200 Dedecus Urbis habes: nec mirmillonis in armis Nec clypeo Gracchum pugnantem aut falce supina, (Damnat enim tales habitus; sed damnat et odit) Nec galea faciem abscondit: movet ecce tridentem, Postquam librata pendentia retia dextra 205 Nequidquam effudit, nudum ad spectacula vultum Erigit et tota fugit agnoscendus arena. odium on the general reputation of Rome? However this may be, the praise of consistency must, in the present case at least, be fully allowed him. In this very Satire, when he enumerates the crimes of Nero, he insinuates that it was not so much his multiplied murders, as his public exposure of himself on the stage, (where he repeated his Troics,) that exhausted the patience of mankind, and excited that general insurrection which swept him from the earth! G. 200. Of the two combatants, who entered the lists, one was called Retiarius, and the other Mirmillo or Secutor: the former was lightly dressed in a tunic, and furnished with a trident, or three-forked spear, and a net, whence his name. Suet. Cal. 30. The latter was armed with a helmet, shield, and short scimitar. They approached each other, the Secutor with his weapon raised, and the Retiarius with his protruded trident in his right hand, and his net open, and ready for casting, in his left. His object was to throw it over the head of his antagonist, and entangle him in such a manner, as to render him an easy prey. If he failed in his attempt, he had no resource but flight, for which his dress was well adapted; and during which he endeavoured to collect and prepare his net for a second throw : if the Secutor overtook him before this was done, his fate was inevitable, unless he were saved by the interposition of the spectators, which sometimes happened. It is not easy, at this distance of time, to say whether one of these characters was looked upon as less respectable than the other, or not; but Juvenal seems to direct some of his indignation at Gracchus, for choosing the part of the Retiarius, instead of that of the Secutor: perhaps it was less dangerous; it was certainly more impudent, for it affored no means of concealing the face; since we know, from Suetonius, that the drivelling Claudius took a cruel pleasure in putting the Retiarii to death upon particular occasions, that he might have the diabolical satisfaction of remarking the successive changes in their expiring countenances! Suet. 34. Gracchus, however, seems to have been determined in his choice more by cowardice than impudence; as he did not merely rely upon being recognised by his features, which, as he was one of the most distinguished families in Rome, could not but be well known; but was even base enough to enter the lists in the magnificent hat and tunic of the Salii, or priests of Mars, of whom he was probably the chief. With respect to the Mirmillo, he was so called from μόρμυλος, αιόλος, ixus Opp. Hal. i. 100. a representation of which formed the crest of his helmet. Polyænus and Festus derive the origin of the Retiarius from Pittacus, one of the seven sages of Greece, who fought in this manner with Phryno: ergo di in μονομαχίας προσκαλεσαμένου του Φρύνωνος ἁλιευτικὴν ἀναλαβὼν σκευὴν, ξυνέδραμε καὶ τῷ μὲν ἀμφιβλήστρῳ περιέβαλε, τῇ τριαίνῃ δὲ καὶ τῷ ξιφιδίῳ ἔπειρε καὶ ἀνεῖλε xiii. A similar practice is spoken of as existing among the Persian forces: Σαγάρτιοι χρέωνται σειρῇσι πεπλεγμένησι ἐξ ἱμάντων· ταύτησι πίσυνοι ἔρχονται ἐς πόλεμον. ἡ δὲ μάχη τούτων τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἥδε· ἐπιὰν συμ· μίσχωσι τοῖσι πολεμίοισι βάλλουσι τὰς σειράς, ἐπ' ἄκρῳ βρόχους ἐχούσας. ὅτευ δ ̓ ἂν τύχη, ἤν τε ἵππου, ἤν τε ἀνθρώπου, ἐπ ̓ ἑωυτὸν ἕλκει· οἱ δὲ ἐν ἕρκεσι ἐμπαλασσόμενοι diaptizovať Her. vii. 85. G. PR. 201. Two other sorts of gladiators may be here meant: viz. (1) the Secutor, clypeo pugnans; and (2) the Threx, with his falchion. R. AD. 203. His trident:' dente minax; Mart. LU. fuscina; ii. 143. 205. Spectacula for the spectators.' LU. cf. Sil. ii. 230. R. 206. He looks boldly upwards, in Credamus tunicæ, de faucibus aurea quum se confidence of having his life spared. cf. 207. The Retiarii wore only a tunic: ii. 143. Suet. Cal. 30. The gold fringe, round the throat of that which Gracchus wore, proclaimed him to be one of the Salii. FE. ii. 125 sq. R. 208. These priests also wore a conical cap, which tied under the chin with long gold bands. Liv. i. 20. Dionys. H. ii. 70. His appearing in such a conspicuous dress was a greater proof of effrontery. R. 209. The gladiator looked upon it as the greatest disgrace to be matched against such a cowardly antagonist.' M. Sen. de Prov. 3. HK. Whereas there would have been some consolation in falling by the hand of a brave man.' Sil. ii. 705. R. 211. x. 77 sqq. M. 212. Seneca; v. 109. PR. It was reported at Rome, that the conspirators, after having made use of Piso to destroy Nero, intended to make away with Piso himself, (For what should we gain," said the chief of them, Subrius Flavius, "by exchanging a harper for a tragedian?" alluding to Piso's having appeared on the stage,) and raise Seneca to the vacant seat. Tac. An. xv. 65. It is to this circumstance that Juvenal alludes. If the conspirators really enter. tained such an idea, they were the weakest of men; for Seneca (to say nothing of his age and infirmities) was too unpopular to have held the undisturbed possession of the empire for a day. With respect to Seneca, it is his fortune to have been" at the fair of good names, and to have bought a reasonable commodity of them;" for, exclusive of our author, who evidently thought highly of him, and appears to have been a very diligent reader of his works, several ancient writers have been lavish in his praise. Yet we shall look in vain into the history of his life for any extraordinary number of virtuous or praiseworthy actions. His first exploit was corrupting the daughter of Germanicus, for which he was driven into banishment; and from the obtrusive and never-ending boasts of the magnanimity with which he endured it, it may be conjectured that Ovid himself did not bear his exile much more impatiently than this impassible Stoic. He flattered Claudius; and still more grossly his favourite, Polybius, in order to obtain his recall; and, as soon as he had succeeded, forgot the latter, and betrayed the former. He then joined the virtuous Nero (whom he took care to supply with a mistress) in his persecution of Agrippina, his great patroness; and when her son, not long afterwards, put her to death, he was more than suspected of drawing up the palliating account of it. A better moralist than Seneca hath said, "He who maketh haste to be rich, shall not be innocent;" Prov. xxviii. 20. This was notoriously our philosopher's case. Juvenal gives him the epithet of prædives; x. 16. Dio attributes the insurrection of the Britons, in a great measure, to his avarice and rapacity; and P. Suilius appears, from Tacitus, to have attacked him on this head, with a violence which no common acts of enriching himself could have provoked. " By what system of ethics has this professor, in less than four years, amassed three hundred million sesterces? His snares are spread through all the city; last wills and testaments are his quarry, and the rich, who have no children, are his prey. Italy is overwhelmed, the provinces are exhausted; and he is still unsatisfied!" Tac. A. xiii. 42. His behaviour too, after he perceived the decline of Nero's favour, was pusillanimous; and his affected resignation of his unbounded wealth, pitiful in the extreme. He did not, indeed, imitate the elder Brutus, for what Juvenal calls the time of bearded kings was past; but he feigned himself sick and infirm, and lived on spring water and bread baked under his own eye. In a word, there is little amiable in his life; and in his boasted death, scarcely any thing more than a Cujus supplicio non debuit una parari Simia nec serpens unus nec culeus unus? 215 Par Agamemnonidæ crimen; sed causa facit rem Sanguine conjugii, nullis aconita propinquis fond and over-weening anxiety to make an exhibition of it. None of our writers have entered into the character of Seneca with more discrimination than Massinger, who was very conversant with his works, and who, in the Maid of Honour, describes him in these admirable lines; "Thus"recapitulating some of his stoical paradoxes" Thus Seneca, when he wrote it, thought.-- But then Felicity courted him; his wealth exceeding A private man's; happy in the embraces Of his chaste wife Paulina; his house full Of children, clients, servants, flattering friends, Soothing his lip-positions ;-then, no doubt, He held, and did believe, this. But no sooner The prince's frowns and jealousies had thrown him Out of security's lap, and a centurion Had offered him what choice of death he pleased, But told him, die he must; when straight the armour Of his so boasted fortitude fell off, Complaining of his frailty." G. 213. Parricides, by the Roman law, were first scourged, and then sewn up in a sack of raw bull's hide with an ape, a cock, a serpent, and a dog, and thrown into the river or the sea. cf. Cic. for S. Rosc. Am. 70 sq. PR. xiii. 155 sq. Suet. Aug. 33. (CAS.) Sen. Ep. 40. (ΙΙ.) Nero was guilty of the murder of his mother Agrippina, his aunt Domitia, his wives Octavia and Poppæa, his brother Britannicus, and many other relations. Suet. 33-35. Tac. R. VS. 215. There was a well-known verse at Rome in Nero's days: Nigwv, 'Ogiorns, 'Αλκμαίων μητροκτόνοι. GR. cf. i. 6, note. PR. vi. 655, note. Orestes slew his mother Clytemnestra; but then she had murdered his father and had usurped the kingdom for her para. mour to his own prejudice; whereas, if Agrippina had plunged deeply in crime, it was solely for the purpose of securing the empire to her ungrateful son. R. G. VS. 216. Orestes acted in obedience to the Pythian oracle. Eur. O. 28. 416. 543 sqq. reis vagunμivos Soph. El. 32sqq. (SF.) sch.Ch.266 sqq. Dict. Cr.vi.3.(FB.)R. 217. Hom. Od. ▲ 529 sqq. ▲ 408 sqq. M. There are variations, however, in the particulars of the transaction. LU. cf. sch. Ag. Sen. Ag. 865-895. Tricl. on El. 195. Lycoph. 1099. 1108. (ME. TZ.) Hyg. F. 117. Virg. Æ. xi. 267. R. 218. He never embrued his hands in the blood of a sister or a wife.' LU. ex quo est habitus male tutæ mentis Orestes, non Pyladen ferro violare aususve sororem Electram; Hor. II S. iii. 137 &c. PR. 219. Conjugii for conjugis. He married his cousin Hermione, daughter of Menelaus and Helen. LU. Aconita; i. 71, note. LU. ib. 158. PR. 220. Cf. 198, note. R. 221. Some suppose Juvenal alluded to Nero's recitation of his Troics while Rome was burning: hoc incendium e turri Mæcenatiana prospectuns lætusque flammæ, ut aiebat, pulcritudine, dλwon Ilii, in illo suo scenico habitu decantavit; Suet. 38. LU. Nigar is re rd ängov toũ xaλaríov ävñλdı, καὶ τὴν σκευὴν τὴν κιθαρωδικὴν λαβὼν, ἦσιν ἅλωσιν, ὡς μὲν αὐτὸς ἔλεγεν, Ιλίου, ὡς δὲ wguro, 'Pauns Xiph. Ixi. 18. Others imagine that he alludes to the report of this profligate madman having set Rome on fire for the sake of illustrating his subject; a circumstance, which, whether true or false, was generally credited in our author's time, and with which Nero was charged to his face by Subrius Flavius, who suffered with Seneca. Tac. An. xv. 67. G. and 39. ut spectaculi ejus imaginem cerneret, quali olim Troju capta exarserat; Eutr. vii. PR. Enim; Virg. Æ. v. 850. vi. 52. viii. 84. x. 874. (HY.) R. Debuit ulcisci magis aut cum Vindice Galba? Ante pedes Domiti longum tu pone Thyestæ Verginius Rufus, lieutenant-general of the army in Lower Germany, (Tac. H. i. 8. 9. 52. 77. ii. 19. 51. 68. Plin. Ep. ii. 1. vi. 10. ix. 19. Dio lxiii, lxviii. Plut. Galb. p. 1055.) Julius Vindex, proprætor of Gaul, (Suet. Ner. 40 sq. Tac. H. i. 6. 51. iv. 57.) and Ser. Galba, præfect of Tarraconensian Spain, afterwards emperor, (Suet. Galb. 9 sqq.) were the three chiefs of this conspiracy. R. LU. PR. R. 223. Cruda; Šil. i. 405. R. 225. In Naples, Olympia, and other places, PR. which he visited iì gxnou καὶ ἐπὶ κιθαρῳδήσει, κηρύξει τε καὶ τραγῳδίας ὑποκρίσει· οὐ γὰρ ἤρκει αὐτῷ ἡ Ῥώμη, ἀλλ ̓ ἐδεήθη καὶ ἐκστρατείας ἵνα καὶ περιοδονίκης, ὡς ἔλεγε, γένηται Zon. An. ii. Xiph. Ixiii. 8—10. Suet. Ner. 20-24. 42. R. 226. The successful competitors at the Isthmian games were presented with a chaplet of dry parsley: VS. Plin. xix. 8. at the Nemean games it was a green chaplet. GR. cf. Pind. Ol. xiii. 45. Plut. Symp. 5. R. 227. The precious trophies: sarcastically. LU. The Romans used to hang their insignia around the pedestal of their ancestors' statues. R. 228. Nero's father was Domitius Ahenobarbus. LU. Suet. 1 sqq. R. Thyestes, Hyg. F. 84. 258. LU. vii. 73, note. inter cetera cantavit Canacen parturientem, Orestem matricidam, Edipum excacatum, Herculem insanum; Suet. 21. PR. and 54. Quint. X. i. 98. R. 229. The train that swept the stage.' palla honesta; Hor. A. P. 278. PR. and 215. cf. xv. 30. R. Antigone; Soph. and Eur. Æsch. Th. 1005 sqq. Apoll. iii. 3. 7. Hyg. F. 67. 72. 243. 254. R. LO. 'Menalippe's mask.' Menalippe, though a very wise young lady, verified the adage nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit; by an amour with Neptune, she became the mother of twins, which she hid in her father's cow-house. The poor old king, horrified at discovering this monstrous production of his herds (as he fondly imagined), was about to have the babes burnt; when his wise daughter convinced the good man upon philosophical principles, in a long and dull harangue, that the little creatures were the natural produce of the animal, and thus fortunately saved them! Hyg. F. 186. Varr. R. R. ii. 5. Dionys. . r. ix. Euripides, Ennius, and Accius wrote tragedies on this subject. FA. LU. PR. R. G. 230. Citharam a judicibus ad se delatam adoravit, ferrique ad Augusti statuam jussit; Suet. 12. LU. Catiline; xiv. 41 sq. M. ii. 27. His great grandfather and great great grandfather both bore the name of M. Sergius Silo, and were distinguished men. Plin. vii. 28. (HA.) Liv. xxxii. 27 sq. 31. xxxiii. 21. 24. R. C. Corn. Cethegus; ii. 27. x. 287. Cic. Cat. iii. 2-5. Or. p. Red. 4. App. B. C. ii. 2-6. V. Pat. ii. 34. Dio xxxvii. Plut. t. i. p. 710. 769. 868 sqq. Sall. B. C. R. 234. As though you had been the 235 Ausi, quod liceat tunica punire molesta. Sed vigilat Consul vexillaque vestra coercet. Nominis et tituli, quantum non Leucade, quantum Cædibus adsiduis gladio. Sed Roma parentem, hereditary and inveterate enemies of citizens, viz. patricians, equestrians, and Rome.' Gallia Narbonensis was called Bracata, from the dress of the inhabitants. Plin. iii. 4. The Senones were a people of Gallia Lugdunensis, who sacked Rome under their chieftain Brennus. Flor. i. 13 sqq. Plin. iv. 18. Cæs. B. G. v. LU. PR. οἱ Γαλάται χρῶνται ἀναξυρίσιν, ἃς ἐκεῖνοι βράκας προσαγορεύουσι Diod. v. 30. 235. This was a dress smeared with pitch and other combustibles (i. 155, note :) which was used in the punishment of incendiaries. VS. BRO. Mart. X. xxv. 5. PR. Prud. . . Hymn. iii. Tert. Mart. 5. Suet. Cal. 27. Vit. 17. R. Liceat: it may be hoped that Juvenal meant this as a tacit testimony to the innocence of the Christians, (at that time universally acknowledged,) respecting the charge of setting fire to Rome. G. 236. The consul was Cicero. LU. "Jam intelliges, multo me vigilare acrius ad salutem, quam te ad perniciem reipublicæ;" Cic. Cat. GR. Cohorts were divided into centuries,each of which had its standard.' Veg. ii. PR. 237. Though Cicero claimed descent from royal blood; T. Q. i. 16. yet he was at Rome a new man,' having no images of his ancestry to show. SCH. He was the first curule magistrate of the Tullian clan. Cic. c. Rull. ii. 1 sq. R. Arpinum was a little town of the Volsci, PR. situated in what is now called the Campagna Felice. G. Whom you scorn as ignoble.' R. 238. The inhabitants of the municipia had laws of their own, but were eligible to the honours of the empire. Gell. xvi. 13. PR. In these boroughs,' as well as in the colonies, there were three grades of plebeians. R. 239. Every where;' not only in, but out of, Rome: GR. FA. much the same as ubique gentium. M. 240. Toga is opposed to gladio, 243. M. cedant arma togae. 241. The victory over Antony and Cleopatra at Actium.' Leucas was another promontory of that coast. VS. The peninsula of Leucadia, was made an island by the isthmus (which divided it from Acarnania) being dug through. Strab. x. p. 311. Flor. iv. 11. (DU.) Ov. M. xv. 289. Cic. Att. v. 9. cf. Virg. E. iii. 274. vii. 674 sqq. (HY.) R. 242. Understand non after quantum. Mart. XI. lxxxi. HK. The victory over Brutus and Cassius at Philippi.' VS. Flor. iv. 6. LU. Thessaly is used by the poets with great latitude. Virg. G. i. 489 sq. (HY. VO.) R. 244. Cicero was the first who received this title by a decree of the senate (which Camillus had received from his soldiers during his triumph): Cato, as tribune of the people, appears to have proposed it in the popular assembly; and Catulus to have made the motion for confirming it in the Senate. Plin. vii. 30. Plut. V. Čic. p. 872. App. B. C. ii. 7. (SW.) Cic. Pis. 3. Id. P. Sext. LU. PR. R. |