May not repent of your endeavour, and of your accomplished wish? The easy gods have overturned whole houses, themselves Wishing it. Things hurtful by the gown, hurtful by warfare, Are asked a fluent copiousness of speech to many And their own eloquence is deadly.-He, to his strength 10 But money, heap'd together with too much care, destroys As much as a British whale is greater than dolphins. Therefore in direful times, and by the command of Nero, 15 A whole troop Longinus, and the large gardens of wealthy Seneca, Surrounded, and besieged the stately buildings of the Laterani The soldier seldom comes into a garret. Tho' you should carry a few small vessels of pure silver, 19 Going on a journey by night, you will fear the sword and the pole, And tremble at the shadow of a reed moved, by moon-light. AN EMPTY TRAVELLER WILL SING BEFORE A ROBBER. Commonly the first things prayed for, and most known at all temples, 16. Seneca, &c.] Tutor to Nero-supposed to be one in Piso's conspiracy, but put to death for his great riches. Sylvanus the tribune, by order of Nero, surrounded Seneca's magni cent villa, near Rome, with a troop of soldiers, and then sent in a centurion to acquaint him with the emperor's orders, that he should put himself to death. On the receipt of this, he opened the veins of his arms and legs, then was put into a hot bath; but this not finishing him, he drank poison. 17. Surrounded.] Beset-encompassed. -Laterani.] Plautius Lateranus had a sumptuous palace, in which he was beset by order of Nero, and killed so suddenly, by Thurius the tribune, that he had not a moment's time allowed him to take leave of his children and family. He had been designed consul. 18. The soldier, &c.] Cœnaculum signifies a place to sup in an upper chamber-also a garret, a cockloft in the top of the house, commonly let to poor people, the inhabitants of which were too poor to run any risk of the emperor's sending soldiers to murder them for what they have. not so rich as to become an object of the emperor's avarice and cruelty, yet you can't travel by night, with the paltry charge of a little silver plate, without fear of your life from robbers, who may either stab you with a sword, or knock you down with a bludgeon, in order to rob you. 20. Pole.] Contus signifies a long pole or staff also a weapon, wherewith they used to fight beasts upon the stage. It is probable that the robbers about Rome armed themselves with these, as ours, about London, arm themselves with large sticks or bludgeons. 21. Tremble, &c.] They are alarmed at the least appearance of any thing moving near them, even the trembling and nodding of a bulrush, when its shadow appears by moonlight. 22. Empty traveller, &c.] Having nothing to lose, he has nothing to fear, and therefore has nothing to interrupt his jollity as he travels along, though in the presence of a robber. 23. Temples, &c.] Where people go to make prayers to the gods, and to implore the fulfilment of their desires and 19. Tho' you should carry, &c.] Though wishes. Divitiæ ut crescant, ut opes; ut maxima toto 25. The greatest, &c.] The forum, or market-place, at Rome, was the place where much money-business was transacted, and where money-lenders and borrowers met together; and he that was richest, and had most to lend, was sure to make the greatest sums by interest on his money, and perhaps was most respected. Hence the poet may be understood to mean, that it was the chief wish of most people to be richer than others. Or, he may here allude to the chests of money belonging to the senators, and other rich men, which were laid up for safety in some of the buildings about the forum, as the temple of Castor, and others. Comp. sat. xiv. 1. 258, 9. -No poisons, &c.] The poorer sort of people might drink out of their coarse cups of earthen ware, without any fear of being poisoned for what they had. 26. Them.] Poisons. 27. Set with gems.] See sat. v. 1. 3745. This was a mark of great riches. -Setine wine.] So called from Setia, a city of Campania. It was a most delicious wine, preferred by Augustus, and the succeeding emperors, to all other. Glows with a fine red colour, and sparkles in the cup. -Wide gold.] Large golden cups. Those who were rich enough to afford 25 30 35 40 these things, might indeed reasonably fear being poisoned by somebody, in order to get their estates. 28. Do you approve.] Laudas-praise or commend his conduct; for while these philosophers lived, many accounted them mad. One of the wise men, &c.] Meaning Democritus of Abdera, who always laughed, because he believed our actions to be folly whereas Heraclitus of Ephesus, the other of the wise men here alluded to, always wept, because he thought them to be misery. 29. As oft as, &c.] Whenever he went out of his house-as oft as he stepped over his threshold. 30. The other.] Heraclitus. See note on line 28. 31. The censure, &c.] It is easy enough to find matter for severe laughter. Rigidi here,as an epithet to laughter, seems to denote that sort of censorious sneer which condemns and censures, at the same time that it derides the follies of mankind. 32. The wonder is, &c.] How Heraclitus could find tears enough to expresshis grief at human wretchedness, guilt, and woe, the occasions of it are so frequent. 34. In those cities.] As there is at Rome. The poet here satirizes the ridiculous appendages and ensigns of office, when you take cups 26 30 Are, that riches may increase, and wealth; that our chest may be eyes. 35 Standing forth, and sublime in the midst of the dust of the circus, For a sweating officer holds this, and lest the consul should which were so coveted and esteemed by the Romans, as if they could convey happiness to the wearers.-He would also insinuate, that these things were made ridiculous by the conduct of the possessors of them. 35. Senatorial gowns.] Prætexta--so called because they were faced and bordered with purple-worn by the patricians and senators. -Robes.] Trabea-robes worn by kings, consuls, and augurs. Rods.] Fasces-bundles of birchen rods carried before the Roman magistrates, with an axe bound up in the middle of them, so as to appear at the top. These were ensigns of their official power to punish crimes, either by scourging or death. -A litter.] Lectica. See sat. i. 32, note. -Tribunal.] A seat in the forum, built by Romulus, in the form of an halfmoon, where the judges sat, who had jurisdiction over the highest offences: at the upper part was placed the sella curulis, in which the prætor sat. 36. The prælor, &c.] He describes and derides the figure which the prætor made, when presiding at the Circensian games. In high chariots.] In a triumphal car, which was gilt, and drawn by four white horses-perhaps, by the plur. cur 40 ribus, we may understand that he had 37. Dust of the circus.] He stood, by 38. Coat of Jove.] In a triumphal habit; for those who triumphed wore a tunic, or garment, which, at other times, was kept in the temple of Jupiter. 38, 9. The Tyrian tapestry, &c.] Sarra, (from Heb. 3,) a name of Tyre, where hangings and tapestry were made, as also where the fish was caught, from whence the purple was taken with which they were dyed. This must be a very heavy material for a gown, especially as it was also embroidered with divers colours; and such a garment must be very cumbersome to the wearer, as it hung from his shoulders. 40. So large an orb, &c.] Add to this, a great heavy crown, the circumference of which was so large and thick, that no neck could be strong enough to avoid bending under it. 41. A sweating officer.] Publicus signifies some official servant, in some public office about the prætor on these occasions, who sat by him in the chariot, in order to assist in bearing up the crown, the weight of which made him sweat with holding it up. Ne placeat, curru servus portatur eodem. Da nunc et volucrem, sceptro quæ surgit eburno, Quosdam præcipitat subjecta potentia magnæ 41. Lest the consul, &c.] The ancients had an institution, that a slave should ride in the same chariot when a consul triumphed, and should admonish him to know himself, lest he should be too vain. This was done with regard to the prætor at the Circensian games, who, as we have seen above, appeared like a victorious consul, with the habit and equipage of triumph-Juvenal seems to use the word consul, here, on that account. 43. Add the bird, &c.] Among other ensigns of triumph, the prætor, on the above occasion, held an ivory rod, or sceptre, in his hand, with the figure of an eagle, with wings expanded, as if rising for flight, on the top of it. 44. The trumpeters.] Or blowers of the horn, or cornet. These, with the tubicines, which latter seem included here under the general name of cornicines, always attended the camp, and, on the return of the conqueror, preccded the triumphal chariot, sounding their instruments. The preceding offices, &c.] Of ficium signifies sometimes a solemn attendance on some public occasion, as on inarriages, funerals, triumphs, &c. (see sat. ii. l. 132.) Here it denotes, that the prætor was attended, on this occasion, by a long train of his friends and dependents, who came to grace the solemnity, by marching in procession before his chariot. 45. Snowy citizens, &c.] Many of the 45 50 55 citizens, as was usual at triumphs, dressed in white robes, walking by the side of the horses, and holding the bridles. 46. The sportula.] The dole-basket. See sat. i. 1. 95. -Buried in his coffers.] The meaning of this passage seems to be, that these citizens appeared, and gave their attendance, not from any real value for him, but for what they could get. He is supposed to have great wealth hidden, or buried, in his coffers, which this piece of attention was calculated to fetch out, in charity to his poor fellowcitizens that attended him on this occasion-q. d. All this formed a scene which would have made Democritus shake his sides with laughing. Comp. Please himself, a slave is carried in the same chariot. 45 Whom the sportula, buried in his coffers, has made his friends. 51 That great men, and those about to give great examples, For which it is lawful to cover with wax the knees of the gods. A long and famous catalogue of honours overwhelms, at Abdera, a city of Thrace, where the air, which was foggy and thick, was supposed to make the inhabitants dull and stupid. So Horace, speaking of Alexander the Great, as a critic of little or no discernment in literature, says, Bœotum in crasso jurares aere natum. Epist. i. lib. ii. 1. 244. By which, as by many other testimonies, we find that the inhabitants of Boeotia were stigmatized also in the same manner. Hence Boeoticum ingenium was a phrase for dulness and stupidity. 52. Present a halter, &c.] Mandare laqueum alicui, was a phrase made use of to signify the utmost contempt and indifference, like sending a halter to a person, as if to hid him hang himself. Democritus is here represented in this light as continually laughing at the cares and joys of the general herd, and as himself treating with scorn the frowns of adverse fortune. 53. His middle nail.] i. e. His middle finger, and point at her in derision. To hold out the middle finger, the rest being contracted, and bent downwards, was an act of great contempt; like pointing at a person among us. This mark of contempt is very ancient. See Is. lviii. 9. 54. Therefore, &c.] It follows, therefore, from the example of Democritus, who was happy without the things which people so anxiously seek after, and peVOL. II. 56 tition the gods for, that they are superfluous and unnecessary. It likewise follows, that they are injurious, because they expose people to the fears and dangers of adverse fortune; whereas Democritus, who had them not, could set the frowns of fortune at defiance, possessing a mind which carried him above worldly cares or fears. 55. Lawful.] Fas signifies that which is permitted, therefore lawful to do. -To cover with wax, &c.] It was the manner of the ancients, when they made their vows to the gods, to write them on paper, (or waxen tables,) seal them up, and, with wax, fasten them to the knees of the images of the gods, or to the thighs, that being supposed the seat of mercy. When their desires were granted, they took away the paper, tore it, and offered to the gods what they had promised. See sat. ix. 1. 139. The gods permit us to ask, but the consequences of having our petitions answered are often fatal. Comp. 1. 7, 8. 56. Precipitates some. and destruction. ] viz. Into ruin 57. Catalogue, &c.] Pagina, in its proper and literal sense, signifies a page of a book, but here alludes to a plate, or table of brass, fixed before the statues of eminent persons, and containing all the titles and honours of him whose statue it was. -Overwhelms.] With ruin, by ex C |