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Incude, et luteo Vulcano ad rhetora misit.
Bellorum exuviæ, truncis affixa trophæis
Lorica, et fracta de casside buccula pendens,
Et curtum temone jugum, victæque triermis
Aplustre, et summo tristis captivus in arcu,
Humanis majora bonis creduntur: ad hæc se
Romanus, Graiusque ac Barbarus induperator

135

Erexit: causas discriminis atque laboris

Inde habuit. TANTO MAJOR FAME SITIS EST, QUAM

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132. Dirty Vulcan.] Vulcan was the fabled god of smiths, whose trade is very filthy and dirty. Sat. xiii. 1. 44, 5.

133. Maimed trophies.] The trophy was a monument erected in memory of victory. The custom came from the Greeks, who, when they had routed their enemies, erected a tree, with all the branches cut off, on which they suspended the spoils of armour which they had taken from them, as well as other ensigns of victory: several of which the poet here enumerates; but as nothing was entire, the poet calls them maimed trophies.

134. A Beaver.] Buccula, from bucca, the cheek, seems to have been that part of armour which was fastened to the helmet, and came down over the cheeks, and fastened under the chin.

135. Beam.] Temo was the beam of the wain, or the draught-tree, whereon the yoke hung: by this the chariot was supported and conducted, while drawn by the yoke.

136. A sad captive, &c.] On the top of the triumphal arch, which was built upon these occasions, they made some wretched captive place himself, and there sit bemoaning his wretched fate, while the conquerors were exulting in their victory. So DRYDEN:

an arch of victory,

On whose high convex sits a captive foe,

And sighing casts a mournful look below.

137. To be greater, &c.] Such is the folly of mankind, that these wretched trifles are looked upon, not only as bearing the highest value, but as something more than human.

For these c.] Commanders of all nations have exerted themselves, through every scene of danger and fatigue, in order to get at these ensigns of fame and victory. Erexit se hath roused himself to mighty deeds.

138. The Roman.] By the Roman, perhaps, we may understand Julius Cæsar, M. Antony and others, who, while they were greedily following military glory, were preparing ruin for themselves, as well as many sad calamities to their country.

Greek.] Here Miltiades and Themistocles, the two Athe

135

Swords, and from dirty Vulcan, sent to a rhetorician.
The spoils of war, to maimed trophies a breast-plate
Fixed, and a beaver hanging from a broken helmet,
A yoke deprived of its beam, the flag of a conquer'd
Three-oar'd vessel, and a sad captive at the top of an arch,
Are believed to be greater than human goods: for these
The Roman, Greek, and Barbarian commander, hath
Exerted himself: the causes of danger and labour hath had
From thence. So much greater is the thirst of fame than
Of Virtue for WHO EMBRACES EVEN FIRTUE ITSELF,
IF YOU TAKE AWAY ITS REWARDS?-yet formerly the glory of a
few

Has ruined a country, and the lust of praise, and of

140

A title to be fixed to the stones, the keepers of their ashes; which, To throw down, the evil strength of a barren fig-tree is able,

145

nian generals, may be alluded to, who, while they were catching at military fame, perished miserably.

138. Barbarian.] A naine which the Greeks and Romans were fond of fixing on all but themselves.

Here may be meant Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general, who, while he vexed the Romans with continual wars, occasioned the overthrow of his country, and his own miserable death.

139. Causes of danger, &c.] These things have been the grand motives of their exertions, in the very face of difficulty, and even of death.

140. So much greater, &c.] i. e. All would be great; how few wish to be good!

142. If you take away, &c.] Who is so disinterestedly virtuous, as to love and embrace virtue, merely for the sake of being and doing good? indeed, who would be virtuous at all, unless the fame and reputation of being so, brought something with them to gratify the pride and vanity of the human heart? Virtue seldom walks forth, saith one, without vanity at her side.

-The glory of a few. As Marius, Sylla, Pompey, Antony, &c. q. d. Many instances have there been, where a few men, in search of fame, and of the gratification of their ambition, have been the destroyers of their country.

144. A title, &c.] An inscription to be put on their monuments, in which their remains were deposited-this has often proved a motive of ambition, and has urged men to the most dangerous, as well as mischievous exploits.

145. Evil strength, &c.] There was a sort of wild fig-tree, which grew about walls and other buildings, which, by spreading and running its roots under them, and shooting its branches into the joinings of them, in length of time weakened and destroyed them, as we often see done by ivy among us. See PERS. sat. i. 1. 25. Evil here is

to be understood in the sense of hurtful, mischievous.

A poor motive to fame, then, is a stone monument with a fine in

1

Quandoquidem data sunt ipsis quoque fata sepulchris.
Expende Hannibalem: quot libras in duce summo
Invenies? hic est, quem non capit Africa Mauro
Perfusa oceano, Niloque admota tepenti.
Rursus ad Æthiopum populos, aliosque elephantos
Additur imperiis Hispania: Pyrenæum
Transilit: opposuit natura Alpemque nivemque :
Diduxit scopulos, et montem rupit aceto.

Jam tenet Italiam, tamen ultra pergere tendit ;
Actum, inquit, nihil est, nisi Pœno milite portas
Frangimus, et mediâ vexillum pono Suburrâ.
O qualis facies, et quali digna tabellâ,

150

155

scription, which, in length of time, it will be in the power of a wild fig-tree to demolish.

146. Fates are given, &c.] Even sepulchres themselves must yield to fate, and, consequently, the fame and glory, which they are meant to preserve, must perish with them-how vain then the pursuit, how vain the happiness, which has no other motive or founda

tion!

147. Weigh Hannibal.] Place him in the scale of human greatness -i. e. consider him well, as a great man.

Hannibal was a valiant and politic Carthaginian commander; he. gave the Romans several signal overthrows, particularly at Cannæ, a village of Apulia, in the kingdom of Naples.

How many pounds, &c.] Alas, how little is left of him! a few inconsiderable ashes! which may be contained within the compass of an urn, though, when living, Africa itself was too small for him! So DRYDEN:

Great Hannibal within the balance lay,

And tell how many pounds his ashes weigh,
Whom Afric was not able to contain

&c. &c.

From

148. Wash'd, c.] By the Moorish sea. The poet describes the situation of Africa, the third part of the globe then known. Asia it is separated by the Nile; on the west it is washed by the At. lantic ocean; which beats upon the shores of Ethiopia and Libya, joining to which were the people of Mauritania, or Moors, conquered by Hannibal.

149. Warm Nile.] Made so by the great heat of the sun, it lying under the torrid zone.

150. Again.] Rursus-i. e. insuper, moreover-as sat. vi. 154.

Other elephants.] Other countries where elephants are bred; meaning, here, Libya and Mauritania, which were conquered by Hannibal.

151. Spain is added, &c.] To the empires he had conquered, he added Spain, yet was not content.

-The Pyrenean.] The Pyrenees, as they are now called-that immense range of high mountains which separate France from Spain.

Since fates are given also to sepulchres themselves.

Weigh Hannibal-how many pounds will you find in that
Great General? this is he, whom Africa wash'd by the Moorish
Sea, and adjoining to the warm Nile, does not contain :
Again, to the people of Ethiopia, and to other elephants,
Spain is added to his empires: the Pyrenean

He passes: nature opposed both Alps and snow:
He severed rocks, and rent the mountain with vinegar.
He now possesses Italy, yet endeavours to go farther :

150

"Nothing is done, says he," "unless, with the Punic army, we break

"The gates, and I place a banner in the midst of Suburra." O what a face! and worthy of what a picture!

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152. Nature opposed, &c.] For nature, as Pliny says, raised up the high mountains of the Alps, as a wall, to defend Italy from the incursions of the Barbarians. These are constantly covered with

snow.

153. Severed rocks, &c.] By immense dint of labour and perseverance he cut a way in the rocks, sufficient for his men, horses, and elephants to pass.

With vinegar.] Livy says, that in order to open and enlarge the way above mentioned, large trees were felled, and piled round the rock, and set on fire; the wind blowing hard, a fierce flame soon broke out, so that the rock glowed like the coals with which it was heated. Then Hannibal caused a great quantity of vinegar to be poured upon the rock, which piercing into the veins of it, which were now cracked by the intense heat of the fire, calcined and softened it, so that he could the more easily cut the path through it.

Polybius says nothing of this vinegar, and therefore many reject this incident as fabulous.

Pliny mentions one extraordinary quality of vinegar, viz. its being able to break rocks and stones which have been heated by fire. But, admitting this, it seems difficult to conceive how Hannibal could procure a quantity of vinegar sufficient for such a purpose, in so mountainous and barren a country. See ANT. Univ. Hist. vol. xvii. p. 597, 8.

154. Possesses Italy, &c.] i. e. Arrives there-comes into Italy -which for sixteen years together he wasted and destroyed, beating the Roman troops wherever he met them; but he was not content with this, he determined to go further, and take Rome.

155. Nothing is done, &c.] This is the language of an ambitious mind, which esteemed all that had been done as nothing, unless Rome itself were conquered.

Punic army.] The Poni (quasi Phoeni a Phoenicibus unde orti) were a people of Africa, near Carthage; but being united to them, Pœni is used, per synec. for the Carthaginians in general. 156. Suburra.] One of the principal streets in Rome. fore, sat. iii. 5, note.

See be

157. What a face !] What a figure was he all this while; how

VOL. II.

Cum Gætula ducem portaret bellua luscum !

Exitus ergo quis est? ô gloria! vincitur idem

Nempe, et in exilium præceps fugit, atque ibi magnus
Mirandusque cliens sedet ad prætoria regis,
Donec Bithyno libeat vigilare tyranno.
Finem animæ, quæ res humanas miscuit olim,

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Non gladii, non saxa dabant, non tela, sed ille
Cannarum vindex, et tanti sanguinis ultor,
Annulus. I, demens, et sævas curre per Alpes,

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Ut pueris placeas, et declamatio fias.

Unus Pellao juveni non sufficit orbis :

Estuat infelix angusto limite mundi,

Ut Gyara clausus scopulis, parvâque Seripho.

170

curious a picture would he have made, mounted on his elephant, and exhibiting his one-eyed countenance above the rest?

When Hannibal came into Etruria (Tuscany) the river Arno was swelled to a great height, insomuch that it occasioned the loss of many of his men and beasts, particularly of the elephants, of which the only one remaining was that on which Hannibal was mounted. Here, by the damps and fatigue, he lost one of his eyes.

158. Getulian beast.] i. e. The elephant. The Getulians were a people of Libya, bordering on Mauritania, where many elephants were found.

159. His exit.] What was the end of all his exploits, as well as of himself?

O glory!] Alas, what is it all!

160. Is subdued, &c.] He was at last routed by Scipio, and forced to fly for refuge to Prusias king of Bithynia.

161. Client.] Cliens signifies a retainer-a dependent-one who has put himself under the protection of a patron, to whom he pays all honour and observance.

This great and wonderful man was thus reduced, after all his glorious deeds.

Sits, &c.] Like a poor and mean dependent. 162. Till it might please, &c.] The word tyrant is not always to be taken, as among us it usually is, in a bad sense.

in old time in a good sense for a king, or sovereign.

It was used

To awake.] When he came to prefer his petition for protection, he could gain no admission till the king's sleeping hours were over; Hannibal was now in too abject and mean a condition to demand an audience, or even to expect one, till the king was perfectly at leisure.

It is the custom of the eastern princes to sleep about the middle of the day (2 Sam. iv. 5.) when the heats are intense, and none dare disturb them. This was the occasion of the deaths of many in our time at Calcutta, where, when taken by the Subah Surajah Dowlah, a number of gentlemen were put into a place called the Black-hole, where the air was so confined, that it suffocated the greatest part of

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