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Qui numquam visa flagrabat amore puellæ,

115 Grande et conspicuum nostro quoque tempore monstrum!her, Cæcus adulator dirusque a ponte satelles,

Dignus, Aricinos qui mendicaret ad axes
Blandaque devexæ jactaret basia redæ.

Nemo magis rhombum stupuit: nam plurima dixit
120 In lævam conversus; at illi dextra jacebat
Belua. Sic pugnas Cilicis laudabat et ictus,

ceased,' in which he had libelled senators, and priests, and even the emperor himself. LU. Tac. A. xiv. 50. (LI.) PR. He was' prudent' enough to obtain the good graces of Nerva likewise. When that prince was supping with a small party, Veiento lay in his bosom. The conversation having turned on the enormities of Catullus, the emperor exclaimed, "1 wonder what would be his fate, were he now alive?" "His fate,” replied Junius Mauricus, (casting his eyes on Veiento, who was little less criminal than Catullus,) “his fate,” replied he, with the dauntless spirit of an old Roman, "would be-to sup with us." G. Plin. Ep. iv. 22. ix. 13. R.

Catullus Messalinus had well earned the epithet here given him: luminibus captus, ingenio savo mala cæcitatis addiderat; non verebatur, non erubescebat, non miserebatur: quo a Domitiano non secus ac tela, quæ et ipsa cæca et improvida feruntur, in optimum quemque contorquebatur; Plin. Ep. iv. 22. FA. D. Cass. 1xvii. Joseph. B. J. p. 996 sq. Tac. Ag. 45. R. His death may be added to the innumerable instances of retribution which "vindicate the ways of God to man." He was afflicted with an incurable disease, attended by the most excruciating and unremitting torture: yet the agonies of his body were perfect ease, compared to those of his mind. He was constantly haunted with the thoughts of his past cruelties; the ghosts of those he had accused seemed ever before him, and he used to leap from his bed with the most dreadful shrieks, as if avenging flames had already seized upon it. Worn out at length by his mental sufferings, he expired one livid mass of putrefaction! G. cf. Her. iv. 205.

114. Thus giving a practical refutation to the proverb: ἐκ τοῦ ὁρᾶν γίγνεται τὸ igav. LU. Mart. VIII. xlix. R.

115. Monstrum horrendum, informe,

ingens, cui lumen ademptum; Virg. Æ.
iv. 658.

Even in our time when they are so
rife.' LU.

116. He was probably not quite blind : otherwise his praise of the turbot could not have pleased the tyrant.' ACH.

Raised from a beggar's station on some bridge to be the accursed minister of cruelty.' M. xiv. 134. Thus satelles audaciæ, potestatis, scelerum, &c. Cic. Cat. i. 3. Agr. ii. 13. Prov. 3. Quint. 25. R. Unless these words are rather to be connected with the following: dignusque qui dirus &c. the importunate sentry of the bridge.' PR. cf. v. 8.

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117. The Aricine hill, without the city gate on the Appian road, swarmed with beggars, particularly Jews; VS. iii. 296. so as to become proverbial for it: multi Manii Aricia. cf. Pers. vi. 56. Mart. II. xix. 3. XII. xxxii. 10. R. As the carriages went slowly down hill, they were the more exposed to the importunities of mendicants. T. The modern name of Aricia (Hor. I S. v. 1. M.) is 'la Riccia.' PR. or Nemi.' R.

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118. To throw his complimentary kisses to the ladies, as they rode in their chariots down the hill,' VS. by kissing his hand.' SA. iii. 106. M. vi. 584. Apul. Met. iv. p. 83. D. Cass. xliv. 8. Luc. de Salt. 17. Tac. H. i. 36. Plin. xxviii. 2. Job xxxi. 27. Hosea xiii. 2. Whence the expression adorare. R. Instead of presuming, as now, to approach their lips; too good to be contaminated by such a blind and lecherous old dotard.' 114. PR.

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119. Professed more astonishment

and admiration.' M. cf. xiii. 16. 164.
Sil. v. 202. R.

121. The enormous fish.' LU.

In like manner,' i. e. without seeing them. LU.

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Of the Cilician gladiator;'
who was a favourite with Domitian. M.

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Et pegma et pueros inde ad velaria raptos. Non cedit Veiento, sed, ut fanaticus œstro Percussus, Bellona, tuo, divinat et "Ingens 125 Omen habes" inquit" magni clarique triumphi : Regem aliquem capies, aut de temone Britanno Excidet Arviragus: peregrina est belua: cernis Erectas in terga sudes?" Hoc defuit unum

122. Пnya stage machinery,' by sitting on which boys were suddenly raised to a considerable height. LI. The precise nature of this self-moving framework it is very difficult to ascertain: but we may suppose that it resembled a mountain, a tower, or the like, and, by rising or sinking suddenly, changed into some other form; not very dissimilar to the changes in a modern pantomime. K. It appears that slaves and malefactors were sometimes thrown from them to the wildbeasts. Phæd. V. vii. 6. Mart. Sp. xvi. Suet. Cal. 26. Claud. 34. Sen. Ep. 88 sqq. Plin. xxxiii. 3. R. Mart. Sp. ii. 2. Claud. Cons. Fl. Mall. Theod. 320 sqq. PR. This was always a favourite exhibition. Calp. vii. 23 sqq. G.

The Roman Theatres were open at the top: during the performance, however, they were usually covered with a large awning stretched across with cords, G. as a shelter from sun or rain: FA. besides which, by keeping the spectators in the shade, a stronger light was thrown upon the stage. Plin. xix. 1. R. The ceiling of the Theatre at Oxford is painted in imitation of this.

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123. Did not yield in admiration.' LU.

'One inspired.' LU. ii. 112. PR. Οίστρος οι μύωψ, in Latin tabanus or asilus, here used metaphorically for stimulus,' is a species of stinging fly, which, in the summer, almost drives cattle mad: LU.a gadfly.' M. Varr. R. R. 5. Plin. ix. 15. Virg. G. iii. 146 sqq. PR. Plin. xi. 16. 28. V. Flacc. iii. 581. R.

124. Bellona, the goddess of war, was the sister of Mars. Her priests worshipped her with offerings of their own blood; and were then gifted with prophetic inspiration. Some think her the same as Minerva. LU. Virg. Æ. viii. 703.

126. This monarch' may be a sarcastical allusion to Decebalus, whose name could not be brought into the verse, but whose actions were the oppro

brium of Domitian's reign. He opposed the emperor in the Dacian war, in which Fuscus fell, and was an enemy far from contemptible. G.

The pole of the sithed car' is put for the chariot itself. LU. But the Britons used to run along the pole, and fight from it. Cæs. B. G. iv. 33. PR. cf. Virg. G. iii. 204. Prop. II. i. 76. R.

127. Shall some Arviragus be hurled!" Arviragus (according to the monkish fables) was the younger son of Cymbeline, and began his reign in the fourth year of Claudius, whose daughter he married. He then revolted from his father, was brought back to his duty by Vespasian, reigned many years in great glory, and left his crown to his son, a prince not less valorous and rather more wise than his father. HO. According to Polydore Virg. he was either converted to Christianity by Joseph of Arimathæa, or allowed him and his followers to settle at Glasgow, with permission to preach the Gospel. There is sarcasm in this mention of the Britons, whose subjugation many eminent generals (Vespasian among the rest) had failed in and the only chance of their reduction was now destroyed by the recall of Agricola. Tac. Ag. 13 sqq. R. Some chief is probably alluded to, who made himself formidable to the Romans after this recall: OW. the Arviragus above mentioned was dead. G. He is said to have reigned from 45 to 73 A.D. The latter date is eight years before Domitian's accession.

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Being a foreign monster, it denotes a foreign king. LỮ.

128. The sharp fins sticking up on his back? Thus shall thy bristling spears stand erect in the backs of thy foes.' LU. Pointed stakes, charred at the end, were used in rude warfare. PR. jam castra hostium oppugnabantur: saxisque et sudibus et omni genere telorum submovebantur a vallo Romani; Liv. xxxiv. 15. see vi. 247, note. "All with arrows quilled, and clothed with blood As

Fabricio, patriam ut rhombi memoraret et annos.
130 "Quidnam igitur censes? Conciditur?" "Absit ab illo
Dedecus hoc!" Montanus ait. "Testa alta paretur,
Quæ tenui muro spatiosum colligat orbem.
Debetur magnus patinæ subitusque Prometheus.
Argillam atque rotam citius properate; sed ex hoc
135 Tempore jam, Cæsar, figuli tua castra sequantur.”
Vicit digna viro sententia. Noverat ille
Luxuriam imperii veterem noctesque Neronis
Jam medias aliamque famem, quum pulmo Falerno
Arderet. Nulli major fuit usus edendi

140 Tempestate mea. Circeis nata forent an

with a purple garment, he sustained The unequal conflict;" Southey, Madoc, vi. 130. The emperor now puts the question to the senate in due form. M.

131. A deep dish.' Vitellius in principatu ducentis sestertiis condidit patinam, cui facienda fornax in campis ædificata erat: quoniam eo pervenit luxuria, ut fictilia pluris constent quam murrhina; Plin. xxxv. 12. quam ob immensam magnitudinem clypeum Minervae aiyida Todiouxov dictitabat; Suet. Vit. 13. PR. xi. 19 sq. Quamvis lata gerat patella rhombum, rhombus latior est tamen patella; Mart. XIII. lxxxi. R. The silver dish of Vitellius had been preserved as a sacred deposit, but Adrian showed his good sense by having it melted down. G.

132. The thinness of the earthern ware (according to Pliny) constituted its excellence. LU.

Orbem; cf. i. 137. R.

133. Some potter no less cunning in his craft, than was Prometheus the son of Iapetus, who gave proof of his skill by forming the first man out of clay.' Ov. M. i. 80 sqq. LU. PR. cf. vi. 13. xiv. 35. xv. 85. Hor. I Od. iii. 29 sqq. xvi. 13 sqq. Æsch. P.V. See also note on vi. 110. R.

Subitus, or the fish would be spoilt. PR. 134. Hor. A. P. 22. Figlinas invenit Chorobus Atheniensis, in iis orbem Anacharsis Scythes, ut alii, Hyperbius Corinthius; Plin. vii. 56. PR. Pers. iii. 23 sq. R. 'Clay' is the material, and 'a solid wheel,' revolving horizontally, the engine on which the potter forms his ware. Jer. xviii. 3 sqq. M. Ecclus. xxxviii. 29 sq.

potter,

136. Hæc sententia vicit; Liv. xxxvii.
19. ii. 4. xlii. 47. R. see notes on y
Her. i. 61. and ivína vi. 101.

137. Of the court:' R. of former
emperors.' M.

'Nero's nights;' epulas a medio die ad mediam noctem protrahebat: refotus sæpius calidis piscinis ac tempore æstivo nivatis; Suet. 27. LU. Tac. A. xvi. 20. R. cf. A. xiii. 20. and vi. 102 sq. HN. 138. Provocatives and restoratives of the jaded appetite.' PR. See note on 67.

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Falernian' was a fiery full-bodied wine of Campania. Plin. xiv. 6. xxii. 1. PR. Whence its epithets: acre; xiii. 216. indomitum; Pers. iii. 3. Luc. x. 163. ardens; Mart. IX. lxxiv. 5. XIV. cxiii. Hor. II Od. xi. 19. severum; I Od. xxvii. 9. forte; II S. iv. 24. To soften its austerity it was mixed with Chian; Tib. II. i. 28. Ath. i. 20. R.

The lungs are considerably affected by excess in liquor. GR.

139. No one better understood the practice, as well as the theory, of gormandizing than Montanus.' LU. Crispus must have been at least an equal proficient in the science of good eating, as he was the favourite of Vitellius and the constant companion of his scandalous excesses. D. Cass. lxv. 2. G.

140. The wanton luxury of the Romans may be discerned from the variety of their oysters, which were brought from every sea. HO. Ostreis et conchyliis omnibus contingit, ut cum luna crescant pariter pariterque decrescant; Cic. Div.ii. 33. ostrea senescente luna inuberes, macræ, tenues, exsuccæ; crescente, pinguescunt; Gell. xx. 7. luna

Lucrinum ad saxum Rutupinove edita fundo
Ostrea, callebat primo deprendere morsu ;
Et semel adspecti litus dicebat echini.

Surgitur et misso proceres exire jubentur
145 Consilio, quos Albanam dux magnus in arcem
Traxerat adtonitos et festinare coactos,

150

Tamquam de Cattis aliquid torvisque Sygambris
Dicturus, tamquam et diversis partibus orbis
Anxia præcipiti venisset epistola pinna.

Atque utinam his potius nugis tota Ille dedisset Tempora sævitiæ, claras quibus abstulit Urbi

alit ostrea et implet echinos; Lucil. lubrica nascentes implent conchylia lunæ; Hor. II S. iv. 30. Plin. ii. 41. Ath. iii. 13. The Tarentine are extolled by Varro, R. R. iii. 3. and Gellius, vii. 16. the Lucrine are preferred by Seneca, Ep. 79. and Pliny, ix. 54 s 79. Circæis autem ostreis caro testaque nigra sunt; his autem neque dulciora neque teneriora esse ulla compertum est; Id. xxxii. 6 s 21. murice Baiano melior Lucrina peloris: ostrea Circeiis, Miseno oriuntur echini; pectinibus patulis jactat se molle Tarentum; Hor. II S. iv. 32 sqq. PR. cf. eund. ii. 31 sqq. Pers. vi. 24. Plin. ix. 18 s 32. Macr. S. ii. 11. iii. 16. V. Max. ix. 1. Col. viii. 16. Varr. R. R. iii. 17. Sen. Helv. 10. R.

The town of Circeii in Campania, with its neighbouring promontory (now Monte Circello'), was named after the famous enchantress Circe, the daughter of Sol and Perseis, and aunt of Medea.

141. The Lucrine lake is between Baiæ and Puteoli. Plin. iii. 5. PR. Hor. Ep. ii. 49. Mart. VI. xi. XII. xlviii. R.

Edita is the same as nata; 140. R. Fundo in the bed of the sea,' LU. at Rutupia, now Richborough' in Kent. FA.

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143. At first sight.' M.

Echinus piscis est murinus e genere cancrorum, spinis hirsutus, quibus et se tuetur, instar hericii, qui echinus est terrestris, sicut echinus marinus est hericius. Echino spina pro pedibus sunt, ingredi est in orbem convolvi; ora in medio corpore ad terram versa; sævitiam maris præsagire traditur; Plin. ix. 31 s 51. Athenæus tells a laughable story of a Laconian, who, hearing they were delicious eating but never having seen any of them at table before, put one into his mouth, shell, prickles, and all.

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145. Cf. 61. R. 'The great chief' the emperor.' LU.

i. e.

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146. Had dragged them' against their will. LU. 72 sqq. PR. Adtonitos; 77.

147. The Catti occupied the territories of Hesse: the Sygambri those of Guelders. cf. Suet. Dom. 2. 6. 13. PR. and Euseb. Dio liv. 20. 22. 32. Flor. iv. 12. Oros. vi. 21. The latter are termed feroces; Hor. IV Od. ii. 34. cæde gaudentes; Ib. xiv. 51. Tacitus says of the Germans, habitus corporum idem omnibus: truces et cærulei oculi; 4. Cattorum hæc prima semper acies, visu torva; 31. R.

148. In order to communicate.' R.

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149. If a consul transmitted to Rome the news of a victory, a small branch of bay was stuck in the letter; (Plin. H. N. XXXV. eatr. Pan. 8.) if he sent intelligence of any reverses, he inserted a feather.' VS. [This latter part is questionable.] Couriers wore feathers in their caps; when they brought good news they wore a white feather, (libelli quos rumor alba vehit penna; Mart. X. iii. 10.) and a black one when the news was bad, (nullaque fumosa signatur lancea penna; Stat. S. V. i. 93. where fumosa dingy' is a correction of famosa.) PL. Or, simply, with precipitate haste.' R. 151. Suet. 10. 11. 15. PR.

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Illustresque animas impune et vindice nullo!

Sed periit, postquam gerdonibus esse timendus Art,

Cœperat. Hoc nocuit Lamiarum cæde madenti.

152. '100iμovs vxás Hom. Il. A

3. R.

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153. Cerdo (from xigdos lucre') a cobbler, or any low mechanic.' The assassins of Domitian were men of low birth; Suet. xx. 14. 17. LU. A Plebeian, Pers. iv. 51. PR. as opposed to Patricians; viii. 182. cf. iii. 294. R. "Of her noblest citizens deprived, Rome daily mourned-and yet the wretch survived, And no avenger rose; but when the low And base-born rabble came to fear the blow, And cobblers trembled then, to rise no more, He fell still reeking with the Lamian gore." BM. Beaumont and Fletcher have imitated or rather translated these lines: "Princes may pick their suffering nobles out, And one by one, employ them to the block; But when they once grow formidable to Their clowns, and cobblers, ware then!" G.

154. This was fatal.' LU.

The Lamian family was a noble branch of the Ælian clan: from which the im

Cobblers 1/2-9.

perial family of the Antonines also sprung. They traced their descent from Lamus king of the Læstrygones. Hor. III Od. xvii. 1 sqq. One of this ancient house was among Domitian's many victims; LU. the tyrant, before he came to the throne, had taken away his wife Domitia Longina: M. Suet. 1. and put him to death, subsequently, ob suspiciosos quidem, verum et veteres et innoxios jocos; Id. 10. PR. cf. vi. 385.

This is a severe reflexion on the pusillanimity of the Patricians who tamely submitted to such cruelties and indignities. PR. The exultation, with which the poet mentions the prompt and decisive vengeance of the lower orders, shews that he felt proud in being one of them, and seems intended to convey a salutary, but awful lesson, both to the oppressors and to the oppressed. G. This satire proves that Juvenal survived Domitian; who was assassinated in the forty-fifth year of his age and the sixteenth of his reign, and was succeeded by Nerva, 96 A.D. M.

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