Obrázky na stránke
PDF
ePub

Lunai portum est operæ cognoscere, cives! 10 Cor jubet hoc Ennî, postquam destertuit esse Mæonides, Quintus pavone ex Pythagoreo. Hic ego securus vulgi et quid præparet Auster Infelix pecori; securus et, angulus ille Vicini nostro quia pinguior. Etsi adeo omnes 15 Ditescant orti pejoribus, usque recusem Curvus ob id minui senio aut coenare sine uncto Et signum in vapida naso tetigisse lagena.

9. A verse of Ennius. VS. primum oppidum Hetruriæ, Luna, portu nobile; Plin. iii. 5. xiv. 6. xxxvi. PR. Ennius must have known the port of Luna' well. It was there that the Romans usually took shipping for Corsica and Sardinia, the latter of which islands the poet often visited in company with the elder Cato. G.

Opera, understand pretium. LU.

10. Cor is often used for sense.' PR. Hence the adjectives cordatus, excors, vecors, &c. Cic. T. Q. i. 9. hoc est non modo cor non habere, sed ne palatum quidem; Fin. ii. 28. K. cor Enni will be a periphrasis, like those so frequent in Juvenal, and will mean Ennius in his senses.' LU. cf. Juv. iv. 39, note.

'He ceased to dream.' LU. cf. pr. 2. PR.

11. Homer was called Maonides, PR. as a native of Smyrna in Lydia, which was anciently called Mæonia. M.

"When, all his dreams of transmigration past, He found himself plain Quintus at the last!" G. Q. Ennius born at Rudii in Campania, about A.U. 514, the most ancient Latin poet after Livius Andronicus, wrote the Annals of the Roman People and other poems, of which only fragments remain. cf. Gell. xvii. 17. Cic. T. Q. i. 34. Ennius et sapiens et fortis et alter Homerus, ut critici dicunt, leviter curare videtur quo promissa cadant et somnia Pythagorea; Hor. Il Ep. i. 50 sqq. PR. For further particulars see AN. Our poet here ridicules the Pythagorean doctrine of the metempsychosis. cf. Ov. M. xv. 160 sqq. Tert. de An. 24 sq. pavum se meminit Homerus Ennio somniante: sed poetis nec vigilantibus credam; ib. 33 sq. de Res. Carn. i. 7. S. Hier. Ap. adv. Ruf. iii. fin. Lact. iii. 18. vii. 23. PR. Cic. S. Sc. i. Lucr. i. 118-127.

Hyg. F. 112. cf. Prop. IV. i. 64. Hor. II Ep. ii. 100. K.

12. "Careless of what the vulgar think or say." G. Virg. Æ. i. 350. x. 325. Hor. II Od. xvi. fin. I S. i. 110 sq. K.

Quid cogitet humidus Auster; Virg. G. i. 462. quid flamine captet Auster; Prop. III. iii. 52. K.

13. Arboribusque satisque Notus pecorique sinister; Virg. G. i. 444. PR. Hor. II Od. xiv. 15 sq. II S. vi. 18 sq. Plin.

H. N. ii. s 48. K. The Italians call this wind Sirocco. M.

8

O si angulus ille proximus accedut, qui nunc denormat agellum! Hor. II S. vi. sq. PR.

15. Ne plus frumenti dotalibus emetat agris Mutus; indignum, quod sit pejoribus ortus; Hor. I Ep. vi. 21 sq. PR.

16. Jam vigor et quasso languent in corpore vires !...confiteor facere hoc annos; sed et altera causa est, anxietas animi continuusque labor; Ov. Pont. I. iv. 3 &c. PR. M. ii. 760. Hor. I Ep. xviii. 47. Sen. Hip. 1127 sqq. aifa yàg iv xaxórntı Bgoro narayngáσxovov Hom. Od. T 360. Hes. O. D. 93. K.

'Without good cheer.' M. cf. Hor. A. P. 422. PŘ. iv. 17. K.

17. It was the custom of the Romans to pour melted pitch over the mouth of their wine vessels, on which, when sufficiently cooled for the purpose, they impressed their signets. Suspicious of his slaves, the miser is ludicrously represented as bending over the jar, and prying so narrowly into the state of the seal as to touch it with his nose: the wine too, for which all this solicitude is manifested, is not unworthy of the rest of the picture, it is good for nothing. G. CAS. T. cf. Hor. II Ep. ii. 134. num id demum lepidum est triparcos homines vetulos, avidos,

Discrepet his alius. Geminos, horoscope, varo
Producis genio! Solis natalibus est qui

20 Tingat olus siccum muria vafer in calice emta,

Ipse sacrum irrorans patinæ piper. Hic bona dente
Grandia magnanimus peragit puer.

Utar ego, utar,

Nec rhombos ideo libertis ponere lautus,
Nec tenuem solers turdarum nôsse salivam.

aridos bene admordere, qui salinum servo obsignant cum sale; Plaut. Pers. II. iii. 14 sqq. sicut olim matrem meam facere memini, que lagenos etiam inanes obsignabat, ne dicerentur inanes aliquæ fuisse, quæ furtim essent exsiccate; Cic. Ep. xvi. 26. He might also apply his nose to ascertain whether it was evaporating. PR. cf. Juv. xiv. 126 sqq, notes. K.

18. The star, "That beams, ascendant, on the natal hour," G. produces twins of widely different characters.' LU. Castor gaudet equis, ovo prognatus eodem pugnis; Hor. II S. i. 26 sq. It was impossible for two persons to be more unlike than Commodus and Antoninus, the twin sons of the emperor Marcus; who, according to the predictions of the astrologers, were to be in all respects alike: Lampr. cf. Gell. xiv. 1. PR. Prop. IV. i. 89. (VU. BU.) K.

Horoscope; on the prosopopoeia, cf. Quint. Inst. viii. 5. K.

Varo i. e. vario; LU. iv. 12. PR. 19. Producis; Juv. vi. 241, note. Natalibus; Juv. xi. 83 sqq, notes. M. v. 151, note. K.

20. Every word in this description is expressive of meanness.

Tingat; Hor. II S. ii. 60 sqq. olus ; ib. i. 74. Juv. x. 78 sq. siccum, opposed to unctum, v. 16. muria the brine in which tunny was pickled;' v. 183. Mart. XIII. ciii. Plin. xxxi. 8. and though this pickle was so cheap, he merely bought a little of it 'in a cup.' LU. PŘ. M. K.

[ocr errors]

21. Ipse, not trusting his servant : sacrum preserved most religiously;' Hor. I S. i. 71 sq. II S. iii. 110. 'as though it were sacrilege to waste one grain.' cf. Mart. XIII. xiii. LU. PR. K. Dente peragit eats his way through.' Juv. xi. 38 sq. Hor. II S. iii. 206 sqq. I Ep. xv. 37 sqq. K. The story of the prodigal runs gaily off the tongue in dactyls, and is despatched almost as quickly as his patrimony was. G.

[blocks in formation]

Utar as Persius here twice declares his determination to use his goods; so, in the two following lines, he twice declares his resolution not to abuse them.

23. Rhombos; Juv. xi. 121. iv. 39, note. Plin. ix. 20. num esuriens fastidis omnia præter pavonem rhombumque? Hor. I S. ii. 115 sq. II S. ii. 48 sq. PR. Ep. ii. 49 sq. K.

Libertis; Juv. v. 28, note. Petr. 38. (H.) K.

Lautus; Juv. xiv. 257. K. i ßávausos τῷ παρὰ τὸ δέον ἀναλίσκειν ὑπερβάλλει, ἐν γὰρ τοῖς μικροῖς τῶν δαπανημάτων πολλὰ ἀναλίσκει, καὶ λαμπρύνεται παρὰ μέλος· οἷον ἐρανιστὰς γαμικῶς ἑστιῶν· Arist. Eth. iv. 2.

24. The feminine turdarum is here used by catachresis; VS. perhaps because the hen-thrushes were considered the more delicious. M. For the cognoscenti of Italy "sapevano dire gustando li tordi, s'erano domestici ò pur selvaggi, e se maschi ò pur femine." STE. These birds were accounted such great delicacies by the Romans, that they had particular buildings attached to their houses for breeding and fattening them for the table. G. cf. Plin. x. 24. Ath. ii. 24. obeso nil melius turdo; Hor. I Ep. xv. 41 sq. II S. v. 10. I S. v. 72. inter aves turdus, si quis me judice certet; inter quadrupedes gloria prima lepus; Mart. XIII. xcii. li. PR. K. Juniper berries were an important article in their food. LU.

Salivam the flavour.' VS. Varro L. L. viii. Plin. xxiii. Methymnæi grata saliva meri; Prop. IV. viii. 38. PR.

25 Messe tenus propria vive: et granaria (fas est)

Emole. Quid metuas? Occa, et seges altera in herba est. "Ast vocat officium: trabe rupta, Bruttia saxa Prendit amicus inops remque omnem surdaque vota Condidit Ionio: jacet ipse in litore et una 30 Ingentes de puppe dei jamque obvia mergis Costa ratis lacera." Nunc et de cespite vivo Frange aliquid; largire inopi, ne pictus oberret Cærulea in tabula. Sed cœnam funeris heres Negliget iratus, quod rem curtaveris: urnæ 35 Ossa inodora dabit, seu spirent cinnama surdum Seu ceraso peccent casiæ, nescire paratus.

[blocks in formation]

30. The tutelary gods were placed at the stern these the pious merchant had by his exertions rescued from the wreck. T. cf. Virg. Æ. x. 171. Hor. I Od. xiv. 10. PR. Petr. 105. Virg. Æ. viii. 93. v. 60. Ov. Tr. I. x. 1. (H.) ib. 43 sq. K. His piety was rewarded by the preservation of his life, when all else perished. Mergis; Plin. x. 32 &c. PR. Hor. Ep. x. 21 sq. K.

31. Costa; Virg. Æ. ii. 16. PR. The wreck, probably, might be thrown up on the shore its ribs would hold together, long after the planks had started.

Nunc &c. Aware that the miser's excuse is a mere pretext for indulging his avaricious propensities, Persius sharply In that case, sell a little of your land.' G. LU. Land, with the

answers

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

Canam funeris. cf. Virg. Æ. vi. 222 sqq. Apul. Flor. 4 s 19. Cic. Leg. ii. 63. Juv. v. 85, note. S. Aug. Serm. xv. Plin. x. 10. Ath. viii. 7. A, iii. 7. PR. KI, vi. 5 sq. Luc. Cont. 22. t. i. p. 519. K.

34. Nec metuam quid de me judicet heres, quod non plura datis invenerit; Hor. II Ep. ii. 191 sq. PR. I Ep. v. 13 sq. II Od. xiv. 25 sqq. K.

K.

Curtaveris refers to frange aliquid; 32.

35. Cf. Plin. xiii. 1-3. Juv. iv. 109, note. Dionys. H. ii. Prop. II. x. 20 sqq. IV. vii. 32. Tib. III. ii. 17. I. iii. 7 sqq. (HY.) S. Hier. to Pamm. Calp. iv. 19. Ov. Tr. III. iii. 89. PR. K.

Cinnama; Plin. xii. 19 s 42. PR. Id. xiii. s 2. Mart. IV. xiii. K.

Surdum is here put for scentless." LU. The metaphor is still more harsh in the following line: fervida quod subtile exsurdant vina palatum; Hor. II S. viii. 38. PR.

[ocr errors][merged small]

"Tune bona incolumis minuas?" Sed Bestius urget Doctores Graios: "Ita fit, postquam sapere Urbi Cum pipere et palmis venit nostrum hoc maris expers, 40 Fœnisecæ crasso vitiârunt unguine pultes.'

[ocr errors]

Hæc cinere ulterior metuas? At tu, meus heres
Quisquis eris, paullum a turba seductior audi :-
O bone, num ignoras? missa est a Cæsare laurus
Insignem ob cladem Germanæ pubis et aris

Casie; ii. 64. Plin. H. N. xii. 19 s 43. PR. Virg. G. ii. 466. (VO.) SA, p. 919 sqq. Theoph. H. Pl. ix. 5. Mart. X. xcvii. XI. lv. Stat. S. II. i. 160. Claud. Phoen. 79 sqq. (BU.) Ov. M. xv. 397 sqq. K.

[ocr errors]

Having made up his mind [agronevaoμivos Arist. Pl. 77.] to wink at it and be utterly ignorant.' PR. The worse the spices, the less the cost. M.

37. This is the petulant remonstrance of the indignant heir: What? Do you dare to impair your property during your life-time, instead of hoarding it for your heirs to spend?' CAS. or If you are wasteful during your life, you shall smart for it now you are dead.' incolumis' with impunity.' K. DN.

The poet has shewn no great adroitness in allowing this third speaker (Bestius) to break in rudely upon the dialogue, when he might, with better effect, have put all that was about to be said into the mouth of his opponent. G. This illiterate fellow, (Hor. I Ep. xv. 37 sq.) however, 'commences an attack on the philosophers' as having caused all the mischief by inculcating the doctrine of liberality and other expensive habits. PR. The many corruptions introduced at Rome, after the conquest of Greece, brought the natives of that country into great odium with the sterner Romans. In the indiscriminate antipathy towards all that was Grecian, philosophy and letters were often involved. cf. Juv. vi. 16. 291 sqq. iii. 60 sqq. xv. 110 sqq. K.

38. Thus 'tis! since this emasculate wisdom of ours came to Rome with dates and spices, our very haymakers have become luxurious, and learnt to vitiate their homely pottage with gross unguents.' G. cf. Lact. iii. 16. PR.

Sapere nostrum for sapientia nostra. LU. i. 9, note. PR. sapere is an ambiguous word. K.

39. Cf. Juv. iii. 83. PR.

Palmis; Plin. xiii. 4. LU.

Maris expers void of manliness.' cf. i. 103. In Horace the phrase has a different meaning; 'manufactured at home;' II S. viii. 15. CAS. v. 4. M.

K.

40. Cf. Juv. xi. 79 sq. PR.

Crasso unguine: cf. Hor. A. P. 375.

Pultes Ath. xiv. 15 sq. (CAS.) PR. Juv. xi. 58, note.

41. Bestius is dismissed without ceremony: the poet deigns not to notice his impertinent interruption, but, after hastily concluding the speech which had been broken off, drops the subject and turns to a new speaker. G.

K.

Cinere ulterior beyond the grave.' M.
At tu, &c. cf. Hor. II Ep. ii. 190 sqq.

42. Seduction: cf. v. 96. PR. ii. 4. K. 43. By Caligula.' LU. This was when Persius was about seven years old; it might have made an impression upon his memory, because such exhibitions were then rare. G.

Laurus for laureata epistola. LU. Plin. xv. 30. Liv. v. Amm. xv. Mart. VII. iv. sq. vii. A, i. 27. PR. KN, p. 223. DN. Ov. Am. I. xi. 25. Juv. iv. 149, note. G. and vi. 205, note.

44. Drusus ac Nero et Germanicus in suis eos (i. e. Germanos) sedibus perculerunt. post ingentes C. Cæsaris mine in ludibrium versa. inde otium, donec occasione discordia nostræ et civilium armorum, expugnatis legionum hibernis, etiam Gallias affectavere, ac rursus pulsi inde, proximis temporibus triumphati magis quam victi sunt; Tac. G. 37. K. This mock expedition was altogether a most contemptible affair: cf. Suet. 43-49. PR. and the triumph, or rather ovation, was also a very poor thing, notwithstanding all the parade which this deplorable maniac made about it, G.

[ocr errors]

45 Frigidus excutitur cinis: ac jam postibus arma, Jam chlamydes regum, jam lutea gausapa captis Essedaque ingentesque locat Cæsonia Rhenos. Dîs igitur Genioque ducis centum paria ob res Egregie gestas induco. Quis vetat? aude! 50 Væ! nisi connives! oleum artocreasque popello Largior. An prohibes? dic clare! "Non adeo," inquis.

45. Frigidus is a sarcastic allusion to the rarity of these rejoicings. LU.

Multaque præterea sacris in postibus arma, captivi pendent currus curvæque secures et cristæ capitum et portarum ingentia claustra spiculaque clypeique ereptaque rostra carinis; Virg. Æ. vii. 183 sqq. signa nostro restituit Jovi derepta Parthorum superbis postibus; Hor. IV Od. xv. sqq. PR. cf. Claud. xxiv. 67 sqq. Prop. III. vii. 26. (BK.) BU, Anth. L. t. i. p. 206 sq. K.

46. Cf. A, v. 18. Virg. Æ. viii. 588. M. Hor. II Od. xii. 12 sqq. Prop. II. i. 33 sqq. K.

Gausapa: cf. Mart. XIV. xxvii. cxlv. cxxxviii. clii. PR. Here it is to be taken in the same sense as in iv. 37. for false hair.' ef. Juv. xiii. 164 sqq. vi. 120. They had also the art of turning the hair red cf. Plin. H. N. xxviii. 12. Mart. VIII. xxxiii. 20. XIV. xxvi. K. Ov. Am. I. xiv. 45 sq. A. A. iii. 163 sqq. 47. Esseda; Virg. G. iii. 204. (HY.) Cæs. B. G. iv sq. PR. Prop. II. i. 85. (BU.) K.

Locat engages with contractors to supply these materials of the triumph;' CAS. as, in fact, there were no captives and no spoils. K.

Casonia; Juv. vi. 616, note. Joseph. A. J. xix. PR. In thus labouring to swell her consort's triumph, the empress was taking the surest means to secure his attachment and to rule in his name. G.

Phvor vos again our Tŷ Páva Ta ποταμῷ καὶ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ καλούμενοι· Steph. conversus hinc ad curam triumphi, præter captivos et transfugas barbaros, Gallorum quoque procerissimum quemque et, ut ipse dicebat, ἀξιοθριάμβευτον, ac nonnullos ex principibus legit ac seposuit ad pompam coegitque non tantum rutilare et submittere comam sed et sermonem Germanicum addiscere et nomina barbarica ferre; Suet. Cal. 47. CAS. Dio lix. p. 659, E. Domitian was guilty of a like folly:

inerat conscientia, derisui fuisse nuper falsum e Germania triumphum, emtis per commercia, quorum habitus et crines in captivorum speciem formarentur; Tac. Ag. 39. K.

48. Genio ducis; cf. ii. 3, note: citius per omnes deos, quam per unum Genium Cæsaris pejeratur; Tert: cf. Suet. Cal. 27. PR. Ov. F. v. 145 sqq. Plin. Pan. 52. (SZ.) K.

Ni sic fecissent, gladiatorum dare centum damnati populo paria atque epulum; Hor. II S. iii. 85 sq. PR. cf. Suet. Claud. 34. 28. Juv. iii. 36, note. Mart. III. xvi. K. Such an exhibition was hardly within the means of any private person; therefore this must be looked upon as a threat to his heir, that he would do just as he pleased with his estate. M.

49. "Who blames-who ventures to control me? You? Woe to your future prospects, if you do!" G.

50. He threatens to 'give a largess to the people.' These gratuities were seldom given except by the emperors, or in honour of them. congiarium populo numorum trecenorum ter dedit, atque inter spectacula muneris largissimum epulum: septimontiali sacro quidem senatui equitique panariis, plebei sportulis cum opsonio distributis, initium vescendi primus fecit; dieque proximo omne genus rerum missilia sparsit : &c. Suet. Dom. 4. adjecit epulum ac viscerationem et post Hispaniensem victoriam duo prandia; Cæs. 38. PR.cf. AD. prodigi epulis et viscerationibus, ludorum venatuumque apparatu pecunias profundunt; Cic. Off. ii. 16. PM. cf. CAR, p. 92 sq. v. 177, note.

Oil;' Suet. Cæs. 38. Ner. 12. Tac. A. xiv. 47. K.

'Meat-pies.' Mart. VIII. lxxix. K. 51. What are you muttering about? speak out!' LU.

[ocr errors]

Not exactly so.' The avaricious heir is afraid to give a straight-forward answer: Persius is offended at this. WB.

« PredošláPokračovať »