The Satires of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and Lucilius
"Satis immanis dentibus hydri, nec galeis densisque virum seges horruit
hastis."
[1016] _Ignem._ Pind., Pyth., iii., 66, πολλὰν τ' ὄρει πῦρ ἐξ ἑνὸς
σπέρματος ἐνθορὸν ἀΐστωσεν ὕλαν.
[1017] _Leo alumnus._ There is said to be an allusion to a real
incident which occurred under Domitian. Cf. Mart., Ep., de Spect., x.,
"Læserat ingrato leo perfidus ore magistrum ausus tam notas contemerare
manus: sed dignas tanto persolvit crimine pœnas; et qui non tulerat
verbera tela tulit." Æsch., Ag., 717, 34.
[1018] _Mathematicis._ Suet., Calig., 57; Otho, 4. Cf. Sat. iii., 43;
vi., 553, 562. Among these famous astrologers the names of Thrasyllus,
Sulla, Theogenes, Scribonius, and Seleucus are preserved. The
calculations necessary for casting these nativities are called "numeri
Thrasylli," "Chaldaicæ rationes," "numeri Babylonii." Hor., i., Od.
xi., 2. Cic., de Div., ii., 47. Ov., Ibis, 209, _seq._
[1019] _Grave._ Cf. Strat., Ep. lxxii., 4, φεῦ μοίρης τε κακῆς καὶ
πατρὸς ἀθανάτου.
[1020] _Stamine._ Cf. iii., 27, "Dum superest Lachesi quod torqueat."
x., 251, "De legibus ipse queratur Fatorum et nimio de stamine."
[1021] _Cervina._ Cf. x., 247, "Exemplum vitæ fuit a cornice secundæ."
The crow is said to live for nine generations of men. The old Scholiast
says the stag lives for nine hundred years. Vid. Anthol. Gr., ii., 9,
ἡ φάος ἀθρήσασ' ἐλάφου πλέον ἡ χερὶ λαιᾷ γῆρας ἀριθμεῖσθαι δεύτερον
ἀρξαμένη. In the caldron prepared by Medea to renovate Æson, we find,
"vivacisque jecur cervi quibus insuper addit ora caputque novem
cornicis sæcula passæ." Auson., Idyll., xviii., 3, "Hos novies superat
vivendo garrula cornix, et quater egreditur cornicis sæcula cervus."
[1022] _Archigenem._ vi., 236; xiii., 98.
[1023] _Mithridates._ vi., 660, "Sed tamen et ferro si prægustarit
Atrides Pontica ter victi cautus medicamina regis." x., 273, "Regem
transeo Ponti." Cf. Plin., xxiii., 24; xxv., 11. Mart., v., Ep. 76,
"Profecit poto Mithridates sæpe veneno, Toxica ne possent sæva nocere
sibi." This composition (Synthesis) is described by Serenus Sammonicus,
the physician, and consists of ludicrously simple ingredients. xxx.,
578. Cf. Plin., xxiii., 8.
[1024] _Ærata._ Cf. xi., 26, "Quantum ferratâ distet ab arcâ Sacculus."
[1025] _Vigilem Castora._ So called, Grangæus says, "quod ante Castoris
templum erant militum excubiæ." The temple of Mars Ultor, with its
columns of marble, was built by Augustus. Suet., Aug., 29. To which
Ovid alludes, Fast., v., 549, "Fallor an arma sonant? non fallimur,
arma sonabant: Mars venit, et veniens bellica signa dedit. Ultor ad
ipse suos cœlo descendit honores, Templaque in Augusto conspicienda
foro."
[1026] _Floræ._ Cf. vi., 250. Ov., Fast., v., 183-330. The Floralia
were first sanctioned by the government A.U.C. 514, in the consulship
of Centho and Tuditanus, the year Livius began to exhibit. They were
celebrated on the last day of April and the first and second of May.
The lowest courtesans appeared on the stage and performed obscene
dances. Cf. Lactant., i., 20. Pers., v., 178.
[1027] _Cereris._ The Ludi Circenses in honor of Ceres (vid. Tac.,
Ann., xv., 53, 74, Ruperti's note) consisted of horse-racing, and were
celebrated the day before the ides of April. Ov., Fast., iv., 389,
_seq._ They were instituted by C. Memmius when Curule Ædile, and were a
patrician festival. Gell., ii., 24.
[1028] _Cybeles._ Cf. vi., 69; xi., 191.
[1029] _Petauro._ The exact nature of this feat of agility is not
determined by the commentators. The word is derived from αὖρα and
πέτομαι, and therefore seems to imply some machine for propelling
persons through the air, which a line in Lucilius seems to confirm,
"Sicuti mechanici cum alto exsiluere petauro." Fr. incert. xli. So
Manilius, v., 434, "Corpora quæ valido saliunt excussa petauro,
alternosque cient motus: elatus et ille nunc jacet atque hujus casu
suspenditur ille, membraque per flammas orbesque emissa flagrantes."
Mart., ii., Ep. 86, "Quid si per graciles vias petauri Invitum jubeas
subire Ladam." XI., xxi., 3, "Quam rota transmisso toties intacta
petauro." Holiday gives a drawing in which it resembles an oscillum or
swing. Facciolati describes it as "genus ludi, quo homines per aërem
rotarum pulsu jactantur."
[1030] _Corycus_ was the northwestern headland of Crete, with an island
of the same name lying off it. «There were two other towns of the same
name, in Lydia and Cilicia, both infested with pirates; the latter gave
its name to the famous Corycian cave. Pind., Pyth., i. Æsch., P. V.,
350.»
[1031] _Municipes._ The Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται boasted, says Callimachus,
that Crete was not only the birthplace, but also the burial-place of
Jove. Cf. iv., 33, "Jam princeps equitum magnâ qui voce solebat vendere
municipes pacta mercede siluros." So Martial calls Cumæan pottery-ware,
"testa municeps Sibyllæ," xiv., Ep. cxiv., and Tyrian cloaks, "Cadmi
municipes lacernas." Cf. Aristoph., Ach., 333, where Dicæopolis
producing his coal-basket says, ὁ λάρκος δημότης ὁδ' ἐστ' ἐμός. Crete
was famous for this "passum," a kind of rich raisin wine, which it
appears from Athenæus the Roman ladies were allowed to drink. Lib. x.,
p. 440, e. Grangæus calls it "Malvoisie."
[1032] _Lagenas._ Cf. vii., 121.
[1033] _Calpe_, now Gibraltar. It is said to have been Epicurus'
notion, that the sun, when setting in the ocean, hissed like red-hot
iron plunged in water. Cf. Stat. Sylv., II., vii., 27, "Felix hen nimis
et beata tellus, quæ pronos Hyperionis meatus summis oceani vides in
undis stridoremque rotæ cadentis audis."
[1034] _Aluta._ Cf. vii., 192, "Appositam nigræ lunam subtexit alutæ,"
where it is used for the shoe-leather, as Mart., xii., Ep. 25, and ii.,
29. Ov., A. A., iii., 271. It is a leathern _apron_ in Mart., vii.,
Ep. 25, and a leathern sail in Cæs., B. Gall., III., xiii. Here it is
a leathern money-bag. It takes its name from the alumen used in the
process of tanning.
[1035] _Oceani monstra._ So Tacitus, Ann., ii., 24, "Ut quis ex
longinquo revenerat, miracula narrabant, vim turbinum et inauditas
volucres, monstra maris, ambiguas hominum et belluarum formas; visa
sive ex metu credita."
[1036] _Eumenidum._ Eurip., Orest., 254, _seq._ Æsch., Eumen. Hor.,
ii., Sat. iii., 132, _seq._
[1037] _Bove percusso._ Soph., Aj. Cf. ad vii., 115; x., 84.
[1038] _Curatoris._ The Laws of the xii. tables directed that "Si
furiosus essit, agnatorum gentiliumque in eo pecuniâque ejus potestas
esto." Tab., v., 7. Cf. Hor., i., Ep. i., 102, "Nec medici credis nec
_curatoris egere_ à prætore dati." ii., Sat. iii., 217, "Interdicto
huic omne adimat jus prætor."
[1039] _Tabulâ._ Cf. xii., 57, "Dolato confisus ligno, digitis a morte
remotus quatuor aut septem, si sit latissima tæda."
"Who loads his bark till it can scarcely swim,
And leaves thin planks betwixt the waves and him!
A little legend and a figure small
Stamp'd on a scrap of gold, the cause of all!" Badham.
[1040] _Cujus votis._
"Lo! where that wretched man half naked stands,
To whom of rich Pactolus all the sands
Were naught but yesterday! his nature fed
On painted storms that earn compassion's bread." Badham.
[1041] _Tagus._ Cf. iii., 55, "Omnis arena Tagi quodque in mare
volvitur aurum." Mart., i., Ep. l., 15; x., Ep. xcvi., "Auriferumque
Tagum sitiam." Ov., Met., ii., 251, "Quodque suo Tagus amne vehit fluit
ignibus aurum."
[1042] The _Pactolus_ flows into the Hermus a little above Magnesia ad
Sepylum. Its sands were said to have been changed into gold by Midas'
bathing in its waters, hence called εὔχρυσος by Sophocles. Philoct.,
391. It flows under the walls of Sardis, and is closely connected by
the poets with the name and wealth of Crœsus. The real fact being, that
the gold ore was washed down from Mount Tmolus; which Strabo says had
ceased to be the case in his time: lib. xiii., c. 4. Cf. Virg., Æn.,
x., 141, "Ubi pinguia culta exercentque vivi Pactolusque irrigat auro."
Senec., Phœn., 604, "Et quà trahens opulenta Pactolus vada inundat auro
rura." Athen., v. It is still called Bagouli.
[1043] _Picta tempestate._ Cf. ad xii., 27.
"Poor shipwreck'd sailor! tell thy tale and show
The sign-post daubing of thy watery woe." Hodgson.
[1044] _Custodia._
"First got with guile, and then preserved with dread." Spenser.
[1045] _Licinus._ Cf. ad i., 109, "Ego possideo plus Pallante et
Licinis."
[1046] _Hamis._ Hama, "a leathern bucket," from the ἅμη of Plutarch.
Augustus instituted seven Cohortes Vigilum, who paraded the city at
night under the command of their Præfectus, equipped with "hamæ" and
"dolabræ" to prevent fires. Cf. Plin., x., Ep. 42, who, giving Trajan
an account of a great fire at Nicomedia in his province, says, "Nullus
in publico sipho, nulla hama, nullum denique instrumentum ad incendia
compescenda." Tac., Ann., xv., 43, "Jam aqua privatorum licentia
intercepta, quo largior, et pluribus locis in publicum flueret,
custodes, et subsidia reprimendis ignibus in propatulo quisque haberet:
nec communione parietum, sed propriis quæque muris ambirentur." (Ubi
vid. Ruperti's note.) These custodes were called "Castellarii." Gruter.
Cf. Sat. iii., 197, _seq._
[1047] _Phrygiaque columnâ._ Cf. ad lin. 89.
[1048] _Dolia nudi Cynici._ Cf. ad xiii., 122. The story is told by
Plutarch, Vit. Alex. Cf. Diog. Laert., VI., ii., 6. It is said that
Diogenes died at Corinth, the same day Alexander died at Babylon. Cf.
x., 171.
"The naked cynic mocks such anxious cares,
His earthen tub no conflagration fears:
If crack'd or broken, he procures a new;
Or, coarsely soldering, makes the old one do." Gifford.
[1049] _Nullum numen._ Cf. x., 365.
"Where prudence dwells, there Fortune is unknown,
By man a goddess made, by man alone." Badham.
[1050] _Sitis atque fames._ Hor., i., Sat. i., 73, "Nescis quo valeat
nummus quem præbeat usum? Panis ematur, olus, vini Sextarius; adde
Queis humana sibi doleat natura negatis."
[1051] _Epicure._ Cf. xiii., 122, "Non Epicurum suspicit exigui lætum
plantaribus horti."
"As much as made wise Epicurus blest,
Who in small gardens spacious realms possess'd:
This is what nature's wants may well suffice;
He that would more is covetous, not wise." Dryden.
[1052] _Summam._ Cf. iii., 154, "De pulvino surgat equestri Cujus res
legi non sufficit." Plin., xxxii., 2, "Tiberio imperante constitutem
ne quis in equestri ordine censeretur, nisi cui ingenuo ipsi, patri,
avoque paterno sestertia quadringenta census fuisset." Cf. i., 105;
iii., 159, "Sic libitum vano qui nos distinxit Othoni."
[1053] _Tertia Quadringenta._ Suet., Aug., 41, "Senatorum Censum
ampliavit, ac pro Octingentorum millium summâ, duodecies sestertio
taxavit, supplevitque non habentibus."
[1054] _Narcissi._ Of his wealth Dio says (lx., p. 688), μέγιστον τῶν
τότε ἀνθρώπων ἐδυνήθη μυριάδας τε γὰρ πλείους μυρίων εἷχε. Narcissus
and his other freedmen, Posides, Felix, Polybius, etc., exercised
unlimited control over the idiotic Claudius, but Pallas and Narcissus
were his chief favorites, "Quos decreto quoque senatus, non præmiis
modo ingentibus, sed et quæstoriis prætoriisque ornamentis ornari
libenter passus est:" and so much did they abuse his kindness, that
when he was once complaining of the low state of his exchequer, it was
said, "abundaturum si à duobus libertis in consortium reciperetur."
Claudius would have certainly pardoned Messalina, had it not been
for Narcissus. "Nec enim Claudius Messalinam interfecisset, nisi
properâsset index, delator adulterii, et quodammodo imperator cædis
Narcissus." See the whole account, Tac., Ann., xi., 26-38. Suet.,
Claud., 26, _seq._ On the accession of Nero, Narcissus was compelled by
Agrippina to commit suicide. Cf. ad x., 330.