Clamatur; nullo gemit hic tibicina cornu. 90 95 ously parodies that passage in Virgil, relative to the Sybil-En. vi. 258, 9. Procul, procul, este profani, Conclamat vates, totoque absistite luco! The male 90. With no horn here, &c.] It was usual, at the sacrifices of the Bona Dea, for some of the women to make a lamentable noise (well expressed here by the word gemit) with a horn. worshippers had no women among them for this purpose. tibicina cornu, for nulla tibicina cornu. Hypallage. Nullo 91. Such orgies.] Orgia-so called xо τns Ogyns, from the furious behaviour of the priests of Bacchus, and others by whom they were celebrated-but the part of the orgies here alluded to, was that wherein all manner of lewdness, even of the most unnatural kind, was committed by private torch-light-Tada secreta. Coluerunt-they practised, celebrated, solemnized. 92. The Baptæ.] Priests of Cotytto at Athens, called Baptæ, because, after the horrid impurities which they had been guilty of, in honour of their goddess, they thought themselves entirely purified by dipping themselves in water. The Cecropian Cotytto.] Cotytto was a strumpet (the goddess of impudence and unchastity) worshipped by night at Athens, as the Bona Dea was at Rome. The priests are said to weary her, because of the length of their infamous rites, and of the multiplicity of their acts of impurity, which were continued the whole night. Cecrops, the first king of Athens, built the city, and called it, after his name, Cecropia. 93. His eyebrow.] It was customary for the women to paint the eyebrows, as well as the eyes: the first was done with a black composition made of soot and water; with this they lengthened the eyebrow, which was reckoned a great beauty. This was imitated by those infamous wretches spoken of by the poet, to make them appear more like women. ? 94. With an oblique needle.] Acus signifies also a bodkin; this was wetted with the composition, and drawn obliquely over, or along the eyebrow. the And paints, lifting them up, &c.] This was another practice of the women, to paint their eyes. It is now in use among Moorish women in Barbary, and among the Turkish women about Aleppo, thus described by Dr. Shaw and Dr. Russel. 7 Is cried aloud: with no horn here the female minstrel sounds. [trembling Lengthens with oblique needle, and paints, lifting them up, his Eyes; another drinks in a priapus made of glass, And fills a little golden net with a vast quantity of hair, 95 "Their method of doing it is, by a cylindrical piece of silver, "steel, or ivory, about two inches long, made very smooth, and "about the size of a common probe. "This they wet with water, in order that the powder of lead ore "may stick to it; and applying the middle part horizontally to the 66 eye, they shut the eyelids upon it, and so drawing it through be"tween them, it blacks the inside, leaving a narrow black rim all "round the edge.". This is sufficient for our present purpose, to explain what the poet means by painting the eyes. This custom was practised by many eastern nations among the women, and at last got among the Roman women: in imitation of whom, these male-prostitutes also tinged their eyes. Lifting up-trembling. This describes the situation of the eyes under the operation, which must occasion some pain from the great tenderness of the part. Or, perhaps, by trementes, Juvenal may mean something lascivious, as sat. vii. 1. 241. 95. Another drinks, &c.] A practice of the most impudent and abandoned women is adopted by these wretches. 96. A little golden net, &c.] Reticulum-here denotes-a coif, or cawl of net-work, which the women put over their hair. This too these men imitated. With a vast quantity of hair.] They left vast quantities of thick and long hair upon their heads, the better to resemble women, and all this they stuffed under a cawl as the women did. 97. Female garments.] Scutulata-garments made of needlework, in form of shields or targets, worn by women. Smooth white vests.] Galbana rasa-fine garments, shorn of the pile for women's wear. Ainsworth says they were white, and derives the word galbanum from Heb. white. But others say, that the colour of these garments was bluish or greenish. The adjective galbanus-a-um, signifies spruce, wanton, effeminate. So Mart. calls an effeminate person-hominem galbanatum: and of another he says, galbanos habet mores. MART. i. 97. 98. The servant swearing, &c.] The manners of the masters were copied by the servants: hence, like their masters, they swore by Juno, which it was customary for women to do, as the men by Jupiter, Hercules, &c. yd badut ut audi eggstå. E 3 Ille tenet speculum; pathici gestamen Othonis, Res memoranda novis annalibus, atque recenti 100 A 417 105 99. A looking-glass.] Speculum-such as the women used. The bearing, &c.] Which, or such a one as, Otho, infamous for the crime which is charged on these people, used to carry about with him, even when he went forth to war as emperor. The poet in this passage, with infinite humour, parodies, in derision of the effeminate Otho, and of these unnatural wretches, some parts of Virgil-first, where that poet uses the word gestamen (which denotes any thing carried or worn) as descriptive of the shield of Abas, which he carried in battle. Æn. iii. 286. Ere cavo Clypeum, magni gestamen Abantis, Postibus adversis figo, &c. and again, secondly-in Æn. vii. 246. Virgil, speaking of the orna ments which Priam wore, when he sat in public among his subjects, as their prince and lawgiver, says: Hoc Priami gestamen erat, &c. In imitation of this, Juvenal most sarcastically calls Otho's mirror-pathici gestamen Othonis. 100. The spoil of Auruncian Actor.] Alluding to Virgil, Æn. xii. 93, 94. where Turnus arms himself with a spear, which he had taken in battle from Actor, one of the brave Auruncian chiefs. Juvenal seems to insinuate, that this wretch rejoiced as much in being possessed of Otho's mirror, taken from that emperor after his death, (when he had killed himself, after having been twice defeated by Vitellius,) as Turnus did in having the spear of the heroic Actor. 101. Commanded the banners, &c.] This was a signal for battle. When they encamped, they fixed the banners in the ground near the general's tent-which was called statuere signa. When battle was to be given, the general gave the word of command to take up the standards or banners-this was-tollere signa. At such a time as this was the effeminate Otho, when he was armed for the battle, viewing himself in his mirror. I 103. Baggage of civil war.] A worthy matter to be recorded in the annals and history of these times, that among the warlike baggage of a commander in chief, in a civil war, wherein no less than the pos Another holds a looking glass, the bearing of pathic Otho, And to take care of the skin, the perseverance of the highest citizen. ཟླ In the field of Bedriacum to affect the spoil of the palace, And to extend over the face bread squeezed with the fingers: Which neither the quivered Semiramis in the Assyrian world, Nor sad Cleopatra did in her Actiacan galley. 105 session of the Roman empire was at stake, there was found a mirror, the proper implement of a Roman lady! This civil war was between Otho and Vitellius, which last was set up, by the German soldiers, for emperor, and at last succeeded. 104. To kill Galba, &c.] The nimirum-doubtless-to be sure -throws an irony over this, and the following three lines-as if the poet said-To aim at empire, and to have the reigning prince assassinated in the forum, in order to succeed him, was, doubtless, a most noble piece of generalship, worthy a great general; and, be sure, it was the part of a great citizen to take so much care of his complexion-it must be allowed worthy the mightiest citizen of Rome, to attend to this with unremitting constancy! to This action of Otho's, who, when he found Galba, who had promised to adopt him as his successor, deceiving him, in favour of Piso, destroyed him, makes a strong contrast in the character of Otho: in one instance, bold and enterprising-in another, soft and effeminate. 106. In the field to affect, &c.] To aim at, to aspire to, the peaceable and sole possession of the emperor's palace, as master of the empire, when engaged in the battle with Vitellius in the field of Bedriacum, (between Cremona and Verona,) was great and noble; but how sadly inconsistent with what follows! 107. To extend over the face, &c.] The Roman ladies used a sort of bread, or paste, wetted with asses milk. This they pressed and spread with their fingers on the face to cover it from the air, and thus preserve the complexion. See sat. vi. 1. 461. This was practised by the emperor Otho. Otho, at last, being twice defeated by Vitellius, dreading the hor rors of the civil war in which he was engaged, killed himself to prevent it, when he had sufficient force to try his fortune again. 108. The quivered Semiramis.] The famous warlike queen of Assyria, who after the death of her husband Ninus, put on man's apparel, and did many warlike actions. 109. Sad Cleopatra.] The famous and unfortunate queen of Egypt, who with M. Anthony, being defeated by Augustus, in the sea-fight at Actium, fled to Alexandria, and there, despairing to 1 Hic nullus verbis pudor, aut reverentia mensä: Sacrorum antistes, rarum ac memorabile magni 110 115 find any favour from Augustus, applied two asps to her breast, which stung her to death. She died on the tomb of Anthony, who had killed himself after the loss of the battle. 109. In her Actiacan galley.] Carina properly signifies the keel, or bottom of a ship, but, by synec. the whole ship or vessel. It denotes, here, the fine galley, or vessel, in which Cleopatra was at the battle of Actium; which was richly ornamented with gold, and had purple sails. Regina (Cleopatra) cum aureâ puppe, veloque purpureo, se in altum dedit. PLIN. lib. xix. c. 1. ad fin. From this it is probable that our Shakespeare took his idea of the vessel in which Cleopatra, when she first met M. Anthony on the river Cydnus, appeared: the description of which is embellished with some of the finest touches of that great poet's fancy. See Ant. and Cleop. act II. sc. ii. Neither of these women were so effeminate as the emperor Otho. 110. Here is no modesty, &c.] Juvenal having censured the effeminacy of their actions and dress, now attacks their manner of conversation, at their sacrificial feasts. Reverence of the table.] That is, of the table where they feasted on their sacrifices, which, every where else, was reckoned sacred: here they paid no sort of regard to it. 111. Of filthy Cybele.] Here they indulge themselves in all the filthy conversation that they can utter; like the priests of Cybele, who used to display all manner of filthiness and obscenity before the image of their goddess, both in word and action. With broken voice.] Perhaps this means a feigned, altered, lisping voice, to imitate the voices of women, or of the priests of Cybele who were all eunuchs. 112. An old fanatic.] Fanaticus (from Gr. anoμai, appareo) denotes one that pretends to inspiration, visions, and the like. Such the Galli, or priests of Cybele were called, from their strange gestures and speeches, as if actuated or possessed by some spirit which they called divine. See VIRG. Æn. vi. l. 46–51. a description of this fanatic inspiration: which shews what the heathens meant, when they spake of their diviners being-pleni Deo-afflati numine, and the like. See PARK. Heb. and Eng. Lex. 28, No. 4. Such a one was the old white-headed priest here spoken of. |