The Satires of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and Lucilius
Cic., de Orat., iii., 43. There is an allusion to the same metaphor as
in Sat. i., 65, "Per leve severos effundat junctura ungues."
[1422] _Ore teres modico._ The second merit, "a natural and easy mode
of reciting, suited to compositions in a familiar style." Cicero uses
_teres_ in the same sense. De Orat., iii., c. 52, "Plena quædam, sed
tamen teres, et tenuis, non sine nervis ac viribus." Horace, A. P.,
323, "Graiis dedit ore rotundo Musa loqui."
[1423] _Pallentes radere mores._ The next merit is in the choice of
a subject. Not the unnatural horrors selected to gratify the most
depraved taste, but the gentlemanly, and at the same time searching,
exposure of the profligate morals of the time.
[1424] _Cum capite._ Cf. Senec., Thyest., Act iv., 1. 763, "Denudat
artus dirus atque ossa amputat: tantum _ora_ servat et datas fidei
_manus_."
[1425] _Pondus._ So Horace, i., Epist. xix., 42, "Nugis addere pondus."
[1426] _Excutienda._ Seneca, Ep. lxxii., 1, "Explicandus est animus, et
quæcunque apud illum deposita sunt, subinde _excuti_ debent."
[1427] _Solidum crepet._ Cf. iii., 21, "Sonet vitium percussa."
[1428] _Sinuoso._ Cf. Hamlet, "Give me that man that is not passion's
slave, and I will wear him in my heart's core; ay, in my heart of
heart, as I do thee, Horatio!" Act iii., sc. 2.
[1429] _Custos._ The Prætexta was intended, as the robes of the
priests, to serve as a protection to the youths that wore it. The
purple with which the toga was bordered was to remind them of the
modesty which was becoming to their early years. It was laid aside by
boys at the age of seventeen, and by girls when they were married. The
assumption of the toga virilis took place with great solemnities before
the images of the Lares, sometimes in the Capitol. It not unfrequently
happened that the changing of the toga at the same time formed a bond
of union between young men, which lasted unbroken for many years. Hor.,
i., Od. xxxvi., 9, "Memor Actæ non alio rege puertiæ Mutatæque simul
togæ. "The Liberalia, on the 16th before the Kalends of April (i. e.,
March 17th), were the usual festival for this ceremony. Vid. Cic. ad
Att., VI., i., 12. Ovid explains the reasons for the selection. Fast.,
iii., 771, _seq._
[1430] _Bulla._ Vid. Juv., v., 164.
[1431] _Succinctis._ So Horace, A. P., 50, "Fingere cinctutis non
exaudita Cethegis." The Lares, being the original household deities,
were regarded with singular affection, and were probably usually
represented in the homely dress of the early ages of the republic.
Perhaps, too, some superstitious feeling might tend to prevent any
innovation in their costume. This method of wearing the toga, which
consisted in twisting it over the left shoulder, so as to leave the
right arm bare and free, was called the "Cinctus Gabinus" (cf. Ov.,
Fast., v., 101, 129), from the fact of its having been adopted at the
sudden attack at Gabii, when they had not time to put on the sagum, but
were forced to fight in the toga. Hence, in proclaiming war, the consul
always appeared in this costume (Virg., Æn., vii., 612, "Ipse Quirinali
trabeâ cinctuque Gabino Insignis reserat stridentia limina Consul"),
and it was that in which Decius devoted himself. Liv., viii., 9; v., 46.
[1432] _Umbo_ was the centre where all the folds of the toga met on the
left shoulder; from this boss the lappet fell down and was tucked into
the girdle, so as to form the _sinus_ or fold which served as a pocket.
[1433] _Fallere solers._ "You showed so much skill and address in your
endeavors to restore me to the right path, that I was, as it were,
gradually and insensibly cheated into a reformation of my life."
[1434] _Fœdere certo._ Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 187, "Scit Genius, natale
comes qui temperat astrum." ii., Od. xvii., 16, "Placitumque _Parcis_,
Seu _Libra_ seu me Scorpius adspicit formidolosus, pars violentior
_Natalis horæ_ seu tyrannus Hesperiæ Capricornus undæ Utrumque nostrum
incredibili modo _consentit astrum_." Manil., iv., 549, "Felix _æquato_
genitus sub pondere _Libræ_."
[1435] _Tenax veri._ "Because the decrees pronounced by Destiny at
each man's birth have their inevitable issue." So Horace, "Parca non
mendax," ii., Od. xvi., 39.
[1436] _Concordia._ This συναστρία, as the Greeks called the being born
under one Horoscopus (vi., 18), was considered to be one of the causes
of the most familiar and intimate friendship.
[1437] _Saturnum._ Hor., ii., Od. xvii., 22, "Te _Jovis impio_ tutela
_Saturno_ refulgens Eripuit." Both _gravis_ and _impius_ are probably
meant to express the Κρόνος βλαβερὸς of Manetho, i., 110. Propert.,
iv., El. i., 105, "Felicesque Jovis stellæ Martisque rapacis, Et grave
Saturni sidus in omne caput." Juv., vi., 570, "Quid sidus triste
minetur Saturni." Virg., Georg., i., 336, "Frigida Saturni stella."
[1438] _Sole recenti._ "In the extreme east;" from Hor., i., Sat. iv.,
29, "Hic mutat merces surgente à Sole ad eum quo Vespertina tepet
regio."
[1439] _Rugosum piper._ Plin., H. N., xii., 7.
[1440] _Pallentis cumini._ The cumin was used as a cheap substitute for
pepper, which was very expensive at Rome. It produced great paleness
in those who ate much of it; and consequently many who wished to have
a pallid look, as though from deep study, used to take it in large
quantities. Pliny (xx., 14, "Omne cuminum pallorem bibentibus gignit")
says that the imitators of Porcius Latro used to take it in order to
resemble him even in his natural peculiarities. Horace alludes to
this, i., Epist. xix., 17, "Quod si pallerem casu biberent _exsangue
cuminum_." (Latro died A.U.C. 752.) Cf. Plin., xix., 6, 32.
[1441] _Irriguo._ Virg., Æn., i., 691," Placidam per membra quietem
_irrigat_." iii., 511, "Fessos sopor irrigat artus."--_Turgescere._
Sulp., 56, "Somno moriuntur obeso."
[1442] _Putris._ Hor., i., Od. xxxvi., 17, "Omnes in Damalin _putres_
deponunt oculos."
[1443] _Lapidosa._ "That fills his joints with chalk-stones."
Hor., ii., Sat. vii., 16, "Postquam illi justa _cheragra Contudit
articulos_." i., Ep. i., 81, "_Nodosâ_ corpus nolis prohibere
_cheragrâ_."
[1444] _Vitam relictam._ Cf. iii., 38, "Virtutem videant intabescantque
relictâ."
[1445] _Purgatas aures._ Cf. l. 86, "Stoicus hic aurem mordaci lotus
aceto." One of the remedies of deafness was holding the ear over the
vapor of heated vinegar. The metaphor was very applicable to the
Stoics, who were famous for their acuteness in detecting fallacies, and
their keenness in debating. Cf. Plaut., Mil. Gl., III., i., 176, "Ambo
perpurgatis tibi operam damus auribus." Hor., i., Epist. i., 7, "Est
mihi purgatam crebrò qui personet aurem."
[1446] _Cleantheâ._ Vid. Juv., ii., 7. Cleanthes was a native of Assos,
and began life as a pugilist. He came to Athens with only four drachmæ,
and became a pupil of Zeno. He used to work at night at drawing water
in the gardens, in order to raise money to attend Zeno's lectures by
day; and hence acquired the nickname of φρεάντλης. He succeeded Zeno in
his school, and according to some, Chrysippus became his pupil. Diog.
Laërt., VII., v., 1, 2; vii., 1.
[1447] _Cras hoc fiet._ Cf. Mart., v., Ep. lviii., 7, "Cras vives!
hodie jam vivere Postume serum est, Ille sapit, quisquis, Postume,
vixit heri." Macbeth, Act v., sc. 5,
"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time:
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death."
"Our yesterday's to-morrow now is gone,
And still a new to-morrow does come on.
We by to-morrows draw out all our store,
Till the exhausted well can yield no more." Cowley.
[1448] _Canthum._ "The tire of the wheel." Quintilian (i., 5) says,
"The word is of Spanish or African origin. Though Persius employs it as
a word in common use." But Casaubon quotes Suidas, Eustathius, and the
Etym. Mag., to prove it is a pure Greek word; κανθὸς, "the corner of
the eye." Hence put for the orb of the eye.
[1449] _Velinâ Publius._ When a slave was made perfectly free he was
enrolled in one of the tribes, in order that he might enjoy the full
privileges of a Roman citizen: one of the chief of these was the
frumentatio, i. e., the right of receiving a ticket which entitled him
to his share at the distribution of the public corn, which took place
on the nones of each month. This ticket or tally was of wood or lead,
and was transferable. Sometimes a small sum was paid with it. Cf.
Juv., vii., 174, "Summula ne pereat quâ vilis tessera venit frumenti."
The slave generally adopted the prænomen of the person who manumitted
him, and the name of the tribe to which he was admitted was added.
This prænomen was the distinguishing mark of a freeman, and they were
proportionally proud of it. (Hor., ii., Sat. v., 32, "Quinte, puta,
aut Publi--gaudent prænomine molles auriculæ." Juv., v., 127, "Si quid
tentaveris unquam hiscere tanquam habeas tria nomina.") The tribe
"Velina" was one of the country tribes, in the Sabine district, and
called from the Lake Velinus. It was the last tribe added, with the
Quirina, A.U.C. 512, to make up the thirty-five tribes, by the censors
C. Aurelius Cotta and M. Fabius Buteo. Vid. Liv., Epit., xix. Cic.,
Att., iv., 15. The name of the tribe was always added in the ablative
case, as Oppius Veientinâ, Anxius Tomentinâ.
[1450] _Quiritem._ Cf. Sen., Nat., iii., "Hæc res efficit non è jure
Quiritium liberum, sed è jure Naturæ." There were three ways of making
a slave free: 1, per Censum; 2, per Vindictam; 3, per Testamentum.
The second is alluded to here. The master took the slave before the
prætor or consul and said, "Hunc hominem liberum esse volo jure
Quiritium." Then the prætor, laying the rod (Vindicta) on the slave's
head, pronounced him free; whereupon his owner or the lictor turned him
round, gave him a blow on the cheek (alapa), and let him go, with the
words, "Liber esto atque ito quo voles." (Plaut., Men., V., vii., 40.)
[1451] _Dama_ was a common name for slaves (Hor., ii., Sat. vii., 54,
"Prodis ex judice Dama turpis;" and v., 18, "Utne tegam spurco Damæ
latus"), principally for Syrians. It is said to be a corruption of
Demetrius or Demodorus. So Manes, from Menodorus, was a common name of
Phrygian slaves.
[1452] _Agaso._ Properly, "a slave who looks after beasts of burden"
(_qui agit asinos_, Schell.), then put as a mark of contempt for any
drudge. Hor., ii., Sat. viii., 73, "Si patinam pede lapsus frangat
agaso."
[1453] _Tressis._ Literally, "three asses." So Sexis, Septussis, etc.
[1454] _Pilea._ Cf. ad iii., 106, "Hesterni capite induto subiere
Quirites."
[1455] _Bruto._ From the _three_ Bruti, who were looked upon by the
vulgar as the champions of liberty. Lucius Junius Brutus, who expelled
the Tarquins; Marcus, who murdered Cæsar; and Decimus, who opposed
Antony.
[1456] _Aurem lotus._ Cf. ad l. 63.
[1457] _Vindicta._ Cf. Ov., A. A., iii., 615, "Modo quam Vindicta
redemit."
[1458] _Masurius_, or Massurius Sabinus, a famous lawyer in the
reign of Tiberius, admitted by him when at an advanced age into the
Equestrian order. He is frequently mentioned by Aulus Gellius (Noctes
xiv.). He wrote three books on Civil Law, five on the Edictum Prætoris
Urbani, besides Commentaries and other works, quoted in the Digests.
[1459] _Sambucam._ "You might as well put a delicate instrument of
music in the hands of a coarse clown, and expect him to make it
'discourse eloquent music,' as look for a nice discernment of the finer
shades of moral duty in one wholly ignorant of the first principles of
philosophy." Sambuca is from the Chaldaic Sabbecà. It was a kind of
triangular harp with four strings, and according to the Greeks, was
called from one Sambuces, who first used it. Others say the Sibyl was