It was ill supplied with water, and it was little better than death to be sent there. 'Brevibus' is equivalent to 'parvis.' 'Deportatio in insulam' was at first added to the old punishment of aquae et ignis interdictio,' and at length superseded it. 'Relegatio' was a milder punishment. 74. probitas laudatur et alget.] These words are often quoted and initated. For aliquis,' some of the MSS. have aliquid;' but the masculine is right. The Greeks used T in the same way; and the same is common in most languages. To be "somebody" is the great object of ambition with half the world. 75. praetoria,] Fine houses fit for an emperor. 76. stantem extra pocula caprum.] 'Stantein' means standing out in bold relief. Such figures on cups, etc., when they were movable, were called 'emblemata' after the Greek. On the ancient Greek vessels they were very handsome and curious. 78. praetextatus adulter?] This seems to mean a boy paramour, who has learnt his lesson of vice before he has put on the toga virilis.' 80. Cluvienus.] It is impossible to say who is meant by this name. 81. Ex quo Deucalion,] The passions of mankind, such as they have been ever since the flood, are the subjects he has chosen for his pen. The story of Deucalion and Pyrrha, and how men and women sprung up from the stones they threw behind them, is told at length by Ovid. The mountain on which the vessel landed was generally supposed to be Parnassus; and the divinity whose oracle Deucalion consulted was Themis. 'Sortes,' for the answer of an oracle, is taken from the Italian practice, particularly in the temples of Fortuna, whose responses were delivered by lots, wooden tablets with different inscriptions shaken out of a box, and not by word of mouth, as the Greek oracles were delivered. 'Sortes poscere' is an unusual phrase. 86. discursus,] This seems to signify generally the distractions, "the giddy whirl," of a busy life. 'Farrago,' which is derived from 'far,' is properly a mixture of various grains given to cattle. Here it means a medley of miscellaneous topics. Est' is in agreement with the predicate. H. 462, 2; A. & S. 209, R. 9; M. 216. 88. Major avaritiae patuit sinus?] Avaritia' is personified. 'Sinus' means the fold of the toga over the breast within which the purse (crumena) usually hung. A large purse would require a large 'sinus.' The old commentators differ. Grangaeus takes it this way. Britannicus explains it from the bellying of a sail with a fair wind; and Owen translates thus, "And when did vice with growth so rank prevail? Holyday, "When open lay to avarice a larger haven?" Mr. Mayor says, "When did the gulf of avarice yawn wider?" I have no doubt the first explanation is right. alea quando Hos animos?] "When had gambling such spirit as it has now? Juvenal says elsewhere that fathers taught their young children to game. The 'alea' was always 'vetita legibus,' but never checked from the declining times of the republic. Augustus, Caligula, Claudius, and Domitian, are all put down as gamblers by Suetonius; and Claudius wrote a treatise on the subject. The verb to be supplied in this sentence is 'habuit.' See A. 49, 2, c; H. 367, 3; B. 639; M. 479, d. 89. Neque enim loculis comitantibus] Men do not now go to the gaming table with their purse and play for the contents of that, but stake their chest containing all the ready money they have. Tabula' is the board on which the dice were thrown. Neque' occurs seven times only in Juvenal; 'nec,' more than one hundred and sixty times. "Enim must commonly be translated by the English conjunction 'for,' but at times retains what was probably its earlier signification, 'indeed,' as in 'enim vero,' indeed, indeed; neque enim,' nor indeed; 'et enim,' and indeed, &c." See M. 435, obs. 4; A. & S. 198, 7, R. 91. dispensatore videbis Armigero!] Dispensator' was the cashkeeper, called also 'procurator' and calculator,' who formed one of the establishment in all rich houses. He is called 'armigero' because he furnished the sinews of this warfare, the money. 6 92. Simplexne furor sestertia centum] The Greeks would say áñîñ pavía, madness and nothing more. A hundred sestertia would be nearly $4000. The Romans did not understand high play if this was enough to make a satirist angry; but the more than madness lay in the selfishness of the man who, after losing all his money, stakes his slave's jacket, and losing that also never restores it. 'Reddere,' however, need mean no more than 'to furnish.' 94. fercula] This is an accusative of kindred signification. See references on verse 16. For some ages the Roman nobility commonly used nothing but far' and 'puls,' and if a marriage or other joyful feast fell out, they thought it a mighty thing if they added a few small fishes and a few pounds of pork. Suetonius gives Augustus credit for moderation and good taste combined, because his custom was ordinarily to have but three courses, and at his finest dinners only six. Elagabalus once gave a dinner of twenty-two courses, the guests bathing after each. 95. Nunc sportula primo Limine parva sedet] The 'sportula' is now a shabby affair, and instead of being given in the atrium' as a regular entertainment ('coena recta ') in the way clients used to be received by their patrons, it is now set out at the door, to be scrambled for by the hungry rabble, closely watched by the master, lest any should get it under false pretences. Sportula' was originally a wicker basket in which the poor carried away their portion of meat from a public entertainment with sacrifice. It was afterwards the name given to a dole which first under the emperors it became customary for rich men to give to those dependants who chose to pay their respects to them at their early reception in the morning, and to dance attendance upon them at other times. It was given sometimes in the shape of meat, at others in a small sum of money, usually 100 quadrantes, or one and a half denarii, about 22 cents. For the construction of 'limine,' see A. 55, 3, ƒ; H. 422, 1, 2. 96. turbae rapienda togatae.] The 'toga' was worn out of respect to the great man, and it was counted bad taste for any person of respectability to go abroad without it. At one time it became common for persons of family to go to the theatre without the 'toga,' and Augustus put a stop to the practice. Turba togata,' 'gens togata,' were commonly used for the Romans. 97. trepidat,] This word expresses any hurried action or emotion. 'Inspicit et trepidat' means he looks in the man's face anxiously, with a sharp scrutinizing eye. 'Ille' can hardly be any but the master, who is supposed to condescend so far as to look on and regulate the distribution. 99. jubet a praecone vocari Ipsos Trojugenas;] The 'praeco' may mean the nomenclator,' whose particular duty was to attend the morning visits and to know all his master's acquaintance by sight and name, with their circumstances and all about them. The master bids this man call up the respectable people first; for, says Juvenal, proud gentlemen of the old families condescend to join us humble folk in begging. The poorer they got, the more they stuck to their pedigree, and nothing would satisfy them short of the blood of Aeneas in their veins. For the construction, see A. 57, 8, d; M. 396, obs. 3. 101. Da Praetori, da deinde Tribuno.] It must be supposed that sometimes magistrates (who were now sunk very low) were among the crowds who waited on the rich. The master says to the dispensator: "Give the Praetor first, after him the Tribunus;" but a freedman, who had come before either of them, asserts his claim to be served before them; and a long speech is put into his mouth, in which he makes himself out to be richer than the men of office, and therefore entitled to take precedence of them, an odd argument at such a time. Sed libertinus prior est' is part of the narrative. 104. Natus ad Euphraten,] He may mean from Cappadocia, from which part the Romans got a good many of their slaves; or he may refer to the Jews, 97,000 of whom were taken captives in the Jewish war. Fenestrae' are the holes made for earrings, and they are called 'molles,' which means effeminate. Jewish boys wore them (see Exodus xxxii. 2). The man says he has five houses, which he lets out for shops, and they bring in 400,000 sesterces of income, which was an equestrian fortune; or we may understand 'quinque tabernae' to be banking houses in the forum. In that case the man means his transactions at the 'quinque tabernae' bring him in this income. With quadringenta,'' sestertia' must be supplied. 106. purpura major] That is, the 'latus clavus,' or broad purple stripe on the tunic worn by senators, as opposed to the 'angustus clavus' worn by 'equites.' A tribunus militum' of the first four legions was entitled to a seat in the senate, and therefore to the 'latus clavus; but it was allowed to others who were not senators under the empire. 107. si Laurenti custodit in agro] Laurentum is near the coast, and about eight miles from Ostia. It was a winter resort of the Romans, and abounded with villas. Large flocks of sheep were fed there, and the marshes in the neighborhood were famous for wild boars. Corvinus was a cognomen of the Messalae, who were a branch of the Valeria Gens, one of the oldest families in Rome. This gentleman of old family is supposed to be reduced to keeping sheep as a mercenarius.' A person is said 'conducere rem faciendam,' in which case he receives pay ('merces'), or 'conducere rem utendam,' in which case he pays another for the thing used. 108. ego possideo plus] That 'possidere' was used generally in the sense of possessing property, and not confined to the 'possessores' technically so called, is obvious from this and many passages. The 'possessores' of the republican period were occupiers of public lands; and this man could not be a 'possessor' in that sense any more than Pallas or Licinus. He makes himself out to be vastly rich, and yet he is here begging. 109. Pallante el Licinis.] The man's speech ends here. Pallas was a freedman of Claudius, in whose reign he got together a large fortune, for the sake of which he was put to death by Nero, A.D. 63. Licinus was a Gaulish slave manumitted by C. Julius Caesar, and made by Augustus governor of Gallia, which he robbed, and thereby grew very rich. The plural in 'Licinis' is put, by a common usage, for the singular. The grammars fail to notice it. 110. sacro nec cedat honori] The person of the 'tribunus plebis' was inviolable, 'sacrosanctus.' 111. pedibus qui venerat albis;] Slaves newly imported are said to have been chalked on the soles of their feet when exposed for sale; but what could have been the use of chalking their soles is not obvious. 114. templo] The intransitive use of the verb 'habito' is more common than the transitive. The temple of Pax was one of the handsomest buildings in Rome, and was situated on the Via Sacra. It was begun by Claudius and finished by Vespasian, who deposited in it the spoils of Jerusalem brought to Rome by Titus. It was burnt down in the reign of Commodus, about 120 years after it was built. Fides had a temple on Mons Capitolinus, which was said to have been founded originally by Numa, and was afterwards restored in the consulship of M. Aemilius Scaurus, B.C. 115. No less than three temples of Victoria are mentioned, one of which was in the forum, another on Mons Palatinus, and a third on Mons Aventinus. In his first consulship M. Marcellus built a temple to Virtus near the Porta Capena, from which the Via Appia began. 66 116. crepitat Concordia nido.] Concordia, who twitters when the birds salute their nest; " that is, her temple sounds with the twittering of the birds. Mayor translates: "who clatters when she visits her nest." The birds and the goddess, he says, are identified. There was a beautiful temple to Concordia in the Carinae, originally built by Furius Camillus after the expulsion of the Gauls, B.C. 390, and restored by Livia, Augustus's wife. There was another that stood between the Capitol and the Forum, in which the senate sometimes held its meetings. Some say that the crow, others that the stork, was the bird sacred to Concordia. 117. summus honor] "The highest magistrates." Referre' is the proper word for entering money in an account book, and 'rationes' are the accounts themselves. 119. Quid facient comites,] That is, those parasites whose profession it was to wait upon the rich. See above, verse 46. 120. Densissima centum Quadrantes] See note on verse 95. 'Densissima lectica' is equivalent to 'plurima lectica.' Men are not satisfied with going themselves, but they must take their wives with them to get a double allowance, though they be sick or in the family way. Another takes his wife's empty chair, with the curtains drawn round. "It's my wife Galla," says he; "don't keep a lady waiting." "Show yourself, Galla," says the balneator.' "Don't disturb her, she's asleep; " and so he takes a second dole. 127. Ipse dies pulcro] Here follows an account of the divisions of the day, which he calls a 'fair ordering' ironically. The distribution of the dole is the first thing in the morning; then the great man goes to the forum and the law courts, and returns home about dinner time, still attended by his clients, who, after seeing him to his door, retire wearied and disappointed, because he does not ask them to dinner, as rich men used to do before the sportula' was invented. We have a scene below (iii. 249, sqq.) of slaves carrying away hot viands in the afternoon; it appears, therefore, that people could take the earnings of their servility either in the morning or in the afternoon. 128. jurisque peritus Apollo] In the Forum Augusti there was a statue of Apollo inlaid with ivory. This forum had two porticos, in one of which were statues of Aeneas and the Roman kings, and in the other those of distinguished soldiers. Among all Apollo's attributes law was not one, and he is called 'juris peritus' simply because he was always listening to lawyers. With triumphales' supply 'statuae.' 130. Aegyptius atque Arabarches,] This last title has caused a good deal of trouble. It must have been that of some Roman officer of consideration in the province of Egypt, whatever his duties may have been. Mayor considers it a nickname, and translates it by "nabob," great mogul." Juvenal is indignant that a provincial officer should have had a public statue, with his services inscribed on the pedestal (titulos), set up for him among the great men in the forum. 132. Vestibulis abeunt] The vestibulum' was a porch leading from the street to the door of the house. These porches were attached to large houses only; and in them the retainers sat. And Juvenal says that when they came home with their patron, they got no farther than the porch, and, receiving no invitation to dinner, they laid aside their hopes for the first time, and went away to buy a poor supper and firing to dress it, while their lord and master went in to a fine dinner which he enjoyed by himself. 'Rex,' as applied to the rich, is not uncommon. He says that of all the hopes men feed upon they are least willing to part with that of a good dinner. 136. tantum] See references on verse 1. 137. et latis orbibus] These were round tables made of various costly woods. They came into fashion in Cicero's time; and some may |