Antiquis una comedunt patrimonia mensa. Nil erit ulterius quod nostris moribus addat man's dinner may read the ninth chapter of 139. Nullus jam parasitus erit:] 'We shall soon have no parasites: but who shall bear to see this selfish gluttony of yours?' He addresses the man. 'Luxuriae sordes' means avarice and luxury combined. 'Ponere' is the word used for putting dishes on the table. See Hor. S. ii. 4. 14, n., and elsewhere. At large banquets a boar served up whole, and sometimes stuffed with all manner of forced meat and rich things, was usually the chief dish. (See Hor. S. ii. 3. 234, n., and 8. 6, n.) Grangaeus says Juvenal has taken animal propter convivia natum' from Varro, de Re Rust. ii. 4: "Suillum pecus donatum ab natura dicunt ad epulandum." Juvenal means more than Varro did. He says it is so big as only to be meant to be eaten when several are collected at a feast. He might have said the same of the peacock. Natum' is used like 'Natis in usum laetitiae scyphis' (Hor. C. i. 27. 1). For 'ferat' some MSS. have 'feret:' either will do. Heinrich has the future. 142. Poena tamen praesens,] 'But the penalty follows hard after the crime, for when he goes to bathe with his stomach full and his hard meat undigested, he gets a fit of apoplexy which puts an end to him. The news gets about from one house to another, and his friends, angry at missing the legacies they expected, are glad to hear of his death.' As he made no will his property would go to his 'haeredes.' The peacock first 140 145 150 came into fashion in Cicero's time. (See Hor. S. ii. 2. 21, n.) The common practice of bathing immediately after meals, though in hot baths, might well lead to sudden deaths or to frequent intestacy, as Juvenal expresses it. See Persius, S. iii. 98, sqq., where there are some powerful lines on this subject. 'Ducere funus' is one of the many applications of that verb, of which a great variety will be found in Horace. 149. Omne in praecipiti vitium stetit.] "All vice is at its height " (Stapylton). “All vice is at its zenith" (Gifford). "All vice is at its pitch-pole" (whatever that may be) is Holyday's version. The notion is, that vice is at a point from which it can climb no higher, and that the age is on the brink of a precipice, and likely to be ruined through its vices. The stone was still rolling in Horace's days : "Damnosa quid non imminuit dies? C. iii. 6, fin. Rigalti quotes Velleius (lib. ii.): "adeo mature a rectis in vitia, a vitiis in prava, a pravis in praccipitia pervenitur." Utere velis, Totos pande sinus.] He addresses his Muse as a ship, and bids her set all sail. But he supposes one to ask where he is to get the ability for such work, and where the freedom of speech that his forefathers had, but which at that time could not be so much as spoken of, not in public at least. Simplicitas, cujus non audeo dicere nomen? 154. Quid refert dictis ignoscat Mucius] The MSS. vary between Mucius' and 'Mutius.' The same variation appears in Persius (i. 115), where the name occurs again in conjunction with Lupus, whom Horace mentions with Metellus as objects of Lucilius' satire. The man is supposed to ask, 'What does it signify (refert, rem fert) whether you might attack Mucius with impunity, as Lucilius did, or not? Introduce Tigellinus, and you will be served as the Christians were.' 'Pone' is used in Pers. i. 70: "nec ponere lucum Artifices;" where the Scholiast says, "Ponere dicit scribere;" and he quotes Horace, A. P. 120: "Scriptor honoratum si forte reponis Achillem." There 'reponere' has reference to the stage. Here it means, perhaps, put up as your mark,' or it may be put into your verse.' He means, if you attack any of the great man's great men you will suffer for it. Sophronius Tigellinus (whose name is used proverbially) was Nero's chief favourite, and his accomplice in the burning of Rome. The origin of the fire was traced to his house (Tac. Ann. xv. 39). To avert from himself and his friend the odium of this crime, Nero, as is well known, charged it upon the Christians, who were put to death in great numbers and in the most cruel fashion. Among other torments they were hung up on crosses, tarred, and set fire to by way of torches (Tac. 1. c. cap. 44). 'Taeda' here means either a pitched shirt, called below tunica molesta' (viii. 235), or, as Heinrich takes it, the pine wood with which they were burnt. Juvenal represents the poor wretches with a stake thrust under their chin. Two of the oldest MSS., P. and the oldest of the Nürnberg, have 'pectore' for 'gutture,' which is the reading of the other MSS. In P. the word is corrected to 'gutture' by a later hand. Jahn adopts 'pectore.' I have not met with any other editor who does so. 157. Et latum media sulcum deducis] The variety of readings, and still greater va riety of conjectures, in respect to deducis,' involve the passage in almost hopeless difficulty. To judge by the MSS., which are no where so various as here, the verse must 6 155 always have been hard to understand. Pithoeus says of it: "nec ullus est in his Satyris locus, quem ego ex Grammaticorum Glossis minus grammatice intelligam." Gesner, quoted by Ruperti, supposes Juvenal to mean that his body would be dragged through the arena. Rigalti had said this long before: "ardebis in tunica molesta, et jam ecce raptaris per mediam arenam ut pice oblitus et impactus unco flammeris." I incline to this interpretation, which Heinrich also approves. The present for the future only represents the action as if now going on. Et' for 'aut' presents no difculty. But Heinrich thinks it should be 'aut,' which is not in any MS. Another explanation is that the 'sulcus' is a stream or gutter formed by the melted pitch running off the man's body on the ground. I do not see how sulcus' can have that meaning. Madvig's explanation, adopted by Mr. Mayor, is to my mind without any value. He reads 'deducit,' and derives a nominative (quae taeda) from what goes before, and then supposes the furrow to be formed in the earth by a number of victims buried up to their waists in a long row and set fire to. Some take the meaning to be ploughing the sand and wasting labour, quoting "tenuique in pulvere sulcos Ducimus, et sterili littus versamus aratro" (vii. 48, sq.). But this gives a poor meaning here. Nearly all the MSS. have the third person, fluctuating between 'di' and 'de' and the present and future tenses. P. has 'deducis' as a correction; and Robt. Stephens' oldest MS., which Ruperti describes as of high character, has the same. Stephens' edition has deducit;' but the joint edition of his grandson and Rigalti (Paris, 1613) has deducis;' and I believe that to be the true reading. 158. Qui dedit ergo] Probus, quoted by the old commentators, says Tigellinus had three uncles, and poisoned them all and forged wills by which he got their money, which is most probably an invention derived from the text. The Scholiast says more truly that Juvenal is speaking generally against those who gain their bad ends by poison. 'Pensilibus plumis' means a 'lec 6 Pensilibus plumis, atque illine despiciat nos? tica' with soft feather-bed and cushions, raised aloft on men's shoulders. 162. Securus licet Aeneam] 'You may safely set Aeneas and Turnus fighting; Achilles will not hurt you if you write of his death at the hand of Paris; and Hylas is at the bottom of the well with his pitcher, so you may say what you like about him.' Hylas was a favourite of Hercules; drawing water at a well he was dragged in by the nymphs, and Hercules sought him long, sorrowing and calling upon his name, and set the people of the country (Mysia) to seek him; a subject much handled by the old poets. Virgil asks, "Cui non dictus Hylas puer?" (Georg. iii. 6.) 'Committere' is to match one against another. So he says below (vi. 436): "Committit vates et comparat." 160 165 170 168. Inde irae et lacrimae.] Terence's "Hinc illae lacrimae " (Andr. i. 1. 99) came to be a proverb. Horace uses it, Epp. i. 19. 41; and Cicero likewise (pro Coelio, c. 25). 169. Ante tubas:] Before the battle is begun. When a man has put on his armour it is too late to draw back. The substance of his friend's advice is, that if he must write he had better attack those who are dead and gone; and the poet says he will follow his advice. From this it might be inferred that this Satire was written before the others. But I do not think it is a proof that can be depended upon. The 'Via Latina' was the oldest road out of Rome, and ran through the heart of Latium to Beneventum, where the 'Via Appia' joined it. The Via Flaminia' has 165. Ense velut stricto] This reminds been mentioned above, v. 61. The chief us of Horace, S. ii. 1. 39, sqq.: 66-- Sed hic stilus haud petet ultro Quemquam animantem, et me veluti custodiet ensis Vagina tectus; quem cur distringere coner What Ruperti says about Damocles' sword 167. tacita sudant praecordia culpa.] A cold sweat coming over the heart through the power of conscience and the fear of exposure is a forcible description. 'Praecordia' are the intestines rather than the heart. In these passion and feeling had their seat, according to the Romans: the heart was the seat of intelligence. roads leading out of Rome were lined for several miles with the tombs of the wealthier citizens, burial within the walls of the city being forbidden by the twelve tables. "Hominem in urbe ne sepelito neve urito" (Cic. de Legg. ii. 23). So that burning was practised as early as the decemvirate. It grew afterwards into general use, and was not discontinued till the end of the second century of the Christian era (see Becker's Gall., Exc. on the interment of the dead). Heinrich supposes Juvenal, by mentioning the Flaminian and Latin roads, to hint at Domitian and his favourite, Paris the actor, of whom the former was buried on the Via Flaminia, and the other on the Via Latina. SATIRA II. INTRODUCTION. This satire is levelled at those persons in the upper ranks of society (and particularly it would seem at the Emperor Domitian) who, pretending a stoical virtue and crying out against vice and calling up stringent old laws against it, were themselves practising the worst vices in secret, and giving to the age a character which never had been equalled, and could never be surpassed, for debauchery of the filthiest kind. The Commentators have generally supposed the satire to be aimed at the professional philosophers of the day. "The poet in this Satyr inveighs against the Hypocrisie of the Philosophers and Priests of his time," is Tate's account of the argument. What his notions of a Roman priest may have been it is hard to say, but he writes: "When hypocrites read lectures, and a sot, Tho' surfeit-gorged and reeking from the Stews, Heinrich, in a dissertation of much sagacity, has shown that Juvenal's meaning is very different from this, and the scope of the poem more wide and important. The vices and hypocrisy of Domitian were imitated by the respectable people, and at these he aims his invectives. From the word 'nuper,' in v. 29, it has been inferred that the satire was written soon after the events there referred to, which took place A. D. 83. Nuper' admits a good deal of latitude, as it often does in Cicero, but it is reasonable to suppose that Juvenal wrote while the matter was pretty fresh; and as the satire clearly has reference to the time of Domitian, that it was written before his reign was over (A. D. 97). It is not very likely that he gave it much publicity while the tyrant was alive. For indignant power there is none of the poems that excels this. The nature of the subjects however renders it almost unreadable, and nothing but the honesty of the writer could make the task of editing it endurable. Whoever would judge of the difference between the spirit of true indignation and that of a weak or impure mind in dealing with such painful subjects, should compare Juvenal with his translator Tate, who has taken from the satire the best recommendation it has, which is the virtue of the author. If the psalm-translator and poet-laureate was a man of purity he has done himself injustice. The other translators have executed their task better in this respect. ARGUMENT. I would gladly run to the utmost North when canting hypocrites dare talk of morals, mere ignorant fellows, though they fill their shelves with busts. No faith is in their outside. The whole town is teeming with these solemn villains. What, you reprove vice, the foulest of all foul pretenders! They affect few words, and silence, and cropped hair; more honest far is Peribomius, who makes no secret of his sin. I leave him to his destiny; I pity him. But they are worst who with fine words attack such vices. "I'm no worse than you," says Varillus the degraded. Let the straightlimbed laugh at the bandy-legged, the fair at the blackamoor. For who would tolerate the Gracchi complaining of sedition, nor exclaim if Verres should affect to hate a thief, Milo a murderer, Clodius an adulterer, Catiline Cethegus, or Sulla's pupils carp at his proscription? But such was he who, while his fatal incest was in the doing, and while his niece was spawning her abortions, restored the bitterest laws against adultery. The most corrupt may therefore well despise these moralists, and turn the tables on them, as Lauconia did when she heard one cry for the Julian law: "O happy times (cried she) with such a bulwark for its morals! Let the town blush, another Cato is come down from heaven! But whence, pray, this perfumery? If you must call old laws up from their rest, you'd better summon the Scantinian first. Look at the men, for they are worse than us, but their compact array and numbers save them; the lewd will hang together: among us nought so detestable is found. Say, do we meddle with the forum and the laws? A few, and but a few, are seen in the arena. But you will sit and spin and do our women's work better, yea than the best of us. We all know who was Hister's heir, and by what complaisance his wife got rich; and others may do likewise. And yet we are condemned; and censure spares the raven to hunt down the dove." These Stoics fled confused before the truth of her rebuke. V. 65. What will not others do when you put on those clothes of gauze and go and preach before admiring crowds against the female sinners, Creticus? They would at least put on a decent toga if it came to that. "But it's so hot," say you: why then go naked; madness is less disgraceful. Look at the dress in which, had you lived then, our hardy ancestors had seen you in the rostra. Would you not cry out, "Heaven and earth!" if you saw a judex so attired? How would a witness look in clothes like these? And yet you, stern unbending Stoic, go transparent! V. 78. The infection has spread, and will farther spread, like murrain among sheep, or scurf in pigs, or contagious rot from grape to grape. You will go on to some. thing worse than this. The height of wickedness is reached by slow degrees. Soon we shall see you among those who mock the rites of Bona Dea, driving out the women, and keeping up such orgies as the Baptae tire Cotytto with. They wear long garlands on their heads and jewels on their neck, and sacrifice, and pour libations. Here one paints his eyebrows and makes his eyes look languishing: another drinks from an obscene glass with his long locks tied up in a net of gold, with a handsome tunic, while his slave swears by his master's Juno! Another holds a mirror to his face such as vile Otho carried when he went to the wars; a novel piece of furniture for a camp! Of course it is a great man's part to kill a tyrant—and to mind his skin; to aim at empires -and to smooth his face. Semiramis and Cleopatra did not so. Here is no reverence for the table, none; but Cybele's foul license and the languishing voice, a fanatic high priest with his white hair, rare glutton he and master of his art. Long since they should have cut their useless parts, as the Phrygian priests are wont. V. 116. Gracchus his portion brought to a trumpeter: the marriage deeds were signed; the blessing spoken; the feast prepared; the new bride lay upon his husband's bosom. Ye nobles! need we the censor or the haruspex here? What if a woman calved or a cow lambed? you'd shudder more and count them greater monsters. The priest of Mars who sweated with the ancilia puts on a bridal dress! Gradivus, whence this shame to Latin shepherds? whence have thy sons this itch? A man of birth and wealth marries a man, and yet thy wrath is still! quit then the plain which thou dost so neglect. "I must be up betimes, and do my duty by the Quirinal." "What duty?" "What duty! why my friend will take a husband-the marriage will be private." But soon there'll be no privacy, they'll want to put it in the news. And yet they must die barren (this torments them), in spite of herbs and the Lupercus' blows. V. 143. But this is less than noble gladiators, who scour the arena, better born than all the fine folk who look on by the podium, yea than the great man too who gives the games. The fables about manes, Styx, and Charon's boat we leave to babes. But only think them true, and and what would all those mighty spirits say when such a shade came down! They'd cry for lustral water, sulphur, pine, and laurel. V. 159. So changed are we, alas! Our arms are carried to the furthest North, but those barbarians do not what their conquerors do. Yet one, Armenian Zalates, more soft |