The Satires of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and Lucilius
"Here, you say, I forbid any one's committing a nuisance." Then paint
up two snakes. Boys, go farther away: the place is sacred! I go away.
P. Yet Lucilius lashed[1266] the city, and thee, O Lupus,[1267]
and thee too, Mucius,[1268] and broke his jaw-bone[1269] on them.
Sly Flaccus touches every failing of his smiling friend, and, once
admitted, sports around his heart; well skilled in sneering[1270] at
the people with well-dissembled[1271] sarcasm. And is it then a crime
for me to mutter, secretly, or in a hole?
A. You must do it nowhere.
P. Yet here I will bury it! I saw, I saw with my own[1272] eyes, my
little book! Who has not asses' ears?[1273] This my buried secret, this
my sneer, so valueless, I would not sell you for any Iliad.[1274]
Whoever thou art, that art inspired[1275] by the bold Cratinus, and
growest pale over the wrathful Eupolis and the old man sublime, turn
thine eyes on these verses also, if haply thou hearest any thing more
refined.[1276] Let my reader glow with ears warmed by their strains.
Not he that delights, like a mean fellow as he is, in ridiculing the
sandals of the Greeks, and can say to a blind man, Ho! you blind
fellow! Fancying himself to be somebody, because vain[1277] of his
rustic honors, as Ædile[1278] of Arretium,[1279] he breaks up the
false measures[1280] there. Nor again, one who has just wit enough to
sneer at the arithmetic boards,[1281] and the lines in the divided
dust; quite ready to be highly delighted, if a saucy wench[1282]
plucks[1283] a Cynic's[1284] beard. To such as these I recommend[1285]
the prætor's edict[1286] in the morning, and after dinner--Callirhoe.
FOOTNOTES:
[1181] _Oh curas!_ These are the opening lines of his Satire, which
Persius is reading aloud, and is interrupted by his "Adversarius." He
represents himself as having meditated on all mundane things, and,
like Solomon, having discovered their emptiness, "Vanitas vanitatum!"
Cf. Juv., Sat. i., 85, "Quidquid agunt homines, votum, timor, ira,
voluptas, Gaudia, discursus; nostri est farrago libelli." It is an
adaptation of the old Greek proverb, ὅσον τὸ κένον.
[1182] _Adversarius._ "Interpretes plerique hunc Persii amicum seu
monitorem volunt: ego vero et morosum adversarium, et ridiculum senem
intelligo." D'Achaintre.
[1183] _Quis legit hæc?_ The old Gloss. says this line is taken from
the first book of Lucilius.
[1184] _Næ mihi Polydamas._ Taken from Hector's speech, where he dreads
the reproaches of his brother-in-law Polydamas, and the Trojan men
and women, if he were to retire within the walls of Troy. Il., x.,
105, 108, Πουλυδάμας μοι πρῶτος ἐλεγχείην ἀναθήσει--αἰδέομαι Τρῶας καὶ
Τρωάδας ἑλκεσιπέπλους. Cicero has introduced the same lines in his
Epistle to Atticus: "Aliter sensero? αἰδέομαι non Pompeium modo, sed
Τρῶας καὶ Τρωάδας· Πουλυδάμας μοι πρῶτος ἐλεγχείην ἀναθήσει: Quis? Tu
ipse scilicet; laudator et scriptorum et factorum meorum," vii., 1. By
Polydamas, he intends Nero; by Troïades, the effeminate Romans, who
prided themselves on their Trojan descent. Cf. Juv., i., 100, "Jubet a
præcone vocari ipsos Trojugenas." viii., 181, "At vos Trojugenæ vobis
ignoscitis, et quæ turpia cerdoni Volesos Brutosque decebunt." Attius
Labeo was a miserable court-poet, a favorite of Nero, who applied
himself to translate Homer word for word. Casaubon gives the following
specimen of his poetry: "Crudum manduces Priamum, Priamique pisinnos."
[1185] _Turbida Roma._ "Muddy, not clear in its judgment." A metaphor
from thick, troubled waters. Persius now addresses himself, and uses
the second person. "Though Rome in its perverted judgment should
disparage my writings, I will not subscribe to its verdict, or seek
beyond my own breast for rules to guide my course of action." _Elevet_,
_examen_, _trutina_, are all metaphors from a steelyard or balance.
Trutina is the aperture in the iron that supports the balance, in which
the examen, i. e., the tongue (hasta, lingula), plays. Elevare is
said of that which causes the lanx of the balance to "kick the beam."
Castigare is to set the balance in motion with the finger, until,
perfect equilibrium being obtained, it settles down to a state of rest.
Public taste being distorted, to attempt to correct it would be as
idle as to try to rectify a false balance by merely setting the beam
vibrating.
[1186] _Quæsiveris._ Alluding to the Stoic notion of αὐταρκεῖα: "Each
man's own taste and judgment is to him the best test of right and
wrong."
[1187] _Quis non?_ An ἀποσιώπησις: Whom can you find at Rome that is
not laboring under this perversion of taste and want of self-dependence?
[1188] _Ah, si fas dicere._ Cf. Juv., Sat i., 153, "Unde illa priorum
Scribendi quodcunque animo flagrante liberet Simplicitas, cujus non
audeo dicere nomen." Lucil., Fr. incert. 165.
[1189] _Sed fas._ "When I look at all the childish follies, the empty
pursuits, the ill-directed ambition that, in spite of an affectation
of outward gravity and severity of manners, disgraces even men of
advanced years; the senseless pursuits of men who ought to have given
up all the trifling amusements of childhood, and who yet assume the
grave privilege of censuring younger men; it is difficult not to write
satire."
[1190] _Canities._ See the old proverb, πολιὰ χρόνου μήνυσις οὐ
φρονήσεως. "Hoary hairs are the evidence of time, not of wisdom."
[1191] _Nuces._ Put generally for the playthings of children. Cf.
Suet., Aug., 83. Phædr., Fab. xiv., 2. Mart., v., 84, "Jam tristis
nucibus puer relictis Clamoso revocatur à magistro."
[1192] _Sapimus patruos._ Cf. Hor., iii., Od. xii., 3, "Exanimari
metuentes patruæ verbera linguæ." ii., Sat. iii., 87, "Sive ego pravè
seu rectè hoc volui, ne sis patruus mihi." Parents, being themselves
too indulgent, frequently intrusted their children to the guardianship
of uncles, whose reproofs were more sharp, and their correction more
severe, as they possessed all the authority without the tenderness and
affection of a parent.
[1193] _Quid faciam?_ "How shall I check the outburst of natural
feeling? For my character, implanted by nature, is that of a hearty
laugher." Cachinno is a word used only by Persius. Cf. Juv., iii., 100,
"Rides? majore cachinno concutitur." The ancients held the spleen to
be the seat of laughter, as the gall of anger, the liver of love, the
forehead of bashfulness.
[1194] _Scribimus inclusi._ So Hor., ii., Ep. i., 117, "Scribimus
indocti doctique poemata passim." Inclusi, "avoiding all noise and
interruption, we shut ourselves in our studies." Hor., Ep., II., ii.,
77," Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus et fugit urbes." Juv., Sat.
vii., 58.
[1195] _Togâ._ The indignation of Persius is excited by the declaimer
assuming all the paraphernalia and ornament of the day kept most sacred
by the Romans, viz., their birthday (cf. ad Juv., Sat. xii., 1),
simply for the purpose of reciting his own verses. For this custom of
reciting, cf. ad Juv., vii., 38.
[1196] _Sardonyche._ Cf. Juv., vii., 144, "Ideo conductâ Paulus agebat
Sardonyche." It was the custom for friends and clients to send valuable
presents to their patrons on their birthdays. Cf. ad Juv., iii., 187.
Plaut., Curcul., V., ii., 56, "Hic est annulus quem ego tibi misi
natali die." Juv., Sat. xi., 84.
[1197] _Sede._ The Romans always stood while pleading, and sat down
while reciting. Vid. Plin., vi., Ep. vi., "Dicenti mihi solicitè
assistit; assidet recitanti." These seats were called cathedræ and
pulpita. Vid. Juv., vii., 47, 93. An attendant stood by the person who
was reciting, with some emollient liquid to rinse the throat with.
This preparation of the throat was called πλάσις, and a harsh, dry,
unflexible voice was termed ἀπλαστός.
[1198] _Collueris._ D'Achaintre's reading is preferred here, "Sede
leges celsâ liquido com plasmate guttur Collueris:" for _legens_ and
_colluerit_. _Patranti ocello_ seems to convey the same idea as the
"oculi putres" of Hor., i., Od. xxxvi., 17, and the "oculos in fine
trementes" of Juv., Sat. vii., 241 (cf. ii., 94), "oculos udos et
marcidos," of Apul., Met., iii. Cf. Pers., v., 51, and the epithet
ὑγρὸς, as applied to the eyes of Aphrodite.
[1199] _Titi_, are put here (as Romulidæ in v. 31) for the Romans
generally, among whom, especially the higher orders, Titus was a
favorite prænomen; or Titi may be put for Titienses, as Rhamnes for
Rhamnenses; in either case the meaning is the same. But the other
parts may be differently interpreted. _Hic_ may be equivalent to "cum
operibus tuis;" _trepidare_ mean "the eager applause of the hearers;"
_more probo_ "the approved and usual mode of showing it by simultaneous
shouts" _voce serena_. Cf. Hor., A. P., 430.
[1200] _Lumbum._ Cf. iv., 35. Juv., Sat. vi., 314, "Quum tibia lumbos
incitat."
[1201] _Vetule._ Cf. Juv., xiii., 33, "Die Senior bullâ dignissime."
[1202] _Cute perditus._ "Bloated, swollen, as with dropsy." So
Lucilius, xxviii., Frag. 37, "Quasi aquam in animo habere intercutem."
"Pandering to the lusts of these itching ears, you receive such
overwhelming applause, that though swelling with vanity, even you
yourself are nauseated at the fulsome repetition."--_Ohe._ Cf. Hor.,
ii., Sat. v., 96, "Importunus amat laudari? donec ohe jam ad cœlum
manibus sublatis dixerit urge et crescentem tumidis infla sermonibus
utrem." So i., Sat. v., 12, "Ohe! jam satis est." There may be, as
Madan says, an allusion to the fable of the proud frog who swelled till
she burst. Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 314.
[1203] _Caprificus._ Cf. Juv., x., 143, "Laudis titulique cupido hæsuri
saxis cinerum custodibus, ad quæ discutienda valent sterilis mala
robora ficus. Quandoquidem data sunt ipsis quoque fata sepulcris."
Mart., Ep., X., ii., 9, "Marmora Messalæ findit caprificus."
[1204] _En pallor seniumque!_ "Is then the fruit of all thy study, that
has caused all thy pallor and premature debility, no better than this?
that thou canst imagine no higher and nobler use of learning than for
the purpose of vain display!" Lucilius uses senium for the tedium and
weariness produced by long application.
[1205] _Oh Mores!_ So Cicero in his Oration against Catiline (in Cat.,
i., 1), "O Tempora, O Mores!" Cf. Mart., vi., Ep. ii., 6.
[1206] _Scire tuum._ So l. 9, "Nostrum istud _vivere_ triste." So
Lucilius, "Id me nolo scire mihi cujus sum conscius solus: ne damnum
faciam, scire est nescire nisi id me scire alius scierit."
[1207] _Digito monstrariar._ So Hor., iv., Od. iii., 22, "Quod monstror
digito prætereuntium Romanæ fidicen lyræ." Plin., ix., Epist. xxiii.,
"Et ille 'Plinius est' inquit. Verum fatebor, capio magnum laboris mei
fructum. An, si Demosthenes jure lætatus est quod ilium anus Attica ita
noscitavit οὗτος ἐστι Δημοσθένης ego celebritate nominis mei gaudere
non debeo?" Cic., Tus. Qu., v., 36.
[1208] _Dictata._ The allusion is to Nero, who ordered that his verses
should be taught to the boys in the schools of Rome. The works of
eminent contemporary poets were sometimes the subjects of study in
schools, as well as the standard writings of Virgil and Horace. Cf.
Juv., vii., 226, "Totidem olfecisse lucernas Quot stabant pueri quum
totus decolor esset Flaccus et hæreret nigro fuligo Maroni."
[1209] _Cirratorum._ "Boys of high rank with well-curled hair." Cf.
Mart., i., Ep. xxxv., "Cirrata caterva magistri."
[1210] _Ecce!_ "See," answers Persius, "the noblest result, after all
you can hope to attain, is only to have your poems lisped through by
men surcharged with food and wine!"
[1211] _Inter pocula._ Cf. Juv., vi., 434; xi., 178.
[1212] _Romulidæ_, the degenerate self-styled descendants of Romulus.
With equal bitterness Juvenal calls them "Quirites," iii., 60;
"Trojugenæ," viii., 181; xi., 95; "Turba Remi," x., 73.