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30 Exiguam et modica sumtam de margine cœnæ, Purpureus magni ruetarit scurra Palatî, Jam princeps Equitum, magna qui voce solebat Vendere municipes fricta de merce siluros? Incipe, Calliope, licet et considere: non est 35 Cantandum, res vera agitur. Narrate, puellæ puellæ Pierides: prosit mihi, vos dixisse puellas!

[castella munitissima, nocturno Pomptinii adventu, nostro matutino, cepimus, incendimus: Imperatores appellati sumus; Cic. Att. v. 20.] and after. [Tiberius id quoque Blæso tribuit, ut Imperator a legionibus salutaretur, prisco erga duces honore, qui bene gesta republica et impetu victoris exercitus conclamabantur; Tac. An. iii. 74. Cic. Phil. xiv. 4 sq. Plin. Pan. 12. 56.] Thus from the name of an office, it became a title of dignity, which was not regularly applied unless a certain number of the enemy were slain: [D. Cass. xxxvii. 40.] Appian says 10,000. [B. C. ii. p. m. 455.] And it was conferred but once in one war: Claudius, in his war against Britain, was repeatedly saluted Imperator, though contrary to established rules." [D. Cass. lx. 21.] This title was commonly expressed on their coins both under the Republic and after. [SP, diss. x. t. ii. p. 180 sqq.] (3) Under J. Cæsar the word took a third signification, and implied the chief civil authority, or what we understand by Emperor,' [D. Cass. xliii. 44.] Imperator in this sense is prefixed to a name; in the two other senses it is put after it as Imperator Cæsar Augustus; [Liv. i. 19.] and on the other hand M. Tullius Imperator as in the address of many of his letters. [Recepit Julius praenomen Imperatoris, cognomen Patris Patria; Suet. 76.] The second sense was not destroyed by the third; for many Emperors were saluted as Imperatores long after their accession. Octavian, for instance, had that compliment paid him upwards of twenty times. [Tac. A. i. 9.] TA, Civil Law, p. 30. See CAR, L. ix. p. 214 sq. [Livy xxvii, 19, 4. ED.]

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So many sestertia,' i. e. a dish costing so many.' cf. 16. PR.

30. If Crispinus devoured such an expensive dish, and that not a principal one, but merely a side-dish, and not at any great banquet, but at a quiet supper.' M.

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31. Purple.' cf. i. 27. PR. as contrasted with v. 24. M.

The indigestions and crudities, generated in the stomachs of those who feed on rich and high-seasoned dishes, occasion indigestion, flatulence, and nauseous eructations. iii. 233. M.

The buffoon' used contemptuously for courtier.' cf. Mart. VIII. xcix. PŘ. See the characters of the agros. the xóλa, and the papodoxos Arist. Eth. iv. 6 and 8.

The words magni palati look very like a pun. HN.

32. Not Master of the Horse,' but first of the Equestrian order,'' one of the illustrious knights:' (cf. Tac. A. xi. 4. ii. 59. also vii. 89. x. 95. R. Liv. xlii. 61. and AD.) who by their fortune were eligible to the senatorial rank. LI. ER. cf. Hor. Ep. iv. 15 sq. iii. 159. M.

Magna voce vendere to hawk about the streets.' M. Sen. Ep. 56. R.

33. Municipes of the same borough town.' xiv. 271. SA. viz. Alexandria. Gell. xxvi. 13. PR. cf. 24. R.

Shads.' M. pisces fricti, ut diu durent, eodem momento, quo friguntur et levantur, aceto calido perfunduntur; Apic. i. 11. The cured fish, which were imported from Egypt, were much esteemed. Diod. i. 36. Luc. t. iii. p. 249. But this sort (Scheilan Niloticus) was so common and cheap, that it was never bought or sold but by the lower orders. MNS.

34. He here ridicules the practice of invoking the Muses. RI. Calliope presided over heroic verse: PR. she was also προφερεστάτη ἁπασέων Hes. Th. 79. Sil. iii. 222. xii. 390. Virg. Æ. ix. 525. Thus Homer Batr. 1 sqq. Hor. I S. v. 51 sqq. R.

We may be seated; for the matter on the tapis will not be despatched in an instant.' M. See iii. 265, note.

35. We have no poetical fiction to deal with.' M. x. 178. R.

36. The Muses were called Pierides

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Quum jam semianimum laceraret Flavius orbem
Ultimus et calvo serviret Roma Neroni;
Incidit Adriaci spatium admirabile rhombi
40 Ante domum Veneris, quam Dorica sustinet Ancon,
Implevitque sinus: neque enim minor hæserat illis,
Quos operit glacies Mæotica ruptaque tandem

from Pieria, a district on the confines of
Macedonia and Thessaly; in which Ju-
piter visited their mother Mnemosyne.
Ov. M. vi. 114. M. Cic. de N. D. iii.
54. PR. cf. vii. 8. 60. R.

Prosit nostris in montibus ortas; Virg.
E. ix. 92. VS. 'Let me experience, in
your patronage, the benefit of having
paid this compliment to your innocence
and youth.' FA.

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37. The date of this event is given with much precision in majestic verse. LU. vi. 82. R. Virg. Æ. iv. 686. The world lies at its last gasp, bleeding under the fangs and talons of a ferocious tyrant.' The Flavian family was one of no distinction before Vespasian's time; Suet. 1. PR.

38, Domitian was the last of the Cæsars also. LU. Flavia gens, quantum tibi tertius abstulit heres! pæne fuit tanti, non habuisse duos; Mart. Spect. ult. VS. Ausonius has imitated this: hactenus edideras dominos, gens Flavia, justos: eur, duo quæ dederant, tertius eripuit ? víz tanti est habuisse illos: quia dona bonorum sunt brevia; æternum, quæ nocuere, dolent; Tetr. 12. Dom.

Et Titus imperii felix brevitate; sequutus frater, quem calvum dixit sua Roma Neronem; Aus. de x11 Cæs. T. Baldness was a very sore subject with the emperor; Suet. 18. and was considered a great dissight among the Romans. Suet. Cæs. 45. On the stage, it was one of the distinguishing characteristics of parasites and other ridiculous personages; R. and is still retained by the heroes of modern pantomime.

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is another instance of periphrasis. spatium rhombi (lv dia dvoïv) for rhombus spatiosus (i. e. ingens, as spatiosus taurus; Ov. R. À. 421. SA.); so also Crispi senectus; 81. Montani venter; 107. vini senectus ; xiii. 214. Thaletis ingenium; ib. 184. Herculeus labor; Hor. I Od. iii. 36. virtus

Catonis; III Od. xxi. 11. virtus Scipiada et mitis sapientia Læli; II S. i. 72. nodosa pondera clava; Sil. ii. 246. vis elephantorum ; Id. iv. 601. in imitation of the Homeric expressions βίη Ελένοιο οι Ηρακληείη, ἱερὸν μένος ̓Ατρείδαο, ἱερὴ ἴς Τηλεμάχοιο, σθένος Ωρίωνος, &c. R. In English we say "The Queen's most excellent Majesty" for the Queen herself. The expression in the text may also be compared with συὸς χρῆμα μέγα, see Her. i. 36. iii. 130. vi. 43. vii. 188. and notes.

Adriaco mirandus litore rhombus; Ov. Hal. 125. Ravenna in the Adriatic was famous for its turbots, as Tarentum and the Lucrine lake for oysters, (cf. 140 sqq.) the Tiber for pikes, Sicily for the murana, and Rhodes for the elops; Plin. ix. 54. R. Ib. 20. PR.

40. The poet by being thus minute (as though every particular was of the utmost importance) enhances the irony. M.

Domus the temple' LU. Virg. Æ. vi. 81. Prop. III. ii. 18. cf. Cat. xxxvi. 13. R.

Ancona, in the Picenian territory, was founded by a colony of Syracusans (who were of Doric race) flying from the tyranny of Dionysius. FA. It was named from a bend of the mountain whose promontory formed its harbour, resembling an elbow dyxáv. Mel. ii. 4. PR. Plin. iii. 13. R.

41. Incidit (in retia) implevitque sinus a quotation from Virgil, implevitque sinum sanguis; Æ. x. 819. VS. "Fill'd the wide bosom of the bursting seine." G. sinus is used in a similar sense, Mart. XIII. c. 2. Grat. Cyn. 29. R. cf. i. 88, PR. 150. note on 45.

42. Palus Maotis now the Sea of Azof,' communicating with the Black

Solibus effundit torpentis ad ostia Ponti
Desidia tardos et longo frigore pingues.
45 Destinat hoc monstrum cymbæ linique magister
Pontifici summo. Quis enim proponere talem

Aut emere auderet, quum plena et litora multo
Delatore forent? Dispersi protenus algæ
Inquisitores agerent cum remige nudo,
50 Non dubitaturi fugitivum dicere piscem
Depastumque diu vivaria Cæsaris, inde
Elapsum, veterem ad dominum debēre reverti.
Si quid Palfurio, si credimus Armillato,
Quidquid conspicuum pulcrumque est æquore toto,

Sea by the Straits of Caffa. R. r Πόντον. ἔνθα ἔστιν ἡ Μαιῶτις λίμνη, ἐν ᾗ πᾶς ἰχθὺς ἀπομαιοῦται, ὅθεν καὶ αὕτη ☆ Xíμvn Maiãtis óvoμúgstu. Hipparch.. T. B' Zad. HN.

43. By the solar beams.' G. Ponti Euxini, note on Her. i. 6.

44. Immense shoals of fish are caught in the neighbourhood of Byzantium. Tac. A. xii. 63. R. Strab. vii. p. 320. Arist. H. A. viii. 13. 16. xv. 10. Plin. ix. 15 s 20. Ambr. Hex. v. 10. LI. Itaque tempestate piscium vis Ponto erupit; Sall.

VS.

45. Monstrum see ii. 143.

Linum (1) flax' (2) ' string' (3) ́ a net; v. 102. sinuatum linum • a landing net:' Sil. vii. 503. F.

The master of the bark and net:' another periphrasis. See Eur. Cyc. 86. sch. P. 384 sq. 389. R.

46. All the emperors bore the title of 'Chief Pontiff.' LU. There may be an allusion here to the good living of the priests: pontificum potiore cœnis; Hor. II Od. xiv. 28. GR. or to the discrepancy between the sanctity of the office and the viciousness of the person. G.

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Proponere understand venum. LU. 47. Et, not only the city, but even.' PR.

48. Delator, συκοφάντης.

So dispersed that no place is secure from their officiousness.'

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bled those revenue officers called tidewaiters. M.

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49. Would argue the matter;' or, understanding lege, Would contest the point at law. AD.

Nudus may be taken metaphorically, and auxilio understood: cf. vii. 35. R. [Livy xxviii, 3, 6. ED.]

50. Fellows who would not scruple to swear the fish was a stray.' Such were the oppressive measures used to fleece the people, on the most groundless pretences, and yet under colour of legal claim. M. cf. Suet. Dom. 9. 12. R.

51. Vivaria: iii. 308. Macr.iii. 13. PR. 53. Palfurius Sura had been a buffoon and a parasite at the court of Nero; for which Vespasian expelled him from the senate; when he commenced Stoic, and talked (which Suetonius says he could do very eloquently, Dom. 13.) of abstinence and virtue; till Domitian, who wanted little other recommendation of a man, than the having justly incurred the contempt and anger of his father, made him his own attorney general, in which office he acquitted himself most egregiously. G. VS. PR. See vii. 80, note on Saleius.

Armillatus was another sycophant of much the same stamp. V'S.

54. By the laws of England, whale and sturgeon are called royal fish, because they belong to the king, on account of their excellence, as part of his ordinary revenue, in consideration of his protecting the seas from pirates and robbers. Blackst. Com. 4to. p. 290. M. "Hath not strong reason moved the legist's minde, To say, the fayrest of all nature's

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55 Res fisci est, ubicumque natat. Donabitur ergo,

Ne pereat. Jam letifero cedente pruinis
Auctumno, jam quartanam sperantibus ægris,
Stridebat deformis hyems prædamque recentem
Servabat: tamen hic properat, velut urgeat Auster.
60 Utque lacus suberant, ubi, quamquam dirtita, servat
Ignem Trojanum et Vestam colit Alba minorem,
Obstitit intranti miratrix turba parumper.
Ut cessit, facili patuerunt cardine valvæ.

kinde The prince, by his prerogative, may clayme?" Marston. G.

55. Is the property of the exchequer.' GRE.

If such be the law, we will make a merit of necessity, and present every choice fish to the emperor, lest we lose both that and our labour.' HK.

56. Acute and 'fatal' diseases are frequent in autumn,' especially in Italy and during the prevalence of southerly winds. Hipp. Aph. iii. 9. Galen. PR. vi. 517. Plin. ii. 48. Virg. G. iii. 478 sqq. Hor. II Od. xiv. 15 sq. III Od. xxiii. 8. II S. vi. 18 sq. Pers. vi. 13. R.

⚫ Giving place to.' porrißus xups ixxwgovon sinάgry figu Soph. Aj. 675.

R.

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Hoar-frosts,' for winter;' Virg. G.

i. 230. R.

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57. Sperantibus may be either (1) taken by the figure catachresis for timentibus. LU. Or (2) sperare may be considered as a generic term including optare and timere. M. cf. Virg. Æ. i. 543. iv. 419. xi. 275. V. Flac. iii. 295. Herodian, I. iii. 11. R. See notes on iλricas Her. i. 77. iii. 62. and on our vi. 109. Or (3) we may translate it hoping (Hor. II Od. x. 13.) that the fever will become intermittent.' nam quartana neminem jugulat; sed si ex ea facta quotidiana est, in malis æger est; Cels. Med. iii. 15. In accordance with which is the Italian proverb "Febre quartana No fa sonare campana." FL. RI. GR. cf. Cic. ad Div. xvi. 11 pr. R.

58. Stridere is properly applied to a stormy wind. Cic. T. Q. i. 68. PR. stridens aquilone procella; Virg. Æ. i. 102.

Informes hyemes; Hor. II Od.x. 15. LU. Recentem: another reason why it would keep.

59. Hic the fisherman.' PR.

The south-wind is very unfavourable for the keeping of either meat or fish. Gal. Aph. iii. 5. PR. xiv. 130. Hor. II S. ii. 41 sq. R.

60. Suberant were near at hand.' Horace also uses the plural; Albanos prope te lacus; IV Od. i. 19 sq. M. Now Lago di Castel Gandolfo.' Liv. v. 15 sqq. Cic. Div. i. 44. pro Mil. 31, Virg. . ix. 387. R.

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'Demolished,' with the exception of the temples, by Tullus Hostilius. Liv. i. 29. PR.

61. Alba Longa, the favourite residence of Domitian, stood on the declivity of a hill near a lake which was famous in Roman story. It was built by Ascanius (xii. 70 sqq. Virg. Æ. iii. 390 sqq. viii. 43 sqq.), and there the Trojans deposited the sacred fire brought from Ilium. When the city was destroyed, and Rome became the capital of the nation, a remnant of the Vestal fire was still left there, from some superstitious motive, and piously preserved through all the vicissitudes of the commonwealth. Liv. i. 3. 25. 29 sqq. Here Domitian usually kept the Quinquatria in honour of Mi nerva his tutelary deity; and here he often convened the senate. G. PR. M. 145. Plin. Ep. IV. xi. 6. Tac. Ag. 45. Suet. Dom. 4. 19. Stat. IV S. ii. 18 sqq. 62 sqq. Virg. Æ. ii. 293. R.

The lesser Vesta,' in comparison with the splendour of her temple and worship in Rome. VS.

62. Thus turba salutatrix; v. 21. R. 63. As the crowd made way.' M.

Janua quæ facilis movebat cardines; Hor. I Od. xxv. 4 sqq. M. Opposed to this is Janitor, difficilem moto cardine pande forem; Ov. Am. I. vi. 1 sq. Valve are the same as duplices fores; ib. viii. 22.

Exclusi spectant admissa opsonia Patres.

65 Itur ad Atridem. Tum Picens "Accipe" dixit
"Privatis majora focis: genialis agatur

Iste dies, propera stomachum laxare saginis
Et tua servatum consume in sæcula rhombum.
Ipse capi voluit." Quid apertius? Et tamen Illi
70 Surgebant crista: nihil est, quod credere de se
Non possit, quum laudatur Dîs æqua potestas.

whence the expressions junge ostia; ix. 105. and junctae fenestra; Hor. I Od. xxv. 1. R.

64. "The senators, shut out, behold The envied dainty enter." G. JA. This intimates the haughty arrogance of Domitian. HK.

Oyo was applied to 'fish' in particular; see Ath. vii. 1. R.

65. Itur used impersonally as surgitur; 144. M. iii. 235, note. vii. 82. Hor. I S. i. 7.

The emperor is called Atrides from his resemblance in imperiousness to the generalissimo of the Greeks. Hom. II. A Suet. Dom. 13. R. cf. x. 84. DO. i.

61 sq.

The fisher of Picenum,' VS. might have found a precedent for his conduct in Herodotus (iii. 42.), who gives an account of a very fine fish which was taken and brought to Polycrates the tyrant of Samos. The presentation speech is preserved by the historian; it is very civil, as might be expected, but far short of this before us. Herodotus adds that Polycrates invited the fisherman to sup with him a trait of politeness which, we may be pretty confident, Domitian did not think it necessary to imitate. G.

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69. It is surprising that any man of sense should have introduced such an absurd idea into serious poetry; and yet Claudian has something not unlike it in some high-flown Alcaics on the marriage of Honorius and Maria: 13-15. Jonson too, whose learning often got the better of his judgement and betrayed him into absurdities, has expanded the thought thus: "Fat aged carps, that run into thy net, And pikes, now weary their own kind to eat, As loth the second draught or cast to stay, Officiously at first themselves betray;" Forest, ii. 2. G.

What flattery was ever more grossly palpable?' LU. Illi see 73. iii. 264. 70. The metaphor is taken from a bird, which, when proud and pleased, cocks and struts and plumes itself;' M. as the contrary is expressed by the word

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71. Such was the impious vanity of many heathen princes; Caligula (Suet. 22.), Aurelian, Carus, Diocletian, Antiochus, and many eastern sovereigns (Curt. viii. 5.), Alexander of Macedon (Just. xi. xii." With ravished ears The monarch hears; Assumes the God, Affects to nod, And seems to shake the spheres;" D, Alex. Feast. M.). Domitian styled himself Dominus et Deus; Suet. 13. Mart. V. viii. 1. cf. Eutr. ix. 16. Aurel. Vict. de Cæs. 39. Sen. Ep. 59, m. PR. R. Daniel vi. 12.

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