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Discrepet his alius. Geminos, horoscope, varo
Producis genio! Solis natalibus est qui

Hic bona dente

20 Tingat olus siccum muria vafer in calice emta,
Ipse sacrum irrorans patinæ piper.
Grandia magnanimus peragit puer.
Nec rhombos ideo libertis ponere lautus,
Nec tenuem solers turdarum nôsse salivam.

aridos bene admordere, qui salinum servo obsignant cum sale; Plaut. Pers. II. iii. 14 sqq. sicut olim matrem meam facere memini, quæ lagenos etiam inanes obsignabat, ne dicerentur inanes aliquæ fuisse, quæ furtim essent exsiccate; Cic. Ep. xvi. 26. He might also apply his nose to ascertain whether it was evaporating. PR. cf. Juv. xiv. 126 sqq, notes. K.

18. The star, "That beams, ascendant, on the natal hour," G. produces twins of widely different characters.' LU. Castor gaudet equis, ovo prognatus eodem pugnis; Hor. II S. i. 26 sq. It was impossible for two persons to be more unlike than Commodus and Antoninus, the twin sons of the emperor Marcus; who, according to the predictions of the astrologers, were to be in all respects alike: Lampr. cf. Gell. xiv. 1. PR. Prop. IV. i. 89. (VU. BU.) K.

Horoscope; on the prosopopoeia, cf. Quint. Inst. viii. 5. K.

Varo i. e. vario; LU. iv. 12. PR. 19. Producis; Juv. vi. 241, note. Natalibus; Juv. xi. 83 sqq, notes. M. v. 151, note. K.

20. Every word in this description is expressive of meanness.

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Tingat; Hor. II S. ii. 60 sqq. olus; ib. i. 74. Juv. x. 78 sq. siccum, opposed to unclum, v. 16. muria the brine in which tunny was pickled;' v. 183. Mart. XIII. ciii. Plin. xxxi. 8. and though this pickle was so cheap, he merely bought a little of it in a cup.' LU. PŘ. M. K.

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21. Ipse, not trusting his servant : preserved most religiously;' Hor. I S. i. 71 sq. II S. iii. 110. as though it were sacrilege to waste one grain.' cf. Mart. XIII. xiii. LU. PR. K. Dente peragit eats his way through.' Juv. xi. 38 sq. Hor. II S. iii. 206 sqq. I Ep. xv. 37 sqq. K. The story of the prodigal runs gaily off the tongue in dactyls, and is despatched almost as quickly as his patrimony was. G.

Utar ego, utar,

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Utar: as Persius here twice declares his determination to use his goods; so, in the two following lines, he twice declares his resolution not to abuse them.

23. Rhombos; Juv. xi. 121. iv. 39, note. Plin. ix. 20. num esuriens fastidis omnia præter pavonem rhombumque? Hor. I S. ii. 115 sq. II S. ii. 48 sq. PR. Ep. ii. 49 sq. K.

Libertis; Juv. v. 28, note. Petr. 38. (H.) K.

Lautus; Juv, xiv. 257. Κ. ὁ βάναυσος τῷ παρὰ τὸ δέον ἀναλίσκειν ὑπερβάλλει, ἐν γὰρ τοῖς μικροῖς τῶν δαπανημάτων πολλὰ ἀναλίσκει, καὶ λαμπρύνεται παρὰ μέλος· οἷον ἐρανιστὰς γαμικῶς ἑστιῶν Arist. Eth. iv. 2.

24. The feminine turdarum is here used by catach resis; VS. perhaps because the hen-thrushes were considered the more delicious. M. For the cognoscenti of Italy" sapevano dire gustando li tordi, s'erano domestici pur selvaggi, e se maschi ò pur femine." STE. These birds were accounted such great delicacies by the Romans, that they had particular buildings attached to their houses for breeding and fattening them for the table. G. cf. Plin. x. 24. Ath. ii. 24. obeso nil melius turdo; Hor. I Ep. xv. 41 sq. II S. v. 10. I S. v. 72. inter aves turdus, si quis me judice certet; inter quadrupedes gloria prima lepus; Mart. XIII. xcii. li. PR. K. Juniper berries were an important article in their food. LU.

Salivam the flavour.' VS. Varro L. L. viii. Plin. xxiii. Methymnæi grata saliva meri; Prop. IV. viii. 38. PR.

25 Messe tenus propria vive: et granaria (fas est)

Emole. Quid metuas? Occa, et seges altera in herba est. "Ast vocat officium: trabe rupta, Bruttia saxa Prendit amicus inops remque omnem surdaque vota Condidit Ionio: jacet ipse in litore et una 30 Ingentes de puppe dei jamque obvia mergis Costa ratis laceræ." Nunc et de cespite vivo Frange aliquid; largire inopi, ne pictus oberret Cærulea in tabula. Sed cœnam funeris heres Negliget iratus, quod rem curtaveris: urnæ 35 Ossa inodora dabit, seu spirent cinnama surdum Seu ceraso peccent casiæ, nescire paratus.

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25. Harvest' is here put for income.' LU.

26. Quid metuas? St Matthew vi. 34. M.

Occa; cultivate your land.' M. Ov. F. iv. 645. K.

"First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear;" St Mark iv. 28. M. cf. Ov. Her. xvii. 263. (H.) K.

27. By the Bruttian rocks' is here meant the rugged southern coast of Italy to the westward of the Straits of Messina. K.

28. Prensantemque uncis manibus capita ardua montis; Virg. Æ. vi. 360. CAS. Hom. Od. E 426 sqq. K.

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Surdus is sometines taken in a passive sense, unheard;' LU. as cacus is for ' unseen.'

30. The tutelary gods were placed at the stern these the pious merchant had by his exertions rescued from the wreck. T. cf. Virg. Æ. x. 171. Hor. I Od. xiv. 10. PR. Petr. 105. Virg. Æ. viii. 93. v. 60. Ov. Tr. I. x. 1. (H.) ib. 43 sq. K. His piety was rewarded by the preservation of his life, when all else perished. Mergis; Plin. x. 32 &c. PR. Hor. Ep. x. 21 sq. K.

31. Costa; Virg. Æ. ii. 16. PR. The wreck, probably, might be thrown up on the shore: its ribs would hold together, long after the planks had started.

Nunc &c. Aware that the miser's excuse is a mere pretext for indulging his avaricious propensities, Persius sharply answers In that case, sell a little of your land.' G. LU. Land, with the

crop growing on it.' M. cf. Ov. M. iv. 300 sq. K.

M.

32. Cf. Juv. xiv. 302, note. PR.

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33. But perhaps you will object &c.'

Canam funeris. cf. Virg. Æ. vi. 222 sqq. Apul. Flor. 4 s 19. Cic. Leg. ii. 63. Juv. v. 85, note. S. Aug. Serm. xv. Plin. x. 10. Ath. viii. 7. A, iii. 7. PR. KI, vi. 5 sq, Luc. Cont. 22. t. i. p. 519. K.

34. Nec metuam quid de me judicet heres, quod non plura datis invenerit ; Hor. II Ep. ii. 191 sq. PR. I Ep. v. 13 sq. II Od. xiv. 25 sqq. K.

K.

Curtaveris refers to frange aliquid; 32.

35. Cf. Plin. xiii. 1-3. Juv. iv. 109, note. Dionys. H. ii. Prop. II. x. 20 sqq. IV. vii. 32. Tib. III. ii. 17. I. iii. 7 sqq. (HY.) S. Hier. to Pamm. Calp. iv. 19. Ov. Tr. III. iii. 89. PR. K.

Cinnama; Plin. xii. 19 s 42. PR. Id. xiii. s 2. Mart. IV. xiii. K.

Surdum is here put for scentless.' LU. The metaphor is still more harsh in the following line: fervida quod subtile exsurdant vina palatum; Hor. II S. viii. 38. PR.

36. Or the casia be adulterated with cherry bark.' LU. cf. Plin. xii. 9. cerasi ante victoriam Mithridaticam L. Luculli, non fuere in Italia ad urbis annum DCLXXX; is primum vexit e Ponto: annisque cxx trans oceanum in Britanniam usque pervenere; Id. xv. 25. PR. This adulteration would be easily detected by any one who made use of his senses. K.

"Tune bona incolumis minuas ?" Sed Bestius urget Doctores Graios: "Ita fit, postquam sapere Urbi Cum pipere et palmis venit nostrum hoc maris expers, 40 Fœnisecæ crasso vitiârunt unguine pultes."

Hæc cinere ulterior metuas? At tu, meus heres
Quisquis eris, paullum a turba seductior audi:-
O bone, num ignoras? missa est a Cæsare laurus
Insignem ob cladem Germanæ pubis et aris

Casia; ii. 64. Plin. H. N. xii. 19 s 43. PR. Virg. G. ii. 466. (VO.) SA, p. 919 sqq. Theoph. H. Pl. ix. 5. Mart. X. xcvii. XI. lv. Stat. S. II. i. 160. Claud. Phoen. 79 sqq. (BU.) Ov. M. xv. 397 sqq. K.

Having made up his mind [agioxvarμivos Arist. Pl. 77.] to wink at it and be utterly ignorant.' PR. The worse the spices, the less the cost. M.

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37. This is the petulant remonstrance of the indignant heir: What? Do you dare to impair your property during your life-time, instead of hoarding it for your heirs to spend?' CAS. or If you are wasteful during your life, you shall smart for it now you are dead.' incolumis' with impunity.' K. DN.

The poet has shown no great adroitness in allowing this third speaker(Bestius) to break in rudely upon the dialogue, when he might, with better effect, have put all that was about to be said into the mouth of his opponent. G. This illiterate fellow, (Hor. I Ep. xv. 37 sq.) however, commences an attack on the philosophers' as having caused all the mischief by inculcating the doctrine of liberality and other expensive habits. PR. The many corruptions introduced at Rome, after the conquest of Greece, brought the natives of that country into great odium with the sterner Romans. In the indiscriminate antipathy towards all that was Grecian, philosophy and letters were often involved. cf. Juv. vi, 16. 291 sqq. iii. 60 sqq. xv. 110 sqq. K.

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38. Thus 'tis! since this emasculate wisdom of ours came to Rome with dates and spices, our very haymakers have become luxurious, and learnt to vitiate their homely pottage with gross unguents.' G. cf. Lact. iii. 16. PR.

Supere nostrum for sapientia nostra. LU. i. 9, note. PR. sapere is an ambiguous word. K.

39. Cf. Juv. iii. 83. PR. Pulmis; Plin. xiii. 4. LU.

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Maris expers void of manliness.' cf. i. 103. In Horace the phrase has a different meaning; 'manufactured at home;' II S. viii. 15. CAS. v. 4. M.

40. Cf. Juv. xi. 79 sq. PR.

Crasso unguine: cf. Hor. A. P. 375. K.

Pultes: Ath. xiv. 15 sq. (CAS.) PR. Juv. xi. 58, note.

41. Bestius is dismissed without ceremony: the poet deigns not to notice his impertinent interruption, but, after hastily concluding the speech which had been broken off, drops the subject and turns to a new speaker. G.

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Cinere ulterior beyond the grave.' M. At tu, &c. cf. Hor. II Ep. ii. 190 sqq.

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42. Seductior: cf. v. 96. PR. ii. 4. K. 43. By Caligula.' LU. This was when Persius was about seven years old; it might have made an impression upon his memory, because such exhibitions were then rare. G.

Laurus for laureata epistola. LU. Plin. xv. 30. Liv. v. Amm. xv. Mart. VII. iv. sq. vii. 4, i. 27. PR. KN, p. 223. DN. Ov. Am. I. xi. 25. Juv. iv. 149, note. G. and vi. 205, note.

44. Drusus ac Nero et Germanicus in suis eos (i. e. Germanos) sedibus perculerunt. post ingentes C. Cæsaris mine in ludibrium versa. inde otium, donec occasione discordiæ nostræ et civilium armorum, expugnatis legionum hibernis, etiam Gallias affectavere, ac rursus pulsi inde, proximis temporibus triumphati magis quam victi sunt; Tac. G. 37. K. This mock expedition was altogether a most contemptible affair: cf. Suet. 43-49. PR. and the triumph, or rather ovation, was also a very poor thing, notwithstanding all the parade which this deplorable maniac made aboutit. G.

45 Frigidus excutitur cinis: ac jam postibus arma, Jam chlamydes regum, jam lutea gausapa captis Essedaque ingentesque locat Cæsonia Rhenos. Dîs igitur Genioque ducis centum paria ob res Egregie gestas induco. Quis vetat? aude! 50 Væ! nisi connives! oleum artocreasque popello Largior. An prohibes? dic clare! "Non adeo," inquis.

45. Frigidus is a sarcastic allusion to the rarity of these rejoicings. LU.

Multaque præterea sacris in postibus arma, captivi pendent currus curvæque secures et crista capitum et portarum ingentia claustra spiculaque clypeique ereptaque rostra carinis; Virg. Æ. vii. 183 sqq. signa nostro restituit Jovi derepta Parthorum superbis postibus; Hor. IV Od. xv. 6 sqq. PR. cf. Claud. xxiv. 67 sqq. Prop. III. vii. 26. (BK.) BU, Anth. L. t. i. p. 206 sq. K.

46. Cf. A, v. 18. Virg. Æ. viii. 588. M. Hor. II Od. xii. 12 sqq. Prop. II. i. 33 sqq. K.

Gausapa: cf. Mart. XIV. xxvii. cxlv. cxxxviii. clii. PR. Here it is to be taken in the same sense as in iv. 37. for false hair.' cf. Juv. xiii. 164 sqq. vi. 120. They had also the art of turning the hair red' cf. Plin. H. N. xxviii. 12. Mart. VIII. xxxiii. 20. XIV. xxvi. K. Ov. Am. I. xiv. 45 sq. A. A. iii. 163 sqq. 47. Esseda; Virg. G. iii. 204. (HY.) Cæs. B. G. iv sq. PR. Prop. II. i. 85. (BU.) K.

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Locat engages with contractors to supply these materials of the triumph;' CAS. as, in fact, there were no captives and no spoils. K.

Casonia; Juv. vi. 616, note. Joseph.'A. J. xix. PR. In thus labouring to swell her consort's triumph, the empress was taking the surest means to secure his attachment and to rule in his name. G.

Por deres zagonour Ty Phry ποταμῷ καὶ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ καλούμενοι· Steph. conversus hinc ad curam triumphi, præter captivos et transfugas barbaros, Gallorum quoque procerissimum quemque et, ut ipse dicebat, ἀξιοθριάμβευτον, ac nonnullos er principibus legit ac seposuit ad pompam coegitque non tantum rutilare et submittere comam sed et sermonem Germanicum addiscere et nomina barbarica ferre; Suet. Cal. 47. CAS. Dio lix. p. 659, E. Domitian was guilty of a like folly:

inerat conscientia, derisui fuisse nuper falsum e Germania triumphum, emtis per commercia, quorum habitus et crines in captivorum speciem formarentur; Tac. Ag. 39. K.

48. Genio ducis; cf. ii. 3, note: citius per omnes deos, quam per unum Genium Cæsaris pejeratur; Tert: cf. Suet. Cal. 27. PR. Ov. F. v. 145 sqq. Plin. Pan. 52. (SZ.) K.

Ni sic fecissent, gladiatorum dare centum damnati populo paria atque epulum; Hor. II S. iii. 85 sq. PR. cf. Suet. Claud. 34. 28. Juv. iii. 36, note. Mart. III. xvi. K. Such an exhibition was hardly within the means of any private person; therefore this must be looked upon as a threat to his heir, that he would do just as he pleased with his estate. M.

49. "Who blames-who ventures to control me? You? Woe to your future prospects, if you do!" G.

50. He threatens to 'give a largess to the people.' These gratuities were seldom given except by the emperors, or in honour of them. congiarium populo numorum trecenorum ter dedit, atque inter spectacula muneris largissimum epulum: septimontiali sacro quidem senatui equitique panariis, plebei sportulis cum opsonio distributis, initium vescendi primus fecit; dieque proximo omne genus rerum missilia sparsit : &c. Suet. Dom. 4. adjecit epulum ac viscerationem et post Hispaniensem victoriam duo prandia; Cæs. 38. PR. cf. AD. prodigi epulis et viscerationibus, Indorum venatuumque apparatu pecunias profundunt; Cic. Off. ii. 16. PM. cf. CAŘ, p. 92 sq. v. 177, note.

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Oil;' Suet. Cæs. 38. Ner. 12. Tac. A. xiv. 47. K.

'Meat-pies.' Mart. VIII. lxxix. K. 51. What are you muttering about? speak out!' LU.

Not exactly so.' The avaricious heir is afraid to give a straight-forward answer. Persius is offended at this. WB.

Exossatus ager juxta est.

Age, si mihi nulla Jam reliqua ex amitis, patruelis nulla, proneptis Nulla manet patrui, sterilis matertera vixit,

55 Deque avia nihilum superest, accedo Bovillas

Clivumque ab Virbî; præsto est mihi Manius heres.

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Progenies terræ ?" Quære ex me, quis mihi quartus Sit pater; haud promte, dicam tamen. Adde etiam unum, Unum etiam: Terræ est jam filius et mihi ritu

60 Manius hic generis prope major avunculus exit.

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Qui prior es, cur me in decursu lampada poscis ?

52. Suppose my estate so reduced, that I have but a single field in the outskirts of the city, and that field worn out by constant cropping; I shall have little difficulty, I apprehend, in finding some one to do me the favour of standing my heir, even should you decline to honour me.' CAS.

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Exossatus literally deprived of bones:' Plaut. Amph. I. i. 163. PR. Ter. Ad. III. iv. 14. M. cf. Juv. viii. 90. CAS. Juxta: being near town,' it would be the last field parted with. CAS.

53. Cf. HK, A. R. iii. 2. 5 sq. K. 55. Boville (i. e. bovis villa, VS.) was a poor village about eleven miles from Rome, in the Appian road, near Aricia. PR. LU. Prop. IV. i. 33. (BK.) K. Mart. II. vi. 15.

56. The hill of Virbius' was four miles from the city, on the same road, near the grove of Diana, where Hippolytus was worshipped as a hero under the name of Virbius. cf. Virg. Æ. vii. 761-782 (HY, exc.) VS. Öv. F. iii. vi. M. xv. 543. This road was notorious for the swarms of beggars that infested it: Juv. iv. 117, note. PR.

The original Manius is said to have consecrated the grove to Diana; Festus. His descendants were very numerous and very poor. T. PR.

57. Cf. Juv. iv. 98, note. PR. Petr. 43. K.

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ignoti vel ex inopinato apparentes de cœlo supervenire dicuntur, sicut Terræ filios vulgus vocat, quorum genus incertum est: gigantesque hac ratione Terræ filii appellantur; Tert. Apol. RH, xx. 28. PR.

60. If one of my grandsires is a son of earth and Manius has the same mother, he must be a distant uncle of mine.' cf. Juv. viii. 272 sqq. notes. K. 61. Qui prior es. From this it appears that Persius's heir was more advanced in life than the poet himself; he therefore did wrong in asking for the torch' at all, as well as in asking for it before Persius had completed his course. PR.

You are in full health, and have every prospect of outstripping me in the career of life; do not then prematurely take from me the chance of extending my days a little do not call for my torch before I have given up the race,' nor snatch (in the beautiful language of Shakspeare) "at half an hour of my frail life." Our author's pathetic expostulation conveys the conviction of his own mind, that the fatal termination of the contest was inevitable and not very remote. G.

Lampada. This is an allusion to the torch-races at Athens. VS. Plat. Leg. vi. Κ. τὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς φέγγος λαμπαδευόμενον ἐπαλλήλοις διαδοχαῖς ἰσόχρονον γενήσεται nor Philo. CAS. Varr. R. R. iii. 16, 9. in palæstra qui tædas ardentes accipit, celerior est in cursu continuo, quam ille qui tradit:... propterea quod defatigatus cursor dat integro facem; Cic. Heren. 4. Lucr. ii. 77 sq. According to Suidas, there were three festivals of this kind, the Panathenaan, the Hephæstian, and the Promethean. In the latter they ran from the altar of Prometheus in the Academe to the city, A, v. 8. PR.

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