Aequora transiliet, sed longe Calpe relicta 281. Grande operae pretium] This is a common expression. See ix. 28, xii. 127, and vi. 474, n. As to follis' see xiii. 61, n. 'Aluta' is prepared leather. In vii. 192 it is used for a shoe. Here it means a leathern purse and 'tumida' like 'tenso' means that it is well filled. The name is from 'alumen' (alum), in which it was steeped to soften it. So we are told in Dict. Ant., art. 'Calceus.' 'Juvenes marinos' the Scholiast explains to be the Tritons and Nereids, Heinrich "the young gentlemen and ladies of the sea." Horace asks, "Quem mortis timuit gradum Qui siccis oculis monstra natantia, Qui vidit mare turgidum ?" (C. i. 3. 17.) 284. Non unus mentes agitat furor.] He goes back to what he said in v. 136, that avarice is madness. Some are mad one way and some another. Orestes was driven mad by the Erinnyes of his mother, and Ajax was mad when he flogged the beasts and thought he was listening to the cries of Agamemnon and Ulysses. The allusion in the first case is to a scene in the Orestes of Euripides (v. 266, sqq.) where he becomes suddenly wild and cries, ὦ Φοῖβ ̓, ἀποκτενοῦσί με αἱ κυνώπιδες, γοργῶπες, ἐνέρων ἱερίαι, δειναὶ θεαί, and his sister Electra, who has her arms round him, answers, 280 285 290 οὔτοι μεθήσω· χεῖρα δ ̓ ἐμπλέξασ ̓ ἐμὴν σχήσω σε πηδᾶν δυστυχῆ πηδήματα. The second case is taken from the second scene of Sophocles' play of Ajax. 287. Parcat tunicis licet atque lacernis,] Though he does not tear his clothes, the man is mad and wants a guardian who tempts the sea for gain. As to 'lacerna' see S. i. 27, n. 'Curator 'is the technical name for the guardian of an insane person. He was chosen by the praetor from among the 'agnati' (relations in the male line) of the patient. See note on Hor. S. ii. 3. 217 "interdicto huic omne adimat jus Praetor et ad sanos abeat tutela propinquos." As to 'tabula distinguitur unda' see S. xii. 58. He describes money as silver engraved with inscriptions and miniatures. 290. hujus] 'such as this.' See xiii. 103, n. 293. piperisve coempti;] The ancients got their pepper from India probably through Syria. P. and other MSS. have 've;' other MSS. have 'que.' It does not much matter, though 've' may be more accurate. Corn and pepper need not be supposed to form the same cargo, even if we have que,' which Heinrich has. 294. nil fascia nigra minatur ;] 'Fascia' is a bandage (see S. vi. 263; ix. 14), and the Scholiast explains it here as "nubes ducta per caelum." It is nowhere else used in any such sense, but it is easily understood. Aestivum tonat." Infelix hac forsitan ipsa Tantis parta malis cura majore metuque The man is so eager to be off on his voyage 66 298. Sed cujus votis modo non] 'Sed' seems to mean 'but more than this.' Heinrich takes 'modo non' together, so as to be equivalent to 'vix.' I think he is mistaken, and that 'modo' is 'but now.' One day saw the man with grand expectations, the next day saw him a beggar. He for whom lately the gold of the Tagus had not been enough will be satisfied with a rag about his loins and a morsel of food got by begging. Mr. Long thinks 'modo' belongs to votis." "It limits the word to which it is joined, as in 'tantum modo,'' so much and no more.' So this expresses the extravagance of the man's wishes; his bare wishes' all Pactolus would not have satisfied." This is true, but here I still incline to think 'modo' is 'lately.' It is a common meaning. 299. Quod Tagus] See iii. 55, n. The Pactolus was in Lydia. See Hor. Epod. xv. 20: Tibique Pactolus fluat." The pic 295 300 305 310 tures of their wreck which were hung up by those who could afford it in the temples (S. xii. 27, n.) were carried about by others to excite pity and get alms. See Pers. i. 88. 306. Servorum noctu Licinus jubet,] As to this man see S. i. 109, n.: "Pallante et Licinis." This man posted a whole regiment of slaves about his house with buckets (hamis) for fear of fire. 'Attonitus' is only a stronger word for territus,' he was wild with fear for his fine things. It is used in the same way above, xii. 21. As to 'electrum' see v. 38, "Heliadum crustas ;" 'signis,' viii. 110; Phrygiaque columna,' above, 89; 'ebur,' xi. 123, sqq.; testudine,' vi. 80, n., xi. 95, n. 308. Dolia nudi Non ardent Cynici :] He says the Cynic's tub does not take fire. This is Diogenes. He calls him 'nudus' because he wore no tunic. See note on S. xiii. 122. The dolium' was made of clay. If any one broke it, he could make another next day, or patch the old one with lead. It is not "a new tub will be made and the old one turned to some account' (Mayor), even if the true reading be 'atque' which Jahn, Hermann, [and Ribbeck] adopt from P. and other MSS. 'Atque would mean 'nay more than that, he will patch up the old one and let it stay.' Aut' is the reading of most MSS. Either will do in my opinion. 311. Sensit Alexander,] The story of Alexander's interview with Diogenes, and Magnum habitatorem, quanto felicior hic qui Nullum numen abest si sit Prudentia: nos te, 315 Nos facimus, Fortuna, deam. Mensura tamen quae Sufficiat census si quis me consulat edam : с In quantum sitis atque fames et frigora poscunt, how the Cynic asked him not to stand between him and the sun, is known to every schoolboy. Plutarch (vit. Alex. c. 14) tells it thus: s dè èkeivos (Alexander) ἀσπασάμενος καὶ προσειπὼν αὐτὸν (Diogenes), ἠρώτησεν εἴ τινος τυγχάνει δεόμενος· μικρὸν, εἶπεν,‘ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου μεταστῆθι. Πρὸς τοῦτο λέγεται τὸν ̓Αλέξ. ανδρον οὕτω διατεθῆναι καὶ θαυμάσαι καταφρονηθέντα τὴν ὑπεροψίαν καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, ὥστε τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν ὡς ἀπῄεσαν διαγελώντων καὶ σκωπτόντων, ‘ἀλλὰ μὴν ἐγὼς εἶπεν, “ εἰ μὴ ̓Αλέξ. ανδρος ήμην Διογένης ἂν ἤμην, which does not mean, as it is commonly rendered, that if he had not been Alexander he should have wished to be like Diogenes, but that ́he should have been like to him in his contempt for the world. The answers this unmannerly Cynic is said to have got from Aristippus are told in Horace (Epp. i. 17. 13, sqq.). As to Alexander see x. 168: "Unus Pellaeo juveni non sufficit orbis." Juvenal calls Diogenes Magnum,' perhaps because Alexander was so called. 315. Nullum numen abest] [In this passage Pw have 'habes: some have 'abest.' The writer, says Ribbeck, repeats the words 'nullum numen . . . deam' (x. 365) with evident pleasure. But there is no pleasure in reading the words here, for they have no intelligible connexion with the context.] In quantum' means no more than quantum:' it is to whatever lengths.' As to Epicurus 320 325 see xiii. 123, n. The modesty of Socrates' wants is well known from the Memorabilia of Xenophon and the Clouds of Aristophanes, who made it a matter of ridicule. 321. Sapientia] [Nature which the Stoics professed to follow as their guide never differs from Sapientia or philosophy. (See S. xiii. 20.) M. Antoninus says (vii. 11): “To the rational animal the same act is according to nature and according to reason.”] 322. videor te claudere:] He says " perhaps I seem to confine you by too rigid examples : well then, mix a little of modern life with theirs: go as far as the amount Otho fixed for the census of an eques; or if this is not enough, if this makes you frown and pout your lip, take the worth of two equites or even three; make up a third 400,000:"millia' is to be supplied. All this is explained on S. iii. 154. The way of speaking is like Persius vi. 78, sqq. [Ribbeck has 'ludere' for 'claudere," a conjecture, I suppose, derived from cludere,' the reading of Pg; and a bad conjecture.] 327. Si nondum implevi gremium,] 'Gremium' is so used in S. vii. 215: “Quis gremio Enceladi doctique Palaemonis affert Quantum grammaticus meruit labor ?" It is the fold of the toga in which the purse was commonly carried. Narcissus was the chief favourite of Claudius Caesar. He made a fortune of more than 100,000,000 sesterces (about 800,000l.) according to Dion (60. 34). It was he and not Clau Nec Croesi fortuna unquam, nec Persica regna dius who ordered the death of Messalina (see x. 339, n., and Tac. Ann. xxi. 37, 38). Claudius was little more than a cypher in 330 his own court, "adeo illum nemo curabat," Seneca says. SATIRA XV. INTRODUCTION. THIS satire must have been written after Juvenal's residence in Egypt. Under what circumstances he went to that country there is not sufficient authority for saying with any certainty. In v. 27 there is an allusion which gives fair ground for supposing that the poem was written in the reign of Hadrian (see note). It turns upon a case said to have happened not long before. The people of Ombi (v. 35), a town in Upper Egypt, worshipped the crocodile, while those of Tentyra (nearly a hundred miles lower down the Nile) were opposed to that worship, and were particularly distinguished for their skill and courage in killing the crocodile. This caused a feud between the two peoples, and while the Ombites were celebrating a religious festival the Tentyrites came and attacked them. The Ombites were put to flight, and the Tentyrites are represented as having caught one of them and in their fury having eaten him up. This story gives occasion for a good deal of strong contemptuous writing against the Egyptians, their religion and morals, a vivid description of the above savage scene, set off by some fine lines on the more tender instincts of human nature, and the ties of sympathy that unite mankind. The principal subject is revolting, and it was not possible to make it one of general interest. It seems as if the story, whether true or not, had been repeated to Juvenal and had called up all the prejudices a residence among these people had created in his mind. His power in sketching scenes from real life has been seen in the course of these satires, and here we have a picture on a larger scale drawn with a strong and rough hand, such as nearly all his pictures show. The Satire is addressed to Volusius Bithynicus, whoever he may have been. Perhaps he is no more than a name. ARGUMENT. All know, Volusius, the monsters Egypt worships; here 'tis the crocodile, the ibis there; the long-tailed ape at Thebes where Memnon strikes his lyre. Cats, river-fish, and dogs (but not Diana). Onions and leeks no tooth may harm. O holy people, whose gods grow in their gardens! A sheep or goat they may not eat, but human flesh they may. When once Ulysses told such marvellous tales to Alcinous and his guests, some more sober than the rest no doubt were wroth and would have thrown him into the sea, with his tales about Laestrygones and Cyclops. His Scylla and his clashing rocks and bladders full of storms and comrades turned to swine were not so hard to swallow. He had no witness to support him; but my story, a crime not known in all the tragedies, was acted publicly the other day. V. 32. Two neighbouring peoples, Ombites and Tentyrites, have long fallen out with deadly hatred, only for this, that each maintain there are no other gods but those they worship. It was a holiday at Ombi, a fit occasion for the enemy, who were resolved to spoil their seven-days' sport (for these barbarians vie with the infamous Canopus in good living): and they expected easy victory when they were drenched with wine. On one side there was dancing, flowers, perfumes; on the other, hatred and an empty belly. First they begin abusing with hot courage; this is the trump of battle. Then they charge with mutual shout: their weapons are their fists; scarce any cheeks were left without a wound, or any nose unbroken. Faces contused you'd see throughout the host, cheeks burst and bones all starting through the skin, fists reeking with the blood of eyes knocked out. But this is child's play: what use is such a crowd of combatants if none are killed? So they grow fiercer and throw stones, not such as Turnus, Ajax, or Tydides threw, but such as men can wield in these degenerate days, when all are bad and puny, so that heaven laughs at men and hates them. V. 72. But to return. One party reinforced get bold and ply the sword and bow, the other fly and Tentyra pursues. One slips and falls in his haste; they take him prisoner and cut him up and eat him raw. How lucky they profaned not the holy element! I'm sure you must be happy it escaped! But they who ate had never a more pleasant meal. Don't think it was the first taste only that was sweet; the last man when the carcase was all gone scraped up the blood and licked it from his fingers. V. 93. The Vascones they tell us lengthened life by food like this: but that was fortune's spite and war's extremity, a long blockade and famine. Such cases we should pity, when after all their food is gone to the last blade of grass, men eat each other, as they would themselves: these gods and men may pardon, as the ghosts would do of those they've eaten. Zeno may teach us all things must not be done even for life; but how should they be Stoics, and that in old Metellus' time? Now all the world have got our learning and the Greek too. Gaul teaches Britain how to plead and Thule talks of hiring soon a rhetorician. But yet that noble people and Saguntum had some excuse for what they did. But Egypt was more savage than the Tauric altar; for there (if we're to trust the story) the goddess only sacrificed the men and nothing more. What led these people to their crime, what accident, blockade, or famine ? Suppose the Nile had left the country dry, what greater insult could they show the god? The Cimbri, Britones, and Scythians were never yet so savage as this useless cowardly herd, who swarm upon the river in their painted boats. No punishment is hard enough for those whose passion is as bad as famine. V. 131. Nature has given soft hearts to men, as tears will prove. She bids us weep for friends in sorrow, for the poor wretch on trial for his life, or boy that brings his fraudulent guardian to justice, whose weeping face and streaming hair might be a girl's. She bids us weep when a young maiden dies or little babe. What good man and true but counts all human miseries his own? 'Tis this distinguishes us men from beasts; for this we've minds to take in things divine and exercise all arts; and sense from heaven, which they have not who look down on the earth. They've breath but we have spirit, so that sympathy bids us seek mutual help, join in communities, and quit the woods our fathers lived in, build houses, join our habitations for mutual safety, stand by each other and protect the fallen, fight altogether at one signal, share the same walls and towers. But now the snakes are more harmonious than we are; the wild beast preys not on his kind: but as for man 'tis not enough to have forged the fatal sword, though the first smiths knew only to make tools. But now we see whole peoples not content with killing in their passion, but they must eat each other. |