264. Quod. Its antecedent is aliquid.

Cum Coclite Mucius. Horatius Cocles defended the bridge against PorMucius Scaevola burned off his hand when arrested

senna, cf. Livy II, 10.

for an attempt to kill the same king.

Quae-natavit. Cloelia escaped from Porsenna and swam the Tiber to

Rome.

265. Fines, in apposition with Tiberinum (Alumen).

266 ff. I. e., Vindicius, the slave that discovered the plot of the sons of Brutus to the senators, deserved to be mourned as Brutus was, while these degenerate sons of Brutus deserved the punishment that they received.

268. Adficiunt. Its subjects are verbera and securis.

Legum prima securis. Their execution was the first after the establishment of laws-i. c., of the republic.

269, Thersites was a cowardly boaster in the Greek army before Troy. Cf. II. II, 212 ff. He was killed by Achilles.

270. Aeacidae, Achilles, grandson of Aeacus.

272. Ut, although.

273. Asylo. Romulus was said to have obtained his citizens by opening an asylum for criminals. Cf. Livy I, 8.

SATIRE X.

ON THE VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES.

INTRODUCTION.-How few know what real good is; how many strive for that which serves only to injure them! Eloquence, strength, wealth, all have their victims. What wonder that Democritus laughed and Heraclitus wept at the folly of men? But the folly of those times is far exceeded in our

own.

Power brings envy and ill-will; Sejanus was second to the Emperor alone; in his fall he was hated and despised. Would you not rather be a humble magistrate in some country town than have Sejanus's power and fate? Crassus, Pompey, Caesar, all illustrate the same thing.

Eloquence is fatal too. Cicero's Philippics brought upon him Antony's vengeance. Demosthenes at the forge was safe; danger and death came when he had learned to sway the people at his will.

Hannibal died in

Military glory is both delusive and destructive. poverty and exile; Alexander found room for all his greatness in a coffin; Xerxes suffered ignominious defeat.

Men pray for length of days, forgetful of the infirmities and sorrows that attend it. Nestor's long life brought grief, and Peleus lived to mourn Achilles. Had Priam died before old age, he might have been spared

humiliation and disgrace. Hecuba lived longer still, and met a still worse fate. Look, too, at Mithridates, Croesus, Marius, Pompey.

Since, then, human wishes are vain, leave your happiness in the hands of the gods, whose care it is. If you must offer prayers, pray for a sound mind in a sound body; for the spirit of peace that only virtue can give.

1. Gadibus. Cadiz was the western boundary of the world to the ancients. 2. Auroram et Gangen. Usque without ad is not usual except with names

of towns.

3. Illis, dative.

Remota erroris nebula-i. e., to remove the mist of error and—

4. Ratione, ablative of manner.

7. Domos, families.

8. Toga-militia, in peace and war.

10. Ille. I think Macleane is right in referring this to the soldier, and not, as most commentators do, to Milo of Croton, who tried to rend a treetrunk, but was held fast and devoured by wolves.

11. Periit. The i in the final syllable is long.

13. Cuncta patrimonia, object of exuperans.

14. Quanto-i. e., tanto quanto.

16. Longinum. Gaius Cassius Longinus was a famous jurist, consul, and praetor, who was banished by Nero. Longinum = domum Longini, so Cererem for aedem Cereris.

Praedivitis Senecae. Cf. V, 109, note; VIII, 212.

17. Lateranorum; Plautius Lateranus was accused of participation in the conspiracy of Piso.

18. Cenacula, garrets.

19. Licet, although.

Puri, simple.

21. Ad lunam, in the moonlight.

22. Vacuus, empty-handed.

24. Maxima, etc. The bankers (argentarii) had their offices in the Forum. The positions of the most important buildings are shown in Fig.

48.

The heavy black lines mark existing ruins.

26. Fictilibus. Cf. III, 168, fictilibus cenare pudet.

Pocula gemmata. Cf. V, 43, gemmas ad pocula transfert.

-

28. Iamne igitur laudas quod cum ita sit, certe iam laudabis.

Alter, Democritus.

30. Auctor; Heraclitus, of Ephesus, about 500 B. C., who was called both the weeping and the obscure philosopher.

34. Democritus, of Abdera, 460–367 B. C.

Quamquam with the subjunctive is usual in the silver age.

Urbibus illis, etc.-i. e., in the cities of his time and country there was

TIG. 48.-Roman Forum. (The plan is intended to give an idea of the Forum during the early empire.) A. Forum proper; B, Temple of Castor and Pollux; C, Basilica Iulia; D. Temple of Saturn; E, Porticus of the Dei Consentes; F, Temple of Vespasian; G, Tabularium; H, Temple of Concord; I, Mamertine rison; K. Arch of Septimius Severus (203 A. D.); L, Basilica Porcia; M. Curia Hostilia (burned 55 B. c.); N, Curia Iulia; O. Basilica Aemilia; P, Temple of Antoninus and Faustina; Q, Temple of Vesta; R, Comitium of the Republic; S, Capitoline Hill; T, Palatine Hill; U, Terrace (Rostra ?); V, Rostra vetera (?); W, Rostra Iulia.

no such ridiculous "pomp and circumstance"; suppose Democritus had seen the praetor at the games or a consular triumph!

38. Tunica Iovis-i. e., the triumphal tunic, which was embroidered with gold and bordered with purple. It was kept in the temple of Jupiter.

39. Aulaea, properly curtains, used here of the heavy folds of the triumphal toga.

A

Magnae coronae tantum orbem, such a great encircling crown.

40. Quanto, dative.

41. The crown was so heavy that it was not worn, but carried by a public slave, who took his place beside the official in the chariot, and, according to the common tradition, reminded the triumphator that he was but mortal, after all.

43. Da, picture to yourself. Cf. III, 137, da testem.

Volucrem-i. e., the eagle.

44. Praecedentia, etc., = longum agmen praecedentium officiosorum.

45. Niveos, white-robed. The white toga was the festal garb.

46. In loculos-i. e., he has gained their friendship by the "pensions"

that they have stowed away in their coffers.

Sportula. Cf. I, 95.

47. Tum quoque, even in those times.

49. Exempla, object of daturos.

50. Vervecum, blockheads. Abdera, like Boeotia, was famous for the alleged stupidity of its inhabitants.

53. Mandaret laqueum, to commend the gallows to fortune, means, of course, to express scorn of her.

Mediumque ostenderet unguem. The middle finger was used in gestures of contempt.

54. Vel, if the reading be right, must mean even. The MSS. omit vel, which has been conjectured in order to avoid the hiatus.

55. Incerare. Petitions written on waxen tablets were laid on the knees of the statues of the gods.

57. Invidiae, dative.

Honorum pagina. The Scholiast says that this refers to a bronze tablet containing a list of titles.

58 ff. Their statues are pulled down and dragged through the streets, and even the marble representations of their horses and chariots are broken in pieces.

59. Inpacta securis, nom. sing.

61. Here follows a picture of the fate of the bronze statue of Sejanus, the ambitious favorite of Tiberius, who is selected as a striking example of the disasters incident to "potentia." He is the subject of a tragedy by Ben Jonson, entitled "Sejanus."

Strident, so stridere, V, 160.

64. Sartago, pan.

65. It is an occasion of general rejoicing.

66. Cretatum candidum, or refers to a custom of rubbing creta, white clay, on those portions of the sacrificial victim that were other than pure white.

67. What do the people, who made an idol of Sejanus, do when he falls? Listen.

69. Crimine, accusation.

70. Delator, accuser.

Teste, witness.

72. Capreis, the modern Capri, where Tiberius retired from Rome 26 A. D., leaving the active conduct of the State to Sejanus.

Bene habet

"all right." Cf. bene est; bene agitur.

73. Turba Remi. Remus is often used by poets for Romulus for the sake of the metre.

74. Nortia. An Etruscan goddess, worshiped especially at Vulsinii, the birthplace of Sejanus.

Tusco-i. e., Sejanus; dative.

75. Secura, from meaning safe from anxiety, comes to mean careless. The whole means, if the old emperor had been caught napping.

76. Diceret, would be calling. The subject is turba Remi.

77 f. Long ago, as soon as we lost the sale of our votes, we (i. e., turba Remi) threw off the cares of state. The irony in "ex quo suffragia nulli vendimus," for since the elections were transferred from the people to the senate, is bitter indeed.

81. Panem et circenses. Cf. III, 223, si potes avelli circensibus; VIII, 118. This phrase has become proverbial.

83. Bruttidius meus, my friend Bruttidius. famous orator of the time; perhaps he is meant.

Bruttidius Niger was a

84. Aiax-i. e., Tiberius, who, like Ajax conquered in his struggle with Ulysses, may rage against the supposed friends who seem to have de

serted him.

87. A side blow at the power possessed by slaves, and the ease with which their testimony might ruin their masters.

90. Salutari refers to the morning reception.

91 f. Illi-illum, one-another.

Curules-i. e., curule offices, consulships, praetorships. Sejanus practically controlled such offices after Tiberius's retirement to Capri.

94. Grege Chaldaeo. The Chaldaeans were famous astrologers, and Tiberius was much given to that sort of superstition.

Certe, at least.

95. Castra domestica-i. e., the Praetorian cohorts. 96. Et qui, even those who.