The Satires of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and Lucilius
down,[668] like an inheritance, purity of morals, and bounteous Nature
with benignant hand may give, besides, a chaste mind and a face glowing
with modest blood (for what greater boon can Nature bestow on a youth?
Nature, more powerful than any guardian, or any watchful care!), still
they are not allowed to attain to manhood. For the villainy of the
corrupter, prodigal in its guilt, dares to assail with tempting offers
the parents themselves. So great is their confidence in the success of
bribes! No tyrant in his cruel palace ever castrated a youth that was
deformed; nor did even Nero carry off a stripling if club-footed, or
disfigured by wens, pot-bellied, and humpbacked! Go then, and exult in
the beauty of your darling boy! Yet for whom are there greater perils
in store? He will become the adulterer of the city, and dread all the
punishments[669] that angry husbands inflict. Nor will he be more
lucky than the star of Mars, even though he never fall like Mars into
the net.[670] But sometimes that bitter wrath exacts even more than
any law permits, to satisfy the husband's rage. One dispatches the
adulterer with the sword; another cuts him in two with bloody lashes;
some have the punishment of the mullet. But your Endymion, forsooth,
will of course become the lover of some lady of his affections! But
soon, when Servilia[671] has bribed him, he will serve her whom he
loves not, and will despoil her of all her ornaments. For what will any
woman refuse, to get her passions gratified? whether she be an Oppia,
or a Catulla. A depraved woman has all her morality[672] concentred
there. "But what harm does beauty do one that is chaste?" Nay, what
did his virtuous resolve avail Hippolytus, or what Bellerophon? Surely
she[673] fired at the rejection of her suit, as though treated with
indignity. Nor did Sthenobæa burn less fiercely than the Cretan; and
both lashed themselves into fury. A woman is then most ruthless, when
shame sets sharper spurs[674] to her hate. Choose what course you
think should be recommended him to whom Cæsar's wife[675] purposes to
marry herself. This most noble and most beautiful of the patrician
race is hurried off, poor wretched man, a sacrifice to the lewd eyes
of Messalina. She is long since seated with her bridal veil all ready:
the nuptial bed with Tyrian hangings is openly prepared in the gardens,
and, according to the antique rites, a dowry of a million sesterces
will be given; the soothsayer[676] and the witnesses to the settlement
will be there! Do you suppose these acts are kept secret; intrusted
only to a few? She will not be married otherwise than with all legal
forms. Tell me which alternative you choose. If you refuse to comply,
you must die before nightfall.[677] If you _do_ commit the crime, some
brief delay will be afforded you, until the thing, known to the city
and the people,[678] shall reach the prince's ears. He will be the last
to learn the disgrace of his house! Do you meanwhile obey her behests,
if you set so high a value on a few days' existence. Whichever you hold
the better and the safer course, that white and beauteous neck must be
presented[679] to the sword!
Is there then nothing for which men shall pray? If you will take
advice, you will allow the deities themselves to determine what may
be expedient for us, and suitable to our condition. For instead of
pleasant things, the gods will give us all that is most fitting. Man
is dearer to them than to himself. We, led on by the impulse of our
minds, by blind and headstrong passions, pray for wedlock, and issue
by our wives; but it is known to them what our children will prove;
of what character our wife will be! Still, that you may have somewhat
to pray for, and vow to their shrines the entrails and consecrated
mincemeat[680] of the white porker, your prayer must be that you may
have a sound mind in a sound body. Pray for a bold spirit, free from
all dread of death; that reckons the closing scene of life among
Nature's kindly boons;[681] that can endure labor, whatever it be; that
deems the gnawing cares of Hercules,[682] and all his cruel toils, far
preferable to the joys of Venus, rich banquets, and the downy couch of
Sardanapalus. I show thee what thou canst confer upon thyself. The only
path that surely leads to a life of peace lies through virtue. If _we_
have wise foresight, _thou_, Fortune, hast no divinity.[683] It is we
that make thee a deity, and place thy throne in heaven![684]
FOOTNOTES:
[550] _Gadibus._ Gades, now Cadiz, and Ganges were the western and
eastern boundaries of the then known world.
[551] _Nebulâ._ Cf. Plat., Alcib., ii., τῆς ψυχῆς ἀφελόντα τὴν ἀχλύν;
from which many ideas in this Satire, particularly toward the close,
are borrowed.
"As treacherous phantoms in the mist delude,
Shuns fancied ills, or chases, airy good." Johnson's imitation.
[552] _Evertere._ These are almost Cicero's own words. "Cupiditates non
modo singulos homines sed _universas familias evertunt_," de Fin., i.
Cf. Shakspeare:
"We, ignorant of ourselves,
Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers
Deny us for our good: so find we profit
By losing of our prayers."
[553] _Torrens._
"Some who the depths of eloquence have found,
In that unnavigable stream were drown'd." Dryden.
[554] _Viribus._ Roscommon, as Gifford says, tells his history in two
lines:
"Remember Milo's end,
Wedged in the timber which he strove to rend."
Cf. Ovid, Ib., 609, "Utque Milon robur diducere fissile tentes, nec
possis captas inde referre manus."
[555] _Balæna Britannica._ Cf. Hor., iv., Od. xiv., 47, "Te _belluosus_
qui remotis obstrepit Oceanus Britannis." There is probably an allusion
here to the large sums which Seneca had out at interest in Britain,
where his rigor in exacting his demands occasioned a rebellion.
[556] _Tota cohors._ "Illo propinquâ vesperâ, tribunus venit, et villam
_globus militum_ sepsit." Tac., Ann., xv., 60.
[557] _Longinum._ Cassius Longinus was charged with keeping among his
Imagines one of Cassius, Cæsar's murderer; and allowed an hour to die
in. Suet., Ner., 37.
[558] _Seneca._ Rufus and Tigellinus charged Seneca "tanquam ingentes
et privatum suprà modum evectas opes adhuc augeret--hortorum quoque
amænitate et villarum magnificentiâ quasi Principem supergrederetur;"
and Seneca himself, in his speech to Nero, says, "Tantum honorum atque
opûm in me cumulâsti, ut nihil felicitati meæ desit." Tacit., Ann.,
xiv., 52, _seq._
[559] _Puri._ Cf. ix., 141.
[560] _Lateranorum._ Vid. Tac., Ann., xv., 60, for the death of
Plautius Lateranus. His house was on the Cœlian Hill, on the site of
the modern Lateran.
[561] _Motæ ad Lunam._ Cf. Hor., i., Od. xxiii., 3, "Non sine vano
aurarum et siluæ metu." Stat., Theb., vi., 158," Impulsæque noto
frondes cassusque valeret exanimare timor." Claud., Eutrop., ii., 452,
"Ecce levis frondes a tergo concutit aura: credit tela Leo: valuit pro
vulnere terror."
[562] _Vacuus._ Cf. Ov., Nux., 43, "Sic timet insidias qui scit se
ferre viator cur timeat, tutum carpit inanis iter." Sen., Lucil.,
"Nudum Latro transmittit."
"While void of care the beggar trips along,
And, in the spoiler's presence, trolls his song." Gifford.
[563] _Divitiæ._ Vid. Cic., "Expetuntur Divitiæ ut utare; _Opes_ ut
colaris: _Honores_ ut lauderis." De Amicit., vi.
[564] _Foro._ The public treasure was in the temple of Saturn. Private
individuals had their money in strong boxes deposited in the Forum
Trajani, or Forum Augusti; in the temple of Mars "Ultor" originally;
afterward in the temple of Castor and others, probably of Pax. Cf.
xiv., 259, "Æratâ multus in arcâ fiscus, et ad vigilem ponendi Cartora
nummi." Cf. Suet., Jul., x. Pliny the Younger was once præfectus ærarii
Saturni.
[565] _Gemmata._ Cf. v., 39, 41.--_Setinum_, v., 34.
"Fear the gemm'd goblet, and suspicious hold
The ruby juice that glows in cups of gold." Badham.
[566] _De Sapientibus._ Democritus of Abdera, and Heracleitus of
Ephesus.
[567] _Ridebat._ Cf. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 194, "Si foret in terris
_rideret_ Democritus." δεῖσθαι μοι δοκεῖ Ἡρακλείτου ἤ Δημοκρίτου, τοῦ
μὲν γελασομένου τὴν ἄνοιαν αὐτῶν, τοῦ δὲ τὴν ἄγνοιαν ὀδυρομένου. Luc.,
βι. πρ., 13, τὸν γελῶντα, τὸν Ἀβδηρόθεν καὶ τὸν κλαίοντα τὸν ἐξ Ἐφέσου.
[568]
"The marvel this, since all the world can sneer,
What fountains fed the ever-needed tear." Badham.
[569] _Trabeæ._ Cf. ad viii., 259.
[570] _Prætor._ Juvenal has mixed up together the procession of the
prætor to open the Circensian games, and a triumphal procession. The
latter proceeded through the principal streets _to_ the Capitol. The
former, _from_ the Capitol to the _centre_ of the circus. The triumphal
car was in the shape of a turret, gilded, and drawn by four white
horses: it often occurs on coins. The tunica palmata, worn by generals
in their triumph, was kept in the temple of Jupiter. The toga picta was
purple, and so heavily embroidered that it may well be compared to a
brocaded curtain. Tyre was anciently called Sarra, which may be traced
in its modern name Sur.
"His robe a ponderous curtain of brocade,
Inwrought and stiff by Tyrian needles' aid." Badham.
[571] _Orbem._ Probably an allusion to Atlas.
[572] _Sufficit._
"And would have crush'd it with the massy freight,
But that a sweating slave sustain'd the weight." Dryden.
Probably the crown was _not_ worn, but merely _held_ by the slave at
his side.
"The menial destined in his car to ride,
And cool the swelling consul's feverish pride." Hodgson.
[573] _Crasso._ "Bœotum in _crasso_ jurares _ære_ natum." Hor., ii.,
Ep. i., 244. Bœotia was called the land of hogs, which so much annoyed
Pindar. Vid. Ol., vi., 152. Abdera seems to have had as bad a name. Cf.
Mart., x., Ep. xxv., 3, "Abderitanæ pectora plebis habes."
[574] _Medium unguem._ Hence called "Infamis digitus." Pers., ii., 33.
Cf. Mart., ii., Ep. xxviii., 2, "digitum porrigito medium." VI., Ep.
lxx., 5, "Ostendit digitum impudicum."
[575] _Incerare._ They used to fasten their vows, written on wax
tablets, to the knees or thighs of the gods. When their wishes were
granted, these were replaced by the offerings they had vowed. Cf. Hom.,
Il., p., 514, θεῶν ἐν γούνασι κεῖται.
[576] _Mergit._ Cf. Sil., viii., 285; or mergit may be used _actively_,
as xiii., 8. Lucr., v., 1006. Virg., Æn., vi., 512.
[577] _Statuæ._ Cf. ad viii., 18. Tac., Ann., vi., 2. Plin., Pan., 52,
"Juvabat illidere solo superbissimos vultus, instare ferro, _sævire
securibus_, ut si singulos ictus sanguis dolorque sequeretur"--"instar
ultionis videretur cernere imagines abjectas excoctasque flammis."
[578] _Immeritis._
"The driven axe destroys the conquering car,
And unoffending steeds the ruin share." Hodgson.
[579] _Adoratum._ Cf. Tac., Ann., iii., 72; iv., 2, "Coli per theatra
et fora effigies ejus sineret." Vid. Suet., Tib., lv., 48, "Solæ nullam
Sejani imaginem inter signa coluissent." 65, "Sejani imagines aureas
coli passim videret."
[580] _Sartago._
"And from the stride of those colossal legs
You buy the useful pan that fries your eggs." Badham.
Dryden reads "matellæ."
[581] _Pone domi lauros._ Cf. ad ix., 85.
[582] _Sequitur Fortunam._
"When the king's _trump_, the mob are for the king." Dryden.
[583] _Nurscia_, Nyrtia, Nortia, or Nurtia, the Etruscan goddess of
Fortune, nearly identical with Atropos, and cognate with Minerva. The
old Schol. says, "Fortuna apud Nyrtiam colitur _unde fuit Sejanus_."
But Tacitus tells us (Ann., iv., l; vi., 8) that Sejanus was a native
of Volsinii, now Bolsena. Outside the Florence gate of Bolsena stands