Cæditio, et Fusco jam micturiente, parati Quod placitum est, illis præstatur tempus agendi, Solis præterea testandi militibus jus 50 garments; meaning perhaps that he goes out of court to do this, complaining that he can't bear the heat.-Of Caditius, see sat. xiii. 197, note. 46. Fuscus, &c.] Aurelius Fuscus, noted by Martial as a very drunken fellow. He is always going out of court to get rid of his liquor. Prepared.] That is, for the hearing. 47. We depart.] By the strange avocations of the judges for different purposes, the day passes without the cause being tried, and the parties are forced to go away as they came. The slow sand, &c.] A metaphor, taken from gladiators. See sat. ii. 143, note 2, ad fin.-lenta arena fori-for arena lenti fori, Hypall.-q. d. We, the litigating parties, carry on our contention in a slow dilatory manner, seeing no end of the vexation and delay of the court. 48. Whom arms cover, &c.] q. d. But as for the soldiery, they meet with none of these disappointments-they may bring on their cause when they please. 50. Nor is the affair worn, &c.] Their cause is not delayed from time to time, till the matter grows stale, and wears away by length of procrastination. Or res here may signify estate, goods, fortune; and we may explain the poet to mean, that they are not ruined in their fortunes, as others are, by the expenses of dilatory proceedings, by long and vexatious delays. -Long impediment.] Sufflamine. Metaph. See sat. viii. 1. 148, note. 51. A will, &c.] By the laws of Rome, a son, during the life of his father, could not dispose of his effects by will.--Soldiers were excepted, so that their last wills were valid, though made during the father's life, and though they even excluded the father from any share of their effects which they bequeathed: but this related only to what they got by their military services. This was called peculium castrense. And Fuscus now making water, prepared 50 We depart, and fight in the slow sand of the forum. 55 Promotes this man, and renders its rewards to his glorious toil. 53. Was thought good, &c.] Placuit-it pleased the legislature to ordain, that what was gotten by the toils of war, should not be looked on as a part of, or incorporated with, their private fortune, over the whole of which the father had a power, so that they could not dispose of it by will in his life-time. 54 Coranus.] Some valiant soldier, who had made a large fortune in the wars. 55. An attendant of banners.] Who had followed and fought under the Roman banners. -Earning the money of camps.] Receiving his pay, and sharing the booty when enemies were defeated and plundered. 56. His father, tho' trembling.] An old man trembling with and not long for this world. - age, -Besets.] Captat-wheedles him, in hopes of being his heir. See sat. x. 1. 202, and note. -Just labour, &c.] A diligent and faithful discharge of his duty as a soldier, has advanced this man to affluence and rank. 57. And renders, &c.] And has amply rewarded all the glorious pains which he has taken in the service of his country. 58. This certainly, &c.] q. d. It should certainly be the principal study of a general to promote and reward the brave; and that they who render the greatest services to their country, by their valour, should be most happy. See AINSW. Refero, No. 5. Referre ipsius ducis is of difficult construction, but seems equivalent to referre ad ipsum ducem. For 'tis a noble general's prudent part, DRYDEN. 60. Should be glad, &c.] Should rejoice in being distinguished by military honours. -Trappings.] Phalaræ-arum-some ornaments worn by men of arms, who had distinguished themselves. - Collars.] Or chains of gold, worn about the necks of those whose valour and services in the army had rendered them worthy of military honours. q. d. It should be the peculiar care of the general, that all who have distinguished themselves by their services under him should be made happy, by bearing those military honours about them, which are the rewards of military valour, and which tend to its encouragement. Quis enim virtutem amplectitur ipsam, præmia si tollas ? See sat. x. 1. 141, 2. Having now finished my task, as far as JUVENAL is concerned, I have to lament, that it has not been in my power to represent this great poet in all the beauty and excellence of his composition; these can only be known to men of letters, who can read and understand him in the original. If the homely dress, in which he must necessarily appear in a literal translation, shall be found to have its use in leading my readers to a correct interpretation of the Latin, I may venture to suppose that I have done all that can be expected from it; taste and genius must do the rest; these alone can assimilate the imagination to that of the poet, so as to enable the reader to enter fully into the propriety, elegance, and beauty of his language; as a real inclination to what is right and commendable, can alone dispose us to embrace that system of virtuous conduct, which is so highly commended, and to shun, with indignation and abhorrence, that system of vice and profligacy, so strongly delineated, and so severely reprobated in the preceding Satires. END OF THE SIXTEENTH SATIRE. |