NOTES. SATIRE I. THIS satire must have been published after A.D. 100 (see note on verse 47). Whether it was written first or not, it serves very well as an introduction to the volume. The 'libellus' of which the author speaks (verse 86) may be this poem or the whole collection. ARGUMENT.-Am I always to listen, and never to pay back in kind? I, too, have been to school; if paper must be wasted, why should not I write (1-18)? How can I restrain myself when I think of the men and the times? I have no choice; I must write satire. How, in view of the sins of to-day, can I take up the hackneyed tales of the old poets? In the very streets one sees his material. Honesty is gone; crimes alone help men. I must write as I can (19-80). All the passions of men are my motley subject. When was there so much gaming as there is to-day, such luxury, such base cringing for a paltry gain? Why, even men of rank seek the dole and press their claim in every way (81-126). So, every day, the sportula comes first, then the court; then the hungry clients go away disappointed, and the rich man sits down to his feast. But such gluttony brings its own speedy punishment (127-146). You tell me I had best be careful how I speak, or I may meet the Christians' fate; that it is safer to write of those who are dead and gone. Well, then, I must try what I can do with those who are in their tombs (147-171). 1. Semper ego auditor tantum ?] In the time of Augustus it had become common for all sorts of writers, but particularly poets, to recite their productions in public places, baths, colonnades, and so forth; or to get their friends and acquaintances together to hear them in private houses or rooms hired for the purpose. The practice was adopted by literary men of character as well as the inferior sort; the example having been first set, as is said, by Asinius Pollio, the friend and patron of Horace and others. 'Tantum' modifies auditor.' A. 47, 3, c; H. 583, 1; B. 997; M. 301, c, obs. 2. Nunquamne reponam means 'Am I never to pay back?' The verb is the present subjunctive. A. 57, 6; H. 486, 11.; B. 1180. 2. Theseide] The story of Theseus furnished subjects for epic poems and tragedies, and this may have been either, probably an epic, as comedy, elegy, and tragedy come after. 3. recitaverit ille togatas,] Note the tense: 'Is it to go for nothing that I have listened?' Togatae' were comedies with Roman plots and characters, as opposed to 'palliatae,' which were Grecian. 4. ingens Telephus,] Telephus, king of Mysia, was a son of Hercules, and a fertile subject for tragedy. His strength is said to have approached that of his father, and no doubt was magnified by the poets Juvenal refers to. 'Ingens' refers to the length of the poem. 5. summi plena jam margine libri] This is meant to show the length of the poem. The back of the papyrus, or parchment (membrana), was not usually written upon, but stained. It was usual to have a wide margin; and the larger the book, the wider the margin. It is difficult to give a satisfactory meaning to 'summi libri,' unless it can mean a very large 'liber.' 7. lucus Martis,] There was a grove of Mars on the Appian Way, another in which Ilia brought forth Romulus and Remus, and a third in Colchis where the golden fleece was kept. Any grove of Mars will do, and there were many. Of the group of islands north of Sicily called Aeoliae, Vulcaniae, or Liparaeae Insulae, the most southerly is that now called Volcano, by the Romans Hiera or Vulcani Insula, and by the Greeks 'Iεpù 'Hoaíoтov. There is little doubt that this is the place to which Juvenal refers. This island was in early times a very active volcano. 9. Quid agant venti,] The winds follow naturally the mention of the Aeoliae Insulae, one of which is said to have been the abode of the governor of the winds. 10. unde alius] Jason from Colchis. The form 'pellicula' has no diminutive force, but is used for convenience. 11. jaculetur Monychus ornos,] Monychus and the other centaurs tore up the trees from Othrys and Pelion, and hurled them upon Caeneus at the marriage of his friend Peirithous. Monychus' is derived from μovo-ovus; the o in the compound being long on account of the contraction, while the first ov is dropped by syncope. 12. Frontonis platani] The gardens and corridors of private persons were lent, it appears, for this purpose. Fronto is a name which occurs often under the empire. In the peristylia of large houses trees of considerable size were grown. The plane-tree was much cultivated by the Romans. 'Marmora' are statues and marbles, inlaid in the walls. 'Convulsa' and 'ruptae' seem to be medical words, as if the pillars were in a state of convulsion and bursting blood-vessels. 'Lectore' seems to be the ablative of means, the main idea being contained in its adjective: "by the persistency of the reader." See M. 254, obs. 3; and compare H. 414, 5, 1; A. & S. 248, I., R. 3. 14. Exspectes eadem] "You may look for the same stuff from all sorts of poets, from the greatest to the least: I then (ergo) must write, for I too have been to school and been whipped and declaimed; and since paper must be spoilt, mercy would be thrown away: I may as well spoil it as others." Schoolboys will not want to be told what 'manum ferulae subducere' means; but it appears the commentators are not agreed. 16. Consilium dedimus Sullae] The theme on which he professes to have declaimed belongs to the order called "suasoriae orationes." It appears to have been a favorite subject. The advice is, that Sulla should purchase sleep by laying down his power. He did so, B.C. 79, and died next year in retirement. Suasoriae' were distinguished from 'controversiae,' and belonged rather to boys' schools. On the case of altum,' see A. 52, 3, a; H. 371, 1, 3, (2); B. 713. 20. Auruncae flexit alumnus,] Suessa, in Campania, the later capital of the Aurunci, whose original town Aurunca (five miles from Suessa) was destroyed by the Sidicini, was called Suessa Aurunca. It was the birth-place of Lucilius. Placidi' is the nominative plural. 22. Maevia Tuscum Figat aprum] This refers to the 'venationes,' or fights with wild beasts at the circus and amphitheatres. The beasts fought with each other, or with men trained for the purpose and called bestiarii.' Of these many were free men and volunteers fighting for pay, and among them were sometimes found women, even those of equestrian and senatorial families, a thing which seems to have happened first in the year A.D. 63, in the reign of Nero. Domitian forced into the arena not only men of rank, but women also. The practice was put down more than a century later by a senatusconsultum, A.D. 200, in the reign of Sept. Severus. The boars of Etruria were particularly large. The women are said to hunt with their breasts bare like the Amazons. 25. Quo tondente] There was a barber, Licinus, mentioned by Horace, of whom the Scholiast says that he was made a senator by C. Julius Caesar. There appears to have been some such story connected with a low man of this name, for it passed into a proverb. 26. verna Canopi Crispinus,] Canopus, or Canobus, which gave its name to one of the branches of the Nile, was about fifteen miles from Alexandria, and a town of dissolute morals, as seaports are wont to be. It is for this reason that Juvenal makes his upstart Crispinus a native of Canopus. How he commended himself to Domitian, and rose to be an eques, does not appear. Verna' was a slave born in his master's house: this man was therefore a 'libertinus.' 27. Tyrias humero revocante lacernas,] The 'lacerna' was a loose cloak worn over the 'toga.'. It was usually of costly dye and material, being worn chiefly by the rich. The words describe the way in which the cloak was worn, hitched up on the left shoulder by a brooch or something of that sort, and floating in the wind, so that the shoulder seems to pull it back. This man appears to have had light rings for summer, and heavier for winter. That he wore a gold ring does not prove that he was an eques, for by the emperors after Tiberius the privilege was given to the lowest of the people. 30. iniquae Tam patiens Urbis,] So tolerant of the town's iniquities.' |