Ille senis tremulumque caput descendere jussit In cœlum et longam manantia labra salivam. Hæc poscit ferrum atque ignes, hæc potio torquet: 625 Hæc lacerat mixtòs Equitum cum sanguine Patres. Tanti partus equæ! quanti una venefica constat? - Oderunt natos de pellice; nemo repugnet, Nemo vetet jam jam privignum occidere fas est. Vos ego, pupilli, moneo, quibus amplior est res, 630 Custodite animas et nulli credite mensæ. 1 Livida materno fervent adipata veneno. f delicacies, 622. Claudius was in his sixty-fourth year. Suet. 45. CAS. Juvenal's description of this senile driveller is fully confirmed by Suetonius; risus indecens, ira turpior, spumante rictu, humentibus naribus, plectra lingua titubantia, caput que cum semper, tum in quantulocumque actu vel maxime tremulum; 30. Dio lix. LU. their own ears; see xv. 136. R. lacrumas marmora manant; Ov. M. vi. 312. H. The objection to the other reading (longa saliva) from the number of μorsura is not decisive; cf. iii. 66. vii. 28. &c. In English we either insert or omit the preposition WITH after many of these verbs: "A violet dropping dew;" Byron, Hebr. Mel. 624. This potion of Cæsonia excites a frantic call for fire and sword and tortures.' BRI. LU. Suet. Cal. 32. R. 626. If such be the baleful effects of a single philtre,' 616. 'how infinite is the mischief that one sorceress occasions by the continual exercise of her unhallowed art!' SCH. constare to cost.' R. To descend to heaven.' To make this poor creature some amends for poisoning him, they made him a god; and the. facetious Nero, who profited by his, 625. The promiscuous' cruelties of apotheosis, used ever after to call mush-Caligula are recorded, Suet. 26-28.30. rooms Bewμa brv." Suet. Ner. 33. lacerat may either refer to the particular Seneca, in his jeu d'esprit on the Em- instance in c. 28. PR. or be a general peror's death, called the canonization expression. Dio lix. 1-26. R. iv. 37. ἀποκολοκύνθωσις 'the mushroomification ;' and represents Claudius offering himself as a candidate for a godship; but being accused by Augustus, and forthwith unanimously condemned by the celestial electors, he is turned out neck and crop by Mercury, into the infernal regions. Seneca has the very same expression: postea quam Claudius in cœlum descendit; so also nondum stelligerum senior demissus in axem; Stat. Silv. Gallio likewise is celebrated for a joke on the subject, which is far from a bad one. Alluding to the hooks with which criminals were dragged from the place of execution to` the Tiber, and of which by far too many instances occurred under Claudius, he, observed that he was hooked to hea 627. This is all natural enough. Juno did so before them.' LU. 272. PR. 628. Agrippina set the example by poisoning her step-son Germanicus, in order to raise her own son Nero to the imperial throne. VS. But see Tac. A. .xiii. 17. PR. cf. 133 sq. M. 629. Pupilli fatherless children, under ward.' LU. Amplior res is opposed to rebus angustis; SCH. Hor. II Od. x. 21. 630. Nulli not even that of your own mother.' VS. 631. Livida from the effects of the poison upon its victims: PR. thus aconita lurida; Ov. M. i. 147. pallida; Luc. iv. 322 sq. vina pallida; Prop. IV. vii. 36. (BK.) R. see note on i. 72. 'The larded meats or made dishes.' 632. Mordeat ante and prægustet by Quæ peperit timidus prægustet pocula pappas. Fingimus hæc, altum Satira sumente cothurnum 635 Scilicet, et finem egressi legemque priorum Grande Sophocleo carmen bacchamur hiatu, way of precaution, PR. ut custodirent unimas; 630. The custom of having meats and drinks tasted beforehand by an attendant was originally Persian, and was probably introduced into Rome by Augustus; Tac. A. xii. 66. LI (Ath. iv. 21. diargos Suid. Xen. Cyr. i. 3. R.) with other oriental fashions: Hor. I. xxxviii. 633. The step-mother who has children of her own.' HG. Timidus in fear of his life.' LU. Pappas is properly the child's word for father: and is here applied to the pedagogue, who had the care of the boy. PA. It is natural that an orphan, having no father of his own, should apply this term of endearment to the person who lived with him as his guardian, discipuli custos; vii. 218. R. 634. He anticipates an objection which might be started: VS. "I pass the bound Of Satire and encroach on tragic ground!" G. 'The high buskin' see note on 506. R. sola Sophocleo tua carmina digna cothurno; Virg. E. viii. 10. PR. 635. The end we proposed to our selves,' quidquid agunt homines; i. 85. Our predecessors,' viz. Lucilius, Horace, Persius, PR. who confined themselves to real life. R. 636. We rave as though inspired, (Stat. I S. ii. 258.) in the deep-mouthed tones of the Athenian bard, (Mart. III. xx. 7.) a theme of terrific grandeur.' FA. LU. PR. R. The tragic masks were made of hollow wood' with a wide mouth,' which gave a depth to the voice of the actors: but grande and hiatu may both allude to the pompous diction of tragedy; as xaív¡ and οἱ ὑποκριταὶ μέγα κεχηνότες· Call. H. Apol. 24. Luc. Nigr. t. i. p. 50. carmen hiare; Prop. II. xxxi. 6. (BK.) Pers. v. 3. (K.) Prud. c. Sym. ii. 646. R. cf. iii. 175. 637. The Rutulians' were an ancient people of Latium, and the subjects of Turnus. BRI. cf. iii. 84 sq. xii. 103. 105. R. 638. Vani, i. e. mendaces et infidi et levia inaniaque pro gravibus et veris astutissime componentes; Gell. xviii. 4. R. The story of Pontia was well known at Rome. Indeed, it so happens, that there were two monsters of this name, and that the history of either would have answered our author's purpose. (1) The first was the daughter of Publius Petronius and the wife of Vectius Bolanus, a man of high rank and estimation, who gave her twin-children poison, in the time of Nero. Her attempt failed, for the Protrepticon of Statius, written in the beginning of Domitian's reign, is addressed to one of them, who was still a mere youth. It would seem from this poem that the mother was put to death by the latter emperor: exegit panas, hominum cui cura suorum, quo Pietas auctore redit terrasque revisit, quem timet omne nefas; V S. ii. 90 sqq. (2) The other Pontia, to whom Juvenal more particularly alludes, was the wife of Drymis; whose family took care to perpetuate her crime by the following inscription on her tomb: PONTIA TITI PONTII FILIA HEIC SITA SVM QVAE DVOBVS NATIS A ME VENENO CONSUMPTIS AVARITIAE OPVS MISERE MIHI MORTEM CONSCIVI. TV QVISQVIS ES QVI HAC TRANSIS SI PIVS ES QVAESO A ME OCVLOS AVERTE. It is not unprofitable to remark, that this wretched woman was driven to escape by self-murder from the reproaches of her own conscience. To one of these females, Martial addressed the following witty epigram: cum mittis turdumve mihi quadramve placenta sive femur leporis sive quid his simile; buccellas misisse tuas te, Pontia, dicis: has ego nec mittam, Pontia, sed nec edam; VI. lxxv. G. PA. VS. HO. Id. II. xxxiv. 6. PR. Feci is the word used by a culprit in pleading guilty; as fecisse videtur are the words of the prætor in finding a person guilty. Mart. ÎX. xvi. 2. R. Confiteor, puerisque meis aconita paravi, 640 Quæ deprensa patent: facinus tamen ipsa peregi." Tune duos? " Septem, si septem forte fuissent." Illam ego non tulerim, quæ computat et scelus ingens 639. Aconita; see note on i. 158. PR. 640. Therefore it is bootless to deny the fact.' With quæ understand parricidia LU. or facinora. R. 641. The female viper is said to destroy the male, and to be destroyed by her own young. Plin. viii. SCH. Id. x. 62. Arist. H. A. v. ult. PR. "Did you say all? what, all? oh, hell-kite! all? At one fell swoop?" Shaksp. Macb. IV. iii. 642. Tune duos 2 One of the lawyers in the trial of the Regicides, after assailing the prisoner at the bar with a volley of invectives, adds bitterly " For I thou thee, thou traitor!" Cf. Senec. 952 sqq. R. 643. Tragicis; Sophocles, Euripides, and Seneca. PR. Apollod. I. ix. 28. III. xiv. 8. Virg. E. vi. 79. HY. 'Medea,' the daughter of Eetes king of Colchis and the wife of Jason, destroyed her children when her husband forsook her for Glauce. Just. xlii. Diodor. v. 3. Eur. and Sen. Med. Ov. M. vii. 1 sqq. PR. R. 644. Procne, the daughter of Pandion king of Athens, and wife of Tereus king of Thrace, slew Itys her son and served him up to his father's table, in revenge for the violence offered by Tereus to her sister Philomela. LU. Ov. Met. vi. 424 sqq. PR. R. I have nothing to say against the credibility of those stories, after what we have witnessed in our own days.' summa 645. Grandia monstra, and monstra, 646 sq. see note on 286. R. 646. Not for filthy lucre,' and, consequently, in cold blood. 647. Aut amat aut odit femina, nil est tertium; P. Syrus. LU. See note on 135. M. notum, furens quid femina possit; Virg. Æ. v. 6. Cic. Off. i. 8 extr. Sen. Med. 579 sqq. Hor. I Od. xvi. 5 sqq. R. 648. Jecur; see note on i. 45. R. 649. Furor iraque mentem præcipitant; Virg. Æ. ii. 316. 650. Cf. Hom. II. N 137 sqq. Virg. E. xii. 684-689. (HY.) R. note on iii. 258. 651. Who calculates.' permultum interest utrum perturbatione aliqua animi, quæ plerumque brevis est et ad tempus; an consulto et cogitato fiat injuria: leviora enim sunt ea quæ repentino aliquo metu uccidunt, quam ea quæ meditata et præparata inferuntur; Cic. Off. i. 27? PR. nemo ad humanum sanguinem propter ipsum venit aut admodum pauci: plures computant, quam oderunt: nudum latro transmittit ; Sen. Ep. 14. R. 652. In her right mind:' see note on ii. 18. R. 653. When the oracle declared, that Admetus king of Thessaly would not recover from a dangerous illness, unless some one were found who would volunteer to die in his stead; no one else came forward, and therefore his wife Alcestis, daughter of Pelias king of Thessaly, de al' Morte viri cupiant animam servare catellæ. a 655 Occurrent multæ tibi Belides atque Eriphylæ Mane Clytemnestram nullus non vicus habebit. Hoc tantum refert, quod Tyndaris illa bipennem Insulsam et fatuam dextra lævaque tenebat. At nunc res agitur tenui pulmone rubetæ ; 660 Sed tamen et ferro, si prægustabit Atrides Pontica ter victi cautus medicamina regis. voted her own life for the preservation of her husband. Diod. v. SCH. Apoll. I. ix. 15. R. Plat. D. de Am. Eurip. Alc. Cic. T. Q. v. 78. PR. cf. Hor. ПlI Od. ix. 11 sq. 15 sq. 654. If they had a like option, they would sacrifice their husbands to save their lap-dogs.' LU. 655. Danaus and Ægyptus, the two sons of Belus, had each of them fifty children; those of Danaus were all daughters and those of Egyptus sons. These cousins were all married in one day; and the Danaides, that same night, slew their husbands (excepting Hypermnestra who spared Lynceus) and were condemned, after death, to draw water from the infernal streams in perforated buckets. Ov. M. iv. 461 sq. LU. PR. Hor. III Od. xi. 22 sqq. (MI.) M. Hyg. f. 170. Ov. Her. xiv. A poll. II. i. 4. and Tib. I. iii. 79. (HY.) R. Eriphyle, the daughter of Talaus and sister of Adrastus, was the wife of Amphiaraus; who, aware (from his skill in prophecy) that he should fall if he went to the Theban war, concealed himself. Eriphyle, however, discovered her husband to Polynices for the bribe of a gold necklace: and, in the war of the Epigoni, she in like manner (for the sake of a handsome robe) betrayed her son Alcmæon to Thersander. concidit auguris Argivi domus, ob lucrum demersa exitio; Hor. III Od. xvi. 11 sqq. (MI.) PR. LU. Ath. vi. 4. Apoll. III. vi. 2. vii. 2. 5. (HY.) R. 656. Occurrent mane; see v. 54. notes on vi. 572. and 601. R. Clytemnestra, the daughter of Tyndarus and Leda, was living in adultery with Ægisthus, when the expedition re turned from Troy. At the instigation of her paramour she slew her husband Agamemnon in the bath-room with an axe. VS. PR. 657. Securi divisit medium fortissima Tyndaridarum; Hor. I S. i. 99 sq. M. "But here the difference lies; those bungling wives With a blunt axe hack'd out their husband's lives: While now, the deed is done with dextrous art, And a drugg'd bowl performs the axe's part. Yet if the husband, prescient of his fate, Have fortified his breast with mithridate, She baffles him e'en there, and has recourse To the old weapon, for a last resource." "G. 658. The epithets belong as much to the agent as to the instrument. R. 659. The business is settled.' FA. A toad;' see note on i. 70. PR. 660. Not but what a Roman Tyndaris could handle a sword upon a pinch.' FA. 'Her Atrides,' i. e. her lord and master.' FA. 661. So wary as to fortify himself against the effects of poison with the antidote of Mithridates, king of Pontus; who was vanquished the first time by the good fortune of Sylla, the second time by the valour of Lucullus, the third time by the greatness of Pompey. Plin. xxiii. 24. FA. VS. Cic. pro L. Man. PR. Pontus was famous for its poisonous drugs: Virg. E. viii. 95. PR. Drugs. Plin. xxiii. 7-9. xxv. 2. xxix. 1. Gell. xvii. 16. Mart. V. lxxvii. PR. cf. xiv. 252 sqq. App. B. Mith. 109 sqq. Dio xxxvii. 10 sqq. Seren. Samm. 60. 62. Cels. v. 23. Galen de Antid. ii. 1 sq. R. SATIRE VII. ARGUMENT. This Satire was probably written in the early part of Domitian's reign. It contains an animated account of the general discouragement under which literature laboured at Rome. Men of learning had, in fact, none but the Emperor, to whom they could look for patronage. 1—37. Beginning with Poetry, 30 sqq. it proceeds with great regularity through the various departments of History, 98 sqq. Law, 106 sqq. Oratory, Rhetoric, 150 sqq. and Grammar: 215 sqq. interspersing many curious anecdotes, and enlivening each different head with such satirical, humorous, and sentimental remarks, as naturally flow from the subject. G. As for Poetry; many of the rich nobles were poetasters themselves, and rewarded a poem with a song: 38 sq. the utmost stretch of their munificence was to lend a tumble-down out-house, for the Poet to fit up for his own recitation. 39-49. But poetry and poverty can never flourish in the same soil. 50-97. As for Law; the only artifice by which Lawyers could get into practice, was by pretending to be above the want of it; even though such trickery often ruined them outright. 106—149. But none were more to be pitied than the poor drudges who had to keep school. 150 sqq. They, after wasting their time upon dunces, 159 sqq. and suffering the pranks of incorrigible boys, 213 sq. got nothing but blame that their pupils did not prove paragons of genius and gentility. 158 sq. The education of children seemed the only point in which parents were niggardly: 178–188. and even the little which they spent on this, they would not part with, till wrested from them by legal process. 228 sq. And the Grammarian, unless he were a thorough proficient in philology, history, mythology, &c. &c. would never have a single day-scholar, 229-243. R. |