Chapter XVI: Prologue (2)

Come now! answer me! It is but a little trifle that I wish to know! What think you of Jupiter?[1301] Would you care to prefer him to some man! To whom? Well, say to Staius.[1302] Are you at a loss indeed? Which were the better judge, or better suited to the charge of orphan children! Come then, say to Staius that wherewith you would attempt to influence the ear of Jupiter. "O Jupiter!"[1303] he would exclaim, "O good Jupiter!" But would not Jove himself call out, "O Jove!"

Thinkest thou he has forgiven thee,[1304] because, when he thunders, the holm-oak[1305] is rather riven with his sacred bolt than thou and all thy house?[1306] Or because thou dost not, at the bidding of the entrails of the sheep,[1307] and Ergenna, lie in the sacred grove a dread bidental to be shunned of all, that therefore he gives thee his insensate beard to pluck?[1308] Or what is the bribe by which thou wouldst win over the ears of the gods? With lungs, and greasy chitterlings? See[1309] some grandam or superstitious[1310] aunt takes the infant from his cradle, and skilled in warding off the evil eye,[1311] effascinates his brow and driveling lips with middle[1312] finger and with lustral spittle, first. Then dandles[1313] him in her arms, and with suppliant prayer transports him either to the broad lands of Licinus[1314] or the palaces of Crassus.[1315] "Him may some king and queen covet as a son-in-law! May maidens long to ravish him! Whatever he treads on may it turn to roses!" But I do not trust prayers to a nurse.[1316] Refuse her these requests, great Jove, even though she make them clothed in white![1317]

You ask vigor for your sinews,[1318] and a frame that will insure old age. Well, so be it. But rich dishes and fat sausages prevent the gods from assenting to these prayers, and baffle Jove himself.

You are eager to amass a fortune, by sacrificing a bull; and court Mercury's favor by his entrails. "Grant that my household gods may make me lucky! Grant me cattle, and increase to my flocks!" How can that be, poor wretch, while so many cauls of thy heifers melt in the flames? Yet still he strives to gain his point by means of entrails and rich cakes.[1319] "Now my land, and now my sheepfold teems. Now, surely now, it will be granted!" Until, baffled and hopeless, his sestertius at the very bottom of his money-chest sighs in vain.

Were I to offer you[1320] goblets of silver and presents embossed with rich gold,[1321] you would perspire with delight, and your heart, palpitating with joy in your left breast,[1322] would force even the tear-drops from your eyes. And hence it is the idea enters[1323] your mind of covering the sacred faces of the gods with triumphal gold.[1324] For among the Brazen brothers,[1325] let those be chief, and let their beards be of gold, who send dreams purged from gross humors. Gold hath expelled the vases of Numa[1326] and Saturnian[1327] brass, and the vestal urns and the pottery of Tuscany.

Oh! souls bowed down to earth! and void of aught celestial! Of what avail is it to introduce into the temples of the gods these our modes of feeling, and estimate what is acceptable to them by referring to our own accursed flesh.[1328] This it is that has dissolved Cassia[1329] in the oil it pollutes. This has dyed the fleece of Calabria[1330] with the vitiated purple. To scrape the pearl from its shell, and from the crude ore to smelt out the veins of the glowing mass; this carnal nature bids. She sins in truth. She sins. Still from her vice gains some emolument.

* * * * *

Say ye, ye priests! of what avail is gold in sacrifice? As much, forsooth, as the dolls which the maiden bestows on Venus! Why do we not offer that to the gods which the blear-eyed progeny of great Messala can not give even from his high-heaped charger. Justice to god and man enshrined[1331] within the heart; the inner chambers[1332] of the soul free from pollution; the breast imbued[1333] with generous honor. Give me these to present at the temples, and I will make my successful offering[1334] with a little meal.[1335]

FOOTNOTES:

[1287] _Macrine._ Nothing is known of this friend of Persius, but from the old Scholiast, who tells us that his name was Plotius Macrinus; that he was a man of great learning, and of a fatherly regard for Persius, and that he had studied in the house of Servilius. Britannicus calls him Minutius Macrinus, and says he was of equestrian rank, and a native of Brixia, now "Brescia."

[1288] _Meliore lapillo._ The Thracians were said to put a _white_ stone into a box to mark every happy day they spent, and a _black_ stone for every unhappy day, and to reckon up at the end of their lives how many happy days they had passed. Plin., H. N., vii., 40. So Mart., ix., Ep. 53, "Natales, Ovidi, tuos Apriles Ut nostras amo Martias Kalendas; Felix utraque lux diesque nobis Signandi melioribus lapillis." Hor., i., Od. xxxvi., 10, "Cressâ ne careat pulchra dies notâ." Plin., Ep. vi., 11, "O Diem lætum notandum mihi candidissimo calculo." Cat., lxviii., 148, "Quem lapide illa diem candidiore notet."

[1289] _Apponit._ A technical word in calculating; as in Greek, τιθέναι, and προστιθέναι. So "Appone lucro." Hor., i., Od. ix., 14.

[1290] _Annos._ For the respect paid by the Romans to their birthdays, see Juv., xi., 83; xii., 1; Pers., vi., 19; and Censorinus, de Die Natali, pass.

[1291] _Genio._ Genius, "a genendo." The deity who presides over each man from his birth, as some held, being coeval with the man himself. The birthday was sacred to him; the offerings consisted of wine, flowers, and incense. "Manum a sanguine abstinebant: ne die quâ ipsi lucem accepissent, aliis demerent." Censor, a Varrone. Cf. Serv. ad Virg., Geor., i., 302. Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 187, "Scit Genius natale comes qui temperat astrum, naturæ deus humanæ, mortalis in unumquodque caput;" and ii., Ep. i., 143, "Sylvanum lacte piabant, Floribus et vino Genium memorem brevis ævi." Cf. Orell., in loc. On other days, they offered bloody victims also to the Genius. "Cras Genium mero Curabis et porco bimestri." Hor., iii., Od. xvii., 14.

[1292] _Aperto voto._ "To offer no prayer that you would fear to divulge," according to the maxim of Pythagoras, μετὰ φωνῆς εὔχεο, and that of Seneca, "Sic vive cum hominibus tanquam deus videat: sic loquere cum deo tanquam homines audiant."

[1293] _Mens bona._ Juv., x., 356, "Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano."

[1294] _Ebullit._ "Boil away."

[1295] _Hercule._ Hercules was considered the guardian of hidden treasure, and as Mercury presided over open gains and profits by merchandise, so Hercules was supposed to be the giver of all sudden and unexpected good fortune; hence called πλουτοδότης. Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. vi., 10, "O si urnam argenti fors quæ mihi monstret ut illi Thesauro invento qui mercenarius agrum illum ipsum mercatus aravit, dives amico Hercule."

[1296] _Seria_, "a tall, narrow, long-necked vessel, frequently used for holding money."

[1297] _Expungam_, a metaphor from the military roll-calls, from which the names of all soldiers dead or discharged were expunged.

[1298] _Ducitur._ Casaubon reads "conditur." Cf. Mart., x., Ep. xliii., "Septima jam Phileros tibi conditur uxor in agro: Plus nulli, Phileros, quam tibi reddit ager."

[1299] _Mane._ Cf. Tibull., III., iv., 9, "At natum in curas hominum genus omina noctis farre pio placant et saliente sale." Propert., III., x., 13, "Ac primum purâ somnum tibi discute lymphâ." The ancients believed that night itself, independently of any extraneous pollution, occasioned a certain amount of defilement which must be washed away in pure water at daybreak. Cf. Virg., Æn., viii., 69, "Nox Ænean somnusque reliquit. Surgit et ætherii spectans orientia Solis Lumina rite cavis undam de flumine palmis Sustulit." Cf. Theophrast., περὶ δεισιδαιμονιὰς, fin.

[1300] _Tiberino in gurgite._ Cf. Juv., vi., 522, "Hibernum fractâ glacie descendet in amnem, ter matutino Tiberi mergetur et ipsis Vorticibus timidum caput abluet." Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 290, "Illo mane die quo tu indicis jejunia nudus in Tiberi stabit." Virg., Æn., ii, 719, "Me attrectare nefas donec me flumine vivo abluero." Ov., Fast., iv., 655, "Bis caput intonsum fontanâ spargitur undâ." 315, "Ter caput irrorat, ter tollit in æthera palmas."

[1301] _De Jove._ Read, with Casaubon, "Est ne ut præponere cures Hunc cuiquam? cuinam?"

[1302] _Staio._ The allusion is probably to Staienus, whom Cicero often mentions as a most corrupt judge. Pro Cluent., vii., 24; in Verr., ii., 32. He is said to have murdered his own wife, his brother, and his brother's wife. Yet even to such a wretch as this, says Persius, you would not venture to name the wishes you prefer to Jove. Cf. Sen., Ep. x., "Nunc quanta dementia est hominum! Turpissima vota Diis insusurrant, si quis admoverit aurem, conticescent; et quod scire hominem nolunt, deo narrant."

[1303] _Jupiter._ Cf. Hor., i., Sat. ii., 17, "Maxime, quis non, Jupiter! exclamat simul atque audivit."

[1304] _Ignovisse._ Cf. Eccles., viii., 11, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." Tib., I., ii., 8; ix., 4. Claudian. ad Hadr., 38, _seq._ Juv., xiii, 10, "Ut sit magna tamen certè lenta ira deorum est."

[1305] _Ilex._ The idea is taken probably from the well-known lines of Lucretius, vi., 387, "Quod si Jupiter atque alii fulgentia Divei Terrifico quatiunt sonitu cœlestia templa, Et jaciunt ignem quo quoique est quomque voluntas: Quur quibus incautum scelus aversabile quomque est non faciunt, ictei flammas ut fulguris halent Pectore perfixo documen mortalibus acre? Et potius nulla sibi turpi conscius in re volvitur in flammeis innoxius, inque peditur Turbine cœlesti subito correptus et igni." Lucian parodies it also, τὶ δήποτε τοὺς ἱεροσύλους καὶ λῃστὰς ἀφέντες καὶ τοσούτους ὑβριστὰς καὶ βιαίους καὶ ἐπιόρκους, δρῦν τινὰ πολλάκις κεραυνοῦτε ἢ λίθον ἢ νεὼς ἱστὸν οὐδὲν ἀδικούσης; Jup. Conf., ii., 638.

[1306] _Tuque domusque._ Probably taken from Homer, εἴπερ γάρ τε καὶ αὐτίκ' Ὀλύμπιος οὐκ ἐτέλεσσεν, Ἔκ γε καὶ ὀψὲ τελεῖ· σύν τε μεγάλω ἀπέτισαν, Σὺν σφῇσι κεφαλῇσι γύναιξί τε καὶ τεκέεσσιν.

[1307] _Fibris._ When any person was struck dead by lightning, the priest was immediately called in to bury the body: every thing that had been scorched by it was carefully collected and buried with it. A two-year old sheep was then sacrificed, and an altar erected over the place and the ground slightly inclosed round. Lucan., viii., 864, "Inclusum Tusco venerantur cæspite fulmen." Hor., A. P., 471, "An triste bidental moverit incestus." Juv., vi., 587, "Atque aliquis senior qui publica fulgura condit." Ergenna, or Ergennas, is the name of some Tuscan soothsayer, who gives his directions after inspecting the entrails; the termination being Tuscan, as Porsenna, Sisenna, Perpenna, etc. Bidental is applied indifferently to the place, the sacrifice, and the person. Bidens is properly a sheep fit for sacrifice, which was so considered when two years old. Hence bidens may be a corruption of biennis; or from bis and dens, because at the age of two years the sheep has eight teeth, two of which project far beyond the rest, and are the criterion of the animal's age.

[1308] _Vellere barbam._ Alluding to the well-known story of Dionysius of Syracuse. Cf. Sat. i., 133.

[1309] _Ecce._ He now passes on to prayers that result from superstitious ignorance, or over-fondness, and which, as far as the _matter_ is concerned, are equally erroneous with the previous class, though not of the same malicious character. On the fifth day after the birth of an infant, sacrifices and prayers were offered for the child to the deities Pilumnus and Picumnus. Purificatory offerings were made on the eighth day for girls, and on the ninth for boys. The day therefore was called dies lustricus, and nominalis, because the name was given. The Greeks called it ὀνομάτων ἑορτή.

[1310] _Metuens Divûm_, i. e., δεισιδαίμων. "Matetera, quasi Mater altera."

[1311] _Urentes._ Literally, "blasting, withering." The belief in the effects of the "evil eye" is as prevalent as ever in Southern Europe. They were supposed to extend even to cattle. "Nescio quis teneros oculus mihi fascinat agnos." Virg., Ecl., iii., 103. To avert this, they anointed the child with saliva, and suspended amulets of various kinds from its neck.

[1312] _Infami digito._ The middle finger was so called because used to point in scorn and derision. Cf. Juv., x., 53, "Mandaret laqueum mediumque ostenderet unguem."

[1313] _Manibus quatit._ So Homer (lib. vi.) represents Hector as tossing his child in his arms, and then offering up a prayer for him.

[1314] _Licinus._ Probably the Licinus mentioned in Juv., Sat. i., 109; xiv., 306; the barber and freedman of Augustus, an epigram on whom is quoted by Varro. "Marmoreo Licinus tumulo jacet: at Cato parvo. Pompeius nullo. Quis putet esse deos?" Casaubon supposes the Licinius Stolo mentioned by Livy (vii., 16) to be intended.

[1315] _Crassi._ Cf. Juv., x., 108.

[1316] _Nutrici._ Seneca has the same sentiment, Ep. ix., "Etiamnum optas quæ tibi optavit nutrix, aut pædagogus, aut mater? Nondum intelligis quantum mali optaverint."

[1317] _Albata._ Those who presided over or attended at sacrifices always dressed in white.

[1318] _Poscis opem nervis._ Persius now goes on to ridicule those who by their own folly render the fulfillment of their prayers impossible; who pray for health, which they destroy by vicious indulgence; for wealth, which they idly squander on the costly sacrifices they offer to render their prayers propitious, and the sumptuous banquets which always followed those sacrifices.

[1319] _Ferto_, a kind of cake or rich pudding, made of flour, wine, honey, etc.

[1320] _Si tibi._ He now proceeds to investigate the cause of these misdirected prayers, and shows that it results from a belief that the deity is influenced by the same motives, and to be won over by the same means, as mortal men. Hence the costly nature of the offerings made and the vessels employed in the service of the temple.

[1321] _Incusa._ Cf. Sen., Ep. v., "Non habemus argentum in quod solidi auri cœlatura descendit." An incrustation or enchasing of gold was impressed upon vessels of silver. This the Greeks called ἐμπαιστικὴ τέχνη.

[1322] _Lævo._ This is the usual interpretation. It may mean, "in your breast, blinded by avarice and covetousness," as Virg., Æn., xi., "Si mens non læva fuisset."

[1323] _Subiit._ Sen., Ep. 115, "Admirationem nobis parentes auri argentique fecerunt: et teneris infusa cupiditas altiùs sedit crevitque nobiscum. Deinde totus populus, in alio discors, in hoc convenit: hoc suspiciunt, hoc suis optant, hoc diis velut rerum humanarum maximum cum grati videri velint, consecrant."

[1324] _Auro ovato._ It was the custom for generals at a triumph to offer a certain portion of their manubiæ to Capitoline Jove and other deities.

[1325] _Fratres ahenos._ It is said that there were in the temple porch of the Palatine Apollo figures of the fifty Danaides, and opposite them equestrian statues of the fifty sons of Ægyptus; and that some of these statues gave oracles by means of dreams. Others refer these lines to Castor and Pollux: but the words "præcipui sunto" seem to imply a greater number. The passage is very obscure. Casaubon adopts the former interpretation.

[1326] _Numæ._ Numa directed that all vessels used for sacred purposes should be of pottery-ware. Cf. ad Juv., xi., 116.

[1327] _Saturnia._ Alluding to the Ærarium in the temple of Saturn.

[1328] _Pulpa_ is properly the soft, pulpy part of the fruit between the skin and the kernel: then it is applied to the soft and flaccid flesh of young animals, and hence applied to the flesh of men. It is used here in exactly the scriptural sense, "the flesh."

[1329] _Casiam._ Vid. Plin., xiii., 3. Persius seems to have had in his eye the lines in the second Georgic, "Nec varios inhiant pulchra testudine postes Illusasque auro vestes, Ephyreiaque æra; Alba neque Assyrio fucatur lana veneno nec _Casiâ_, liquidi _corrumpitur_ usus _olivi_." Both the epic poet and the satirist, as Gifford remarks, use the language of the old republic. They consider the oil of the country to be vitiated, instead of improved, by the luxurious admixture of foreign spices.

[1330] _Calabrum._ The finest wool came from Tarentum in Calabria. Vid. Plin., H. N., viii., 48; ix., 61; Colum., vii., 2; and from the banks of the Galesus in its neighborhood. Hor., Od., II., vi., 10, "Dulce pellitis ovibus Galesi flumen." Virg., G., iv., 126. Mart., xii., Ep. 64, "Albi quæ superas oves Galesi."

[1331] _Compositum._ These lines, as Gifford says, are not only the quintessence of sanctity, but of language. Closeness would cramp and paraphrase would enfeeble their sense, which may be felt, but can not be expressed. Casaubon explains compositum, "animum bene comparatum ad omnia divina humanaque jura." τὸ εὔτακτον τῆς ψυχῆς πρὸς τὰ θεῖά τε καὶ ἀνθρώπινα δίκαια. It may also imply the "harmonious blending of the two."

[1332] _Recessus._ So the Greeks used the phrases μυχοὺς διανοίας, ἄδυτα ταμιεῖα διανοίας. Cf. Rom., xi., 16, τὰ κρυπτὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων.

[1333] _Incoctum_ a metaphor from a fleece double-dyed. So Seneca, "Quemadmodum lana quosdam colores semel ducit, quosdam nisi sæpius macerata et recocta non perbibit: sic alias disciplines ingenia cum accepere, protinus præstant: hæc nisi altè descendit, et diù sedit, animum non coloravit, sed infecit, nihil ex his quæ promiserat præstat." Ep. 71. Cf. Virg., Georg., iii., 307, "Quamvis Milesia magno vellera mutentur Tyrios _incocta_ rubores."

[1334] _Litabo._ Cf. v., 120, "Soli probi _litare_ dicuntur proprie: _sacrificare_ quilibet etiam improbi." Litare therefore is to _obtain_ that for which the sacrifice is offered. Vid. Liv., xxxviii., 20, "Postero die sacrificio facto cum primis hostiis litasset." Plaut., Pœnul., ii., 41, "Tum Jupiter faciat ut semper _sacrificem_ nec unquam _litem_." Cf. Lact. ad Stat. Theb., x., 610. Suet., Cæs., 81. Even the heathen could see that the deity regarded the purity of the heart, not the costliness of the offering of the sacrificer. So Laberius, "_Puras_ deus non _plenas_ aspicit manus." τὸ δαιμονίον μᾶλλον πρὸς τὸ τῶν θυόντων ἠθος ἢ πρὸς τὸ τῶν θυομένων πλῆθος βλέπει. Cf. Plat., Alc., II., xii., fin., "Est litabilis hostia bonus animus et pura mens et sincera sententia." Min., Fel., 32.

[1335] _Farre._ The idea is probably taken from Seneca. Ep. 95, "Nec in victimis, licet opimæ sint, auroque præfulgeant, deorum est honos: sed pia et recta voluntate venerantium: itaque boni etiam _farre_ ac fictili religiosi." Hor., iii., Od. xxiii., 17, "Immunis aram si tetigit manus non sumptuosa blandior hostia mollivit aversos Penates _farre_ pio et saliente mica." Cf. Eurip., Fr. Orion εὖ ἴσθ' ὅταν τις εὐσεβῶν θύῃ θεοῖς· κἂν μικρὰ θύῃ τυγχάνει σωτηρίας.

SATIRE III.

ARGUMENT.

In this Satire, perhaps more than in any other, we detect Persius'
predilection for the doctrines of the Stoics. With them the
summum bonum was "the sound mind in the sound body." To attain
which, man must apply himself to the cultivation of virtue, that
is, to the study of philosophy. He that does not can aspire to
neither. Though unknown to himself, he is laboring under a mortal
disease, and though he fancies he possesses a healthy intellect,
he is the victim of as deep-seated and dangerous a delusion as
the recognized maniac. The object of the Satire is to reclaim the
idle and profligate young nobles of his day from their enervating
and pernicious habits, by the illustration of these principles.

The opening scene of the Satire presents us with the bedchamber
where one of these young noblemen, accompanied by some other
youths probably of inferior birth and station, is indulging
in sleep many hours after the sun has risen upon the earth.
The entrance of the tutor, who is a professor of the Stoical
philosophy, disturbs their slumbers, and the confusion consequent
upon his rebuke, and the thin disguise of their ill-assumed
zeal, is graphically described. After a passionate outburst
of contempt at their paltry excuses, the tutor points out the
irretrievable evils that will result from their allowing the
golden hours of youth to pass by unimproved: overthrows all
objections which are raised as to their position in life,
and competency of means rendering such vigorous application
superfluous; and in a passage of solemn warning full of majesty
and power, describes the unavailing remorse which will assuredly
hereafter visit those who have so far quitted the rugged path
that leads to virtue's heights, that all return is hopeless. He
then proceeds to describe the defects of his own education; and
the vices he fell into in consequence of these defects--vices
however which were venial in himself, as those principles which
would have taught him their folly were never inculcated in him.
Whereas those whom he addresses, from the greater care that
has been bestowed on their early training, are without apology
for their neglect of these palpable duties. Then with great
force and vigor, he briefly describes the proper pursuits of
well-regulated minds; and looks down with contemptuous scorn on
the sneers with which vulgar ignorance would deride these truths,
too transcendent for their gross comprehension to appreciate.
The Satire concludes very happily with the lively apologue of
a glutton; who, in despite of all warning and friendly advice,
perseveres even when his health is failing, in such vicious and
unrestrained indulgence, that he falls at length a victim to
his intemperance. The application of the moral is simple. The
mind that is destitute of philosophical culture is hopelessly
diseased, and the precepts of philosophy can alone effect a cure.
He that despises these, in vain pronounces himself to be of sound
mind. On the approach of any thing that can kindle the spark, his
passions burst into flame; and in spite of his boasted sanity,
urge him on to acts that would call forth the reprobation even of
the maniac himself. The whole Satire and its moral, as Gifford
says, may be fitly summed up in the solemn injunction of a wiser
man than the schools ever produced: "Wisdom is the principal
thing: therefore get Wisdom."

What! always thus![1336] Already the bright morning is entering the windows,[1337] and extending[1338] the narrow chinks with light. We are snoring[1339] as much as would suffice to work off the potent Falernian,[1340] while the index[1341] is touched by the fifth shadow of the gnomon. See! What are you about? The raging Dog-star[1342] is long since ripening the parched harvest, and all the flock is under the wide-spreading elm. One of the fellow-students[1343] says, "Is it really so? Come hither, some one, quickly. Is nobody coming!" His vitreous bile[1344] is swelling. He is bursting with rage: so that you would fancy whole herds of Arcadia[1345] were braying. Now his book, and the two-colored[1346] parchment cleared of the hair, and paper, and the knotty reed is taken in hand. Then he complains that the ink, grown thick, clogs in his pen; then that the black sepia[1347] vanishes altogether, if water is poured into it; then that the reed makes blots with the drops being diluted. O wretch! and every day still more a wretch! Are we come to such a pitch? Why do you not rather, like the tender ring-dove,[1348] or the sons of kings, call for minced pap, and fractiously refuse your nurse's lullaby!--Can I work with such a pen as this, then?

Whom are you deceiving? Why reiterate these paltry shifts? The stake is your own! You are leaking away,[1349] idiot! You will become an object of contempt. The ill-baked jar of half-prepared clay betrays by its ring its defect, and gives back a cracked sound. You are now clay, moist and pliant:[1350] even now you ought to be hastily moulded and fashioned unintermittingly by the rapid wheel.[1351] But, you will say, you have a fair competence from your hereditary estate; a pure and stainless salt-cellar.[1352] Why should you fear? And you have a paten free from care, since it worships your household deities.[1353] And is this enough? Is it then fitting you should puff out your lungs to bursting because you trace the thousandth in descent from a Tuscan stock;[1354] or because robed in your trabea you salute the Censor, your own kinsman? Thy trappings to the people! I know thee intimately, inside and out! Are you not ashamed to live after the manner of the dissolute Natta?[1355]

But he is besotted by vicious indulgence; the gross fat[1356] is incrusted round his heart: he is free from moral guilt; for he knows not what he is losing; and sunk in the very depth of vice, will never rise again to the surface of the wave.

O mighty father of the gods! when once fell lust, imbued with raging venom, has fired their spirits, vouchsafe to punish fierce tyrants in no other way than this. Let them see Virtue,[1357] and pine away at[1358] having forsaken her! Did the brass of the Sicilian[1359] bull give a deeper groan, or the sword[1360] suspended from the gilded ceiling over the purple-clad neck strike deeper terror, than if one should say to himself, "We are sinking, sinking headlong down," and in his inmost soul, poor wretch, grow pale at what even the wife of his bosom must not know? I remember when I was young I often used to touch[1361] my eyes with oil, if I was unwilling to learn the noble words of the dying Cato;[1362] that would win great applause from my senseless master, and which my father, sweating with anxiety, would listen to with the friends he had brought to hear me. And naturally enough. For the summit of my wishes was to know what the lucky sice would gain; how much the ruinous ace[1363] would sweep off; not to miss the neck of the narrow jar;[1364] and that none more skillfully than I should lash the top[1365] with a whip.

Whereas you are not inexperienced in detecting the obliquity of moral deflections, and all that the philosophic porch,[1366] painted over with trowsered Medes, teaches; over which the sleepless and close-shorn youth lucubrates, fed on husks and fattening polenta. To thee, besides, the letter that divides the Samian branches,[1367] has pointed out the path that rises steeply on the right-hand track.

And are you snoring still? and does your drooping head, with muscles all relaxed, and jaws ready to split with gaping, nod off your yesterday's debauch? Is there indeed an object at which you aim, at which you bend your bow? Or are you following the crows, with potsherd and mud, careless whither your steps lead you, and living only for the moment?

When once the diseased skin begins to swell, you will see men asking in vain for hellebore. Meet the disease on its way to attack you. Of what avail is it to promise mountains of gold to Craterus?[1368] Learn, wretched men, and investigate the causes of things; what we are--what course of life we are born to run--what rank is assigned to us--how delicate the turning round[1369] the goal, and whence the starting-point--what limit must be set to money--what it is right to wish for--what uses the rough coin[1370] possesses--how much you ought to bestow on your country and dear relations--what man the Deity destined you to be, and in what portion of the human commonwealth your station is assigned.

Learn: and be not envious because full many a jar grows rancid in his well-stored larder, for defending the fat Umbrians,[1371] and pepper, and hams, the remembrances of his Marsian client; or because the pilchard has not yet failed from the first jar.[1372]

Here some one of the rank brood of centurions may say, "I have philosophy enough to satisfy me. I care not to be what Arcesilas[1373] was, and woe-begone Solons, with head awry[1374] and eyes fastened on the ground, while they mumble suppressed mutterings, or idiotic silence, or balance words on their lip pouting out, pondering over the dreams of some palsied dotard, 'that nothing can be generated from nothing; nothing can return to nothing.'--Is it this over which you grow pale? Is it this for which one should go without his dinner?" At this the people laugh, and with wrinkling nose the brawny[1375] youth loudly re-echo the hearty peals of laughter.

"Examine me! My breast palpitates unusually; and my breath heaves oppressedly from my fevered jaws: examine me, pray!" He that speaks thus to his physician, being ordered to keep quiet, when the third night has seen his veins flow with steady pulse, begs from some wealthier mansion some mellow Surrentine,[1376] in a flagon of moderate capacity, as he is about to bathe. "Ho! my good fellow, you look pale!" "It is nothing!" "But have an eye to it, whatever it is! Your sallow skin is insensibly rising." "Well, you look pale too! worse than I! Don't play the guardian to me! I buried him long ago--you remain." "Go on! I will hold my peace!" So, bloated with feasting and with livid stomach he takes his bath, while his throat slowly exhales sulphureous malaria. But shivering[1377] comes on over his cups, and shakes the steaming beaker[1378] from his hands; his teeth, grinning, rattle in his head; then the rich dainties dribble from his flaccid lips.

Next follow the trumpets and funeral-torches; and at last this votary of pleasure, laid out on a lofty bier, and plastered over with thick unguents,[1379] stretches out his rigid heels[1380] to the door. Then, with head covered, the Quirites of yesterday[1381] support his bier.

"Feel my pulse, you wretch! put your hand on my breast. There is no heat here! touch the extremities of my feet and hands. They are not cold!"

If money has haply met your eye,[1382] or the fair maiden of your neighbor has smiled sweetly on you, does your heart beat steadily? If hard cabbage has been served up to you in a cold dish, or flour shaken through the people's sieve,[1383] let me examine your jaws. A putrid ulcer lurks in your tender mouth, which it would not be right to grate against with vulgar beet.[1384] You grow cold, when pallid fear has roused the bristles on your limbs. Now, when a torch is placed beneath, your blood begins to boil, and your eyes sparkle with anger; and you say and do what even Orestes[1385] himself, in his hour of madness, would swear to be proofs of madness.

FOOTNOTES:

[1336] _Nempe hæc._ A passage in Gellius exactly describes the opening scene of this Satire. "Nunc videre est philosophos ultrò currere ut doceant, ad foras juvenum divitûm, eosque ibi sedere atque operiri prope ad meridiem, donec discipuli nocturnum omne vinum edormiant." x., 6.

[1337] _Fenestras._ So Virg., Æn., iii., 151, "Multo manifesti lumine, quà se plena per insertas fundebat luna fenestras." Prop., I., iii., 31, "Donec divisas percurrens luna fenestras."

[1338] _Extendit_, an hypallage. The light transmitted through the narrow chinks in the lattices, diverges into broader rays.

[1339] _Stertimus_, for _stertis_. The first person is employed to avoid giving offense.

[1340] _Falernum._ The Falernian was a fiery, full-bodied wine of Campania: hence its epithets, "Severum," Hor., i., Od. xxvii., 9; "Ardens," ii., Od. xi., 19; Mart., ix., Ep. lxxiv., 5; "Forte," ii., Sat. iv., 24 (cf. Luc., x., 163, "Indomitum Meroë cogens spumare Falernum"); "Acre," Juv., xiii., 216. To soften its austerity it was mixed with Chian wine. Tibull., II., i., 28, "Nunc mihi fumosos veteris proferte Falernos Consulis, et Chio solvite vincla cado." Hor., i., Sat. x., 24, "Suavior ut Chio nota si commista Falerni est." _Despumare_ is, properly, "to take off the foam or scum;" "Et foliis undam trepidi despumat aheni;" then, met., "to digest."

[1341] _Linea._ "It wants but an hour of noon by the sun-dial." The Romans divided their day into twelve hours; the _first_ beginning with the dawn; consequently, at the time of the equinoxes, their hours nearly corresponded with ours. According to Pliny, H. N., ii., 76, Anaximenes was the inventor of the sun-dial; whereas Diog. Laertius (II., i., 3) and Vitruvius attribute the discovery to Anaximander. They were, however, known in much earlier times in the East. Cf. 2 Kings, xx. Sun-dials were introduced at Rome in the time of the second Punic war; the use of Clepsydræ, "water-clocks," by Scipio Nasica.

[1342] _Canicula._ Hor., iii., Od. xiii., 9, "Te flagrantis atrox hora Caniculæ nescit tangere." III., xxix., 19, "Stella vesani Leonis."

[1343] _Comitum._ One of the young men of inferior fortune, whom the wealthy father has taken into his house, to be his son's companion.

[1344] _Vitrea bilis._ Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 141, "Jussit quod splendida bilis;" ubi v. Orell. It is called, by medical writers, ὑαλώδης χολή.

[1345] _Arcadiæ._ Juv., vii., 160, "Nil salit Arcadico juveni." Arcadia was famous for its broods of asses.

[1346] _Bicolor._ The outer side of the parchment on which the hair has been is always of a much yellower color than the inner side of the skin; hence "croceæ membrana tabellæ," Juv., vii., 23; though some think that the color was produced by the oil of citron or cedar. (Plin., xiii., 5. Cf. ad Sat. i., 43.) Leaves and the bark of trees were first used for writing on; hence _folia_ and _liber_: occasionally linen, or plates of metal or stone; then paper was manufactured from the Cyperus papyrus, or Egyptian flag. Plin., xii., 23; xiii., 11. When the Ptolemies stopped the exportation of paper from Egypt, to prevent the library of Eumenes, king of Pergamus, from rivaling that of Alexandria, parchment (Pergamenum) was invented to serve as a substitute. Plin., x., 11, 21. Hieron., Ep. vii., 2. Hor., Sat., II., iii., 2. The manufacturer of it was termed Membranarius. The parchment was rendered smooth by rubbing with pumice, and flattened with lead, and was capable of being made so thin, that we read that the whole Iliad written on parchment was inclosed within a walnut-shell. Plin., VII., xxi., 21. Quintilian says, "that wax tablets were best suited for writing, as erasures could be so readily made; but that for persons of weak sight parchment was much better; but that the rapid flow of thought was checked by the constant necessity for dipping the pen in the ink." Quint., x., 3. Cf. Catull., xxii., 6. Tibull., III., i., 9. They used reeds (calamus, fistula, arundo) for writing on this, as is done to the present day in the East. The best came from Egypt. "Dat chartis habiles calamos Memphitica tellus." Mart., xiv., Ep. 38. Hor., A. P., 447.

[1347] _Sepia_, put here for the ink. The popular delusion was, that this fish, when pursued, discharged a black liquid (atramentum), which rendered the water turbid, and enabled it to make its escape. (Hence it is still called by the Germans "Tinten-fisch," Ink-fish.) Vid. Cic., Nat. Deor., ii., 50. Plin., ix., 29, 45. The old Schol. says that this liquid was used by the Africans; but that a preparation of lamp-black was ordinarily used.

[1348] _Palumbo._ The ring-dove is said to be fed by the undigested food from the crop of its mother. _Pappare_ is said of children either calling for food or eating pap (papparium). Hence the male-nurse is called Pappas. Juv., iv., 632, "timidus prægustet pocula Pappas." Plaut., Epid., v., 2, 62. It is here put by enallage for the pap itself; as _lallare_, in the next line, for the "lullaby" of the nurse, which Ausonius calls _lallum_. Epist. xvi., 90, "Nutricis inter lemmata lallique somniferos modos." Cf. Hieron., Epist. xiv., 8, "Antiquum referens mammæ lallare." Shakspeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, Act ii., sc. 3.

[1349] _Effluis_ is said of a leaky vessel, and refers to his illustration of the ill-baked pottery in the following line--_sonat vitium_. Cf. v. 25, "Quid solidum crepet."

[1350] _Udum et molle lutum._ Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 7, "Idoneus arti cuilibet; argillâ quidvis imitaberis udâ." A. P., 163, "Cereus in vitium flecti." Plat., de Legg., i., p. 633, θωπεῖαι κολακικαὶ αἳ τινὰς κηρίνους ποιοῦσι πρὸς ταῦτα ξύμπαντα.

[1351] _Rotâ._ So Hor., A. P., 21, "Currente rotâ cur urceus uxit." Plaut., Epid., III., ii., 35, "Vorsutior es quam rota figularis."

[1352] _Salinum._ The reverence for salt has been derived from the remotest antiquity. From its being universally used to season food, and from its antiseptic properties, it has been always associated with notions of moral purity, and, from forming a part of all sacrifices, acquired a certain degree of sanctity; so that the mere placing salt on the table was supposed, in a certain degree, to consecrate what was set on it. (Arnob., ii., 91, "Sacras facitis mensas salinorum appositu.") Hence the salt-cellar became an heir-loom, and descended from father to son. (Hor., ii., Od. xvi., 13, "Vivitur parvo bene cui paternum splendet in mensâ tenui salinum.") Even in the most frugal times, it formed part, sometimes the only piece, of family-plate. Pliny says that the "salinum and patella were the only vessels of silver Fabricius would allow," xxxiii., 12, 54; and in the greatest emergencies, as e. g., A.U.C. 542, when all were called upon to sacrifice their plate for the public service, the salt-cellar and paten were still allowed to be retained. Liv., xxvi., 36, "Ut senatores salinum, patellamque deorum causâ habere possint." Cf. Val. Max., IV., iv., 3, "In C. Fabricii et Q. Æmilii Papi domibus argentum fuisse confiteor; uterque enim patellam deorum et salinum habuit." Cf. Sat. v., 138.

[1353] _Cultrix foci._ A portion of the meat was cut off before they began to eat, and offered to the Lares in the patella, and then burnt on the hearth; and this offering was supposed to secure both house and inmates from harm.

[1354] _Stemmate._ Vid. Juv., viii., 1. The Romans were exceedingly proud of a Tuscan descent. Cf. Hor., i., Od. i., 1; iii., Od. xxix., 1; i., Sat. vi., 1. The vocatives "millesime," "trabeate," are put by antiptosis for nominatives. For the trabea, see note on Juv., viii., 259, "trabeam et diadema Quirini." It was properly the robe of kings, consuls, and augurs, but was worn by the equites on solemn processions. These were of two kinds, the transvectio and the censio. The former is referred to here. It took place annually on the 15th of July (Idibus Quinctilibus), when all the knights _rode_ from the temple of Mars, or of Honor, to the Capitol, dressed in the trabea and crowned with olive wreaths, and saluted as they passed the censors, who were seated in front of the temple of Castor in the forum. This custom was introduced by Q. Fabius, when censor, A.U.C. 303. (Liv., ix., 46, fin. Aur. Vict., Vir. Illustr., 32.) It afterward fell into disuse, but was revived by Augustus. (Suet., Vit., 38.) In the _censio_, which took place every five years only, the equites _walked_ in procession before the censors, leading their horses; all whom the censors approved of were ordered to lead along their horses (equos traducere); those who had disgraced themselves, either by immorality, or by diminishing their fortune, or neglecting to take care of their horses, were degraded from the rank of equites by being ordered to sell their horses.

[1355] _Natta._ We find a Pinarius Natta mentioned, Tac., Ann., iv., 34, as one of the clients of Sejanus. Cicero also speaks of the Pinarii Nattæ as patricians and nobles. De Divin., ii., xxi. (Cf. pro Mur., xxxv. Att., iv., 8.) Horace uses the name for a gross person. "Ungor olivo non quo fraudatis immundus Natta lucernis," i., Sat. vi., 124; and Juvenal for a public robber, "Quum Pansa eripiat quidquid tibi Natta reliquit," Sat. viii., 95. He is here put for one so sunk in profligacy, with heart so hardened, and moral sense so obscured by habitual vice, as to be unable even to perceive the abyss in which he is plunged. Cf. Arist., Eth., ii., 5, 8. "Reason and revelation alike teach us the awful truth, that sin exercises a deadening effect on the moral perception of right and wrong. Ignorance may be pleaded as an excuse, but not that ignorance of which man himself is the cause. Such ignorance is the result of willful sin. This corrupts the moral sense, hardens the heart, destroys the power of conscience, and afflicts us with judicial blindness, so that we actually lose at last the power of seeing the things which belong unto our peace." P. 67 of Browne's translation of the Ethics, in Bohn's Classical Library. (For discinctus, vid. Orell. ad Hor., Epod. i., 34.)

[1356] _Pingue._ Cf. Psalm cxix., 70, "Their heart is as fat as brawn."

[1357] _Virtutem videant._ This passage is beautifully paraphrased by Wyat.

"None other payne pray I for them to be,
But, when the rage doth lead them from the right,
That, looking backward, Vertue they may see
E'en as she is, so goodly faire and bright!
And while they claspe their lustes in arms acrosse,
Graunt them, good Lord, as thou maist of thy might,
To fret inwarde for losing such a losse!" Ep. to Poynes.

"Virtue," says Plato, "is so beautiful, that if men could but be blessed with a vision of its loveliness, they would fall down and worship." ὄψις γὰρ ὑμῖν ὀξυτάτη τῶν διὰ τοῦ σώματος ἔρχεται αἰσθήσεων, ᾗ φρόνησις οὐχ ὁρᾶται δεινοὺς γὰρ ἂν παρεῖχεν ἔρωτας εἴ τι τοιρῦτον ἑαυτῆς ἐναργὲς εἴδωλον παρείχετο εἰς ὄψιν ἰόν καὶ τἆλλα ὅσα ἐραστά. Phædr., c. 65, fin. The sentiment has been frequently repeated. Cic., de Fin., ii., 16, "Quam illa ardentes amores excitaret sui si videretur." De Off., i., 5, "Si oculis cerneretur mirabiles amores, ut ait Plato, excitaret sui." Senec., Epist. 59, 1, "Profecto omnes mortales in admirationem sui raperet, relictis his quæ nunc magna, magnorum ignorantia credimus." So Epist. 115. Shaftesbury's Characteristics. The Moralists. Part iii., § 2.

[1358] _Intabescant._ Hor., Epod. v., 40. Ov., Met., ii., 780; iii., Od. xxiv., 31, "Virtutem incolumem odimus, Sublatam ex oculis quærimus invidi." Pers., Sat. v., 61, "Et sibi jam seri vitam ingemuero relictam."

[1359] _Siculi._ Alluding to the bull of Phalaris, made for him by Perillus. Cf. ad Juv., viii., 81, "Admoto dictet perjuria tauro." Plin., xxxiv., 8. Cic., Off., ii., 7. Ov., Ib., 439, "Ære Perillæo veros imitere juvencos, ad formam tauri conveniente sono." A. Am., i., 653, "Et Phalaris tauro violenti membra Perilli Torruit infelix imbuit auctor opus." Ov., Trist., III., xi., 40-52. Claud., B. Gild., 186. Phalaris and Perillus were both burnt in it themselves.

[1360] _Ensis_ refers to the entertainment of Damocles by Dionysius of Syracuse. Vid. Cic., Tusc. Qu., v., 21. Plat, de Rep., iii., p. 404. Hor., iii., Od. i., 17, "Destrictus ensis cui super impia Cervice pendet non Siculæ dapes Dulcem elaborabunt vaporem."

[1361] _Tangebam._ Cf. Ov., A. Am., i., 662, "Put oil on my eyes to make my master believe they were sore."

[1362] _Catonis._ Either some high-flown speech put into Cato's mouth, like that of Addison, or a declamation on the subject written by the boy himself. Cf. Juv., i., 16; vii., 151.

[1363] _Damnosa Canicula._ Cf. Propert., IV., viii., 45, "Me quoque per talos Venerem quærente secundos, semper _damnosi_ subsiluere _Canes_." Juv., xiv., 4, "_Damnosa_ senem juvat alea," The talus had four flat sides, the two ends being rounded. The numbers marked on the sides were the ace, "canis" or "unio" (Isid., Or. xviii., 65, only in later writers), the trey, "ternio," the quater, "quaternio," and the sice, "senio," opposite the ace. They played with four _tali_, and the best throw was when each die presented a different face (μηδενὸς ἀστραγάλου πεσόντος ἴσῳ σχήματι, Lucian, Am. Mart., xiv., Ep. 14, "Cum steterit nullus tibi vultu talus eôdem"), i. e., when one was canis, another ternio, another quaternio, and the fourth senio. This throw was called Venus, or jactus Venereus, because Venus was supposed to preside over it. The worst throw was when all came out aces; and there appears to have been something in the make of the dice to render this the most common throw. This was called Canis, or Canicula; as Voss says, because "like a dog it ate up the unfortunate gambler who threw it." Ovid, A. Am., ii., 205, "Seu jacies talos, victam ne pœna sequatur, Damnosi facito stent tibi sæpe Canes." One way of playing is described (in Suet., Vit. August, c. 71) is letter of Augustus to Tiberius. Each player put a denarius into the pool for every single ace or sice he threw, and he who threw Venus swept away the whole. There were probably many other modes of playing. Cf. Cic., de Div., i., 13. The _tesseræ_ were like our dice with six sides, numbered from one to six, so that the numbers on the two opposite sides always equaled seven. Cf. Bekker's Gallus, p. 499. Lucil., i., fr. 27.

[1364] _Orcæ._ This refers to a game played by Roman boys, which consisted in throwing nuts into a narrow-necked jar. This game was called τρόπα by the Greeks; who used dates, acorns, and dibs for the same purpose. Poll., Onom., IX., vii., 203. Ovid refers to it in his "Nux." "Vas quoque sæpe cavum, spatio distante, locatur In quod missa levi nux cadat una manu." Orca (the Greek ὕρχα Arist., Vesp., 676) was an earthen vessel used for holding wine, figs, and salted fish. Cf. 1. 73, "Mænaque quod primâ nondum defecerit orcâ." Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 66, "Quod pingui miscere mero muriâque decebit non alià quam quâ Byzantia putruit orca." Colum., xii., 15. Plin., xv., 19. Varro, R. R., i., 13. The dibs used for playing were called taxilli, Pompon. in Prisc., iii., 615.

[1365] _Buxum._ "Volubile buxum." Cf. Virg., Æn., vii., 378-384. Tibull., I., v. 3.

[1366] _Porticus._ ἡ ποικίλη Στοά. The Pœcile, or "Painted Hall," at Athens. It was covered with frescoes representing the battle of Marathon, executed gratuitously by Polygnotus the Thasian and Mycon. Plin., xxxv., 9. Corn. Nep., Milt., vi. This "porch" was the favorite resort of Zeno and his disciples, who were hence called Stoics. Diog. Laert., VII., i., 6.

[1367] _Samios diduxit litera ramos._ The letter Y was taken by Pythagoras as the symbol of human life. The stem of the letter symbolizes the early part of life, when the character is unformed, and the choice of good or evil as yet undetermined. The right-hand branch, which is the narrower one, represents the "steep and thorny path" of virtue. The left-hand branch is the broad and easy road to vice. Compare the beautiful Episode of Prodicus in Xenophon's Memorabilia. Servius ad Virg., Æn., vi., 540, "Huic literæ dicebat Pythagoras humanæ vitæ cursum esse similem, quia unusquisque hominum, cum primum adolescentiæ limen attigerit, et in eum locum venerit 'partes ubi se via findit in ambas,' hæreat nutabandus, et nesciat in quam se partem potius inclinet." Auson., Idyll., xii., 9, "Pythagoræ bivium ramis pateo ambiguis Y." Shakspeare, Hamlet, Act i., sc. 3. Cic., de Off., i., 32. Hesiod, Op. et Di., 288, μακρὸς δὲ καὶ ὄρθιος οἶμος. Pers., Sat., v., 35.

[1368] _Cratero_, a famous physician in Cicero's time. Cic. ad Att., xii., 13, 14. He is also mentioned by Horace, Sat., II., iii., 161, "Non est cardiacus, Craterum dixisse putato."

[1369] _Flexus._ "There are many periods of life as critical as the end of the stadium in the chariot-race, where the nicest judgment is required in turning the corner." Adrian Turnebe. The reading of D'Achaintre is followed.

[1370] _Asper Numus._ Cf. ad Juv., xiv., 62.

[1371] _Defensis pinguibus Umbris._ For the presents which lawyers received from their clients, cf. Juv., vii., 119, "Vas pelamidum."

[1372] _Orca._ Cf. sup., 1. 50. The _Mœna_ was a common coarse kind of fish (Cic., Fin., ii., 28), commonly used for salting.

[1373] _Arcesilas_ was a native of Pitane, in Æolis. After studying at Sardis under Autolycus, the mathematician, he came to Athens, and became a disciple of Theophrastus, and afterward of Crantor. He was the founder of the Middle Academy. Diog. Laert., Proœm., x., 14. Liv., iv., c. vi. He maintained that "nothing can be known," and is hence called "Ignorantiæ Magister." Lactant., III., v., 6. His doctrine is stated, Cic., de Orat., iii, 18. Acad., i, 12.

[1374] _Obstipo capite_ implies "the head rigidly fixed in one position." Sometimes in an erect one, as in an arrogant and haughty person. (Suet., Tib., 68, "Cervix rigida et obstipa.") Sometimes bent forward, which is the characteristic of a slavish and cringing person. (δουλοπρέπες. Cf. Orell. ad Hor., ii., Sat. v., 92, "Davus sis Comicus atque Stes capite obstipo multum similis metuenti.") Sometimes in the attitude of a meditative person in deep reflection, "with leaden eye that loves the ground."

[1375] _Torosa._ Applied properly to the broad muscles in the breast of a bull. Ov., Met., vii., 428, "Feriuntque secures Colla torosa boüm."

[1376] _Surrentina._ Surrentum, now "Sorrento," on the coast of Campania, was famous for its wines. Ov., Met., xv., 710, "Et Surrentino generosos palmite colles." Pliny assigns it the third place in wines, ranking it immediately after the Setine and Falernian. He says it was peculiarly adapted to persons recovering from sickness. XIV., vi., 8; XXIII., i., 20. Surrentum was also famous for its drinking-cups of pottery-ware. XIV., ii, 4. Mart., xiv., Ep. 102; xiii., 110.

[1377] _Tremor._ So Hor., i, Epist. xvi., 22, "Occultam febrem sub tempus edendi dissimules, donec manibus tremor incidat unctis."

[1378] _Trientem_, or _triental_, a cup containing the third part of the sextarius (which is within a fraction of a pint), equal to four cyathi Cf. Mart., vi., Ep. 86, "Setinum, dominæque nives, densique trientes, Quando ego vos medico non prohibente bibam?"

[1379] _Amomis._ Juv., iv., 108, "Et matutino sudans Crispinus _amomo_, Quantum vix redolent duo funera." The _amomum_ was an Assyrian shrub with a white flower, from which a very costly perfume was made. Plin., xiii., 1.

[1380] _Rigidos calces._ Vid. Plin., vii., 8. The dead body was always carried out with the feet foremost.

[1381] _Hesterni Quirites._ Slaves, when manumitted, shaved their heads, to show that, like shipwrecked mariners (Juv., xii., 81), they had escaped the storms of slavery, and then received a pileus (v., 82) in the temple of Feronia. Cf. Plaut., Amph., I., i., 306. The temple, according to one legend, was founded by some Lacedæmonians who quitted Sparta to escape from the severity of Lycurgus' laws. Many persons freed all their slaves at their death, out of vanity, that they might have a numerous body of freedmen to attend their funeral.

[1382] _Visa est._ So iv., 47, "Viso si palles improbe numo."

[1383] _Cribro._ The coarse sieve of the common people would let through much of the bran. The Romans were very particular about the quality of their bread. Cf. Juv., v., 67, _seq._

[1384] _Beta._ Martial calls them _fatuæ_, from their insipid flavor without some condiment, and "fabrorum prandia." xiii., Ep. xiii.

[1385] _Orestes._ Cf. Juv., xiv., 285.

SATIRE IV.

ARGUMENT.

Had Persius lived _after_ instead of before Juvenal we might have
imagined that he had taken for the theme the noble lines in his
eighth Satire,

"Omne animi vitium tanto conspectius in se
Crimen habet quanto Major qui peccat habetur." viii., 140.

"For still more public scandal Vice extends,
As he is great and noble who offends."--Dryden.