Dispositae pinguem nebulam vomuere lucernae that belongs to the Jews themselves. As to these superstitions see, besides the above passage of Juvenal, vi. 159, n. 542, n. 185. Tunc nigri lemures] Lemures and Larvae were spirits of the bad, as Manes and Lares were of the good. See note on Hor. Epp. ii. 2. 209, "Nocturnos lemures portentaque Thessala rides?" The Scholiast explains the dangers of the broken egg. He says that eggs were put by the priests on the fire to roast, and if one broke it portended mischief to him for whom the trial was made, or to his property. There were various superstitions about eggs, such as that as soon as the inside was eaten the spoon should be thrust through the shell. Witches used them in their incantations. Livia is said to have ascertained by hatching a hen's egg by artificial means, and its producing a cock, that the child of which she was pregnant would be a boy (Sueton. Tib. 14. Plin. x. 55). Eggs were used for other superstitious purposes (see Plum's note). 186. Tunc grandes Galli] These are the priests of Cybele. Tunc-tunc' are 'now one and now the other.' See notes on Juv. S. ii. 111; vi. 511. 'Grandes Galli' corresponds to the ingens Semivir' of the latter passage. As to 'sistrum' see note on Juv. xiii. 93, and Wilkinson's Anc. Egypt, vol. ii. p. 322, sqq. 'Lusca sacerdos' is here the priestess of Isis, to whom this instrument particularly belonged, and with it she struck blind those with whom she was angry, as Juvenal says (1. c.), "Isis et irato feriat mea lumina sistro." The priestess is therefore called 'lusca.' She may be supposed to have had a touch of the goddess' sistrum.' 187. Incussere deos inflantes corpora,] The influences usually attributed to Isis are here assigned to the several causes 185 190 named. "The gods that swell out men's bodies' is only a way of expressing their various diseases sent by the gods. "Et phthisis et vomicae putres," as Juvenal says in a similar connexion (1. c.). Turnebus (Adv. xviii. 12, quoted by Plum) has some remarks about the superstitious use of garlic, but they throw no light on this place. It is enough that the Egyptians held this herb in particular reverence, and it may be assumed, in the absence of information, that the ceremony of eating a head of garlic three times in the morning (three successive mornings, as it seems), was invented by Persius for this occasion. 189. Dixeris haec inter] This is the common construction for suppose you tell it.' See note on Hor. S. i. 1. 45. Haec ' means all that has been said about liberty. The Centurions are brought in again, laughing at all this philosophy. See S. iii. 78, sqq. Varicosus' is taken by the commentators generally to be derived from 'varix,' a swelling of the veins. The first syllable of that word is said by Forcellini to be long: I do not know on what authority. Hein. sius on Ovid, Ars Amat. iii. 304, "ingentes varica fertque gradus," says 'varicosus' is derived from varrio,' to straddle.' See Forcellini. The word occurs in Juvenal vi. 395. Vulfenius' appears in the MSS. under various forms. He is one of the stout captains, "qui in crepidas Graiorum ludere gestit (i. 127), and he says he would not bid more than a clipped 'centussis' for a hundred Greeks, an 'as' apiece. The centussis' was the highest multiple of the 'as' that was coined. ceri' is to bid at an auction, and the man supposes contemptuously a hundred philosophers put up in one lot, to be sold to the highest bidder. Li SATIRA VI. INTRODUCTION. Persius' last satire, like Juvenal's, is a fragment. That he wrote slowly, as the Grammarian says, may be easily believed, and his early death may have overtaken him before he bad time to finish this poem. This would give it an interest which in itself it has not. The poet has retired for the winter to the coast, and is living on the shores of the Gulf of Spezia (Lunae portus), where, if the Scholiast is to be believed, his mother lived after her second marriage. He sits down to write to his friend Caesius Bassus, the lyric poet; and after paying a high compliment to his genius, he commends the climate and scenery and retirement of the place he is staying at. There he lives free from all anxiety and all jealousy of his neighbours' prosperity. He contrasts his own state of mind with that of men, on the one hand, who deny themselves the necessaries of life, and, on the other, who run through their estate in their youth with riotous living. He expresses his resolution to enjoy what he has got, and advises all men to deal liberally with their means, living up to their income, and being ready to help a friend in time of need, even at the sacrifice of part of their estate. This suggestion brings up the principal subject of the satire, which is the folly of those who deny themselves for the sake of their heirs, a favourite subject with Horace. Whether it was the poet's intention to continue that subject to the end of the satire, or to put in any other point of view the spirit of moneygetting, it is impossible to say. But I am surprised that Casaubon, Jahn, and others should treat the satire as an entire composition. It is manifestly unfinished, and so the Grammarian's memoir expressly states. Of Caesius Bassus not much is known. He was a lyric poet, and Persius, with the partiality of a friend, speaks highly of his poems. But Quintilian had no great opinion of him. He says, what can easily be believed, that Horace was almost the only Roman lyric poet worth reading. There is no style that modern scholars have found so hard to imitate successfully, and it appears his countrymen did not succeed better, perhaps not so well. Quintilian adds, that if any body could be classed with Horace it was Caesius Bassus, but his abilities were far inferior to those of some poets then living. (Inst. x. 1. 95.) From what Persius says we may infer that his style was none of the smoothest. From the opening of the satire we learn that, like Horace, he had a house on the Sabine hills, and the Scholiast says that he had a villa in the neighbourhood of Mount Vesuvius, and was destroyed with his house by an eruption. This was, no doubt, in A.D. 79, when Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed, and the elder Pliny lost his life. According to late emendations of the text of the younger Pliny, in his description of his uncle's death (Epp. vi. 16), the name of Bassus is introduced in that celebrated letter. Jahn improves upon the emendations; but they are wholly conjectural, and cannot be received, the text of Pliny being hopelessly corrupt. ARGUMENT. V. 1. Has winter sent you to the country, Bassus? and is your lyre awake, great artist of the rough old manly song, and that which sings of young men's passions and of old men's wisdom? I'm on the warm Ligurian coast, whose seas are rough and rocks are bold, on Luna's port which Ennius praised, when he woke up from dreaming he was Homer. Here I forget all care, and envy not the wealth of meaner men. V. 18. Others may differ from me; even twins are born with different genii. One turns miser in his youth, the other runs through all his means with eating. For my part won, I shall use my fortune, not abuse it. Live up to your means: what should you fear? Harrow, and then your crop will come again. If duty calls, a friend cast on the coast, with all he has sunk in the sea, you may go further give him a slice of your estate. But then your heir will bury you shabbily; and cry out against luxury brought in with our new silly tastes from the East. What! do you fear beyond the grave? Come here, my heir, a word with you. My friend, a letter has arrived from Caesar, a great victory there'll be a triumph, all things are preparing. I mean to give two hundred gladiators. Who shall forbid me? Do so if you dare. I'll then give largess to the people. Do you say no? Speak out. "Not I your land is well nigh worthless." Very well; I've no relations of my own, but I can go and find a Manius at Bovillae or Aricia. "A son of Earth!" Well, ask who was my father's grandfather; it may be I could tell you: but go back two steps, and he was son of Earth. So Manius is his brother and my uncle. You've better claims than he, then why not wait? I'm your Mercurius, as they have him in the pictures. Refuse you what I offer? will you not is left," d'ye ask? take what's left? If aught is gone I am the sufferer. Whatever you may get is entire for you. Don't lecture me and bid me live upon my income. "How much Here, boy, pour faster oil upon my cabbage. Am I to live on nettles and pig's head that you and yours may live in gluttony and wantonness? Am I to starve that you may get a popa's belly? V. 75. Go sell your life; and search the world around; let no man beat you at the auction mart. Double your capital. "I have; it comes back triple, or quadruple, or it may be ten times more. Tell me where I should stop, and then we shall have found one who can solve sorites." ADMOVIT jam bruma foco te, Basse, Sabino? Horace 1. Admovit jam bruma foco] retired to his Sabine farm for warmth: "multa et praeclara minantis Si vacuum tepido cepisset villula tecto (S. ii. 3. 10, n.). Tetrico' shows that his style was severe, but we have no remains to judge by. Casaubon and others think there is a special allusion here to Mons Tetricus in the Sabine country, from the character of which Servius says dull meu were called 'tetrici' (Serv. Aen. vii. 713). Opifex' goes with 'intendisse,' like 'negatas artifex sequi voces" (Prol. 11), and so egregius' goes with 'agitare.' Veterum primordia vocum' seems to mean that Bassus used archaic words, which practice Horace condemns, but Persius seems, or professes for his friend's sake, to admire it. Casaubon asks what Bassus had to do with words, and substitutes rerum,' which Heinrich adopts, against all the MSS. It would be as easy to ask what had Bassus to do with the elements of things. Lucretius (iv. 534) has 'primordia vocum' in a different connexion for elementary sounds. Jahn and others think Bassus may have written a poem upon the elements of language. I agree with Weber, who holds the other opinion; but it is not easy to say as we do not know what Bassus wrote. We have two lines of orum, Et pugilem victorem, et equum certamine primum, Et juvenum curas, et libera vina referre." Heinrich on conjecture has 'jocis,' saying 'agitare jocos' is not Latin. It is not always easy to decide what is not Latin. 'Agitare jocos' may be said as 'agitare moenia,' quoted from Florus by Forcellini; to construct' verses of which 'joci' were the subject. Lusisse' has the same meaning, not to mock,' but to sing of,' as. "Ludere quae vellem calamo permisit agresti (Virg. Ecl. i. 10). I do not see how Heinrich gets the meaning of 'delectare' from 'lusisse.' Most MSS. have 'egregios,' but egregius' has good authority. It is common to interpret these verses as alluding Mire opifex numeris veterum primordia vocum to satires of Bassus. But they have nothing ter. "Quod si bruma nives Albanis illinet agris Ad mare descendet vates tuus, et sibi parcet, Contractusque leget." Horace has "defendens pisces hiemat mare" (S. ii. 2. 17, see note). Persius only says 'meum mare' because he was staying on the coast, not because he was born there, as some suppose. (See Life.) Ligus' is the Greek form. The Scholiast has the Latin, Ligur.' The bay to which Persius had retreated for the winter the Romans called Lunae Portus. It is now well known as the Gulf of Spezia, and one of the finest harbours in Europe. It is surrounded by high moun tains, and the valleys run down to the shore, as Persius describes, and two or three other bays indented the coast of this bay. Ennius appears to have visited it near two centuries before Persius wrote, and the line he quotes is from the Annales of that writer. The name of the town, if any, at which Persius was staying is not mentioned. It was not Luna (Luni), which, though it gave its name to the bay, was separated from it by a range of hills and the river Macra. The reading of most MSS. in 9 is 'est operae cognoscere,' which Heinrich rejects for the reading of the text, because of ' jubet' in the next line. I have followed his judgment without being sure he is right. Pretium' would usually follow operae.' 10. Cor jubet hoc Enni,] Cor Enni' is equivalent to Ennius cordatus,' as Turnebus observes (Adv. 30. 7). Cordatus' is a word Ennius used, and it sig 5 10 nifies 'wise.' So Horace has sententia dia Catonis' for 'Cato divine sentiens' (S. i. 2. 32), and other like phrases. See note on Juv. iv. 34, and Index (Genitive). postquam destertuit esse] This verb is not used elsewhere, and the construction is Greek and elliptical. 'He ceased to snore' is 'he ceased to dream,' that he was Maeonides (Homer), and had become Quintus Ennius after passing through a peacock, in which the soul of Pythagoras had lived. Heinrich joins Quintus with Maeonides, as it might be Q. Ennius. I do not see why, if that be the connexion, the praenomen should not have been put in its proper place. Horace, alluding to this dream, which was recorded at the beginning of Ennius' Annales (as the Scholiasts here and on Horace tell us) says: "Ennius et sapiens et fortis et alter Homerus, Ut critici dicunt, leviter curare videtur Quo promissa cadant et somnia Pythagorea." (Epp. ii. 1. 50 sqq., see note.) The Scholiast and others give five steps by which he became Quintus Ennius, and from which his name was given him. Pythagoras, says the Scholiast, passed into a peacock, and thence to the body of Euphorbus (Hor. C. i. 28. 10, n.), thence to Homer, and from Homer to Ennius. Tertullian (De Resurr. Carnis, c. 1) makes the order different: Euphorbus, Pythagoras, Homer, the peacock, Ennius. This dream is referred to in the Prologus, v. 2. Persius means Ennius gave his countrymen this good advice after he had left off dreaming, and got back to his good sense, his 'cor.' Juv. vii. 159. Pers. i. 12, n. Infelix pecori securus, et angulus ille Vicini nostro quia pinguior; et si adeo omnes Ditescant orti pejoribus, usque recusem Curvus ob id minui senio, aut coenare sine uncto, Et signum in vapida naso tetigisse lagena. Discrepet hinc alius. Geminos, horoscope, varo Producis Genio: solis natalibus est qui mus accedat qui nunc denormat agellum" (Hor. S. ii. 6. 8). 'Adeo omnes' is 'absolutely all.' 'Pejoribus orti' is copied from Horace (Epp. i. 6. 22), "indignum quod sit, pejoribus ortus, Hic tibi sit potius quam tu mirabilis illi." Persius was an 'eques.' 'Senium,' for sourness, is used as 'canities' in S. i. 9, where see note. 'Curvus' and 'minui' explain each other. 'Usque recusem' is copied insensibly from Horace, S. ii. 7. 24, "Si quis ad illa deus subito te agat usque recuses." 'Coenare sine uncto is to dine without delicacies, for which unctus' is a constant epithet. See S. iii. 102; iv. 17, and Horace, A. P. 422,"Si vero est unctum qui recte ponere possit." Some take 'sine uncto' to mean without oiling,' but that is not the sense. 'Vapida lagena is like "Exhalet vapida laesum pice sessilis obba" (S. v. 148), where 'vapida' properly refers to the 'obba,' or rather to its contents. 'Signum' is the seal with which the 'lagena,' or 'amphora,' was sealed. 'Naso tetigisse' is to put his nose down so close as to touch it, which he would do in examining the seal to see if the servants had been after his nasty stuff. on 18. Geminos, horoscope, varo] 'Horoscopus' is the star of one's nativity. He says others may not think and feel as he does, for the star that waits on the birth even of twins sometimes brings them into the world with different Genii. This is one of the many ways of putting the same thing. Varro (quoted in my note Hor. Epp. i. 7. 94) says the Genius is "Dens qui praepositus est, ac vim habet omnium rerum gignendarum," and Horace reverses Persius' order and speaks of a man's Genius as that "natale comes qui temperat astrum, Naturae deus humanae." See above, S. v. 45 sqq.; ii. 8, n.; iv. 27. 'Producere,' 'to bring into life,' is used of the father or mother. See Juv. viii. 271, and Forcellini, who gives no other instance of 'varus' in this sense. But it corresponds very nearly to S. iv. 12, "vel cum fallit pede regula varo." It is properly applied to legs that diverge from the knees downwards, and is opposed to‘valgus,' bow-legged. See note on Hor. S. i. 3. 47, "hunc varum 15 distortis cruribus." 'Varo Genio,' therefore, is Geniuses that go in different directions. 19. solis natalibus est qui] 'Est qui' is opposed to 'hic' (21). On the government see Hor. C. i. 1. 3, n. One moistens his dry cabbage in 'muria,' which he goes out to buy for the occasion, and sprinkles the pepper with his own hand; the other runs through a large property in good living while he is still a lad. In both cases early vice is meant. Like the sons of Horace's Canusian, Servius Oppidius (S. ii. 3. 168 sqq.), the one is a cunning young miser, the other a magnanimous young spendthrift. Muria' was a sauce made of the 'thunnus,' and less delicate than garum,' which was made of the 'scomber.' The one was used by the poor, and the other by the rich. Martial has an epigram on muria' (xiii. 103): Antipolitani, fateor, sum filia thunni; Essem si scombri, non tibi missa forem." But this distinction was not always observed, for Horace speaks of Catius' choice sauce being made of sweet olive oil mixed with good rich wine and muria' (S. ii. 4. 65). The stingy lad will let no one else pepper his mess, like Horace's miser, Avidienus (S. ii. 2. 61), "cornu ipse bilibri Caulibus instillat veteris non parcus aceti." The pepper is called sacred' for the respect with which he spares it, as the greedy man spares his money bags, " congestis undique saccis Indormis inhians et tanquam parcere sacris Cogeris " (Hor. S. i. 1. 70 sqq. note). 'Tingat' means that he only moistens the cabbage. He is sparing even of his cheap sauce. 'Irrorat' has the same sort of force. He sprinkles his pepper but lightly. 'Empta' means that he has none in his closet, but must go out and buy a small cup of the sauce when he requires it. Magnanimus' is the same sort of irony as in Horace's " Macnius ut, rebus maternis atque paternis Fortiter absumptis, urbanus coepit haberi" (Epp. i. 15. 26 sqq.). 'Bona dente peragit' is like Juv. xi. 39 sqq., aere paterno Ac rebus mersis in ventrem.' Peragere' is here used as it is not exactly 66 |