labour. Luce sacra requiescat humus, requiescat arator, Et grave, suspenso vomere cesset opus. Solvite vincla iugis' Tibull. 2. 1. 5 foll. Rusticus emeritum palo suspendat aratrum' Ov. F. 1. 665. Figere' is generally used where the implements are hung up permanently. Armis Herculis ad postem fixis' Hor. I Ep. 1. 5. Armaque fixit Troïa' Virg. Aen. I. 248.

6

pertusa, Merito, quia per omnes quatuor partes pateant' Schol. ; equivalent to 'pervia' in Calp. 1. c. 'Pertundere' is

3309

35

40

ca

37. tunc. used for to make a passage through' Lucr. 4. 1286 foll. Guttas in saxa dentes Humoris longo in spatio pertundere saxa,' and so 'pertusum vas' id. 3. 1009, of the bottomless tub of the Danaides. The line then means at each return of the Compitalia.'

29. Cato R. R. 57, referred to by Jahn, bids the farmer give each slave at the 'Compitalia' a congius of wine over and above the usual allowance.

limus is explained by the Scholiast and most of the commentators, of the pitch or other substance with which the jars were daubed (linebantur' Hor. I Od. 20. 3): Jahn however understands it more simply of the dirt which would naturally adhere to it after so long keeping.

30. bene sit was a common form of drinking healths. Bene vos, bene nos, bene te, bene me, bene nostram etiam Stephanium' Plaut. Stich. 5. 4. 27; also with the dative of the person, Bene mihi, bene vobis, bene amitae meae' id. Pers. 5. I. 20; a wish for future blessings. 'Bene est' is a common phrase for the present pleasures of the table. Bene erat non piscibus urbe petitis, Sed pullo atque haedo' Hor. 2 S. 2. 120. Jahn. 'Bene erat iam glande reperta' Ov. F. 4. 399. Casaubon. Here it is a sort of grace, uttered with a groan by the miser, who

the aversion of the gods and the enemy of his genius, who, whenever he fastens up the yoke at the feast of crossroads and thoroughfares, in the extremity of his dread of scraping off the ancient incrustation from his dwarf wine jar, groans out, May it be for the best! as he munches onions, coats and all, with salt, and while his slaves are clapping their hands with ecstasy over the mess of meal, gulps down the mothery lees of expiring vinegar?'

"Caedimus inque vicem praebemus crura sagittis. vivitur hoc pacto; sic novimus. ilia subter

caecum vulnus habes; sed lato balteus auro
praetegit. ut mavis, da verba et decipe nervos,
si potes. Egregium cum me vicinia dicat,
non credam?' Viso si palles, inprobe, nummo,
si facis in penem quidquid tibi venit amorum :
si puteal multa cautus vibice flagellas:
nequiquam populo bibulas donaveris aures.
respue, quod non es; tollat sua munera Cerdo;
tecum habita; noris, quam sit tibi curta supellex."

is

42-52. This is the way: we lash our neighbours and are lashed in turn. Avail yourself of your prestige if you like, but remember that what men say of you worthless, if you are really a libertine or a usurer. Better be true to yourself and learn your own weakness.'

42. Casaubon seems right in supposing that Persius was thinking of Hor. 2 Ep. 2. 97 Caedimur et totidem plagis consumimus hostem,' though the passage of arms is there a passage of compliments. 'We are like archers in a battle, who shoot many arrows, and are ourselves exposed to many shots,'-the image being chosen so as to express the suddenness of the wounds, which come from unknown quarters. The arrows of the tongue are a sufficiently common metaphor. τῶν γὰρ μεγάλων ψυχῶν ἱεὶς οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοις Soph. Aj. 154.

caedo seems to be used of wounding with a missile weapon-e. g. of battering doors with stones, Cic. Verr. 2. I. 27.

43. vivitur hoc pacto. Isto non vivitur illic, Quo tu rere, modo' Hor. 1 S. 9. 48. Casaubon compares Hor. 2 S. 8. 65 Haec est condicio vivendi.'

sic novimus seems to be equivalent to 'sic accepimus' or 'sic didicimus,' -such is our experience.'

52. ut noris.

45

50

with gold like that in Virg. Aen. 5. 312 'lato quam circumplectitur auro Balteus.' In Virg. Aen. 12. 273 a man is pierced by a spear, ad medium, teritur qua sutilis alvo Balteus.' The belt was used to support the quiver, as in Aen. 5. 1. c. 'You are touched, though you hide it, and fall back on your rank and popularity.' ['Caecum vulnus:' comp. Lucr. 4. 1120 ‘Usque adeo incerti tabescunt volnere caeco:' Virg. Aen. 10. 733 uses the words of a wound in the back.]

45. praetegit. 'Praetegit aere caput' Prop. 4. 14. 12.

ut mavis is from Hor. I S. 4. 21. da verba. 3. 19.

decipe nervos, cheat your physical powers (nervos' as in 2. 41) by fighting on, as if you were not wounded.

46. Imitated from several passages in Horace, as Casaubon remarks. The words are from 2 S. 5. 106 'Egregie factum laudet vicinia.' The matter from 1 Ep. 16. 19 foll. Sed vereor ne cui de te plus quam tibi credas... neu si te populus sanum recteque valentem Dictitet, occultam febrem sub tempus edendi Dissimules.' [Comp. also Sen. Ep. 59. 11 'Illud praecipue impedit, quod cito nobis placemus: si invenimus qui nos bonos viros dicet, qui prudentes, qui sanctos, agnoscimus.'] 47. Comp. 3. 109.

inprobe, placed as in Hor. 2 S. 2. 134, Lucr. 3. 1026. Jahn quotes Hor. 2 S. 3. 78'argenti pallet amore:' but the

"We keep inflicting wounds and exposing in our turn our own legs to shots. It is the understood rule of life, the lesson we have all of us learnt. You have a concealed wound in your groin, but the broad fold of your belt hides it. Well, just as you please, play the sophist and cheat your physical powers, if you can do so. 'Why, when I have the whole neighbourhood telling me of my excellence, am not I to believe them?' If the sight of money makes you change colour, disreputable as you are, if in your zeal for the main chance you flog the exchange with many a stripe, it will do you no good to have made your thirsty ears the receptacle of popular praise. No; reject what is not you; let Hob and Dick take their presents back again; live at home, and learn how slenderly furnished your apartments are."

paleness here is sudden, not chronic.

49. The traditional explanation of this line interprets it of exorbitant usury, as the mention of the puteal naturally suggests. Casaubon was apparently the first to reject it, as incompatible with his view that Nero is the object of the Satire, himself understanding it of the emperor's habit of going out at night in disguise and assaulting people in the streets, as recorded by Tac. A. 13. 25, Suet. Nero 26.

Recent commentators, in exploding the notion of any reference to Nero, have returned to the old view, though Jahn so far modifies it as to suppose the allusion to be to the praetor's tribunal at the Puteal (Hor. 2 S. 6. 30), explaining 'flagellare puteal' of a litigious person who endeavours to gain his suit at any cost. The question is a difficult one: but if we make 'flagellare' metaphorical, there no reason why we should not understand it of usury. A usurer would naturally be called the scourge of the exchange,' as Hor. 1 Ep. 15. 31 calls Maenius Pernicies et tempestas barathrumque macelli.'

seems

6

donaveris. A variety for 'aures dare,' 'praebere,' commodare' (see 2. 30), with an additional notion of absolute resignation,

51. tollat sua munera, probably referring to Hor. 1 Ep. 16. 33 foll. 'Qui dedit hoc' (a good name) hodie, cras, si volet, auferet: ut si Detulerit fasces indigno, detrahet idem: Pone, meum est, inquit: pono, tristisque recedo.'

cerdo, kéрdav, seems to have been a proper name, given to slaves and common people, so that it naturally stands for one of the rabble, the Hob and Dick' of Shakespeare's Coriolanus. Perhaps it had better be written with a capital, both here (compare Baucis,' v. 21) and in Juv. 4. 153 (opp. to 'Lamia,' v. 154), 8. 182 (opp. to 'Volesos Brutumque,' ib.). The notion that it means a cobbler seems to be founded on Martial, 3. 59. I., 99. I., where it is coupled with 'sutor,' as it is with faber,' in an inscription in Spon's Misc. p. 221, referred to by Jahn.

52. tecum habita. Compare Arist. Eth. Ν. 9. 4 συνδιάγειν ὁ τοιοῦτος ἑαυτῷ βούλεται. Hor. 2 S. 7. 112 'Non horam tecum esse potes.' Curtae nescio quid semper abest rei' Hor. 3 Od. 14. 64.

G