EX LIBRIS
GEORGII WESLEY JOHNSTON
QUI QUUM EX ANNO A.D. MDCCCCVI
USQUE AD ANNUM MDCCCCXVII
LINGUAE LATINAE IN COLLEGIO
UNIVERSITATIS DOCTOR AUT
PROFESSOR ASSOCIATUS FUISSET
MENSE MAIO A.D MDCCCCXVII MORTUUS EST
ayaK/jiar 1 at Traroi^uei'cu /3t/3Xot.
_ ^1 - Ot
LaU.Gr
68775s SELECTION FROM
THE LATIN LITERATURE OF THE
EARLY EMPIRE
EDITED BY
A. C. B. BROWN, M.A.
FEREDAY FELLOW OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE
ASSISTANT MASTER AT MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE
PART A : INNER LIFE
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1910
HENRY FROWDE, M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK
TORONTO AND MELBOURNE
PREFACE
THIS Selection has been undertaken at the suggestion and
with the help of the Rev. Hereford B. George, M.A., Fellow
of New College, and, primarily, to serve as a textbook for
the Oxford Local Examinations. The text is that of the
Oxford Classical Texts, so far as the authors included in
this book have appeared in that series. The following texts
have been used, by kind permission, in cases where no
Oxford Text exists: Friedlander's Petronius, Ball's Seneca
(Ludus), C. F. W. Mueller's Pliny (Teubner Edition).
The notes do not attempt to deal with questions of
textual criticism or of syntax. The critical results arrived
at by the editors of the texts employed have been taken for
granted. And the best way of dealing with questions of
syntax is to refer to one's grammar. The scope of the notes
is therefore limited to the explanation of the subject-matter.
An attempt has been made to exclude from them such
things as may be discovered by any one who is prepared to
use both his dictionary and his wits. The small Latin-
English Dictionary of Gepp and Haigh has been used as
a rough standard in measuring the amount of help that is
forthcoming in a dictionary, but a few of the less common
words which do occur in that book have been explained in
the notes, in case they should be absent from other diction-
aries. Analyses or paraphrases of whole passages have been
avoided, except in one case (Juv. vii), on the view that the
puzzling-out of the sense of whole passages without knowing
beforehand exactly what they are about is a valuable
element in classical training. A short heading has, however,
A 2
4 PREFACE
been placed before each passage, to show how it illus-
trates the general idea of the section in which it is placed.
It is hoped that this book will not add to the number of
1 those editions of authors which are constructed upon the
principle of supplying ready-made solutions of all difficulties,
and thus reducing the study of Latin to a mere effort of
memory exercised upon inferior materials' (Classical Associa-
tion, Report of Curricula Committee, 1909, p. 14).
I have throughout consulted the standard editions of
Juvenal (Mayor, Hardy), Horace (Wickham), Tacitus
(Furneaux, Spooner, Peterson), Friedlander's 'Cena Tri-
malchionis ', and Ball's edition of the ' Ludus ' of Seneca.
More especially is the book indebted in all its parts to
the valuable criticisms and suggestions of Mr. George, to
whom the whole has been submitted, and of Mr. H. E.
Butler, Fellow of New College, who has read the proofs.
CONTENTS
PART A. INNER LIFE
PAGE
PREFACE 3
LIST OF CHIEF DATES .8
INTRODUCTION -9
TEXT :
I. POLITICS
Domitiarfs Reign of Terror.
i. TAC. Agr. 2, 3, 45, 46 . .17
ii. Juv. Sat. iv . .21
The Age of Tacitus.
iii. TAC. Hist. i. 1-4 28
The Deification of the Emperor.
iv. SENECA, Ludus, 9-12, 14, 15 . . . .33
An Episode of Provincial Administration :
Pliny ) Trajan, and the Christians.
y. PLINY, Ep. x. 96 (97), 97 (98) .... 42
Exile from Civilization.
vi. OVID, Tristia, iii. 2 45
6 CONTENTS
II. EDUCATION
Roman Education^ Old and New.
i. TAG. Dial. 28-36 47
A Liberal Education.
ii. HOR. Sat. i. 6 . . . . . . . .58
III. LITERATURE
The Author to his Book.
PAGE
i. HOR. Ep. i. 20 .... .61
The Recitation.
ii. Juv. Sat. i . -63
iii. PLINY, Ep. i. 13 65
iv. PLINY, Ep. vi. 15 . . . . . . .67
The Prospects of the Learned Professions in Rome.
v. Juv. Sat. vii. .69
The ' Inutility* of Literature.
vi. TAG. Dial. 9 83
A Scholar's Life.
vii. PLINY, Ep. iii. 5 .86
A Scholar's Death.
viii. PLINY, Ep. vi. 16 90
CONTENTS 7
IV. PHILOSOPHY
Horace's Philosophy of Life.
i. HOR. Ep. i. i 95
Avarice.
ii. HOR. Sat. i. i. . 101
' The Vanity of Human Wishes'
iii. Juv. Sat. x . 106
INDEX NOMINUM -123
MAPS
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ITALY . 16
ROME UNDER THE EARLY EMPIRE 12O-2I
LIST OF CHIEF DATES
Literary.
Horace, B. c. 65-8.
Satires, Book i. B.C. 35.
Satires, Book ii. B.C. 30.
Epistles, Book i. B.C. 20.
Ovid, B.C. 43-A.D. 17.
His banishment, A.D. 8.
Tristia, A.D. 9-12.
Seneca, B.C. 4-A.D. 65.
Ludus, A.D. 54 or 55.
Petronius, died A.D. 66.
Martial^ about A.D. 40-104.
Book ii. A.D. 86.
Books iii-xi. A.D. 87-96.
Book xii. A.D. 96.
Tacitus, about A.D. 55-120.
Dialogus, about A.D. 81.
Agricola, A.D. 98.
Histories, about A.D. no.
Juvenal, about A.D. 60-140.
Satires i-v, between A. D. 100
and A.D. 116.
Satires vi, A.D. 116.
vii-ix, about A.D. 120.
x-xii, about A.D. 125.
Pliny the Younger, A.D. 62-
about A.D. 113.
Books i-ix. A. D. 97-109.
Book x. A.D. 112 or 113.
Political.
Principate of Augustus
B.C. 27-A.D. 14.
Principate of Tiberius
A.D. 14-37.
Principate of Gaius (Caligula)
A.D. 37-41-
Principate of Claudius
A.D. 41-54.
Principate of Nero
A.D. 54-68.
' Year of Four Emperors '
(Galba Otho Vitellius
Vespasian)
A.D. 69.
Principate of Vespasian
A.D. 69-79.
Principate of Titus
A.D. 79-81.
Principate of Domitian
A.D. 81-96.
Principate of Nerva
A.D. 96-98.
Principate of Trajan
A.D. 98-117.
Principate of Hadrian
A.D. 117-138.
INTRODUCTION
ANY ONE reading for the first time an account of Domitian's
Reign of Terror must wonder how it happened that the
citizens of a state that was mistress of the world should have
endured such tyranny at home. Why was it that what
appears to be the grinding despotism of the imperial govern-
ment was for a moment tolerated? The answer to this
question requires a brief survey of earlier Roman history.
The earliest form of Roman government of which a tradition
exists is the kingship. Towards the end of the sixth century
B. c. the tyrannical conduct of one of these kings led to the
abolition of this form of government and the establishment
of a republic, the highest powers of which were vested in
two yearly magistrates called consuls. The other magistra-
cies, which were established one by one, with less supreme
functions, were always in the same fashion given to more
than one at a time and for a limited period. It was under
this form of government that Rome developed from an
obscure city-state into the head of an empire including the
whole of the Mediterranean basin. The result of the con-
stitutional device by which the evils of despotism were
avoided by having yearly co-ordinate magistrates, each of
whom acted as a check on the others, was to bring the real
power into the hands of the Senate. The Senate originally
was merely an advisory council, but as the one permanent
factor in a system of administration where so much was
transient, it gradually developed into a powerful oligarchy.
Under the senatorial system one man after another had his
io INTRODUCTION
turn at the top. It became the practice for men to work up
through the lower magistracies, and provinces were com-
mitted to ex-magistrates. If a man was rapacious, his
province suffered, if he was incompetent, his army was
defeated : but, speaking generally, there was a fair amount
of good administrative work done. Romans, like English-
men, seem, on the whole, to have had an instinctive respect
for law. But after giving the Senate due credit for the good
points in its administration, we must admit that by the first
century B.C. it had shown itself unequal to the task. Hence-
forth men began more clearly to see that efficiency demanded
more concentration of power. So throughout the first
century B. c. we find experiments, more or less tentative,
being made in the direction of monarchy. First Marius, by
a series of consulships, aided by his prestige as the deliverer
of his country from the Cimbri and Teutones, then Sulla
by means of an extended form of the dictatorship, an extra-
ordinary autocratic magistracy which in the earlier republican
period had only been employed in case of urgent military
necessity, then Pompey by means of special laws giving him
power to supersede the ordinary provincial governors in his
wars against the pirates in the Mediterranean, and against
Mithradates in the East : each pointed out a different path
by which despotism could be attained. It was actually
attained, though perhaps not from the first intended, by
Julius Caesar, who first got a ten years' term of government
in his province of Gaul, and then, under provocation from
the action of his political enemies in Rome, with the power-
ful army thus trained stepped at once across the Rubicon,
the boundary line of his province, and across that other
boundary line which separates a republican subject from the
aspirant to a despotic monarchy. Three years of civil war
brought Rome and her empire to Caesar's feet, and we then
find him trying to disguise an actual kingship by the
INTRODUCTION it
unconvincingly euphemistic title of dictator. The Ides of
March taught his nephew, who after another period of civil
war succeeded to Caesar's supremacy in the Roman world,
to be more cautious, and to avoid a regal or quasi-regal
attitude. So Octavian (Augustus) poses as a private indivi-
dual with an honorary precedence over every one else, which
he denotes by the title princeps. His constitutional position
ultimately becomes that of the possessor of a number of powers
and privileges belonging to various republican magistracies,
which are conferred on him for life, and the possession of
which gives him the control of the ordinary republican magi-
strates who are still allowed to exist. The princeps takes the
Senate into partnership in the government of the world, and
so there arises that partition of functions between the two
which Mommsen has called the 'Dyarchy'. But the partners
were unequally yoked from the first, and however sincere the
deference which the best among the principes show to the
Senate, the princeps is led by force of circumstances to
become more and more the predominant partner. The
transformation of the Roman government from an oligarchy
to a despotism was now complete. The change had been
chiefly due to personal ambition in the leaders of the
opposing parties, which achieved successful results because
it accorded with the changed conditions resulting from the
development of a City State into a World Empire. Its
success was also due in large measure to the sound sense
which underlay Caesar's policy, a policy which found
expression, to what extent we do not know, but probably to
a large extent, in the acts of Augustus, who posed as his
uncle's heir in all things. It may perhaps seem strange
that the Senate acquiesced as easily as it did in the diminu-
tion of its powers. But the power of the princeps ultimately
rested on the army, and, as Tacitus remarks (Ann. i. 2),
every one was so tired of the civil wars which had raged
12 INTRODUCTION
almost without cessation during the first three quarters of the
first century B. c. that they were ready to accept anything for
the sake of peace and quiet. Also the wise and prudent
government of Augustus did much to consolidate the power
of \hzpHnceps, so that when the senatorial opposition arose,
as it did from time to time, fa&princeps had little difficulty
in suppressing it. In fact, as time went on, the institution
of the principate became so strong that the actual personality
of fa&princeps mattered comparatively little. It made little
difference to the world at large whether the supreme power
was held by wise and competent men like Augustus,
Vespasian, and Trajan, or by a lunatic like Caligula and a
debauchee like Nero. The personality of the princeps did
matter a great deal to the senatorial aristocracy who dwelt
beneath the shadow of the Palatine. But away from Rome
the ' pax Romana ' and upright provincial administration
remain constant, except for one brief interval, in spite of the
varying scenes of atrocity in the capital. The literature of
the Early Empire, with few exceptions, focuses our attention
on the life of the metropolis. But we must not forget, and
we have the inscriptions to remind us, that outside the
tainted air of Rome there existed a larger and a healthier
life : that under the Principate Roman history ceases to be
the history of a town and becomes that of an empire, and
that even under a Nero and a Domitian Rome remained true
to her ideal,
Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento,
Parcere subiectis et debellare superbos.
II
The difference between the Rome of the middle of the
third century B. c. and that of the opening of the Christian
era does not consist merely in the change of the form of
government. This great political change was involved in
INTRODUCTION 13
the social and economic transformation of Italy, which
begins in the first half of the second century B. c. At the
time of the Punic Wars the mainstay of the Roman state
was the class of yeoman who cultivated the land in time of
peace and formed the backbone of the legions in time of war,
the stubborn brood who, a century before, had vanquished
the Samnites. As long as Italian agriculture flourished,
the mass of Roman citizens remained hardy and ready for
war. But the conquest of Italy led to the accumulation
of large public domains which fell into the hands of
capitalists who either turned them into pasture or cultivated
them by means of slaves. The independent class of small
farmers was gradually eliminated, and capitalism, working
through slave-labour, proved the ruin of Italy (' Latifundia
perdidere Italiam '). The result was that the yeoman
class of Italy tended to drift into Rome and to swell the
ranks of the city rabble. The population of Rome was
also increased by the large influx of Greeks and Orientals
which first set in when, at the end of the first quarter of the
second century B. c., Rome had become the chief power of
the Eastern Mediterranean. These immigrants in many
cases no doubt found employment in medicine, education,
art, the stage, among other things, and went some way
also towards monopolizing the shady or vicious professions.
But they must too often have added to the number of the
unemployed. The political importance of this rabble in an
age when political questions so often found their solution in
street fights led to the pampering of the city multitude by
food supplies and shows provided at the expense of the State
or very frequently of individual magistrates. The corn-
doles were started by Gains Gracchus (B.C. 123) and
continued off and on till the time of Caesar, who, by
limiting them to those who really needed them, transformed
a system of political bribery into an institution of poor
14 INTRODUCTION
relief. Under the Principate such bounties were widely
extended, and at the end of the first century A. D. we find
Juvenal (A. IV. iii. 80, 81 in this book), in his description
of the fall of Seianus in A. D. 31, lamenting that the people
which once ruled the world is quite content if it can get two
things, bread and circus-games ( c panem et circenses ').
Such was the state of the lower classes of the free popula-
tion of the capital, which mingled with and became con-
taminated by the constantly increasing number of Greek and
Oriental slaves and freedmen. But foreign influence was no
less strongly exerted upon the wealthier classes. Here the
old Roman traditions of discipline and economy were
broken down by the luxury which continually increased as
new conquests brought in fresh tribute of wealth and slaves.
In the best period of the Republic stringent laws had
restricted the amount of silver plate and the kinds of food
which might be placed on a Roman dinner-table. These
laws remained during the period of degeneration, but were
ignored, in spite of spasmodic efforts to enforce them.
Under the Principate the luxury of the table, and indeed
luxury of all kinds, developed to an extent which is almost
incredible, and forms a stock subject of contemporary history
and satire.
In religion, no less than in manners, we see foreign influ-
ences at work. The rustic worship of the Lares and Penates,
the deification of abstract qualities, and the assignment of
the ordinary acts of daily life each to the patronage of its
own special divinity, were despised as a creed outworn by
those who had made acquaintance with Hellenic religion
and theology. The abstract character of the native Roman
religion of itself facilitated the amalgamation of the Roman
with the Greek gods and goddesses by means of a series
of equations (Jupiter = Zeus, Minerva = Athena, Venus =
Aphrodite, &c.). And those who sought a more sensational
INTRODUCTION 15
worship than the Hellenic Olympus provided found it in the
cults of the East and of Egypt, which from the end of the
third century B. c. had begun to find a home in Italy.
Under the Principate these religions found favour with
many, owing to their sacramental mysteries and the hope
which they offered of immortality.
Thus all classes at Rome, the highest and lowest alike,
had adopted a cosmopolitan character, in which the old-
fashioned virtues of the city-state of Italian yeomen no
longer appear. But it would be a mistake to suppose that
the change was pure loss. The old Roman character, with
its narrow prudential virtues and its police restraint of vice,
had something to gain from the wider horizons opened to it
by Hellenic intellect and culture. How great this gain was
may be seen from the characters and writings of the great
men of the Augustan age, and from such men as Seneca and
Agricola in the following century.
We have no reason to doubt either the reality of the
luxury, vice, and extravagance of Rome or the fact, to
which we have already referred (p. 12), that provincial life was
much purer and simpler. The same thing is plainly visible
in the modern world, perhaps more obviously in France
than in any other nation possessing a great and wealthy
capital. Novels and other literature make familiar the
luxury and vice of Paris, but they leave more or less out of
sight the decent domestic life which prevails in the provinces
and is wide-spread, though not so conspicuous, in Paris.
Both aspects of life are true alike of modern France and of
imperial Rome.
A. I. POLITICS
Domitians Reign of Terror
\
LEGIMVS, cum Aruleno Rustico Paetus Thrasea, Herennio
Senecioni Priscus Helvidius laudati essent, capitale fuisse,
neque in ipsos modo auctores, sed in libros quoque eorum
saevitum, delegate triumviris ministerio ut monumenta claris-
5 simorum ingeniorum in comitio ac foro urerentur. scilicet
illo igne vocem populi Romani et libertatem senatus et
conscientiam generis humani aboleri arbitrabantur, expulsis
insuper sapientiae professoribus atque omni bona arte in
exilium acta, ne quid usquam honestum occurreret. dedi-
10 mus profecto grande patientiae documentum ; et sicut vetus
aetas vidit quid ultimum in libertate esset, ita nos quid in
servitute, adempto per inquisitiones etiam loquendi audien-
dique commercio. memoriam quoque ipsam cum voce per-
didissemus, si tarn in nostra potestate esset oblivisci quam
15 tacere.
Nunc demum redit animus ; sed quamquam primo statim
beatissimi saeculi ortu Nerva Caesar res olim dissociabilis
miscuerit, principatum ac libertatem, augeatque cotidie
felicitatem temporum Nerva Traianus, nee spem modo ac
20 votum securitas publica, sed ipsius voti fiduciam ac robur
adsumpserit, natura tamen infirmitatis humanae tardiora sunt
remedia quam mala ; et ut corpora nostra lente augescunt,
cito extinguuntur, sic ingenia studiaque oppresseris facilius
quam revocaveris : subit quippe etiam ipsius inertiae dul-
25 cedo, et invisa primo desidia postremo amatur. quid ? si
per quindecim annos, grande mortalis aevi spatium, multi
11:10 B
1 8 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. I. i
fortuitis casibus, promptissimus quisque saevitia principis
interciderunt, pauci et, ut ita dixerim, non modo aliorum
sed etiam nostri superstites sumus, exemptis e media vita tot
annis, quibus iuvenes ad senectutem, senes prope ad ipsos 3
exactae aetatis terminos per silentium venimus. non tamen
pigebit vel incondita ac rudi voce memoriam prioris servi-
tutis ac testimonium praesentium bonorum composuisse.
hie interim liber honori Agricolae soceri mei destinatus,
professione pietatis aut laudatus erit aut excusatus. 35
Non vidit Agricola obsessam curiam et clausum armis
senatum et eadem strage tot consularium caedis, tot nobilis-
simarum feminarum exilia et fugas. una adhuc victoria
Cams Metius censebatur, et intra Albanam arcem sententia
Messalini strepebat, et Massa Baebius iam turn reus erat : 4
mox nostrae duxere Helvidium in carcerem manus ; nos
Mauricum Rusticumque divisimus, nos innocent! sanguine
Senecio perfudit. Nero tamen subtraxit oculos suos iussit-
que scelera, non spectavit : praecipua sub Domitiano mi-
seriarum pars erat videre et aspici, cum suspiria nostra 45
subscriberentur, cum denotandis tot hominum palloribus
sufficeret saevus ille vultus et rubor, quo se contra pudorem
muniebat.
Tu vero felix, Agricola, non vitae tantum claritate, sed
etiam opportunitate mortis, ut perhibent qui interfuerunt 50
novissimis sermonibus tuis, constans et libens fatum ex-
cepisti, tamquam pro virili portione innocentiam principi
donares. sed mihi filiaeque eius praeter acerbitatem parentis
erepti auget maestitiam, quod adsidere valetudini, fovere
deficientem, satiari vultu complexuque non contigit. ex- 55
cepissemus certe mandata vocesque, quas penitus animo
figeremus. noster hie dolor, nostrum vulnus, nobis tarn
longae absentiae condicione ante quadriennium amissus est.
omnia sine dubio, optime parentum, adsidente amantissima
uxore superfuere honori tuo : paucioribus tamen lacrimis 60
A. I. i] POLITICS 19
comploratus es, et novissima in luce desideravere aliquid
oculi tui.
Si quis piorum manibus locus, si, ut sapientibus placet,
non cum corpore extinguuntur magnae animae, placide
65 quiescas, nosque et domum tuam ab infirmo desiderio et
muliebribus lamentis ad contemplationem virtutum tuarum
voces, quas neque lugeri neque plangi fas est. admiratione
te potius et inmortalibus laudibus et, si natura suppe-
ditet, similitudine colamus : is verus honos, ea coniunctis-
70 simi cuiusque pietas. id filiae quoque uxorique praece-
perim, sic patris, sic mariti memoriam venerari, ut omnia
facta dictaque eius secum revolvant, formamque ac figuram
animi magis quam corporis complectantur, non quia inter-
cedendum putem imaginibus quae marmore aut aere fingun-
75 tur, sed, ut vultus hominum, ita simulacra vultus inbecilla ac
mortalia sunt, forma mentis aeterna, quam tenere et expri-
mere non per alienam materiam et artem, sed tuis ipse
moribus possis. quidquid ex Agricola amavimus, quidquid
mirati sumus, manet mansurumque est in animis hominum,
80 in aeternitate temporum, fama rerum ; nam multos veterum
velut inglorios et ignobilis oblivio obruit : Agricola posteri-
tati narratus et traditus superstes erit.
TAG. Agric. 2, 3, 45, 46.
B 2
20 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. I. i
NOTES
Line i. Arulenus Rusticus was put to death, probably in
A. D. 93, for having in his biography called Thrasea sanctus. For
Thrasea and Helvidius see note on A. I. iii. 44.
7 f. expulsis insuper sapientiae professoribus. The offence
of Arulenus seems to have led to a general banishment of
philosophers, which took place in Pliny's praetorship (Plin. Ep.
iii. ll), probably A. D. 93.
17. The accession of Nerva (A. D. 96) brought the Reign of
Terror to an end, and removed the gag from literature. Nerva
was succeeded in A. D. 98 by Trajan (1. 19).
39 ff. Carus Metius, a famous delator, the accuser of Senecio
(cf. line i above), Fannia (Plin. Ep. vii. 19), and others. Messa-
linus, the blind delator described by Juvenal (iv. 113-22, A. I.
ii. 76-85 in this book), and by Pliny (Ep. iv. 22 ' qui luminibus
capf us ingenio saevo mala caecitatis addiderat '). Massa Baebius
is described by Tacitus (Hist. iv. 50) as ' iam tune (A. D. 70)
optimo cuique exitiosus et inter causas malorum quae mox
tulimus saepius rediturus '. The arx Albana is Domitian's
villa at Alba.
41. nostrae duxere Helvidium in career em manus. The
Flavian emperors as a rule preferred to get their victims con-
demned in the senatorial court. Gaius, Claudius, and Nero,
on the other hand, had employed the imperial court, and it was
probably the odium thus brought upon the latter court which
caused the change. Tacitus himself, as a member of the senate,
must have taken part in these judicial murders.
52. innocentiam prindpi donares. By insisting that his ill-
ness was natural Agricola strove to free Domitian from the
charge of having poisoned him. As Tacitus himself admits,
(c. 43 2) there was no evidence, beyond the exceptional
interest which the princeps took in the bulletins, to show that
Domitian did so.
58. absentiae : during which Tacitus held some governorship.
We do not know what it was.
63. This doctrine of the limitation of immortality to the great
and good was held by the Stoic Chrysippus.
A. I.ii] POLITICS 21
CVM iam semianimum laceraret Flavius orbem
ultimus et calvo serviret Roma Neroni,
incidit Adriaci spatium admirabile rhombi
ante domum Veneris, quam Dorica sustinet Ancon,
implevitque sinus; nee enim minor haeserat illis 5
quos operit glacies Maeotica ruptaque tandem
solibus effundit torrentis ad ostia Ponti
desidia tardos et longo frigore pingues.
destinat hoc monstrum cumbae linique magister
pontifici summo. quis enim proponere talem 10
aut emere auderet, cum plena et litora multo
delatore forent? dispersi protinus algae
inquisitores agerent cum remige nudo,
non dubitaturi fugitivum dicere piscem
depastumque diu vivaria Caesaris, inde 15
elapsum veterem ad dominum debere reverti.
si quid Palfurio, si credimus Armillato,
quidquid conspicuum pulchrumque est aequore toto,
res fisci est, ubicumque natat. donabitur ergo,
ne pereat. iam letifero cedente pruinis 20
autumno, iam quartanam sperantibus aegris
stridebat deformis hiems praedamque recentem
servabat. tamen hie properat, velut urgueat auster.
utque lacus suberant, ubi quamquam diruta servat
ignem Troianum et Vestam colit Alba minorem, 25
obstitit intranti miratrix turba parumper.
ut cessit, facili patuerunt cardine valvae ;
exclusi spectant admissa obsonia patres.
itur ad Atriden. turn Picens * accipe ' dixit
'privatis maiora focis. genialis agatur 30
iste dies, propera stomachum laxare sagina,
et tua servatum consume in saecula rhombum.
22 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. I. ii
ipse capi voluit.' quid apertius ? et tamen illi
surgebant cristae; nihil est quod credere de se
non possit cum laudatur dis aequa potestas. 35
sed derat pisci patinae mensura. vocantur
ergo in consilium proceres, quos oderat ille,
in quorum facie miserae magnaeque sedebat
pallor amicitiae. primus clamante Liburno
' currite, iam sedit 3 rapta properabat abolla 40
Pegasus, attonitae positus modo vilicus urbi.
anne aliud turn praefecti? quorum optimus atque
interpres legum sanctissimus omnia quamquam
temporibus diris tractanda putabat inermi
iustitia. venit et Crispi iucunda senectus, 45
cuius erant mores qualis facundia, mite
ingenium. maria ac terras populosque regenti
quis comes utilior, si clade et peste sub ilia
saevitiam damnare et honestum adferre liceret
consilium ? sed quid violentius aure tyranni, 50
cum quo de pluviis aut aestibus aut nimboso
vere locuturi fatum pendebat amici ?
ille igitur numquam derexit bracchia contra
torrentem, nee civis erat qui libera posset
verba animi proferre et vitam inpendere vero. 55
sic multas hiemes atque octogensima vidit
solstitia, his armis ilia quoque tutus in aula.
proximus eiusdem properabat Acilius aevi
cum iuvene indigno, quern mors tarn saeva maneret
et domini gladiis tarn festinata ; sed olim 60
prodigio par est in nobilitate senectus,
unde fit ut malim fraterculus esse gigantis.
profuit ergo nihil misero quod comminus ursos
figebat Numidas Albana nudus harena
venator. quis enim iam non intellegat artes 65
patricias? quis priscum illud miratur acumen,
A. I. ii] POLITICS 23
Brute, tuum ? facile est barbato inponere regi.
nee melior vultu quamvis ignobilis ibat
Rubrius, offensae veteris reus atque tacendae.
Montani quoque venter adest abdomine tardus, 70
et matutino sudans Crispinus amomo
quantum vix redolent duo funera, saevior illo
Pompeius tenui iugulos aperire susurro,
et qui vulturibus servabat viscera Dacis
Fuscus marmorea meditatus proelia villa, 75
et cum mortifero prudens Veiento Catullo,
qui numquam visae flagrabat amore puellae,
grande et conspicuum nostro quoque tempore monstrum,
caecus adulator, dirusque a ponte satelles
dignus Aricinos qui mendicaret ad axes 80
blandaque devexae iactaret basia raedae.
nemo magis rhombum stupuit ; nam plurima dixit
in laevom con versus, at illi dextra iacebat
belua. sic pugnas Cilicis laudabat et ictus
et pegma et pueros inde ad velaria raptos. 85
non cedit Veiento, sed ut fanaticus oestro
percussus, Bellona, tuo divinat et ' ingens
omen habes ' inquit ' magni clarique triumphi.
regem aliquem capies, aut de temone Britanno
excidet Arviragus. peregrina est belua, cernis 90
erectas in terga sudes.' hoc defuit unum
Fabricio patriam ut rhombi memoraret et annos.
' quidnam igitur censes ? conciditur ? ' * absit ab illo
dedecus hoc' Montanus ait, ' testa alta paretur,
quae tenui muro spatiosum colligat orbem. 95
debetur magnus patinae subitusque Prometheus.
argillam atque rotam citius properate, sed ex hoc
tempore iam, Caesar, figuli tua castra sequantur.'
vicit digna viro sententia. noverat ille
luxuriam imperii veterem noctesque Neronis 100
24 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A- L
iam medias aliamque famem, cum pulmo Falerno
arderet. nulli maior fuit usus edendi
tempestate mea ; Circeis nata forent an
Lucrinum ad saxum Rutupinove edita fundo
ostrea callebat primo deprendere morsu, 105
et semel aspecti litus dicebat echini.
surgitur et misso proceres exire iubentur
consilio, quos Albanam dux magnus in arcem
traxerat attonitos et festinare coactos
tamquam de Chattis aliquid torvisque Sycambris no
dicturus, tamquam ex diversis partibus orbis
anxia praecipiti venisset epistula pinna.
atque utinam his potius nugis tota ilia dedisset
tempora saevitiae, claras quibus abstulit urbi
inlustresque animas impune et vindice nullo. 115
sed periit postquam cerdonibus esse timendus
coeperat. hoc nocuit Lamiarum caede madenti.
Juv. Sat. iv.
A. I. ii] POLITICS 25
NOTES
Line i. The Flavian dynasty occupied the Principate from
A. D. 69 to A. D. 96. The last of the line was Domitian (A. D. 81-
96), who was as tyrannical and disreputable as Nero (A. D. 54-68).
Unlike Nero, he was bald (calvo).
3. rhombi. Turbot do not seem to be found in the Adriatic
now.
10. The office of ' Pontifex Maximus' had been taken over
by Augustus, and was regularly held by his successors in the
Principate.
10-19. The fiscus was the imperial treasury, as distinguished
from the senatorial aerarium Saturni. The fiscus included the
private property of the Princeps, or rather the fiscus was itself
regarded as his private property. The activity of the delatores
in claiming property for tint fiscus is here satirized.
24. Domitian had a villa at Alba Longa. Alba had been
destroyed (diruta), with the exception of its temples, by Tullus
Hostilius (Livy i. 29). The temple of Vesta, small (mmorem,
1. 25) by comparison with that at Rome, was said to contain the
sacred fire brought by Aeneas from Troy.
42. The inefficiency of the old republican magistrates had
made it necessary for Augustus, after various experiments, to
place the government of the city in the hands of his own
praefecti. Of these the chief were the praefectus urbis, who
was responsible for the maintenance of order at Rome, the
praefectus praetorio, whose chief function was the all-important
command of the Praetorian Guard, the praefectus annonae, who
looked after the corn-supply, and the praefectus vigilum who
kept watch over the city at night und was specially charged with
the prevention and extinction of fires. Of these the praefectus
urbis was a senator, the rest normally equites. These officers,
the instruments of the personal government of the Princeps,
are compared with the vilici of a private landlord (1. 41).
45. Crispus is described by Tacitus (Hist. ii. 10) as 'pecunia,
potentia, ingenio inter claros magis quam inter bonos', and is
mentioned as being a friend of Vespasian who could bring into
his presence something (i.e. his eloquence) which he did not
owe to the Princeps (Tac. Dial. 8). Although his mite ingenium
is shown, on a small scale, by the fun which he poked at Domi-
tian's fly-killing propensities (Suet. Dom. 3), he was, what we
should not have suspected from Juvenal's account of him, a
notorious delator.
59. The younger Acilius Glabrio was put to death with several
other senators 'quasi molitores rerumnovarum'(Suet. Dom. 10).
We gather from lines 63 ff. that he attempted to escape by
26 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. I. ii
appearing, with feigned madness, in the arena. But the trick
of feigned madness, successfully carried out by Brutus, the
Liberator of Rome from the Tarquins (Livy i. 56), was of no
avail against Domitian.
71. Crispinus, a native of Egypt, made an eques and perhaps
praetorian prefect by Domitian. Juvenal (i. 26 ff.) says that it
is hard not to write satire when Crispinus, a native of Canopus,
goes about hitching up a mantle of Tyrian purple, and wearing
a specially light ring in summer to keep his ringers cool.
74. Cornelius Fuscus, praetorian prefect under Domitian (Suet.
Dom. 6), conducted the war against the Dacian Decebalus which
began in A. D. 86. The following year he pursued the Dacians
across the Danube and was killed.
76. Fabricius Veiento was in A.D. 62 accused of making
scurrilous comments on the Senate and the priests in a document
which he was pleased to call his will. It was also asserted that
he sold his influence with Nero to those who wished to obtain
office (Tac. Ann. xiv. 50). He was exiled from Italy, and his
book ordered to be burnt, which for a time greatly enhanced the
interest with which it was read. Under Domitian he became
prosperous as &delator(cf.]\\.v. iii. 185; B. III. iv. 31 in this book).
We know from Pliny (Ep. iv. 22) that on one occasion when he
was dining at Nerva's table during the Principate of the latter,
lunius Mauricus was asked by his host what would have hap-
pened to Catullus Messalinus (the blind delator mentioned with
Veiento here), if he had lived. Mauricus answered, ' He would
be dining with us.'
79. a ponte\ the usual haunt of beggars. Cf. Juv. Sat. v. 8
(B. I. v. 8 in this book).
84. Cilicis : a gladiator dressed to represent a Cilician pirate.
90. Arviragus. Nothing is known of any British chieftain
of that name ; but Agricola's campaign in Britain lasted till
A. D. 84, and some of the chiefs opposed to him may well have
been known by name at Rome.
101. aliamfamem : caused by the use of emetics.
no. The Chatti lived in the Taunus region (the high ground
above the modern Wiesbaden). In A.D. 83 Domitian in person
led the army against them, and celebrated his victory by a triumph
and the assumption of the name Germanicus. Five years later,
when L. Antonius Saturninus the governor of Upper Germany
revolted, he counted on the support of the Chatti. This was
rendered inoperative by the sudden thawing of the ice on the
Rhine, which prevented them from crossing. The Sycambri
dwelt to the west of the Chatti. The present passage, so far as
it goes, is the only evidence we have of war against them under
Domitian.
A. I. ii] POLITICS 27
116. Domitian was murdered by the freedman Stephanus on
Sept. 1 8, A.D. 96. The conspiracy against him was organized
in concert with his wife Domitia, but the nobles who had
suffered so much from Domitian's tyranny took no part in it.
The Lamiae (1. 117) are taken as types of the nobility. We
hear from Suetonius (Dom. 10) that Aelius Lamia was put to
death for some harmless jokes at the expense of Domitian, who
had carried off and married his wife.
28 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. I. iii
lii. The Age of Tacitus
INITIVM mihi operis Servius Galba iterum Titus Vinius
consules erunt. nam post conditam urbem octingentos et
viginti prioris aevi annos multi auctores rettulerunt, dum res
populi Roman! memorabantur pari eloquentia ac libertate :
postquam bellatum apud Actium atque omnem potentiam ad 5
unum conferri pacis interfuit, magna ilia ingenia cessere ;
simul veritas pluribus modis infracta, primum inscitia rei
publicae ut alienae, mox libidine adsentandi aut rursus odio
adversus dominantis : ita neutris cura posteritatis inter infen-
sos vel obnoxios. sed ambitionem scriptoris facile averse- ro
ris, obtrectatio et livor pronis auribus accipiuntur ; quippe
adulationi foedum crimeri servitutis, malignitati falsa species
libertatis inest. mihi Galba Otho Vitellius nee beneficio nee
iniuria cogniti. dignitatem nostram a Vespasiano inchoatam,
a Tito auctam, a Domitiano longius provectam non abnuerim : 15
sed incorruptam fidem professis neque amore quisquam et
sine odio dicendus est. quod si vita suppeditet, principatum
divi Nervae et imperium Traiani, uberiorem securioremque
materiam, senectuti seposui, rara temporum felicitate ubi
sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet. 2 o
Opus adgredior opimum casibus, atrox proeliis, dis-
cors seditionibus, ipsa etiam pace saevum. quattuor princi-
pes ferro interempti : trina bella civilia, plura externa ac ple-
rumque permixta : prosperae in Oriente, adversae in Occi-
dente res : turbatum Illyricum, Galliae nutantes, perdomita 25
Britannia et statim omissa : coortae in nos Sarmatarum ac
Sueborum gentes, nobilitatus cladibus mutuis Dacus, mota
prope etiam Parthorum arma falsi Neronis ludibrio. iam vero
Italia novis cladibus vel post longam saeculorum seriem
A. I. iiij POLITICS 29
30 repetitis adflicta. haustae aut obrutae urbes, fecundissima
Campaniae ora et urbs incendiis vastata, consumptis anti-
quissimis delubris, ipso Capitolio civium manibus incenso.
pollutae caerimoniae, magna adulteria : plenum exiliis mare,
infecti caedibus scopuli. atrocius in urbe saevitum : nobilitas,
35 opes,omissi gestique honores pro crimine et ob virtutes certis-
simum exitium. nee minus praemia delatorum invisa quam
scelera, cum alii sacerdotia et consulatus ut spolia adepti,
procurationes alii et interiorem potentiam, agerent verterent
cuncta odio et terrore. corrupti in dominos servi, in patronos
40 liberti \ et quibus deerat inimicus per amicos oppressi.
Non tamen adeo virtutum sterile saeculum ut non et bona
exempla prodiderit. comitatae profugos liberos matres,
secutae maritos in exilia coniuges : propinqui audentes,
constantes generi, contumax etiam adversus tormenta ser-
45 vorum fides ; supremae clarorum virorum necessitates fortiter
toleratae et laudatisantiquorum mortibus pares exitus. praeter
multiplices rerum humanarum casus caelo terraque prodigia
et fulminum monitus et futurorum praesagia, laeta tristia,
ambigua manifesta ; nee enim umquam atrocioribus populi
50 Romani cladibus magisve iustis indiciis adprobatum est non
esse curae deis securitatem nostram, esse ultionem.
Ceterum antequam destinata componam, repetendum
videtur qualis status urbis, quae mens exercituum, quis ha-
bitus provinciarum, quid in toto terrarum orbe validum, quid
55 aegrum fuerit, ut non modo casus eventusque rerum, qui
plerumque fortuiti sunt, sed ratio etiam causaeque noscan-
tur. finis Neronis ut laetus primo gaudentium impetu fuerat,
ita varies motus animorum non modo in urbe apud patres aut
populum aut urbanum militem, sed omnis legiones ducesque
60 conciverat, evulgato imperii arcano posse principem alibi
quam Romae fieri sed patres laeti, usurpata statim libertate
licentius ut erga principem novum et absentem ; primores
equitum proximi gaudio patrum ; pars populi integra et ma-
30 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. I. iii
gnis domibus adnexa, clientes libertique damnatorum et exu-
lum in spem erecti : plebs sordida et circo ac theatris sueta, 65
simul deterrimi servorum, aut qui adesis bonis per dedecus
Neronis alebantur, maesti et rumorum avidi.
TAC. Hist. i. 1-4.
A. I. iii] POLITICS 31
NOTES
Line i. Tacitus begins the 'Histories' from A.D. 69, 822 years
(Tacitus's 820 is a round number) from the date accepted by the
Romans for the foundation of the city.
14 f. Tacitus may have been appointed tribimus militum
latichwus by Vespasian. This was the lowest step in the
senatorial career. He may also have been quaestor under
Titus. We know from Ann. xi. II that in A.D. 88 he was
quindecimvir and praetor. He became consul in A.D. 97,
under Nerva.
T7rT. Tacitus never carried out his plan of continuing the
* Histories ' so as to include the principates of Nerva and Trajan.
His other project (Ann. iii. 24) of supplementing the 'Annals'
by an account of Augustus's principate also remained unfulfilled.
The 'Histories', in its complete form, embraced the year of the
Four Emperors and the Flavian Dynasty (A. D. 69-96), and
consisted of twelve or fourteen books. Of these we only possess
the first four and a fragment of the fifth, dealing with the years
69 and 70 A. D.
22. ipsa etiampace saevum refers to the activity of the delator es
in the last years of Domitian.
22 f. quattuor principes ferro interempti : Galba (A. D. 69),
killed by his soldiers ; Otho (A. D. 69), committed suicide after
Vitellius's victory at Bedriacum ; Vitellius (A. D. 69), killed in the
sack of Rome by the Flavian soldiery ; Domitian (A. D. 96),
murdered by the freedman Stephanus. Some omit Domitian
from the list, on the ground that his death came so long after
the others, and substitute Nero. But the death of Nero falls
outside the period of the ' Histories '.
23. trina bella cimlia. (i) Galba v. Otho \
(2) Otho v. Vitellius L A. D. 69.
(3) Vitellius v. Vespasian]
Some exclude (i) from the list, and substitute the Revolt of
Saturninus under Domitian, A. D. 88, but the other view seems
more natural.
24 ff. prosperae in Oriente, adversae in Occidente res. The
first part of the clause refers to the Jewish War which ended
in the capture of Jerusalem, A. D. 70 : the last part to the revolt
of Civilis in Lower Germany, and to the Gallic revolt headed
by Classicus and Tutor (Galliae mttantes). turbatum
lllyricum. The legions of Dalmatia, Pannonia, and Moesia
supported Otho (Tac. Hist. i. 76). They afterwards joined
Vespasian (ibid. ii. 85). perdomita Britannia et stattni omissa.
Tacitus naturally exaggerates the results of his father-in-law
Agricola's campaign in Britain (A.D. 78-84). The evacuation
32 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. I. iii
of Northern Britain on the recall of Agricola was probably due
to finance rather than to personal jealousy on the part of
Domitian. coortae in nos Sarmatarum ac Sueborum gentes.
A war against these races was finished by Domitian in A. D. 92.
27. nobilitatus cladibus mutuis Dacus. The Dacians under
Decebalus defeated Oppius Sabinus, the legate of Moesia, in
A.D. 86, and Cornelius Fuscus, praetorian prefect, in the following
year. In A. D. 89, however, Julianus defeated them at Tapae,
and Domitian held a triumph. The conquest of Dacia was not
completed till A. p. 105, when the Dacians were crushed by
Trajan, and Dacia made a province. mota prope etiam
Parthorum arma falsi Neronis ludibrio. From Suet. 57 we
learn that twenty years after Nero's death, i. e. in A. D. 88, there
arose a man professing to be Nero, who was strongly supported
by the Parthians, and only given up with reluctance.
30 f. haustae atit obrutae urbes : by the eruption of Vesuvius
in A. D. 79, which buried the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii.
hausta may perhaps refer to a tidal wave accompanying the
earthquake.
31. urbs incendiis vastata. The Capitol was burnt by the
Vitellians when Flavius Sabinus was besieged there in Dec.
69 A. D. There was another great fire, in which the restored
temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was burnt, in A. D. 80, under Titus.
33. plenum exiliis mare. Banishment to islands was common
under the Empire. Cf. Juv. i. 73f. ' Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris
et carcere dignum, si vis esse aliquid' ; ib. x. 170 (A. IV. iii. 170)
*ut Gyarae clausus scopulis parvaque Seripho'.
35. omissi gestique honores. Herennius Senecio (Dio Cassius
67, 13) was put to death by Domitian for not having stood for
any office higher than the quaestorship.
43. secutae maritos in exilia coniuges : e. g. Fannia, wife of
Helvidius Priscus, who ' bis maritum secuta in exilium est, tertio
ipsa propter maritum relegata ' (Plin. Ep. vii. 19).
44. constantes generi : e. g. Helvidius Priscus himself, who
exhibited against Vespasian's government the same untimely
ultra-republican opposition which his father-in-law Thrasea
had with better reason shown to Nero's. He was put to death
by order of Vespasian, who, when it was too late, tried to prevent
the execution.
60. evtdgato imperil arcano : in the proclamation of Galba as
Emperor by the sixth legion in Spain (A. D. 68).
A. I. iv] POLITICS 33
iv. The Deification of the Emperor
TANDEM lovi venit in mentem, privatis intra curiam mo-
rantibus sententiam dicere non licere nee disputare. ' Ego'
inquit ' p. c. interrogare vobis permiseram, vos mera mapalia
fecistis. Volo ut servetis disciplinam curiae. Hie qualis-
5 cunque est, quid de nobis existimabit ? ' illo dimisso primus
interrogatur sententiam lanus pater. Is designatus erat in
kal. lulias postmeridianus consul, homo quantumvis vafer,
qui semper videt a/xa Trpoo-oxo Kal oTuWw. Is multa diserte,
quod in foro vivat, dixit, quae notarius persequi non potuit
TO et ideo non refero, ne aliis verbis ponam, quae ab illo
dicta sunt. Multa dixit de magnitudine deorum : non
debere hunc vulgo dari honorem. ' Olim ' inquit ' magna
res erat deum fieri : iam famam mimum fecisti. Itaque ne
videar in personam, non in rem dicere sententiam, censeo ne
15 quis post hunc diem deus fiat ex his qui apovpys KapTrov ISovo-iv
aut ex his quos alit ei8o)/3os apovpa. Qui contra hoc senatus
consultum deus factus, dictus pictusve erit, eum dedi Larvis
et proximo munere inter novos auctoratos ferulis vapulare
placet.' Proximus interrogatur sententiam Diespiter Vicae
20 Potae films, et ipse designatus consul, nummulariolus : hoc
quaestu se sustinebat, vendere civitatulas solebat. Ad hunc
belle accessit Hercules et auriculam illi tetigit. Censet
itaque in haec verba : ' cum divus Claudius et divum
Augustum sanguine contingat nee minus divam Augustam
25 aviam suam, quam ipse deam esse iussit, longeque omnes
mortales sapientia antecellat, sitque e re publica esse ali-
quem qui cum Romulo possit " ferventia rapa vorare,"
censeo uti divus Claudius ex hac die deus sit, ita uti ante
eum quis optimo iure factus sit, eamque rem ad Meta-
30 morphosis Ovidii adiciendam.' Variae erant sententiae, et
videbatur Claudius sententiam vincere. Hercules enim, qui
videret ferrum suum in igne esse, modo hue modo illuc cur-
1130 ~
34 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. I. iv
sabat et aiebat : ' noli mihi invidere, mea res agitur ; deinde
tu si quid volueris, invicem faciam ; manus manum lavat.'
Tune divus Augustus surrexit sententiae suae locodicendae 35
et summa facundia disseruit : * ego ' inquit ' p. c. vos testes
habeo, ex quo deus factus sum, nullum me verbum fecisse :
semper meum negotium ago. Et non possum amplius dis-
simulare et dolorem, quem graviorem pudor facit, continere.
In hoc terra marique pacem peperi ? ideo civilia bella com- 4
pescui ? ideo legibus urbem fundavi, operibus ornavi, ut
quid dicam p. c. non invenio : omnia infra indignationem
verba sunt. Confugiendum est itaque ad Messallae Corvini,
disertissimi viri, illam sententiam "pudet imperil." Hie, p. c.,
qui vobis non posse videtur muscam excitare, tarn facile 45
homines occidebat, quam canis adsidit. Sed quid ego de tot
ac talibus viris dicam? non vacat deflere publicas clades
intuenti domestica mala. Itaque ilia omittam, haec referam.
Iste quem videtis, per tot annos sub meo nomine latens,
hanc mihi gratiam rettulit, ut duas lulias proneptes meas 50
occideret, alteram ferro, alteram fame, unum abnepotem
L. Silanum. Videris, luppiter, an in causa mala, certe in tua,
si aecus futurus es. Die mihi, dive Claudi, quare quemquam
ex his, quos quasque occidisti, antequam de causa cogno-
sceres, antequam audires, damnasti ? hoc ubi fieri solet ? in 55
caelo non fit. Ecce luppiter, qui tot annos regnat, uni
Volcano crus fregit, et iratus fuit uxori et suspendit illam :
numquid occidit? tu Messalinam, cuius aeque avunculus
maior eram quam tuus, occidisti. " Nescio " inquis. Di tibi
male faciant : adeo istuc turpius est, quod nescisti, quam 60
quod occidisti. Hunc nunc deum facere vultis ? videte corpus
eius dis iratis natum. Ad summam, tria verba cito dicat, et
servum me ducat. Hunc deum quis colet? quis credet?
dum tales deos facitis, nemo vos decs esse credet. Summa
rei, p. c., si honeste me inter vos gessi, si nulli clarius re- 65
spondi, vindicate iniurias meas. Ego pro sententia mea hoc
A. I. iv] POLITICS 35
censeo ' : atque ita ex tabella recitavit : ' quando quidem
divus Claudius occidit socerum suum Appium Silanum,
uxorem suam Messalinam et ceteros quorum numerus iniri
70 non potuit, placet mihi in eum severe animadverti nee illi
rerum iudicandarum vacationem dari eumque quam primum
exportari et caelo intra triginta dies excedere, Olympo intra
diem tertium.'
Pedibus in hanc sententiam itum est. Nee mora, Cyllenius
75 ilium collo obtorto trahit ad inferos
unde negant redire quemquam.
Dum descendunt per viam Sacram, interrogat Mercurius, quid
sibi velit ille concursus hominum, num Claudii funus esset ?
et erat omnium formosissimum et impensa cura, plane ut
80 scires deum efferri : tubicinum, cornicinum, omnis generis
aeneatorum tanta turba, tantus concentus, ut etiam Claudius
audire posset. Omnes laeti, hilares : populus Romanus am-
bulabat tanquam liber. Agatho et pauci causidici plorabant,
sed plane ex animo. lurisconsulti e tenebris procedebant,
85 pallidi, graciles, vix animam habentes, tanquam qui turn
maxime reviviscerent. Ex his unus cum vidisset capita
conferentes et fortunas suas deplorantes causidicos, accedit
et ait : * dicebam vobis : non semper Saturnalia erunt.'
Claudius ut vidit funus suum, intellexit se mortuum esse.
90 Ducit ilium ad tribunal Aeaci : is lege Cornelia quae de
sicariis lata est, quaerebat. Postulat, nomen eius recipiat ;
edit subscriptionem : occisos senatores XXXV, equites R.
CCXXI, ceteros oa-a j/fa/xa0og TC KOVIS re. Advocatum non
invenit. Tandem procedit P. Petronius, vetus convictor eius,
95 homo Claudiana lingua disertus, et postulat advocationem.
Non datur. Accusat Pedo Pompeius magnis clamoribus.
Incipit patronus velle respondere. Aeacus, homo iustissimus,
vetat et ilium altera tantum parte audita condemnat et ait :
CUK6 TTOiOoL TO, T p%, SlKT? K' WciO. yeVoiTO.
C 2
36 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. I. iv
factum est. Stupebant omnes novitate rei attoniti, negabant 100
hoc unquam factum. Claudio magis iniquum videbatur
quam novum. De genere poenae diu disputatum est, quid
ilium pati oporteret. Erant qui dicerent, Tantalum siti
periturum nisi illi succurreretur ; aliquando Ixionis miseri
rotam sufflaminandam. Non placuit ulli ex veteribus 105
missionem dari, ne vel Claudius unquam simile speraret.
Placuit novam poenam constitui debere, excogitandum illi
laborem irritum et alicuius cupiditatis spem sine fine et
effectu. Turn Aeacus iubet ilium alea ludere pertuso fritillo.
Et iam coeperat fugientes semper tesseras quaerere et nihil no
proficere :
nam quotiens missurus erat resonante fritillo,
utraque subducto fugiebat tessera fundo.
cumque recollectos auderet mittere talos,
lusuro similis semper semperque petenti, 115
decepere fidem : refugit digitosque per ipsos
fallax adsiduo dilabitur alea furto.
sic cum iam summi tanguntur culmina montis,
irrita Sisyphio volvuntur pondera collo.
Apparuit subito C. Caesar et petere ilium in servitutem 120
coepit ; producit testes, qui ilium viderant ab ipso flagris,
ferulis, colaphis vapulantem. Adiudicatur C. Caesari ;
Caesar ilium Aeaco donat. Is Menandro liberto suo tradi-
dit, ut a cognitionibus esset.
SENECA, Ludns, 9-12, 14, 15.
A. I. iv] POLITICS 37
NOTES
The Lucius of Seneca was written at the beginning of Nero's
principate as a satire on the deification of Claudius (see note
on line 12). The following is a summary of the plot up to the
point at which the present selection begins.
About midday on Oct. 13, A.D. 54, Claudius was trying to give
up the ghost, but could not find a way out for it. So Mercury,
a friend of his, begged Clotho,one of the three Fates, to put him
out of his pain. Clotho replied that she had meant to give him
time enough to grant Roman citizenship to the few persons to
whom he had not already granted it (a satire on Claudius's
extension of the Roman franchise), but perhaps it was just as
well that a few foreigners should be allowed to exist to prevent
the breed from becoming extinct. So she arranged that Claudius
should die, and two buffoons with him, for fear he should be
lonely. Claudius died while hearing some comedians. News
was brought to Jupiter that a tall, grey-headed man had reached
Olympus : he kept on nodding his head, as though threatening
something, and limping with his right foot. On being asked
what race he belonged to, he had made a confused noise, which
was not Greek nor Latin nor any other known language. Jupiter
then asked Hercules, the god who had travelled most and knew
most about foreigners, to find out what the man's nationality
was. Hercules on beholding this strange and alarming creature
was at first quite frightened, and thought that he would be called
upon to perform a thirteenth labour. But on inspecting it more
closely he found that it was a man'. So he addressed it in his
own native language, Greek, in the Homeric formula : * Who,
whence art thou of men ; where is thy city, and thy parents ? '
Claudius was delighted to find learned men in heaven, and
hoped that the histories he had composed would find a circu-
lation there. He answered that he was Caesar and came from
Troy. ' Nothing of the kind,' exclaimed the goddess of Fever,
who had come with him, ' he was born at Lugudunum (Lyons :
his actual birthplace) and is a regular Gaul.' Claudius became
more inarticulate than ever with rage, and was understood to
order Fever off to execution, but no one took any more notice of
him than his freedmen had on earth. Hercules declined to put
up with any more nonsense, and told Claudius that if he did not
say where he came from he would knock him down with his
club. Claudius was understood to reply that he had expected
Hercules to stand up for him, since none of the gods knew him
better than Hercules, in front of whose temple he had sat in
court for whole days in July and August (see note on line 71),
38 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. I. iv
listening to attorneys day and night, a far more unsavoury
business than cleansing the stables of Augeas.
The scene now changes to the senate house of the gods, in
which Hercules has put forward Claudius's claims to celestial
citizenship. An objector urges that, if he is to be made a god,
it is hard to see what kind of god he is to be. He cannot be an
Epicurean god, because Epicurean gods 'are themselves un-
troubled and give no trouble to others '. And there are good
reasons why he cannot be a Stoic god, though it is true that he
resembles a Stoic god in having neither heart nor head. His
attitude during life to Jupiter was also most unsatisfactory.
Is it not enough that he has a temple in Britain where the bar-
barians pray that ' this fool of a god may be easily humoured ' ?
Line 3. mera mapalia^ 'absolute nonsense.' The problem as
to how a word originally meaning 'African huts' has come to
mean ' nonsense ' has not been solved.
7. postmeridianus. Probably a satire on the shortened tenure
of the consulate. Augustus started the practice of replacing the
original pair of consuls for a year by a pair of consules suffecti,
who entered office on July I (so designatus in kal. lulias here).
After Nero consulates often lasted for four months only, and
after Hadrian for two. There had actually been a consul post-
meridianus in 45 B. c., when a consul died on the afternoon of
Dec. 31, and a consul stiffectus was appointed for the remaining
hours of the year (Cic. ad P'am. vii. 30).
8. qui semper videt a/ua Trpdo-o-w KCU o7riWa>, ' who always " looks
before and after ",' refers to the representation of Janus as facing
both ways. Originally the words (Horn. II. iii. 109) refer to the
wisdom of old age.
quod in foro vivat. There were four arches in the Forum
called lani, the Exchange of Rome where the bankers and
moneychangers did their business.
12. olim magna res erat deum fieri. The practice of deifica-
tion goes back to the time of Lysander (400 B.C.). It reappears
in the period after Alexander at the courts of his successors, and
is also seen in the dedication of altars in Greece to provincial
governors under the Republic. Caesar was deified in his life-
time, Augustus after his death. Tiberius was not deified. The
deification of Claudius, whose appearance and conduct alike
provoked contempt and ridicule, brought the institution into
the region of comedy, and afterwards it became a mere form.
15. dpovpys Kdpnov eSoi'o-ii/, 'eat the fruit of the earth,' is a stock
phrase applied to mortals in Homer. ^W&opoy, ' grain-giving,' is
an epithet frequently applied to the Earth in Homer.
20. nummulariolus, ' moneychanger/ one of the diminutives
common in Vulgar Latin.
A. I. iv] POLITICS 39
19. Diespiter\ the old Italian god of the daylight. His mother
Vicu Pota was a goddess of Victory. The mythology seems
somewhat confused.
29. ad Metamorphosis Omdii. The poet Ovid (43 B. C.-A. D. 1 7)
wrote a version of the Greek legends of transformations, ending
up with Caesar's transformation into a star and the future deifi-
cation of Augustus. The apotheosis of Claudius would serve as
a comic appendix.
43. Messalla Corvinus was appointed by Augustus to the new
(or, as some make out, revived) office of praefectus urbis, in
25 B. c. He resigned it within a few days on the ground that
he was unequal to it : really he seems to have regarded it as
unconstitutional.
50. duas Julias. Cf. Suet. Claud. 29 ' Appium Silanum con-
socerum suum, hdiasquz alteram Drusi, alteram Germanici
filiam, crimine incerto nee defensione ulla data occidit, item
Cn. Pompeium maioris filiae virum, et L. Silanum minoris
sponsum.'
59. nescio. Messalina, the wife of Claudius, possessed an
enormous influence over him during the first few years of his
reign. It was owing to her that the two Julias, L. Silanus
(mentioned above, 50-2), and many others were put to death.
Her profligacy, which was no less remarkable than her cruelty,
reached a climax in A. D. 48, when she went through the form
of marriage with her lover C. Silius. The result was that both
were put to death. The same night at supper Claudius inquired
' why the mistress did not come ' (Suet. Claud. 39).
62. ad summam, f in short,' common in Petronius.
tria i>erba cito dicat. Claudius stammered.
71. rerum iudicandaritm vacationem. Claudius was very
fond of hearing lawsuits. Cf. Suet. Claud. 14 ' lus et consul et
extra honorem laboriosissime dixit, etiam suis suorumque diebus
sollemnibus (i. e. birthdays, &c.), nonnunquam festis quoque
antiquitus et religiosis '. So there is a fitness in the hard judi-
cial labour to which he is sentenced for eternity.
72. Just as, in life, he might have been sentenced to leave
Italy within thirty days, and Rome within three.
74. pedibiis in hanc sententiam itum est\ the regular expression
for a ' division ' in the Senate.
CylleniuS) Mercury, born at Mount Cyllene in Arcadia. He
was the conductor of souls to the lower world. Cf. Hor. Odes
i. 24. I5ff. :
num vanae redeat sanguis imagini,
quam virga semel horrid a,
non lenis precibus fata recludere,
nigro compulerit Mercurius gregi ?
40 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. I. iv
76. unde negant redire quemquam : Catullus iii. 12. The
equivalent stock quotation in English is of course Hamlet in :
The undiscovered country from whose bourn
No traveller returns.
83. causidici\ who had had a high time (Saturnalia, 1. 88
below) under Claudius. Cf. Suet. Claud. 15 ' Illud quoque a
maioribus natu audiebam, adeo causidicos patientia eius solitos
abuti, ut descendentem e tribunali non solum voce revocarent,
sed et lacinia togae retenta. interdum pede apprehenso detine-
rent '.
84. sed plane ex animo. The adversative is to the pauci:
' they made up in sincerity what they lacked in numbers ' (Ball).
iurisconsulti. Demand for counsel's opinion seems to
have languished under- this monstrous regiment of attorneys.
Causidici were the persons who actually conducted a case in
court, iurisconsulti the legal experts consulted by them on points
of law.
90. In the chapter omitted in this selection Claudius is repre-
sented as meeting in the lower world a large number of people
whom he had put to death. 'Friends everywhere ! ' he exclaims,
' how did you get here ? ' Whereupon one of them, Pedo
Pompeius, replies, ' Who else sent us here but yourself? ' and
brings him into court on a charge of murder. The lex Cornelia
was a law of Sulla's.
93. oo-a \j/-a/ia#os re KUVLS re : a quotation from Homer (Iliad ix.
385). We might render ' as the sand of the sea without number '.
95. advocationem : probably a postponement of the case, that
the accused might consult his advocate.
99. at** ndOoi, ' if he were to have done to him what he did
himself, justice would be done ' ; * make the punishment fit the
crime.'
100. ret refers to altera tantum parte audita condemned.
103. Tantalum : condemned to stand, with a parching thirst,
in water that receded whenever he tried to drink it (see note on
A. IV. ii. 68).
104. Ixionis. Ixion abused the hospitality of Zeus and tried to
win the love of Hera. He was chained to a wheel which rolled
perpetually in the air.
109. alea ludere. Claudius was very fond of dice. Cf. Suet.
Claud. 5 'aleae infamiam subiit ' ; ibid. 33 'aleam studiosissime
lusit, de cuius arte librum quoque emisit '.
119. Sisyphio. Sisyphus, king of Corinth, was punished for
his wickedness on earth by being compelled in the lower world
to roll up hill a large stone, which on reaching the top always
rolled down again.
A. I. iv] POLITICS 41
120. Caligula, Claudius's nephew and predecessor in the prin-
cipate (A. D. 37-41), had always bullied Claudius ; Suet. Cal. 23
* nam Claudium patruum non nisi in ludibrium reservavit '.
Caligula and his courtiers threw olive and date stones at Claudius
during his after-dinner slumber, and put slippers on his hands,
that he might rub his eyes with them when he woke up (Cl. 8).
124. a cognitionibus. The business of his office was to deal
with cases outside the ordinary law, and was carried out under
the early emperors by imperial freedmen.
42 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. I. v
v. An Episode of Provincial Administration
Pliny, Trajan^ and the Christians
C. PLINIVS TRAIANO IMPERATORI
SOLLEMNE est mihi, domine, omnia, de quibus dubito,
ad te referre. Quis enim potest melius vel cunctationem
meam regere vel ignorantiam instruere ? Cognitionibus de
Christianis interfui numquam. Ideo nescio quid et quate- 5
nus aut puniri soleat aut quaeri. Nee mediocriter haesi-
tavi, sitne aliquod discrimen aetatum, an quamlibet teneri
nihil a robustioribus differant, detur paenitentiae venia, an
ei, qui omnino Christianus fuit, desisse non prosit, nomen
ipsum, si flagitiis careat, an flagitia cohaerentia nomini 10
puniantur. Interim in iis, qui ad me tamquam Christiani
deferebantur, hunc sum secutus modum. Interrogavi ipsos
an essent Christiani. Confitentes iterum ac tertio inter-
rogavi supplicium minatus. Perseverantes duci iussi. Ne-
que enim dubitabam, qualecumque esset quod faterentur, 15
pertinaciam certe et inflexibilem obstinationem debere
puniri. Fuerunt alii similis amentiae; quos, quia cives
Romani erant, adnotavi in urbem remittendos. Mox ipso
tractatu, ut fieri solet, diffundente se crimine plures species
inciderunt. Propositus est libellus sine auctore multorum ao
nomina continens. Qui negabant esse se Christianos aut
fuisse, cum praeeunte me deos appellarent et imagini tuae,
quam propter hoc iusseram cum simulacris numinum
adferri, ture ac vino supplicarent, praeterea male dicerent
Christo, quorum nihil posse cogi dicuntur, qui sunt re vera 25
Christiani, dimittendos esse putavi. Alii ab indice nomi-
nati esse se Christianos dixerunt et mox negaverunt ; fuisse
quidem, sed desisse, quidam ante triennium, quidam ante
plures annos, non nemo etiam ante viginti. Hi quoque
omnes et imaginem tuam deorumque simulacra venerati 30
sunt et Christo male dixerunt. Adfirmabant autem hanc
fuisse summam vel culpae suae vel erroris, quod essent
A. I. v] POLITICS 43
soliti stato die ante lucem convenire carmenque Christo
quasi deo dicere secum invicem seque Sacramento non in
35 scelus aliquod obstringere, sed ne furta, ne latrocinia, ne
adulteria committerent, ne fidem fallerent, ne depositum
appellati abnegarent. Quibus peractis morem sibi dis-
cedendi fuisse rursusque coeundi ad capiendum cibum,
promiscuum tamen et innoxium ; quod ipsum facere
40 desisse post edictum meum, quo secundum mandata tua
hetaerias esse vetueram. Quo magis necessarium credidi
ex duabus ancillis, quae ministrae dicebantur, quid esset
veri, et per tormenta quaerere. Nihil aliud inveni quam
superstitionem pravam immodicam. Ideo dilata cognitione
45 ad consulendum te decucurri. Visa est enim mihi res
digna consultatione, maxime propter periclitantium nume-
rum. Multi enim omnis aetatis, omnis ordinis, utriusque
sexus etiam vocantur in periculum et vocabuntur. Neque
civitates tantum, sed vicos etiam atque agros superstitionis
50 istius contagio pervagata est ; quae videtur sisti et corrigi
posse. Certe satis constat prope iam desolata templa
coepisse celebrari, et sacra sollemnia diu intermissa repeti,
passimque venire victimas, quarum adhuc rarissimus emptor
inveniebatur. Ex quo facile est opinari, quae turba homi-
55 num emendari possit, si sit paenitentiae locus.
TRAIANVS PLINIO.
Actum, quern debuisti, mi Secunde, in excutiendis causis
eorum, qui Christiani ad te delati fuerant, secutus es.
Neque enim in universum aliquid, quod quasi certam
60 formam habeat, constitui potest. Conquirendi non sunt ;
si deferantur et arguantur, puniendi sunt, ita tamen, ut, qui
negaverit se Christianum esse idque re ipsa manifesto m
fecerit, id est supplicando dis nostris, quamvis suspectus in
praeteritum, veniam ex paenitentia impetret. Sine auctore
65 vero propositi libelli in nullo crimine locum habere debent.
Nam et pessimi exempli nee nostri saeculi est.
PLIN. Ep. x. 96 (97), 97 (98).
44 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. I. v
NOTES
Line 9. nomen ipsum : i. e. the mere profession of Christianity.
The profession of Christianity was an offence against the state
religion of Rome, and was consequently in itself punishable.
A sect whose proselytizing activity was so remarkable could not
be safely tolerated. (Cf. lines 51, 52, below ' Certe satis constat
prope iam desolata templa coepisse celebrari '.)
14. dud: i.e. to execution.
19. tractatu : judicial proceedings.
38. adcapiendum tibum. This refers to the Agapae or common
feasts held in the later part of the day, to which each contributed
according to his ability. Although the poor were entertained at
these, it is admitted by a Christian authority (Tertullian) that
abuses were not unknown. promiscuum tamen et innoxium :
ordinary food, not (e.g.) the blood of babies which the Jews
chose to believe was consumed in large quantities at Christian
feasts.
41. hetaerias\ political associations. * Collegia,' or associa-
tions of men for any common object (Plin. x. 34 ' qui in idem
contracti fuerint '), tended always to take an interest in politics :
this may be seen (as Hardy points out) in the wall inscriptions
at Pompeii. The political activity of these bodies led to their
being discouraged under the Empire, and Trajan, in the letter
above cited, refuses to allow Pliny to found a ' collegium fabro-
rum' to act as firemen at Nicomedia.
A. I. vi] POLITICS 45
vi. Exile from Civilization.
ERGO erat in fatis Scythiam quoque visere nostris,
quaeque Lycaonio terra sub axe iacet ;
nee vos, Pierides, nee stirps Letoia, vestro
docta sacerdoti turba tulistis opem.
nee si quid lusi vero sine crimine, prodest, 5
quodque magis vita Musa iocata mea est :
plurima sed pelago terraque pericula passum
ustus ab assiduo frigore Pontus habet.
quique, fugax rerum securaque in otia natus,
mollis et inpatiens ante laboris eram, 10
ultima nunc patior, nee me mare portibus orbum
perdere, diversae nee potuere viae.
sufficit atque malis animus, nam corpus ab illo
accepit vires vixque ferenda tulit.
du'm tamen et terris dubius iactabar et undis, 15
fallebat curas aegraque corda labor :
ut via finita est et opus requievit eundi,
et poenae tellus est mihi tacta meae,
nil nisi flere libet, nee nostro parcior imber
lumine, de verna quam nive manat aqua. 20
Roma domusque subit desideriumque locorum,
quicquid et amissa restat in urbe mei.
ei mihi, quo totiens nostri pulsata sepulcri
ianua, sed nullo tempore aperta fuit?
cur ego tot gladios fugi, totiensque minata 25
obruit infelix nulla procella caput ?
di, quos experior nimium constanter iniquos,
participes irae quos deus unus habet,
exstimulate, precor, cessantia fata meique
interitus clausas esse vetate fores. 30
OVID, Trist. iii. 2.
46 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. I. vi
NOTES
Line i ff. Ovid was banished to Tomi on the Black Sea at the
end of A.D. 8. He tells us (Trist. ii. 207) that the cause was
1 carmen et error '. The carmen, the notorious ' Ars Amatoria ',
had already been published for ten years, so the immediate
cause must have been the error. The error may perhaps have
been connivance at the misconduct of the younger Julia,
Augustus's granddaughter, with D. Silanus.
2 f. Lycaonio sub axe. Callisto, daughter of Lycaon, king of
Arcadia, is said to have been changed into the constellation of
the Bear. The present expression simply means ' northern '.
Pierides\ the Muses.
stirps Letoia : Apollo, the god of poetry.
6. Ovid and Martial constantly protest that their lives are less
loose than their poems.
8. The rigour of the Black Sea climate is grossly exaggerated
in Ovid's poems, though in winter the cold is severe.
21 f. Cf. Trist. i. 3. 61, 62 :
Denique, Quid propero ? Scythia est, quo mittimur, inquam !
Roma relinquenda est : utraque iusta mora est.
The passage well shows the utter desolation of exile from the
only civilization known. A Roman exile was outside the pale
of civilization ; a modern exile has other civilized countries to
go to.
28. deus unusi Augustus. Cf. the language which Martial
habitually applies to Domitian, e. g. in iv. 8. 9 ff. (B. II. i. 9 ff. in
this book). Augustus's official deification was, as usual, postponed
till after his death. He never allowed himself to be called divus,
but only divi filius (i. e. of Julius Caesar).
A. II. EDUCATION
i. Roman Education, Old and New
ET Messalla 'non reconditas, Materne, causas requiris, nee
aut tibi ipsi aut huic Secundo vel huic Apro ignotas, etiam
si mihi partis adsignatis proferendi in medium quae omnes
sentimus. quis enim ignorat et eloquentiam et ceteras artis
5 descivisse ab ilia vetere gloria non inopia hominum. sed
desidia iuventutis et neglegentia parentum et inscientia
praecipientium et oblivione moris antiqui ? quae mala pri-
mum in urbe nata, mox per Italiam fusa, iam in provincias
manant. quamquam vestra vobis notiora sunt : ego de
10 urbe et his propriis ac vernaculis vitiis loquar, quae natos
statim excipiunt et per singulos aetatis gradus cumulantur,
si prius de severitate ac disciplina maiorum circa educandos
formandosque liberos pauca praedixero. nam pridem suus
cuique films, ex casta parente natus, non in cellula emptae
15 nutricis, sed gremio ac sinu matris educabatur, cuius prae-
cipua laus erat tueri domum et inservire liberis. eligebatur
autem maior aliqua natu propinqua, cuius probatis spectatis-
que moribus omnis eiusdem familiae suboles committeretur ;
coram qua neque dicere fas erat quod turpe dictu, neque
20 facere quod inhonestum factu videretur. ac non studia
modo curasque, sed remissiones etiam lususque puerorum
sanctitate quadam ac verecundia temperabat. sic Corneliam
Gracchorum, sic Aureliam Caesaris sic Atiam Augusti
matrem praefuisse educationibus ac produxisse principes
25 liberos accepimus. quae disciplina ac severitas eo pertine-
bat, ut sincera et integra et nullis pravitatibus detorta unius
cuiusque natura toto statim pectore arriperet artis honestas,
48 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. II. i
et sive ad rem militarem sive ad iuris scientiam sive ad elo-
quentiae studium inclinasset, id solum ageret, id universum
hauriret. 30
At nunc natus infans delegatur Graeculae alicui ancillae,
cui adiungitur unus aut alter ex omnibus servis, plerumque
vilissimus nee cuiquam serio ministerio adcommodatus.
horum fabulis et erroribus virides statim et rudes animi
imbuuntur ; nee quisquam in tota domo pensi habet 35
quid coram infante domino aut dicat aut faciat. quin
etiam ipsi parentes non probitati neque modestiae par-
vulos adsuefaciunt, sed lasciviae et dicacitati, per quae
paulatim impudentia inrepit et sui alienique contemptus.
iam vero propria et peculiaria huius urbis vitia paene in 40
utero matris concipi mihi videntur, histrionalis favor et
gladiatorum equorumque studia : quibus occupatus et ob-
sessus animus quantulum loci bonis artibus relinquit?
quotum quemque invenies qui domi quicquam aliud loqua-
tur ? quos alios adulescentulorum sermones excipimus, si 45
quando auditoria intravimus ? ne praeceptores quidem ullas
crebriores cum auditoribus suis fabulas habent ; colligunt
enim discipulos non severitate disciplinae nee ingenii ex-
perimento, sed ambitione salutationum et inlecebris adula-
tionis. 5
Transeo prima discentium elementa, in quibus et ipsis
parum laboratur : nee in auctoribus cognoscendis nee in
evolvenda antiquitate nee in notitiam vel rerum vel homi-
num vel temporum satis operae insumitur. sed expetuntur
quos rhetoras vocant ; quorum professio quando primum in 55
hanc urbem introducta sit quamque nullam apud maiores
nostros auctoritatem habuerit, statim dicturus referam ne-
cesse est animum ad earn disciplinary qua usos esse eos
oratores accepimus, quorum infinitus labor et cotidiana
meditatio et in omni genere studiorum assiduae exercita- 60
tiones ipsorum etiam continentur libris. notus est vobis
A. II. i] EDUCATION 49
utique Ciceronis liber qui Brutus inscribitur, in cuius .ex-
trema parte (nam prior commemorationem veterum oratorum
habet) sua initia, suos gradus, suae eloquentiae velut quan-
65 dam educationem refert : se apud Q. Mucium ius civile
didicisse, apud Philonem Academicum, apud Diodotum
Stoicum omnis philosophiae partis penitus hausisse ; neque
iis doctoribus contentum, quorum ei copia in urbe contigerat,
Achaiam quoque et Asiam peragrasse, ut omnem omnium
70 artium varietatem complecteretur. itaque hercule in libris
.Ciceronis deprehendere licet, non geometriae, non musicae,
non grammaticae, non denique ullius ingenuae artis scientiam
ei defuisse. ille dialecticae subtilitatem, ille moralis partis
utilitatem, ille rerum motus causasque cognoverat. ita est
75 enim, optimi viri, ita : ex multa eruditione et plurimis
artibus et omnium rerum scientia exundat et exuberat ilia
admirabilis eloquentia ; neque oratoris vis et facultas, sicut
ceterarum rerum, angustis et brevibus terminis cluditur, sed
is est orator, qui de omni quaestione pulchre et ornate et ad
80 persuadendum apte dicere pro dignitate rerum, ad utilitatem
temporum, cum voluptate audientium possit.
Hoc sibi illi veteres persuaserant, ad hoc efficiendum
intellegebant opus esse, non ut in rhetorum scholis declama-
rent, nee ut fictis nee ullo modo ad veritatem accedentibus
85 controversiis linguam modo et vocem exercerent^ sed ut iis
artibus pectus implerent, in quibus de bonis et malis, de
honesto et turpi, de iusto et iniusto disputatur ; haec enim
est oratori subiecta ad dicendum materia. nam in iudiciis
fere de aequitate, in deliberationibus de utilitate, in lauda-
90 tionibus de honestate disserimus, ita tamen ut plerumque
haec ipsa invicem misceantur : de quibus copiose et varie
et ornate nemo dicere potest, nisi qui cognovit naturam
humanam et vim virtutum pravitatemque vitiorum et intel-
lectum eorum, quae nee in virtutibus nee in vitiis nume-
95 rantur. ex his fontibus etiam ilia profluunt, ut facilius iram
1130 r
50 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. II. i
iudicis vel instiget vel leniat, qui scit quid ira, promptius
ad miserationem impellat, qui scit quid sit misericordia et
quibus animi motibus concitetur. in his artibus exercitationi-
busque versatus orator, sive apud infestos sive apud cupidos
sive apud invidentis sive apud tristis sive apud timentis 100
dicendum habuerit, tenebit venas animorum, et prout cuius-
que natura postulabit, adhibebit manum et temperabit ora-
tionem, parato omni instrumento et ad omnem usum reposito.
sunt apud quos adstrictum et collectum et singula statim
argumenta concludens dicendi genus plus fidei mereturiios
apud hos dedisse operam dialecticae proficiet. alios fusa
et aequalis et ex communibus ducta sensibus oratio magis
delectat : ad hos permovendos mutuabimur a Peripateticis
aptos et in omnem disputationem paratos iam locos, dabunt
Academici pugnacitatem, Plato altitudinem, Xenophon iu- no
cunditatem ; ne Epicuri quidem et Metrodori honestas
quasdam exclamationes adsumere iisque, prout res poscit,
uti alienum erit oratori. neque enim sapientem informamus
neque Stoicorum comitem, sed eum qui quasdam artis
haurire, omnis libare debet. ideoque et iuris civilis scien- 115
tiam veteres oratores comprehendebant, et grammatica
musica geometria imbuebantur. incidunt enim causae,
plurimae quidem ac paene omnes, quibus iuris notitia de-
sideratur, pleraeque autem, in quibus haec quoque scientia
requiritur. iao
Nee quisquam respondeat sufficere, ut ad tempus simplex
quiddam et uniforme doceamur. primum enim aliter utimur
propriis, aliter commodatis, longeque interesse manifestum
est, possideat quis quae profert an mutuetur. deinde ipsa
multarum artium scientia etiam aliud agentis nos ornat, 125
atque ubi minime credas, eminet et excellit. idque non
doctus modo et prudens auditor, sed etiam populus intellegit
ac statim ita laude prosequitur, ut legitime studuisse, ut per
omnis eloquentiae numeros isse, ut denique oratorem esse
A. II. i] EDUCATION 51
130 fateatur ; quern non posse aliter existere nee extitisse um-
quam confirmo, nisi eum qui, tamquam in aciem omnibus
armis instructus, sic in forum omnibus artibus armatus
exierit. quod adeo neglegitur ab horum temporum disertis,
ut in actionibus eorum huius quoque cotidiani sermonis
135 foeda ac pudenda vitia deprehendantur ; ut ignorent leges,
non teneant senatus consulta, ius huius civitatis ultro deri-
deant, sapientiae vero studium et praecepta prudentium
penitus reformident. in paucissimos sensus et angustas
sententias detrudunt eloquentiam velut expulsam regno suo,
140 ut quae olim omnium artium domina pulcherrimo comitatu
pectora implebat, nunc circumcisa et amputata, sine appa-
ratu, sine honore, paene dixerim sine ingenuitate, quasi una
ex sordidissimis artificiis discatur. ergo hanc primam et
praecipuam causam arbitror, cur in tantum ab eloquentia
145 antiquorum oratorum recesserimus. si testes desiderantur,
quos potiores nominabo quam apud Graecos Demosthenem,
quern studiosissimum Platonis auditorem fuisse memoriae
proditum est ? et Cicero his, ut opinor, verbis refert, quid-
quid in eloquentia effecerit, id se non rhetorum officinis, sed
150 Academiae spatiis consecutum. sunt aliae causae, magnae
et graves, quas vobis aperiri aequum est, quoniam quidem
ego iam meum munus explevi, et quod mihi in consuetudine
est, satis multos offendi, quos, si forte haec audierint, certum
habeo dicturos me, dum iuris et philosophiae scientiam tam-
155 quam oratori necessarian! laudo, ineptiis meis plausisse.'
Et Maternus ' mihi quidem ' inquit * susceptum a te munus
adeo peregisse nondum videris, ut incohasse tantum et velut
vestigia ac liniamenta quaedam ostendisse videaris. nam
quibus artibus instrui veteres oratores soliti sint, dixisti diffe-
160 rentiamque nostrae desidiae et inscientiae ad versus acerrima
et fecundissima eorum studia demonstrasti : cetera exspecto,
ut quern ad modum ex te didici, quid aut illi scierint aut nos
nesciamus, ita hoc quoque cognoscam, quibus exercitationi-
D 2
52 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. II. i
bus iuvenes iam et forum ingressuri confirmare et alere in-
genia suasoliti sint. nequeenim solum arte et scientia, sed 165
longe magis facultate et usu eloquentiam contineri, nee tu
puto abnues et hi significare vultu videntur '.
Deinde cum Aper quoque et Secundus idem adnuissent,
Messalla quasi rursus incipiens : ' quoniam initia et semina
veteris eloquentiae satis demonstrasse videor, docendo quibus 1 70
artibus antiqui oratores institui erudirique soliti sint, perse-
quar nunc exercitationes eorum. quamquam ipsis artibus
inest exercitatio, nee quisquam percipere tot tam reconditas
tam varias res potest, nisi ut scientiae meditatio, meditationi
facultas, factlltati usus eloquentiae accedat. per quae colli- 1 75
gitur eandem esse rationem et percipiendi quae proferas
et proferendi quae perceperis. sed si cui obscuriora haec
videntur isque scientiam ab exercitatione separat, illud certe
concedet, instructum et plenum his artibus animum longe
paratiorem ad eas exercitationes venturum, quae propriae 180
esse oratorum videntur.
Ergo apud maiores nostros iuvenis ille, qui foro et elo-
quentiae parabatur, imbutus iam domestica disciplina, re-
fertus honestis studiis deducebatur a patre vel a propinquis
ad eum oratorem, qui principem in civitate locum obtinebat. 185
hunc sectari, hunc prosequi, huius omnibus dictionibus in-
teresse sive in iudiciis sive in contionibus adsuescebat, ita
ut altercationes quoque exciperet et iurgiis interesset utque
sic dixerim, pugnare in proelio disceret. magnus ex hoc
usus, multum constantiae, plurimum iudicii iuvenibus statim 190
contingebat, in media luce studentibus atque inter ipsa dis-
crimina, ubi nemo inpune stulte aliquid aut contrarie dicit,
quo minus et iudex respuat et adversarius exprobret, ipsi
denique advocati aspernentur. igitur vera statim et incor-
rupta eloquentia imbuebantur ; et quamquam unum seque- 195
rentur, tamen omnis eiusdem aetatis patronos in plurimis et
causis et iudiciis cognoscebant ; habebantque ipsius populi
A. II. i] EDUCATION 53
diversissimarum aurium copiam, ex qua facile deprehende-
rent, quid in quoque vel probaretur vel displiceret. ita nee
200 praeceptor deerat, optimus quidem et electissimus, qui faciem
eloquentiae, non imaginem praestaret, nee adversarii et
aemuli ferro, non rudibus dimicantes, nee auditorium semper
plenum, semper novum, ex invidis et faventibus, ut nee bene
nee male dicta dissimularentur. scitis enim magnam illam
205 et duraturam eloquentiae famam non minus in diversis sub-
selliis parari quam suis ; inde quin immo constantius surgere,
ibi fidelius corroborari. atque hercule sub eius modi prae-
ceptoribus iuvenis ille, de quo loquimur, oratorum discipulus,
fori auditor, sectator iudiciorum, eruditus et adsuefactus
210 alienis experimentis, cui cotidie audienti notae leges, non
novi iudicum vultus, frequens in oculis consuetude contio-
num, saepe cognitae populi aures, sive accusationem susce-
perat sive defensionem, solus statim et unus cuicumque
causae par erat. nono decimo aetatis anno L. Crassus
215 C. Carbonem, unoetvicesimo Caesar Dolabellam, altero et
vicesimo Asinius Pollio C. Catonem, non multum aetate
antecedens Calvus Vatinium iis orationibus insecuti sunt,
quas hodieque cum admiratione legimus.
At nunc adulescentuli nostri deducuntur in scholas isto-
220 rum, qui rhetores vocantur, quos paulo ante Ciceronis
tempora extitisse nee placuisse maioribus nostris ex eo
manifestum est, quod a Crasso et Domitio censoribus clau-
dere, ut ait Cicero, ' ludum impudentiae ' iussi sunt. sed
ut dicere institueram, deducuntur in scholas, in quibus non
225 facile dixerim utrumne locus ipse an condiscipuli an genus
studiorum plus mali ingeniis adferant. nam in loco nihil
reverentiae est, in quern nemo nisi aeque imperitus intret ;
in condiscipulis nihil profectus, cum pueri inter pueros et
adulescentuli inter adulescentulos pari securitate et dicant
230 et audiantur ; ipsae vero exercitationes magna ex parte con-
trariae. nempe enim duo genera materiarum apud rhetoras
54 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. II. i
tractantur, suasoriae et controversiae. ex his suasoriae
quidem etsi tamquam plane leviores et minus prudentiae
exigentes pueris delegantur, controversiae robustioribus ad-
signantur, quales, per fidem, et quam incredibiliter com- 235
positae ! sequitur autem ut materiae abhorrenti a veritate
declamatio quoque adhibeatur. sic fit ut tyrannicidarum
praemia aut pestilentiae remedia aut quidquid in schola
cotidie agitur, in foro vel raro vel numquam, ingentibus
verbis persequantur. 240
Magna eloquentia, sicut flamma, materia alitur et mo-
tibus excitatur et urendo clarescit. eadem ratio in nostra
quoque civitate antiquorum eloquentiam provexit. nam etsi
horum quoque temporum oratores ea consecuti sunt, quae
composita et quieta et beata re publica tribui fas erat, 245
tamen ilia perturbatione ac licentia plura sibi adsequi vide-
bantur, cum mixtis omnibus et moderatore uno carentibus
tantum quisque orator saperet, quantum erranti populo per-
suaderi poterat. hinc leges assiduae et populare nomen, hinc
contiones magistratuum paene pernoctantium in rostris, hinc 250
accusationes potentium reorum et adsignatae etiam domibus
inimicitiae, hinc procerum factiones et assidua senatus ad-
versus plebem certamina. quae singula etsi distrahebant rem
publicam, exercebant tamen illorum temporum eloquentiam
et nmgnis cumulare praemiis videbantur, quia quanto quisque 255
plus dicendo poterat, tanto facilius honores adsequebatur,
tanto magis in ipsis honoribus collegas suos anteibat, tanto
plus apud principes gratiae, plus auctoritatis apud patres,
plus notitiae ac nominis apud plebem parabat. hi clientelis
etiam exterarum nationum redundabant, hos ituri in pro- 260
vincias magistratus reverebantur, hos reversi colebant, hos
et praeturae et consulatus vocare ultro videbantur, hi ne
privati quidem sine potestate erant, cum et populum et
senatum consilio et auctoritate regerent. quin immo sibi
ipsi persuaserant neminem sine eloquentia aut adsequi posse 265
A. II. ij EDUCATION 55
in civitate aut tueri conspicuum et eminentem locum, nee
mirum, cum etiam inviti ad populum producerentur, cum
parum esset in senatu breviter censere, nisi qui ingenio et
eloquentia sententiam suam tueretur, cum in aliquam invi-
270 diam aut crimen vocati sua voce respondendum haberent,
cum testimonia quoque in publicis iudiciis non absentes nee
per tabellam dare, sed coram et praesentes dicere cogeren-
tur. ita ad summa eloquentiae praemia magna etiam neces-
sitas accedebat, et quo modo disertum haberi pulchrum et
275 gloriosum, sic contra mutum et elinguem videri deforme
habebatur.
TAG. Dial 28-36.
56 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. II. i
NOTES
Lines 22 f. Corneliam : the proverbial pattern mother.
Gracchorum : the two great demagogues, who proposed to
distribute the state lands, held in large estates by the rich and
worked by slave labour, among the yeomen of Italy. They were
both killed in street riots at Rome, Tiberius in 133 B.C., Gaius
in 121 B.C.
Caesaris: Julius Caesar, the Dictator (100-44 B.C.).
Augusti'. Octavianus, princeps from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14.
65. Q. Mucium. Q. Mucius Scaevola, the augur (i59-after
88 B. .). He was neither a real orator nor a philosopher, though
he embraced Stoicism. His strength lay in the legal opinions
he gave to those who consulted him as iuris consultus.
70 f. in libris Ciceronis. The versatility of Cicero's mind may
be seen from the list of his works. Besides his speeches, on
which his fame chiefly rests, he wrote on the theory of rhetoric,
moral and political philosophy, and showed his interest in scien-
tific questions by a translation of the * Phenomena ' of the Alex-
andrian poet Aratus. His treatment of philosophy is sometimes
superficial.
1 08. Peripateticis-. the school of philosophy founded by Aris-
totle at Athens (384-322 B.C.).
no. Academici: the school of philosophy founded by Plato
(429-347 B.C.).
in. Epicuri (342-270 B.C.): the founder of the Epicurean
school.
Metrodori: the most distinguished of the disciples of
Epicurus, died 277 B. C.
122. doceamur : i. e. by applying to experts in each particular
subject.
177 ff. Theory and practice cannot be divorced. Even if you
do not acknowledge this, you must admit that, as far as oratory
is concerned, theory is the best preparation for practice.
215. C. Carbonem : a friend of the Gracchi, who, in spite of
deserting their cause and espousing that of the aristocracy, was
allowed to fall a victim to the democrats, and died by his own
hand in 119 B.C.
Dolabellam\ a partisan of Sulla, brought to trial for ex-
tortion by Caesar in 77 B. c. In this year Caesar would be
in his twenty-fourth (or, according to Mommsen, in his twenty-
sixth year), not in his twenty-first. It was the regular thing in
the last period of the Republic for young aspirants to a political
career to attract public attention by accusing some provincial
governor of maladministration.
216. C. Catonem, in 54 B. c.
A. II. i] EDUCATION 57
217. Calvus (82-47 B.C.) : accused Vatinlus in 58 B.C.
232. suasoriae et controversiae. The suasoriae were historical
or legendary themes : the controitersiae, which were less ele-
mentary, were imaginary lawsuits, which demanded some legal
knowledge. The elder Seneca (circ. 54 B; c.-A. D. 39) has left
us a collection of each. Among his suasoriae are the following
subjects : 'Alexander deliberates whether to launch his fleet on
the Ocean ' (Sen. Suas. i), ' The Athenians deliberate whether
to destroy the trophies of their victories over the Persians, as
Xerxes threatens to return if they do not * (id. Suas. v), ' Cicero
deliberates whether to beg his life from Antony ' (id. Suas. vi).
As an example of the controversia we may take Sen. Suas.
i. 6 'The Pirate- Captain's Daughter'. The situation is as
follows. A young man captured by pirates writes to his father
for ransom, but without success. The captain's daughter makes
him swear to marry her if he escapes. He does so and she
leaves her father to follow him, and on his return home marries
him. At this point a childless woman (orbd) with a fortune
appears, and the young man is bidden by his father to marry
her and divorce the pirate's daughter. He refuses, and is dis-
inherited by his father.
The unreality of such themes, and their ineffectiveness as
a preparation for practical work at the bar, is obvious. See Juv.
Sat. i. 15-17, vii. i5off. (A. III. v. 150 ff. in this book).
241 f. ' It is with eloquence as with a flame. It requires fuel
to feed it, motion to excite it, and it brightens as it burns. 3 The
younger Pitt's impromptu translation.
244. Under the Principate the political turmoil of the Repub-
lican period had come to an end.
249. populare nomen : the popularity resultingfrom democratic
legislation.
58 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. II. ii
ii. A Liberal Education
NVNC ad me redeo libertino patre natum,
quern rodunt omnes libertino patre natum,
nunc quia sim tibi, Maecenas, con victor; at olim
quod mihi pareret legio Romana tribune.
dissimile hoc illi est ; quia non, ut forsit honorem 5
iure mihi invideat quivis, ita te quoque amicum,
praesertim cautum dignos adsumere, prava
ambitione procul. felicem dicere non hoc
me possim, casu quod te sortitus amicum ;
nulla etenim mihi te fors obtulit : optimus olim 10
Vergilius, post hunc Varius, dixere quid essem.
ut veni coram, singultim pauca locutus,
infans namque pudor prohibebat plura profari,
non ego me claro natum patre, non ego circum
me Satureiano vectari rura caballo, 15
sed quod eram narro. respondes, ut tuus est mos,
pauca : abeo ; et revocas nono post mense iubesque
esse in amicorum numero. magnum hoc ego duco
quod placui tibi, qui turpi secernis honestum,
non patre praeclaro sed vita et pectore puro. 20
atqui si vitiis mediocribus ac mea paucis
mendosa est natura alioqui recta, velut si
egregio inspersos reprehendas corpore naevos ;
si neque avaritiam neque sordis nee mala lustra
obiciet vere quisquam mihi, purus et insons 25
(ut me collaudem) si et vivo carus amicis ;
causa fuit pater his, qui macro pauper agello
noluit in Flavi ludum me mittere, magni
quo pueri magnis e centurionibus orti,
laevo suspensi loculos tabulamque lacerto, 30
ibant octonis referentes Idibus aera :
A. II. ii] EDUCATION 59
sed puerum est ausus Romam portare, docendum
artis quas doceat quivis eques atque senator
semet prognatos. vestem servosque sequentis,
in magno ut populo, si qui vidisset, avita 35
ex re praeberi sumptus mihi crederet illos.
ipse mihi custos incorruptissimus omnis
circum doctores aderat. quid multa ? pudicum,
qui primus virtutis honos, servavit ab omni
non solum facto, verum opprobrio quoque turpi ; 40
nee timuit sibi ne vitio quis verteret olim
si praeco parvas aut, ut fuit ipse, coactor
mercedes sequerer ; neque ego essem questus : at hoc nunc
laus illi debetur et a me gratia maior.
nil me paeniteat sanum patris huius, eoque 45
non, ut magna dolo factum negat esse suo pars,
quod non ingenuos habeat clarosque parentis,
sic me defendam. longe mea discrepat istis
et vox et ratio : nam si natura iuberet
a certis annis aevum remeare peractum 50
atque alios legere ad fastum quoscumque parentis,
optaret sibi quisque, meis contentus honestos
fascibus et sellis nollem mihi sumere, demens
iudicio vulgi, sanus fortasse tuo, quod
nollem onus hand timquam solitus portare molestum. 55
HOR. Sat. i. 6.
60 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A..II. ii
NOTES
Horace gives an account of his own birth and education. It
shows us how in the Augustan age it was possible for a man to
rise from a low station, mainly through education.
Line 28. Flavi ludum : the local school at Venusia.
31. Best explained of the monthly payments and four months'
summer holidays of country schools as contrasted with the yearly
payment and full year's schooling in Rome (Wickham).
42. coactor : collector of the taxes formed by the publicani.
The coactor was allowed I per cent, on his collection.
54. tuo\ Maecenas'.
A. III. LITERATURE
i. The Author to his Book
VERTVMNVM lanumque, liber, spectare videris,
scilicet ut prostes Sosiorum pumice mundus.
odisti clavis et grata sigilla pudico ;
paucis ostendi gemis et communia laudas,
non ita nutritus. fuge quo descendere gestis. 5
non erit emisso reditus tibi. * quid miser egi ?
quid volui?' dices, ubi quid te laeserit, et scis
in breve te cogi cum plenus languet amator.
quodsi non odio peccantis desipit augur,
carus eris Romae donee te deserat aetas: o
contrectatus ubi manibus sordescere vulgi
coeperis, aut tineas pasces taciturnus inertis,
aut fugies Vticam aut vinctus mitteris Ilerdam,
ridebit monitor non exauditus, ut ille
qui male parentem in.rupes protrusit asellum 15
iratus : quis enim invitum servare laboret ?
hoc quoque te manet, ut pueros elementa docentem
occupet extremis in vicis balba senectus.
cum tibi sol tepidus pluris admoverit auris,
me libertino natum patre et in tenui re 20
maiores pennas nido extendisse loqueris,
ut quantum generi demas virtutibus addas ;
me primis Vrbis belli placuisse domique ;
corporis exigui, praecanum, solibus aptum,
irasci celerem, tamen ut placabilis essem. 25
forte meum si quis te percontabitur aevum,
me quater undenos sciat implevisse Decembris
collegam Lepidum quo duxit Lollius anno.
HOR. Ep. i. 20.
62 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. i
NOTES
Line I. Vertumnum lamimqiie. There was a statue of Ver-
lumnus where the Vicus Tuscus joined the Forum. Janus may
refer to the arches in the Forum (cf. note on A. IV. i. 54), or
to his temple in the Argiletum. In either case a bookseller's
quarter is meant.
2. Sosiorttm. The Sosii Brothers were well-known book-
sellers.
5. non ita nutritus : i.e. it has not been recited.
8. in breve te cogi : to be rolled up and put back in the case.
13. vinctus: metaphor of a slave (cf. line 5 ff. above). Utica
(in Africa) and Ilerda (in Spain) are taken as instances of second-
rate provincial towns. But Horace does not really despise
provincial fame (cf. Odes ii. 20. 17-20, Ars Poetica 345-6 'hie
et mare transit | et longum noto scriptori prorogat aevum '.
17 f. See Juv. vii. 226 (A. III. v. 226 in this book).
19. The meaning of the line is doubtful. Perhaps it refers
to a time of year which is not too hot for recitations. Juvenal
considers August too hot (see Juv. iii. 9, B. III. iv. 9 in this book).
27. Horace was born on Dec. 8th, 65 B.C.
A. III. ii] LITERATURE 63
The Recitation
ii.
SEMPER ego auditor tantum? numquamne reponam
vexatus totiens rauci Theseide Cordi?
inpune ergo mihi recitaverit ille togatas,
hie elegos? inpune diem consumpserit ingens
Telephus aut summi plena iam margine libri 5
scriptus et in tergo necdum finitus Orestes?
nota magis nulli domus est sua quam mihi lucus
Martis et Aeoliis vicinum rupibus antrum
Vulcani; quid agant venti, quas torqueat umbras
Aeacus, unde alius furtivae devehat aurum 10
pelliculae, quantas iaculetur Monychus ornos,
Frontonis platani convulsaque marmora clamant
semper et adsiduo ruptae lectore columnae.
expectes eadem a summo minimoque poeta.
et nos ergo manum ferulae subduximus, et nos 15
consilium dedimus Sullae, privatus ut altum
dormiret. stulta est dementia, cum tot ubique
vatibus occurras, periturae parcere chartae.
Juv. Sat. i.
64 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. ii
NOTES
Line 2. totiens : because it was too long to be finished in a
single recitation.
Theseide Cordi : the epic of an obscure poet.
3. togatas : comedies dealing with Roman and Italian life,
distinguished from the palliata which represented Greek life and
was imitated from Greek originals, especially the New Attic
Comedy. The togata was so called because the actors wore the
toga,
5 f. ' Telephus ' and { Orestes' are typical tragedies by Juvenal's
contemporaries ; ever since the time of Euripides (fifth cent.
B. c.) they had been among the stock subjects for tragedy. The
* Orestes ' here is so long that it overflows into the margin and
even into the back of the roll on which it is written.
7. hicus Martis : among the Colchi, where the golden fleece
was guarded by a dragon.
8. Aeoliis rupibus : the seven Liparaean islands N. of Sicily.
The most southern of these was called the forge of Vulcan.
10. Aeacus : one of the judges of the dead, Minos and Rhada-
manthus being the others.
alius\ Jason.
11. Monychus : used by Latin writers as the proper name of
a Centaur, or animal partly human partly equine.
12. Frontonis : a rich man who allowed recitations to take
place in his grounds.
16. consilium dedimus Sullae. See note on A. II. i. 232.
A. IIL iii] LITERATURE 65
iii
C. PLINIVS SOSIO SENECIONI SVO S.
MAGNVM proventum poetarum annus hie attulit ; toto
mense April! nullus fere dies, quo non recitaret aliquis.
luvat me, quod vigent studia, proferunt se ingenia homi-
5 num et ostentant, tametsi ad audiendum pigre coitur.
Plerique in stationibus sedent tempusque audiendi fabulis
conterunt ac subinde sibi nuntiari iubent, an iam recitator
intraverit, an dixerit praefationem, an ex magna parte
evolverit librum ; tune demum ac tune quoque lente
10 cunctanterque veniunt nee tamen permanent, sed ante
finem recedunt alii dissimulanter et furtim, alii simpli-
citer et libere. At hercule memoria parentum Claudium
Caesarem ferunt, cum in palatio spatiaretur audissetquo
clamorem, causam requisisse, cumque dictum esset recitare
1 5 Nonianum, subitum recitanti inopinatumque venisse. Nunc
otiosissimus quisque multo ante rogatus et identidem admo-
nitus aut non venit aut, si venit, queritur se diem, quia non
perdiderit, perdidisse. Sed tanto magis laudandi probandi-
que sunt, quos a scribendi recitandique studio haec audi-
ao torum vel desidia vel superbia non retardat. Equidem
prope nemini defui. Erant sane plerique amici ; neque
enim est fere quisquam, qui studia, ut non simul et nos
amet. His ex causis longius, quam destinaveram, tempus
in urbe consumpsi. Possum iam repetere secessum et
25 scribere aliquid, quod non recitem, ne videar, quorum
recitationibus adfui, non auditor fuisse, sed creditor. Nam
ut in ceteris rebus ita in audiendi officio perit gratia, si
reposcatur. Vale. PLIN. Ep. i. 13.
1130
66 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. iii
NOTES
Line 12. Claudius himself wrote a history, and recited it in
person. Unfortunately * defractis compluribus subsellis obesitate
cuiusdam ', general laughter arose. Claudius could not get the
fat man out of his head, and the rest of his recitation was inter-
rupted by fits of giggling. (Suet. Claud. 41.)
A. III. iv] LITERATURE 67
iv
C. PLINIVS ROMANO SVO S.
MIRIFICAE rei non interfuisti, ne ego quidem ; sed me
recens fabula excepit. Passennus Paulus, splendidus eques
Romanus et in primis eruditus, scribit elegos. Gentilicium
5 hoc illi -j est enim municeps Properti atque etiam inter
maiores suos Propertium numeral. Is cum recitaret, ita
coepit dicere : ' Prisce, iubes.' Ad hoc lavolenus Priscus
(aderat enim ut Paulo amicissimus) : c Ego vero non iubeo.'
Cogita, qui risus hominum, qui ioci. Est omnino Priscus
10 dubiae sanitatis, interest tamen officiis, adhibetur consiliis
atque etiam ius civile publice respondet. Quo magis, quod
tune fecit, et ridiculum et notabile fuit. Interim Paulo
aliena deliratio aliquantum frigoris attulit. Tarn sollicite
recitaturis providendum est, non solum ut sint ipsi sani,
25 verum etiam ut sanos adhibeant. Vale.
PUN. Ep. vi. 15.
E 2
68 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. iv
NOTES
Line 2. splendidus eques Romanus ', i.e. with senatorial census
(see note on A. IV. iii. 95) and the latus c/avus, the broad band
of purple on the tunic which was the badge of the senatorial order.
The splendidi equites stood midway between the senatorial and
equestrian orders ; they were of standing for senatorial rank, but
preferred the greater freedom and less responsibility of the
lower order.
4. Gentilicium hoc illi, ' it runs in his family.'
municepS) a member of a municipium, ' a town, particularly
in Italy, which possessed the right of Roman citizenship
(together with, in most cases, the right of voting), but was
governed by its own laws ' (Lewis and Short), municeps
Properti here means ' a fellow-citizen of Propertius '.
5. Properti'. one of the chief elegiac poets of the Augustan age
(circ. 49-15 B.C.). Propertius was a native of Mevania near
Asisium (Assisi).
A. III. v] LITERATURE 69
v. The Prospects of the Learned Professions
in Rome
ET spes et ratio studiorum in Caesare tantum :
solus enim tristes hac tempestate Camenas
respexit, cum iam celebres notique poetae
balneolum Gabiis, Romae conducere furnos
temptarent, nee foedum alii nee turpe putarent 5
praecones fieri, cum desertis Aganippes
vallibus esuriens migraret in atria Clio.
nam si Pieria quadrans tibi nullus in umbra
ostendatur, ames nomen victumque Machaerae
et vendas potius commissa quod auctio vendit 10
stantibus, oenophorum tripedes armaria cistas
Alcithoen Pacci, Thebas et Terea Fausti.
hoc satius quam si dicas sub iudice ' vidi '
quod non vidisti, faciant equites Asiani
quamquam et Cappadoces faciant equitesque Bithyni, 15
altera quos nudo traducit gallica talo.
nemo tamen studiis indignum ferre laborem
cogetur posthac, nectit quicumque canoris
eloquium vocale modis laurumque momordit.
hoc agite, o iuvenes. circumspicit et stimulat vos 20
materiamque sibi ducis indulgentia quaerit.
siqua aliunde putas rerum spectanda tuarum
praesidia atque ideo croceae membrana tabellae
implentur, lignorum aliquid posce ocius et quae
componis dona Veneris, Telesine, marito, 25
aut elude et positos tinea pertunde libellos.
frange miser calamum vigilataque proelia dele,
qui facis in parva sublimia carmina cella,
ut dignus venias hederis et imagine macra.
70 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. v
spes nulla ulterior; didicit iam dives avarus 30
tantum admirari, tantum laudare disertos,
ut pueri lunonis avem. sed defluit aetas
et pelagi patiens et cassidis atque ligonis.
taedia tune subeunt animos, tune seque suamque
Terpsichoren odit facunda et nuda senectus. 35
accipe nunc artes. ne quid tibi conferat iste
quern colis et Musarum et Apollinis aede relicta,
ipse facit versus atque uni cedit Homero
propter mille annos, et si dulcedine famae
succensus recites, Maculonis commodat aedes. 40
haec longe ferrata domus servire iubetur,
in qua sollicitas imitatur ianua portas.
scit dare libertos extrema in parte sedentis
ordinis et magnas comitum disponere voces :
nemo dabit regum, quanti subsellia constant 45
et quae conducto pendent anabathra tigillo
quaeque reportandis posita est orchestra cathedris.
nos tamen hoc agimus tenuique in pulvere sulcos
ducimus et litus sterili versaruus aratro.
nam si discedas, laqueo tenet ambitiosi 50
consuetude mali ; tenet insanabile multos
scribendi cacoethes et aegro in corde senescit.
sed vatem egregium, cui non sit publica vena,
qui nil expositum soleat deducere, nee qui
communi feriat carmen triviale moneta, 55
hunc, qualem nequeo monstrare et sentio tantum,
anxietate carens animus facit, omnis acerbi
inpatiens, cupidus silvarum aptusque bibendis
fontibus Aonidum. neque enim cantare sub antro
Pierio thyrsumque potest contingere maesta 60
paupertas atque aeris inops, quo nocte dieque
corpus eget : satur est cum dicit Horatius * euhoe '.
quis locus ingenio, nisi cum se carmine solo
A. III. v] LITERATURE 71
vexant et dominis Cirrhae Nysaeque feruntur
pectora vestra duas non admittentia curas? 65
magnae mentis opus nee de lodice paranda
attonitae, currus et equos faciesque deorum
aspicere et qualis Rutulum confundat Erinys.
nam si Vergilio puer et tolerabile desset
hospitium, caderent omnes a crinibus hydri, 70
surda nihil gemeret grave bucina. poscimus ut sit
non minor antique Rubrenus Lappa coturno,
cuius et alveoles et laenam pignerat Atreus.
non habet infelix Numitor quod mittat amico,
Quintillae quod donet habet, nee defuit illi 75
unde emeret multa pascendum carne leonem
iam domitum ; constat leviori belua sumptu
nimirum et capiunt plus intestina poetae.
contentus fama iaceat Lucanus in hortis
marmoreis, at Serrano tenuique Saleio 80
gloria quantalibet quid erit, si gloria tantum est?
curritur ad vocem iucundam et carmen amicae
Thebaidos, laetam cum fecit Statius urbem
promisitque diem ; tanta dulcedine captos
adncit ille animos tantaque libidine vulgi 85
auditur; sed cum fregit subsellia versu,
esurit, intactam Paridi nisi vendit Agauen.
ille et militiae multis largitur honorem,
semenstri digitos vatum circumligat auro.
quod non dant proceres dabit histrio. tu Camerinos 90
et Baream, tu nobilium magna atria curas?
praefectos Pelopea facit, Philomela tribunes.
haut tamen invideas vati quern pulpita pascunt.
quis tibi Maecenas, quis nunc erit aut Proculeius
aut Fabius? quis Cotta iterum, quis Lentulus alter? 95
tune par ingenio pretium, tune utile multis
pallere et vinum toto nescire decembri.
72 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. v
vester porro labor fecundior, historiarum
scriptores ? perit hie plus temporis atque olei plus,
nullo quippe modo millensima pagina surgit 100
omnibus et crescit multa damnosa papyro ;
sic ingens rerum numerus iubet atque operum lex.
quae tamen inde seges ? terrae quis fructus apertae ?
quis dabit historico quantum daret acta legenti ?
' sed genus ignavum, quod lecto gaudet et umbra.' 105
die igitur quid causidicis civilia praestent
officia et magno comites in fasce libelli.
ipsi magna sonant, sed turn cum creditor audit
praecipue, vel si tetigit latus acrior illo
qui venit ad dubium grandi cum codice nomen. no
tune inmensa cavi spirant mendacia folles
conspuiturque sinus : veram deprendere messem
si libet, hinc centum patrimonia causidicorum,
parte alia solum russati pone Lacernae.
consedere duces, surgis tu pallidus Aiax 115
dicturus dubia pro libertate bubulco
iudice. rumpe miser tensum iecur, ut tibi lasso
figantur virides, scalarum gloria, palmae.
quod vocis pretium ? siccus petasunculus et vas
pelamydum aut veteres, Maurorum epimenia, bulbi, 120
aut vinum Tiberi devectum, quinque lagonae.
si quater egisti, si contigit aureus unus,
inde cadunt partes ex foedere pragmaticorum.
Aemilio dabitur quantum licet, et melius nos
egimus. huius enim stat currus aeneus, alti 125
quadriiuges in vestibulis, atque ipse feroci
bellatore sedens curvatum hastile minatur
eminus et statua meditatur proelia lusca.
sic Pedo conturbat, Matho deficit, exitus hie est
Tongilii, magno cum rhinocerote lavari 130
qui solet et vexat lutulenta balnea turba
A. III. v] LITERATURE 73
perque forum iuvenes longo premit assere Maedos,
empturus pueros argentum murrina villas ;
spondet enim Tyrio stlattaria purpura filo.
et tamen est illis hoc utile. purpura vendit 135
causidicum, vendunt amethystina ; convenit illi
et strepitu et facie maioris vivere census,
sed finem inpensae non servat prodiga Roma.
fidimus eloquio ? Ciceroni nemo ducentos
nunc dederit nummos, nisi fulserit anulus ingens. 140
respicit haec primum qui litigat, an tibi servi
octo, decem comites, an post te sella, togati
ante pedes. ideo conducta Paulus agebat
sardonyche, atque ideo pluris quam Gallus agebat,
quam Basilus. rara in tenui facundia panno. 145
quando licet Basilo flentem producere matrem ?
quis bene dicentem Basilum ferat? accipiat te
Gallia vel potius nutricula causidicorum
Africa, si placuit mercedem ponere linguae.
declamare doces : o ferrea pectora Vetti, 150
cum perimit saevos classis numerosa tyrannos.
nam quaecumque sedens modo legerat, haec eadem stans
perferet atque eadem cantabit versibus isdem ;
occidit miseros crambe repetita magistros.
quis color et quod sit causae genus atque ubi summa 155
quaestio, quae veniant diversae forte sagittae,
nosse volunt omnes, mercedem solvere nemo.
* mercedem appellas ? quid enim scio ? ' ' culpa docentis
scilicet arguitur, quod laevae parte mamillae
nil salit Arcadico iuveni, cuius mihi sexta 160
quaque die miserum dims caput Hannibal inplet,
quidquid id est de quo deliberat, an petat urbem
a Cannis, an post nimbos et fulmina cautus
circumagat madidas a tempestate cohortes.
quantum vis stipulare et protinus accipe. quid do 165
74 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. v
ut totiens ilium pater audiat ? ' haec alii sex
vel plures uno conclamant ore sophistae,
et veras agitant lites raptore relicto,
fusa venena silent, malus ingratusque maritus,
et quae iam veteres sanant mortaria caecos. 170
ergo sibi dabit ipse rudem, si nostra movebunt
consilia, et vitae diversum iter ingredietur,
ad pugnam qui rhetorica descendit ab umbra,
summula ne pereat qua vilis tessera venit
frumenti. quippe haec merces lautissima. tempta, 175
Chrysogonus quanti doceat vel Polio quanti
lautorum pueros : artem scindes Theodori.
balnea sescentis et pluris porticus in qua
gestetur dominus quotiens pluit. anne serenum
expectet spargatque luto iumenta recenti ? 180
hie potius, namque hie mundae nitet ungula mulae.
parte alia longis Numidarum fulta columnis
surgat et algentem rapiat cenatio solem.
quanticumque domus, veniet qui fercula docte
conponat, veniet qui pulmentaria condit. 185
hos inter sumptus sestertia Quintiliano,
ut multum, duo sufficient ; res nulla minoris
constabit patri quam films, 'unde igitur tot
Quintilianus habet saltus ? ' exempla novorum
fatorum transi : felix et pulcer et acer, 190
felix et sapiens et nobilis et generosus,
adpositam nigrae lunam subtexit alutae;
felix orator quoque maximus et iaculator,
et, si perfrixit, cantat bene. distat enim quae
sidera te excipiant modo primos incipientem 195
edere vagitus et adhuc a matre rubentem.
si Fortuna volet, fies de rhetore consul ;
si volet haec eadem, fiet de consule rhetor.
Ventidius quid enim ? quid Tullius ? anne aliud quam
A. III. v] LITERATURE 75
sidus et occulti miranda potentia fati ? 200
servis regna dabunt, captivis fata triumphum.
felix ille tamen corvo quoque rarior albo.
paenituit multos vanae sterilisque cathedrae,
sicut Thrasymachi probat exitus atque Secundi
Carrinatis ; et hunc inopem vidistis, Athenae, 205
nil praeter gelidas ausae conferre cicutas.
di maiorum umbris tenuem et sine pondere terrain
spirantisque crocos et in urna perpetuum ver,
qui praeceptorem sancti voluere parentis
esse loco, metuens virgae iam grandis Achilles 210
cantabat patriis in montibus et cui non tune
eliceret risum citharoedi cauda magistri ;
sed Rufum atque alios caedit sua quemque iuventus,
Rufum, quern totiens Ciceronem Allobroga dixit.
quis gremio Celadi doctique Palaemonis adfert 215
quantum grammaticus meruit labor? et tamen ex hoc
quodcumque est, minus est autem quam rhetoris aera,
discipuli custos praemordet acoenonoetus,
et qui dispensat, frangit sibi. cede, Palaemon,
et patere inde aliquid decrescere, non aliter quam 220
institor hibernae tegetis niveique cadurci,
dummodo non pereat mediae quod noctis ab hora
sedisti, qua nemo faber, qua nemo sederet
qui docet obliquo lanam deducere ferro ;
dummodo non pereat totidem olfecisse lucernas, 225
quot stabant pueri, cum totus decolor esset
Flaccus et haereret nigro fuligo Maroni.
rara tamen merces quae cognitione tribuni
non egeat. sed vos saevas inponite leges,
ut praeceptori verborum regula constet, 230
ut legat historias, auctores noverit omnes
tamquam ungues digitosque suos, ut forte rogatus
dum petit aut thermas aut Phoebi balnea, dicat
76 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. v
nutricem Anchisae, nomen patriamque novercae
Anchemoli, dicat quot Acestes vixerit annis, 235
quot Siculi Phrygibus vini donaverit urnas.
exigite ut mores teneros ceu pollice ducat,
ut si quis cera vultum facit ; exigite ut sit
et pater ipsius coetus, ne turpia ludant.
' haec ' inquit ' cures, et cum se verterit annus, 240
accipe, victori populus quod postulat, aurum.'
Juv. Sat. vii.
A. III. v] LITERATURE 7.7
NOTES
Caesar is the Muses' only hope in an age when poets are
driven to menial trades, and to sell all their belongings (1-12) ;
and even this is better than making money by bearing false
witness (13-16). But Caesar has put an end to the poets'
troubles (17-21). If you expect help from any one else, you may
as well destroy your books at once, since rich men nowadays
will give a poet praise but no pay (22-35). Your patron makes
the most miserly provision for your recitation (36-47). Yet
you cannot get out of the habit of writing (48-52). Good poetry
cannot be produced by a man who has always to be taking
thought for his bodily needs. A patron will keep a lion, but
cannot afford to send presents to a poet (53-78). Rich Lucan
may be content with his glory, but poor Statius has to eke out a
livelihood by writing librettos for pantomimes (79-92). The age
of munificent patrons is over (93-7). Historians are no better
off than poets (98-104). Even attorneys fare no better (105-23).
It is only by making a display that an advocate can get on
(124-49). The teacher of declamation has a monotonous exis-
tence, and often has to go to law to obtain his miserable fee
(150-75). A rich man lavishes money on all kinds of luxuries,
but can only spend a pittance on his son's education (176-87).
Such luck as Quintilian's is rare, but there are many examples
of destitute and ill-used rhetoricians (188-214). The school-
master's life is the most wretched of all : he has to be a paragon
of omniscience, the guide and philosopher of his pupils, and at
the end of the year gets no more than a successful gladiator can
obtain by a single performance (2i5~end).
The general subject of this satire is the miserable state of the
professions which can in any sense be called learned. As far as
the literary profession is concerned, the state of affairs in
Imperial Rome reminds us of that in the England of the
eighteenth century, where the essential thing for a literary man
was patronage. Johnson speaks of it with the bitterness of
Juvenal, cf. The Vanity of Human Wishes, 159, 160:
There mark what ills the scholar's life assail
Toil, envy, want, the patron and the jail ;
and his Letter to Lord Chesterfield :
' Seven years, my Lord, have now past, since I waited in your
outward rooms, or was repulsed from your door ; during which
time I have been pushing on my work through difficulties, of
which it is useless to complain, and have brought it at last to the
verge of publication, without one act of assistance, one word of
encouragement, or one smile of favour. Such treatment I did
78 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. v
not expect, for I never had a Patron before. The shepherd in
Virgil grew at last acquainted with Love and found him a native
of the rocks.
' Is not a Patron, my Lord, one who looks with unconcern on
a man struggling for life in the water, and when he has reached
ground, encumbers him with help ? The notice which you have
been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been
kind ; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot
enjoy it ; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it ; till I am
known, and do not want it. I hope it is no very cynical asperity,
not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received, or
to be unwilling that the publick should consider me as owing
that to a Patron, which Providence has enabled me to do for
myself.'
Line I ff. Caesare: Hadrian (princeps from A.D. 117 to 138).
tristes. Poetry though at first patronized by Dpmitian was
afterwards neglected by him (Suet. Dom. 2). Trajan's princi-
pate was favourable to philosophy and oratory (Plin. Pan. 47),
but, as far as we know, not especially so to poetry.
9. Machaerae : a praeco of the time.
12. Tragic poets of the day, who, after selling everything else,
have at last to get rid of their tragedies.
1 6. altera gallica. Just as altera Gallia means Galatia (into
which region a large number of Gauls made their way at the
invitation of the Bithynian king Nicomedes in 278 B.C.), so,
apparently, altera gallica may mean ' a Galatian shoe ', solea
being supplied.
25. Veneris marito : Vulcan (Hephaestus), the god of fire.
29. imagine macra. Asinius Pollio, the great literary patron
of the Augustan age, introduced the practice of adorning libraries
with the busts of literary men. Aspirants to such literary fame
might well be emaciated by hard study.
36. iste quein colts : the poet's patron. The poet deserts the
temples of the Muses and Apollo, where his recitations would be
open to the general public, and reserves his works for his patron
alone.
41 ff. The house is a long way off and the door is barred up,
to exclude uninvited guests, as closely as the gates of a besieged
town. The patron sends freedmen and clients to applaud, but
will not go to the expense of hiring seats for the audience.
47. Just as in the theatre the orchestra or front part of the audi-
torium was reserved for senators, so here the name is applied to
the front rows reserved for distinguished visitors at a recitation.
62. euhoe. Horace, Odes ii. 19. 5 ' Euhoe, recenti mens
trepidat metu | plenoque Bacchi pectore turbidum | laetatur'.
Euhoe was the regular Bacchanal cry.
A. III. v] LITERATURE 79
64 f. dominis Cirrhae Nysaeque feruntur : Apollo and Bac-
chus. A poet inspired by such gods cannot serve Mammon.
68 ft. Cf. Verg. Aen. vii. 323 ff. King Latinus had received
Aeneas favourably, so Juno sent the Fury Allecto to madden his
wife Amata and Turnus.
72 f. We expect Rubrenus Lappa's tragedies to come up to the
standard of the ancients, when during the time spent in writing his
Atreus he can only support himself by pawning his belongings.
74 ff. A rich man who sends presents to the lady of his choice
and keeps a lion, sends nothing to his friend the poet. Perhaps
poets hold more than lions.
79. Lucan (A.D. 39-65), nephew of Seneca, and author of the
' Pharsalia ' was very rich. His ability excited the jealousy of
Nero, who forbade him to read his poems in public. He conse-
quently joined the conspiracy of Piso (Tac. xv. 49) and was
forced to commit suicide.
80. Serranus, a needy epic poet, who died young. Quintilian
sees promise in his boyish works (x. i. 89).
Saleius mentioned by Quintilian (x. I. 90) as a vigorous epic
poet, and by Tacitus (Dial. 9, A III. vi. 8, 27 in this book) as a
good poet, who obtained no social importance from his poetry.
He adds, however, that he got a present of 500,000 sesterces
(,4,000) from Vespasian.
83. Statius (circ. A.D. 40-96) was the author of the Thebais,
an epic on the Theban legend, and of other works. He got
nothing but glory from his more serious efforts and had to eke
out a living by writing librettos for pantomimes, according to
Juvenal. But probably Juvenal exaggerates the poverty of
Statius, who seems to have been much better off than Martial.
87. Partdi: a famous actor in the time of Domitian, put to
death in A. p. 83 under suspicion of an intrigue with the emperor's
wife Domitia.
88 ff. The attack on actors contained in these lines is said,
in the lives prefixed to the MSS. of Juvenal, to have led to the
exile of Juvenal at the age of eighty. Moreover Apollinaris
Sidonius, a fifth-century poet who was also a Christian bishop,
says that Juvenal ' irati fuit histrionis exsul '. But the emperors
under whom the exile took place and the place of banishment
(Egypt or Britain) are variously given, and altogether a good
deal of uncertainty attaches to the tradition.
88. The position of tribune of a legion carried with it eques-
trian rank. One of the ways in which the emperors could raise
a man to the position of eques was to give him this post. After
six months he could retire from his military duties, with the ring,
the token of equestrian rank, on his finger.
92. Pelopea, Philomela : names of saltatoriae fabulae, like
Agaue above (1. 87), acted by pantomimi.
8o THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. v
94 ff. In the days of such liberal patrons as Maecenas (the great
statesman of the Augustan age, patron of Horace and Vergil),
Proculeius (a friend of Augustus, famous for the generosity with
which he divided his property among his brothers who had lost
theirs in the Civil War, cf. Hor. Odes ii. 2, 5, 6), Fabius (friend
of Augustus and of Ovid), and Cotta (Ovid's patron), it was worth
a poet's while to work right through the Saturnalia.
104. acta (diurna or publica) : a daily record of personal,
political, and general news founded by Caesar. In its official
character it resembles the Gazette issued by the government in
Stuart times.
105 ff. Historians, you may say, are out of touch with practical
life and deserve no more than they get. But does the Bar offer
better prospects ?
io8ff. Advocates talk big about their earnings, especially if
one of their creditors happens to be anywhere near, still more so
if their attention is attracted by a rich litigant with a huge ledger
who is trying to recover at law a doubtful debt. Then their
boasts are such that they have ' conspuere in sinus', by which
they superstitiously hope to avert ill-luck. Such is their own
account of themselves : as a matter of fact a successful chariot-
driver in the Circus could buy up a hundred advocates.
114. In the Circus four chariots generally competed, the
drivers of which were distinguished by wearing white, red, blue,
and green. Each of these colours was enthusiastically supported
by its faction. Cp. Juv. xi. 197-8 (B. II. vii. 5, 6 in this book).
115. A mock-heroic reference to the contest between Ulysses
and Ajax for the arms of Achilles. See note on A. IV. iii. 84.
1 1 8. scalarum gloria. The poor advocate would live in an
attic up several pair of stairs.
119. petasunculus : a small leg of pork.
1 20. pelainydum : small tunnies.
epimenia : monthly rations.
121. Wine that came down the Tiber (e.g. the Sabinum and
Veientanunt) was bad. The best vintages, from Campania and
Aegean, came up the Tiber.
123. Causidici were often ignorant of law and had to apply to
pragmaticifvr the legal arguments which their eloquence was to
set out.
124. Aemilius, a noble pleader, receives 100 sesterces (an
aureus], which Claudius, in legalizing advocates' fees which under
the Republic had been forbidden, had fixed as the maximum.
This was four times what the poor pleader got (1. 122).
129. conturbat t sc. rationes, ' wrecks his accounts ', i. e.
' becomes a bankrupt '.
134. spondet, 'gains him credit.' The advocate finds his
pomp and luxury a good advertisement.
A. III. v] LITERATURE 81
142. togati: clients who walked in front of their patron on his
way to the forum.
146. An advocate who did not make a display would never be
employed in a case important enough for a mother to appear in
the course of it weeping for her son. The device of bringing in
sorrowing relatives to melt the hearts of a jury was common
both in Greece and Rome.
155. color : a technica Iterm of the schools of rhetoric, denoting
the varnish, gloss, or colour, by which the accused endeavours to
palliate, the accuser to aggravate, the allowed facts of the case
(Mayor).
i62ff. an petat urbem a Cannis and an post nimbos &c.
refer to two different occasions. With regard to the second of
these Livy (xxvi. n) tells us that in 211 B.C., i.e. five years after
the battle of Cannae, when the armies were drawn up ready for
a battle in which Rome was to be the prize of victory, a great
storm of rain and hail drove the combatants back to their camps.
Another attempt to fight, on the following day, was checked by
a similar storm, but as soon as the armies had retired to their
camps, it became perfectly fine. The Carthaginians attached
a supernatural significance to these events. It is worth noting
that the story does not occur in Polybius.
l68ff. veras agitant lites : to get their fees (cf. 173-5 below).
The topics mentioned in the next two lines were stock subjects
for declamations.
177. Theodori'. the author of a treatise (arteni) on rhetoric.
Chrysogonus and Pollio (176) were teachers of music.
186. Quintilian (tire. A.D. 35-95), professor of rhetoric at
Rome, and author of the Institutio Oratoria, the greatest work
of Latin criticism. Martial, a friend of his, addresses him
(ii. 90. i, 2):
Quintiliane, vagae moderator summe iuventae,
gloria Romanae, Quintiliane, togae.
He became consul under Domitian (cf. 197 below).
192. lunam subtexit alulae. Senators wore a special kind of
shoe with a crescent on the front of it.
199. Ventidius Bassus : a man of low birth, who at one time
got a living by grooming mules, became a friend of Caesar and
consul in 43 B.C.
Servius Tullius : one of the early kings of Rome, is said to
have been the son of a slave-girl.
204. Thrasymachi'. one of the great sophists of the fifth century
B. c., said by the scholiast, but by no one else, to have been hanged.
He is one of the characters in Plato, Republic, Book I.
Secundi Carrinatis : a rhetorician banished from Rome by
Caligula.
1130 ~
82 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. v
205 f. et hunc: probably some contemporary rhetorician of
whom we know nothing. Some think the line refers to Socrates,
but Socrates was not a teacher of rhetoric, and hunc seems to
indicate some one of recent date.
212. citharoedi magistri : the centaur Chiron.
214. Rufum: a Gaul, and so nicknamed the ' Allobrogian
Cicero ' by his pupils, the Allobroges being a Gallic tribe. He
may have seriously considered himself superior to Cicero and
have said so to his pupils.
215. Palaemonis. A famous grammaticus under Tiberius and
Claudius. He bore a bad character, but was an excellent
teacher.
2 1 8 f. discipuli custos : the paedagogus.
acoenonoetus\ a Greek word meaning 'without common sense'.
qui dispensat : the cashier.
226 f. Vergil and Horace had already become school classics.
Cf. Hor. Ep. i. 20. 17, 18 (A. III. 5. 17, 18 in this book) :
hoc quoque te manet, ut pueros elementa docentem
occupet extremis in vicis balba senectus.
228. Grammatici) like rhetoricians (1. 168 above), had often to
sue for their fees in the courts. For the tribune's jurisdiction
see note on B. I. ix. 7.
229 ff. vos : i. e. the parents. There follows an ironical list of
what the parent expects. The schoolmaster must never make
slips in his grammar, he must have all the classics at his fingers'
ends, he must be able to answer the most trivial and recondite
questions which arise out of his subject, and must exercise a moral
influence as well.
241. victori. A schoolmaster's yearly salary is only equal to
what a victorious gladiator gets for a single performance. This
was 5 aurei (= 500 sesterces = 4) if the gladiator was free, 4 aurei
if a slave. There are other interpretations of the passage. If this
is the right one, it is of course an exaggeration.
A. III. vi] LITERATURE 83
vi. The ' Inutility ' of Literature
NAM carmina et versus, quibus totam vitam Maternus
insumere optat (inde enim omnis fluxit oratio), neque digni-
tatem ullam auctoribus suis conciliant neque utilitates alunt ;
voluptatem autem brevem, laudem inanem et infructuosam
5 consequuntur. licet haec ipsa et quae deinceps dicturus
sum aures tuae, Materne, respuant, cui bono est, si apud te
Agamemnon aut lason diserte loquitur ? quis ideo domum
defensus et tibi obligatus redit? quis Saleium nostrum,
egregium poetam vel, si hoc honorificentius est, praeclaris-
10 simum vatem, deducit aut salutat aut prosequitur ? nempe
si amicus eius, si propinquus, si denique ipse in aliquod
negotium incident, ad hunc Secundum recurret aut ad te,
Materne, non quia poeta es, neque ut pro eo versus facias ;
hi enim Basso domi nascuntur, pulchri quidem et iucundi.
15 quorum tamen hie exitus est, ut cum toto anno, per omnis
dies, magna noctium parte unum librum excudit et elucu-
bravit, rogare ultro et ambire cogatur, ut sint qui dignentur
audire, et ne id quidem gratis ; nam et domum mutuatur et
auditorium exstruit et subsellia conducit et libellos dispergit.
20 et ut beatissimus recitationem eius eventus prosequatur,
omnis ilia laus intra unum aut alterum diem, velut in herba
vel More praecerpta, ad nullam certam et solidam pervenit
frugem, nee aut amicitiam inde refert aut clientelam aut
mansurum in animo cuiusquam beneficium, sed clamorem
25 vagum et voces inanis et gaudium volucre. laudavimus
nuper ut miram et eximiam Vespasiani liberalitatem, quod
quingenta sestertia Basso donasset. pulchrum id quidem,
indulgentiam principis ingenio mereri : quanto tamen pul-
chrius, si ita res familiaris exigat, se ipsum colere, suum
F 2
84 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. vi
genium propitiare, suam experiri libei^litatem ! adice quod 30
poetis, si modo dignum aliquid elaborare et efficere velint,
relinquenda conversatio amicorum et iucunditas urbis, dese-
renda cetera officia utque ipsi dicunt, in nemora et lucos, id
est in solitudinera secedendum est.
TAC. Dial. 9.
A. III. vi] LITERATURE 85
NOTES
Line 12. Secundum : a leader of the Bar, described in Dial. 2,
with Aper as ' celeberrima turn ingenia fori nostri '.
1 8. Cf. Juv. Sat. vii. 45 ff. (A. III. v. 45 ff. in this book).
26. Cf. Suet. Vesp. 18 ' Primus e fisco Latinis Graecisque
rhetoribus annua centena constituit ; praestantis poetas . . .
insigni congiario magnaque mercede donavit '.
86 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. vii
vii. A Scholar s Life
C. PLINIVS BAEBIO MACRO SVO S.
PERGRATVM est mihi, quod tarn diligenter libros avunculi
mei lectitas, ut habere omnes velis quaerasque, qui sint
omnes. Fungar indicis parti bus atque etiam, quo sint
ordine scripti, notum tibi faciam ; est enim haec quoque 5
studiosis non iniucunda cognitio. ' De iaculatione equestri
unus'; hunc, cum praefectus alae militaret, pari ingenio
curaque conposuit. ' De vita Pomponi Secundi duo ' ; a
quo singulariter amatus hoc memoriae amici quasi debitum
munus exsolvit. * Bellorum Germaniae vigtnti ' ; quibus 10
omnia, quae cum Germanis gessimus bella, collegit. In-
choavit, cum in Germania militaret, somnio monitus.
Adstitit ei quiescenti Drusi Neronis effigies,, qui Germaniae
latissime victor ibi periit, commendabat memoriam suam
orabatque, ut se ab iniuria oblivionis adsereret. ' Studiosi 15
tres ' in sex volumina propter amplitudinem divisi, quibus
oratorem ab incunabulis instituit et perfecit. ' Dubii
sermonis octo ' ; scripsit sub Nerone novissimis annis,
cum omne studiorum genus paulo liberius et erectius
periculosum servitus fecisset. ' A fine Aufidi Bassi triginta 20
unus.' ' Naturae historiarum triginta septem,' opus diffu-
sum, eruditum nee minus varium quam ipsa natura.
Miraris, quod tot volumina multaque in his tarn scrupulosa
homo occupatus absolverit, magis miraberis, si scieris ilium
aliquandiu causas actitasse, decessisse anno sexto et quin- 25
quagensimo, medium tempus distentum impeditumque
qua officiis maximis qua amicitia principum egisse. Sed
erat acre ingenium, incredibile studium, summa vigilantia.
Lucubrare Vulcanalibus incipiebat non auspicandi causa,
sed studendi, statim a nocte multa, hieme vero ab hora 30
septima vel, cum tardissime, octava, saepe sexta. Erat
sane somni paratissimi, non numquam etiam inter ipsa
A. III. vii] LITERATURE 87
studia instantis et deserentis. Ante lucem ibat ad Vespa-
sianum imperatorem (nam ille quoque noctibus utebatur),
35 inde ad delegatum sibi officium. Reversus domum, quod
reliquum temporis, studiis reddebat. Post cibum saepe,
quern interdiu levem et facilem veterum more sumebat,
aestate, si quid otii, iacebat in sole, liber legebatur, adnota-
bat excerpebatque. Nihil enim legit, quod non excerperet ;
40 dicere etiam solebat nullum esse librum tarn malum, ut non
aliqua parte prodesset. Post solem plerumque frigida
lavabatur, deinde gustabat dormiebatque minimum; mox
quasi alio die studebat in cenae tempus. Super hanc
liber legebatur, adnotabatur et quidem cursim. Memini
45 quendam ex amicis, cum lector quaedam perperam pro-
nuntiasset, revocasse et repeti coegisse ; huic avunculum
meum dixisse : ' Intellexeras nempe.' Cum ille adnuisset,
'Cur ergo revocabas? decem amplius versus hac tua
interpellatione perdidimus.' Tanta erat parsimonia tempo-
50 ris. Surgebat aestate a cena luce, hieme intra primam
noctis et tamquam aliqua lege cogente. Haec inter medios
labores urbisque fremitum ; in secessu solum balinei
tempus studiis eximebatur. Cum dico balinei, de interiori-
bus loquor; nam, dum destringitur tergiturque, audiebat
55 aliquid aut dictabat. In itinere quasi solutus ceteris curis
huic uni vacabat ; ad latus notarius cum libro et pugillari-
bus, cuius manus hieme manicis muniebantur, ut ne caeli
quidem asperitas ullum studiis tempus eriperet; qua ex
causa Romae quoque sella vehebatur. Repeto me cor-
60 reptum ab eo, cur ambularem. c Poteras ' in quit ' has
horas non perdere ' ; nam perire omne tempus arbitrabatur,
quod studiis non inpertiretur. Hac intentione tot ista
volumina peregit electorumque commentarios centum se-
xaginta mihi reliquit opisthographos quidem et minutissime
65 scriptos ; qua ratione multiplicatur hie numerus. Refere-
bat ipse potuisse se, cum procuraret in Hispania, vendere
88 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. vii
hos commentaries Larcio Licino quadringentis milibus
minimum, et tune aliquanto pauciores erant. Nonne vide-
tur tibi recordanti, quantum legerit, quantum scripserit,
nee in officiis ullis nee in amicitia principis fuisse, rursus, 70
cum audis, quid studiis laboris inpenderit, nee scripsisse
satis nee legisse ? Quid est enim, quod non aut illae
occupationes inpedire aut haec instantia non possit efficere ?
Itaque soleo ridere, cum me quidam studiosum vocant, qui,
si comparer illi, sum desidiosissimus. Ego autem tantum, 75
quern partim publica, partim amicorum officia distringunt ?
quis ex istis, qui tota vita litteris adsident, collatus illi non
quasi somno et inertiae deditus erubescat ?
Extendi epistulam, cum hoc solum, quod requirebas,
scribere destinassem, quos libros reliquisset ; confido tamen 80
haec quoque tibi non minus grata quam ipsos libros futura,
quae te non tantum ad legendos eos, verum etiam ad simile
aliquid elaborandum possunt aemulationis stimulis excitare.
Vale. PUN. Ep. iii. 5.
A. III. viij LITERATURE 89
NOTES
Line 2. cwunculi: Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23-79).
13. Drusi Neronis : brother of Tiberius. He carried on three
campaigns in Germany (12-10 B.C.), and died during his fourth
campaign in 9 B. c. Cf. Horace, Odes iv. 4. 17, 18 :
Videre Raetis bella sub Alpibus
Drusum gerentem Vindelici,
which refers to the campaign carried on by him and Tiberius in
the Tyrol in 15 B.C.
15. ' Stitdiosi tres] sc. libri. The scope of the work is the
same as that of Cicero's ' De Oratore '. A similar plan was
afterwards carried out on a larger scale in Quintilian's ' Institutio
Oratoria '.
17. ' Dubii sermonis octo" 1 dealt with dubious formations in
declension, conjugation, and word-formation, also with etymo-
logy and the parts of speech. For the paralysing effect of
despotism on literature compare Tacitus's account of the state of
affairs under Domitian, Agr. 2, 3 (A. I. i. I ff. in this book).
20. Aiifidi Bassi\ who lived under Tiberius, Caligula, and
Claudius, and wrote a history of the first few principates. It
is not exactly known where his work started or where it was
taken up by Pliny.
21. Naturae historiaruni : the sole surviving work of the Elder
Pliny, an encyclopaedia of natural science, the scrappy and
incoherent style of which betrays the manner of its composition
(see lines 39 ff. below).
29. Vulcanalibus : the yearly festival in honour of Vulcan
celebrated on Aug. 23. To begin working by lamp-light on
the festival of the God of fire would be a good omen, but this
was not Pliny's object.
53. de inter ioribus. If the text is correct, this must refer to
the actual bathing, as opposed to the undressing before and the
anointing and rubbing afterwards.
64. opisthographos : books written on both sides of the
papyrus. Cp. Juv. i. 6 (A. III. ii. 6 in this book) ( scriptus et in
tergo necdum finitus Orestes '. Usually the back of the papyrus
was coloured.
66. procuraret\ held the office ^{procurator.
90 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. viii
viii. A Scholars Death
C. PLINIVS TACITO SVO S.
PETIS, ut tibi avunculi mei exitum scribam, quo verius
tradere posteris possis. Gratias ago ; nam video morti eius,
si celebretur a te, inmortalem gloriam esse propositam.
Quamvis enim pulcherrimarum clade terrarum ut populi, 5
ut urbes memorabili casu quasi semper victurus occiderit,
quamvis ipse plurima opera et mansura condiderit, multum
tamen perpetuitati eius scriptorum tuorum aeternitas addet.
Equidem beatos puto, quibus deorum munere datum est
aut facere scribenda aut scribere legenda, beatissimos vero, 10
quibus utrumque. Horum in numero avunculus meus et
suis libris et tuis erit. Quo libentius suscipio, deposco
etiam, quod iniungis.
Erat Miseni classemque imperio praesens regebat. No-
num Kal. Septembres hora fere septima mater mea indicat 15
ei apparere nubem invisitata et magnitudine et specie.
Vsus ille sole, mox frigida gustaverat iacens studebatque ;
poscit soleas, ascendit locum, ex quo maxime miraculum
illud conspici poterat. Nubes, incertum procul intuentibus
ex quo monte (Vesuvium fuisse postea cognitum est), 20
oriebatur, cuius similitudinem et formam non alia magis
arbor quam pinus expresserit. Nam longissimo velut trunco
elata in altum quibusdam ramis diffundebatur, credo, quia
recenti spiritu evecta, dein senescente eo destituta aut etiam
pondere suo victa in latitudinem vanescebat, Candida inter- 25
dum, interdum sordida et maculosa, prout terram cineremve
sustulerat. Magnum propiusque noscendum ut eruditissimo
viro visum. lubet Liburnicam aptari ; mihi, si venire una
vellem, facit copiam. Respondi studere me malle, et forte
ipse, quod scriberem, dederat. Egrediebatur domo ; acci- 30
pit codicillos Rectinae Tasci inminenti periculo exterritae
A. III. viii] LITERATURE 91
(nam villa eius subiacebat, nee ulla nisi navibus fuga) ; ut
se tanto discrimini eriperet, orabat. Vertit ille consilium
et, quod studioso animo incohaverat, obit maximo. De-
35 ducit quadriremes, ascendit ipse non Rectinae modo, sed
multis (erat enim frequens amoenitas orae) laturus auxilium.
Properat illuc, unde alii fugiunt, rectumque cursum, recta
gubernacula in periculum tenet adeo solutus metu, ut
omnis illius mali motus, omnis figuras, ut deprenderat
40 oculis, dictaret enotaretque. lam navibus cinis incidebat,
quo propius accederent, calidior et densior, iam pumices
etiam nigrique et ambusti et fracti igne lapides, iam vadum
subitum ruinaque mentis litora obstantia. Cunctatus pau-
lum, an retro flecteret, mox gubernatori, ut ita faceret,
45 monenti * Fortes ' inquit ' fortuna iuvat. Pomponianum
pete.' Stabiis erat diremptus sinu medio (nam sensim
circumactis curvatisque litoribus mare infunditur); ibi,
quamquam nondum periculo adpropinquante, conspicuo
tamen et, cum cresceret, proximo sarcinas contulerat in
50 naves certus fugae, si contrarius ventus resedisset ; quo
tune avunculus meus secundissimo invectus conplectitur
trepidantem, consolatur, hortatur, utque timorem eius sua
securitate leniret, deferri in balineum iubet ; lotus accubat,
cenat aut hilaris aut, quod est aeque magnum, similis hilari.
55 Interim e Vesuvio monte pluribus locis latissimae flammae
altaque incendia relucebant, quorum fulgor et claritas tene-
bris noctis excitabatur. Ille agrestium trepidatione ignis
relictos desertasque villas per solitudinem ardere in reme-
dium formidinis dictitabat. Turn se quieti dedit et quievit
60 verissimo quidem somno. Nam meatus animae, qui illi
propter amplitudinem corporis gravior et sonantior erat, ab
iis, qui limini obversabantur, audiebatur. Sed area, ex qua
diaeta adibatur, ita iam cinere mixtisque pumicibus oppleta
surrexerat, ut, si longior in cubiculo mora, exitus negaretur.
65 Excitatus procedit seque Pomponiano ceterisque, qui per-
92 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. III. viii
vigilaverant, reddit. In commune consultant, intra tecta
subsistant an in aperto vagentur. Nam crebris vastisque
tremoribus tecta nutabant et quasi emota sedibus suis mine
hue, nunc illuc abire aut referri videbantur. Sub dio
rursus quamquam levium exesorumque pumicum casus 70
metuebatur; quod tamen periculorum collatio elegit. Et
apud ilium quidem ratio rationem, apud alios timorem timor
vicit. Cervicalia capitibus inposita linteis constringunt ; id
munimentum adversus incidentia fuit. lam dies alibi, illic
nox omnibus noctibus nigrior densiorque ; quam tamen 75
faces multae variaque lumina solabantur. Placuit egredi
in litus et ex proximo aspicere, ecquid iam mare admitteret ;
quod adhuc vastum et adversum permanebat Ibi super
abiectum linteum recubans semel atque iterum frigidam
poposcit hausitque. Deinde flammae flammarumque prae- 80
nuntius odor sulpuris alios in fugam vertunt, excitant ilium.
Innixus servulis duobus adsurrexit et statim concidit, ut
ego coniecto, crassiore caligine spiritu obstructo clausoque
stomacho, qui illi natura invalidus et angustus et frequenter
interaestuans erat. Vbi dies redditus (is ab eo, quem 85
novissime viderat, tertius), corpus inventum integrum,
inlaesum opertumque, ut fuerat indutus ; habitus corporis
quiescenti quam defuncto similior.
Interim Miseni ego et mater. Sed nihil ad historian!,
nee tu aliud quam de exitu eius scire voluisti. Finem ergo 90
faciam. Vnum adiciam, omnia me, quibus interfueram,
quaeque statim, cum maxime vera memorantur, audieram,
persecutum. Tu potissima excerpes. Aliud est enim
epistulam, aliud historiam, aliud amico, aliud omnibus
scribere. Vale.
PLIN. Ep. vi. 16.
A. III. viii] LITERATURE 93
NOTES
Line 2. aintncttH met e odium : at the time of the great
eruption of Vesuvius in A. D. 79, which overwhelmed Herculan-
eum and Pompeii.
3. tradere possis : i. e. in one of the later books of the
1 Histories', which are no longer extant.
28. Liburnicam : a fast light galley, modelled on the piratical
ships of the Liburni, a tribe of N. Illyria.
31. Rectinae Tasa, sc. uxoris, * Rectina wife of Tascus.'
A. IV. PHILOSOPHY
i. Horace s Philosophy of Life
PRIMA dicte mihi, summa dicende Camena,
spectatum satis et donatum iam rude quaeris,
Maecenas, iterum antique me includere ludo.
non eadem est aetas, non mens. Veianius armis
Herculis ad postern fixis latet abditus agro, 5
ne populum extrema totiens exoret harena.
est mihi purgatam crebro qui personet aurem
' solve senescentem mature sanus equum, ne
peccet ad extremum ridendus et ilia ducat.'
nunc itaque et versus et cetera ludicra pono ; 10
quid verum atque decens, euro et rogo et omnis in hoc sum ;
condo et compono quae mox depromere possim.
ac ne forte roges quo me duce, quo lare tuter,
nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri,
quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes. 15
nunc agilis fio et mersor civilibus undis,
virtutis verae custos rigidusque satelles ;
nunc in Aristippi furtim praecepta relabor,
et mihi res, non me rebus subiungere conor.
ut nox longa quibus mentitur arnica, diesque 20
longa videtur opus debentibus, ut piger annus
pupillis quos dura premit custodia matrum ;
sic mihi tarda fluunt ingrataque tempora, quae spem
consiliumque morantur agendi naviter id quod
aeque pauperibus prodest, locupletibus aeque, 25
aeque neglectum pueris senibusque nocebit.
96 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. IV. i
restat ut his ego me ipse regam solerque elementis.
non possis oculo quantum contendere Lynceus,
non tamen idcirco contemnas lippus inungi ;
nee quia desperes invicti membra Glyconis, 30
nodosa corpus nolis prohibere cheragra.
est quadam prodire tenus, si non datur ultra.
fervet avaritia miseroque cupidine pectus :
sunt verba et voces quibus hunc lenire dolorem
possis et magnam morbi deponere partem. 35
laudis amore tumes : sunt certa piacula quae te
ter pure lecto poterunt recreare libello.
invidus, iracundus, iners, vinosus, amator,
nemo adeo ferus est ut non mitescere possit,
si modo culturae patientem commodet aurem. 40
virtus est vitium fugere, et sapientia prima
stultitia caruisse. vides quae maxima credis
esse mala, exiguum censum turpemque repulsam,
quanto devites animi capitisque labore.
impiger extremes curris mercator ad Indos, 45
per mare pauperiem fugiens, per saxa, per ignis :
ne cures ea, quae stulte miraris et optas,
discere et audire et meliori credere non vis ?
quis circum pagos et circum compita pugnax
magna coronari contemnat Olympia, cui spes, 50
cui sit condicio dulcis sine pulvere palmae?
vilius argentum est auro, virtutibus aurum.
' o 'cives, cives, quaerenda pecunia primum est ;
virtus post nummos ' : haec lanus summus ab imo
prodocet, haec recinunt iuvenes dictata senesque, 55
laevo suspensi loculos tabulamque lacerto.
est animus tibi, sunt mores et lingua fidesque,
sed quadringentis sex septem milia desunt :
plebs eris. at pueri ludentes ' rex eris ' aiunt,
'si recte fades.' hie mums aeneus esto, 60
A. IV. i] PHILOSOPHY 97
nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa.
Roscia, die sodes, melior lex an puerorum est
nenia, quae regnum recte facientibus offert,
et maribus Curiis et decantata Camillis ?
isne tibi melius suadet qui, rem facias, rem, 65
si possis recte, si non, quocumque modo rem,
ut propius spectes lacrimosa poemata Pupi,
an qui Fortunae te responsare superbae
liberum et erectum praesens hortatur et aptat?
quodsi me populus Romamis forte roget cur 70
non ut porticibus sic iudiciis fruar isdem,
nee sequar aut fugiam quae diligit ipse vel odit,
olim quod vulpes aegroto cauta leoni
respondit referam : ' quia me vestigia terrent,
omnia te adversum spectantia, nulla retrorsum.' 75
belua multorum es capitum. nam quid sequar aut quern ?
pars hominum gestit conducere publica, sunt qui
frustis et pomis viduas venentur avaras,
excipiantque senes quos in vivaria mittant;
multis occulto crescit res faenore. verum 80
esto aliis alios rebus studiisque teneri :
idem eadem possunt horam durare probantes?
* nullus in orbe sinus Bais praelucet amoenis '
si dixit dives, lacus et mare sentit amorem
festinantis eri ; cui si vitiosa libido 85
fecerit auspicium, eras ferramenta Teanum
tolletis, fabri. lectus genialis in aula est :
nil ait esse prius, melius nil caelibe vita :
si non est, iurat bene solis esse maritis.
quo teneam vultus mutantem Protea nodo? 90
quid pauper ? ride : mutat cenacula, lectos,
balnea, tonsores, conducto navigio aeque
nauseat ac locuples quern ducit priva triremis.
si curatus inaequali tonsore capillos
1130 G
98 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. IV. i
occurri, rides ; si forte subucula pexae 95
trita subest tunicae vel si toga dissidet impar,
rides : quid mea cum pugnat sententia secum,
quod petiit spernit, repetit quod nuper omisit,
aestuat et vitae disconvenit ordine toto,
diruit, aedificat, mutat quadrata rotundis? ico
insanire putas sollemnia me neque rides,
nee medici credis nee curatoris egere
a praetore dati, rerum tutela mearum
cum sis et prave sectum stomacheris ob unguem
de te pendentis, te respicientis amici. 105
ad summam, sapiens uno minor est love, dives,
liber, honoratus, pulcher, rex denique regum ;
praecipue sanus, nisi cum pituita molesta est.
HOR. Ep. i. i.
A. IV. i] PHILOSOPHY 99
NOTES
Lines I ff. Horace tells Maecenas that he is getting too old
to write lyric poetry, and must now turn to philosophy.
4. Veianius : a retired gladiator. Spectatum, donation iam
rtide (1. 2) and ludo (1. 3) are all metaphors from the life of a
gladiator, as also is iurare in verba magistri (1. 14).
6. extrema harena : i. e. approaching the parapet round the
arena behind which the most distinguished spectators sat
(Wickham).
1 8 f. Aristippii the founder of the Cyrenaic school, who
thought pleasure the chief end of life. Lines 16, 17 above refer
to the opposing creed of Stoicism. The difference between the
two ways of life is epigrammatically expressed in 1. 19.
28. Lynceus, one of the Argonauts, famous for his keen sight.
36 f. The cure is half medical half magical (cf. ter pure lecto,
1-37).
54. lanus summits ab imo. The exact meaning of the phrase
is uncertain : it may mean ' from end to end ' of an arcade in
which business was transacted. Anyhow it refers to a centre of
financial activity.
58. quadringentis : 400,000 sesterces, the sum which it was
necessary to possess in order to be an egues.
62. The lex Roscia passed in 67 B.C. gave the first fourteen
rows behind the orchestra to the equites. The places reserved
for senators were in the orchestra. The law is mentioned by
Horace as an instance of social importance being conferred by
wealth not worth.
64. Curiis, Camillis : famous names of the republican period.
M'. Curius Dentatus defeated Pyrrhus at Beneventum in 275
B. c. M. Furius Camillus conquered Veii in 396 B. C.
67. Pupil a doleful tragedian, who in an epigram admitted
the dolefulness of his own tragedies, propius : i. e. in a seat
nearer the front, cf. 1. 62.
90. Protea \ Proteus came out of the sea for his midday sleep.
Any one who could catch hold of him then could learn the
future. But the prophetic sea-god changed into all manner of
G 2
ioo THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. IV. i
shapes in order to avoid disclosing the future. If his inter-
locutor clung fast to him during these transformations he could
learn what he wanted. See Homer, Odyssey iv. 384 ff. and
Verg. Georg. iv. 387 ff.
91. The rich man could urge that the charge of inconsistency
applies just as much to the man of moderate means (pauper] as
to himself.
94 ff. You have a keen eye for external oddities, e.g. in dress
and personal appearance, but you neglect the weightier matter
of moral inconsistency.
106 ff. An ironical summary of the Stoic paradoxes.
A. IV. ii] PHILOSOPHY 101
ii. Avarice
Qvi fit, Maecenas, ut nemo, quam sibi sortem
seu ratio dederit seu fors obiecerit, ilia
contentus vivat, laudet diversa sequentis?
' o fortunati mercatores ! ' gravis annis
miles ait multo iam fractus membra labore. 5
contra mercator, navem iactantibus Austris,
' militia est potior. quid enim ? concurritur : horae
momento cita mors venit aut victoria laeta.'
agricolam laudat iuris legumque peritus,
sub galli cantum consultor ubi ostia pulsat. 10
ille, datis vadibus qui rure extractus in urbem est,
solos felices viventis clamat in urbe.
cetera de genere hoc, adeo sunt multa, loquacem
delassare valent Fabium. ne te morer, audi
quo rem deducam. si quis deus 'en ego' dicat 15
* iam faciam quod vultis : eris tu, qui modo miles,
mercator ; tu, consultus modo, rusticus : hinc vos,
vos hinc mutatis discedite partibus : eia !
quid statis?' nolint. atqui licet esse beatis.
quid causae est merito quin illis luppiter ambas 20
iratus buccas inflet, neque se fore posthac
tarn facilem dicat, votis ut praebeat aurem ?
praeterea ne sic ut qui iocularia ridens
percurram : quamquam ridentem dicere verum
quid vetat? ut pueris olim dant crustula blandi 25
doctores, elementa velint ut discere prima :
sed tamen amoto quaeramus seria ludo:
ille gravem duro terram qui vertit aratro,
perfidus hie caupo, miles nautaeque per omne
audaces mare qui currunt, hac mente laborem 30
sese ferre, senes ut in otia tuta recedant,
102 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. IV. ii
aiunt, cum sibi sint congesta cibaria : sicut
parvula nam exemplo est magni formica laboris
ore trahit quodcumque potest atque addit acervo
quem struit baud ignara ac non incauta futuri. 35
quae, simul inversum contristat Aquarius annum,
non usquam prorepit et illis utitur ante
quaesitis sapiens ; cum te neque fervidus aestus
demoveat lucro, neque hiems, ignis, mare, ferrum,
nil obstet tibi dum ne sit te ditior alter. 40
quid iuvat immensum te argenti pondus et auri
furtim defossa timidum deponere terra?
1 quod si comminuas vilem redigatur ad assem.'
at ni id fit, quid habet pulchri constructus acervus ?
milia frumenti tua triverit area centum, 45
non tuus hoc capiet venter plus ac meus : ut si
reticulum panis venalis inter onusto
forte vehas umero, nihilo plus accipias quam
qui nil portarit. vel die quid referat intra
naturae finis viventi, iugera centum an 50
mille aret ? ' at suave est ex magno tollere acervo.'
dum ex parvo nobis tantundem haurire relinquas,
cur tua plus laudes cumeris granaria nostris ?
ut tibi si sit opus liquidi non amplius urna
vel cyatho, et dicas * magno de flumine mallem 55
quam ex hoc fonticulo tantundem sumere.' eo fit
plenior ut si quos delectet copia iusto,
cum ripa simul avulsos ferat Aufidus acer.
at qui tantuli eget quanto est opus, is neque limo
turbatam haurit aquam, neque vitam amittit in undis. 60
at bona pars hominum decepta cupidine falso
'nil satis est' inquit, 'quia tanti quantum habeas sis.'
quid facias illi? iubeas miserum esse, libenter
quatenus id facit : ut quidam memoratur Athenis
sordidus ac dives, populi contemnere voces 65
A. IV. ii] PHILOSOPHY 103
sic solitus : ' populus me sibilat ; at mihi plaudo
ipse domi, simul ac nummos contemplor in area.'
Tantalus a labris sitiens fugientia captat
flumina quid rides ? mutato nomine de te
fabula narratur; congestis undique saccis 70
indormis inhians et tamquam parcere sacris
cogeris aut pictis tarnquam gaudere tabellis.
nescis quo valeat nummus, quern praebeat usum ?
panis ematur, holus, vini sextarius, adde
quis humana sibi doleat natura negatis. 75
an vigilare metu exanimem, noctesque diesque
formidare malos fures, incendia, servos,
ne te compilent fugientes, hoc iuvat? horum
semper ego optarim pauperrimus esse bonorum.
' at si condoluit temptatum frigore corpus, 80
aut alius casus lecto te adfixit, habes qui
adsideat, fomenta paret, medicum roget ut te
suscitet ac gnatis reddat carisque propinquis.'
non uxor salvum te vult, non films ; omnes
vicini oderunt, noti, pueri atque puellae. 85
miraris, cum tu argento post omnia ponas,
si nemo praestet quern non merearis amorem ?
an si cognatos, nullo natura labore
quos tibi dat, retinere velis servareque amicos,
infelix operam perdas, ut si quis asellum 90
in Campo doceat parentem currere frenis ?
denique sit finis quaerendi, cumque habeas plus
pauperiem metuas minus, et finire laborem
incipias, parto quod avebas, ne facias quod
Vmmidius quid am : non longa est fabula : dives 95
ut metiretur nummos ; ita sordidus ut se
non umquam servo melius vestiret; adusque
supremum tempus ne se penuria victus
opprimeret metuebat. at hunc liberta securi
io 4 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. IV. ii
divisit medium, fortissima Tyndaridarum. 100
' quid mi igitur suades ? ut vivam Naevius aut sic
ut Nomentanus ? ' pergis pugnantia secum
frontibus adversis componere : non ego avarum
cum veto te fieri vappam iubeo ac nebulonem.
est inter Tanain quiddam socerumque Viselli. 105
est modus in rebus, sunt certi denique fines,
quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum.
illuc unde abii redeo, qui nemo, ut avarus,
se probet, ac potius laudet diversa sequentis,
quodque aliena capella gerat distentius uber no
tabescat, neque se maiori pauperiorum
turbae comparet, hunc atque hunc superare laboret.
sic festinanti semper locupletior obstat,
ut, cum carceribus missos rapit ungula currus,
instat equis auriga suos vincentibus, ilium 115
praeteritum temnens extremes inter euntem.
inde fit ut raro qui se vixisse beatum
dicat, et exacto contentus tempore vita
cedat uti conviva satur, reperire queamus.
iam satis est. ne me Crispini scrinia lippi 120
compilasse putes, verbum non amplius addam.
HOR. Sat. i. i.
A. IV. ii] PHILOSOPHY 105
NOTES
Lines I ff. This Satire preaches moderation, as against eager
money-making, which was the only alternative to pleasure-
seeking, when everything like politics was barred, as it was in
France under the Second Empire.
14. Fabiwni a Stoic teacher.
25 ff. Cf. Lucretius i. 936 ff. :
sed veluti pueris absinthia taetra medentes
cum dare conantur, prius oras pocula circum
contingunt mellis dulci flavoque liquore,
ut puerorum aetas improvida ludificetur
labrorum tenus, interea perpotet amarum
absinthi laticem deceptaque non capiatur;
and Sir W. S. Gilbert's
For he who'd make his fellow-creatures wise
Should always gild the philosophic pill.
36. Aquarius. The sun entered the sign of Aquarius on
Jan. 1 6 (Wickham).
47. A slave who carries the bread on a journey gets no more
for himself than one who does not.
58. Aufidus : the type of a torrent in flood.
64. idfacit) sc. miser est.
68. Tantalus divulged the secrets entrusted to him by Zeus,
and was punished by being placed, with a raging thirst, in water
which receded from him whenever he tried to drink, and with
fruit hanging over him out of his reach. His fate has given us
the word 'tantalize'.
71 f. Your money-bags are too sacred for you to touch. You
treat them as if they were pictures, merely to be looked at.
88 ff. Wickham paraphrases : ' Or can it be that you imagine
that, though Nature gave you the love of kin without asking for
any toil on your part, it would be a ridiculously impossible task for
you to try to keep it ? ' parentem f rents : as if it was a horse.
loo. fortissima Tyndaridarum. Clytemnestra, daughter of
Tyndarus, put her husband Agamemnon to death. The freed-
woman in this passage shows something of the same spirit.
101 f. Naevius, Nomentanus : spendthrifts.
103. frontibus adversis componere : as though there was
nothing between the two.
105. i.e. there is something between excess and defect.
Tanais, a freedman of Maecenas, and Visellius's father-in-law
represent, in some way or other, the ideas of excess and defect .
119. Another reminiscence of Lucretius (cp. 1. 25 above)
cur non ut plenus vitae conviva recedis
aequo animoque capis securam, stulte, quietem ? (iii. 938 f.).
120. Crispini\ a Stoic.
106 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. IV. Hi
iii. ' The Vanity of Human Wishes '
OMNIBVS in terris, quae sunt a Gadibus usque
Auroram et Gangen, pauci dinoscere possunt
vera bona atque illis multum diversa, remota
erroris nebula, quid enim ratione timemus
aut cupimus? quid tarn dextro pede concipis ut te 5
conatus non paeniteat votique peracti ?
evertere domos totas optantibus ipsis
di faciles. nocitura toga, nocitura petuntur
militia; torrens dicendi copia multis
et sua mortifera est facundia ; viribus ille 10
confisus periit admirandisque lacertis;
sed plures nimia congesta pecunia cura
strangulat et cuncta exuperans patrimonia census
quanto delphinis ballaena Britannica maior.
temporibus diris igitur iussuque Neronis 15
Longinum et magnos Senecae praedivitis hortos
clausit et egregias Lateranorum obsidet aedes
tota cohors ; rarus venit in cenacula miles.
pauca licet portes argenti vascula puri
nocte iter ingressus, gladium contumque timebis 20
et mota ad lunam trepidabis harundinis umbra:
cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator.
prima fere vota et cunctis notissima templis
divitiae, crescant ut opes, ut maxima toto
nostra sit area foro. sed nulla aconita bibuntur 25
fictilibus : tune ilia time, cum pocula sumes
gemmata et lato Setinum ardebit in auro.
iamne igitur laudas quod de sapientibus alter
ridebat, quotiens de limine moverat unum
protuleratque pedem, flebat contrarius auctor ? 30
sed facilis cuivis rigidi censura cachinni :
A. IV. iii] PHILOSOPHY 107
mirandum est unde ille oculis suffecerit umor.
perpetuo risu pulmonem agitare solebat
Democritus, quamquam non essent urbibus illis
praetextae trabeae fasces lectica tribunal. 35
quid si vidisset praetorem curribus altis
extantem et medii sublimem pulvere circi
in tunica lovis et pictae Sarrana ferentem
ex umeris aulaea togae magnaeque coronae
tantum orbem, quanto cervix non sufficit ulla? 40
quippe tenet sudans hanc publicus et, sibi consul
ne placeat, curru servus portatur eodem.
da nunc et volucrem, sceptro quae surgit eburno,
illinc cornicines, hinc praecedentia longi
agminis officia et niveos ad frena Quirites, 45
defossa in loculos quos sportula fecit amicos.
tune quoque materiam risus invenit ad omnis
occursus hominum, cuius prudentia monstrat
summos posse viros et magna exempla daturos
vervecum in patria crassoque sub acre nasci. 50
ridebat curas nee non et gaudia vulgi,
interdum et lacrimas, cum Fortunae ipse minaci
mandaret laqueum mediumque ostenderet unguem.
ergo supervacua aut prope perniciosa petuntur,
propter quae fas est genua incerare deorum. 55
quosdam praecipitat subiecta potentia magnae
invidiae, mergit longa atque insignis honorum
pagina. descendunt statuae restemque sequuntur,
ipsas deinde rotas bigarum inpacta securis
caedit et inmeritas franguntur crura caballis. 60
iam strident ignes, iam follibus atque caminis
ardet adoratum populo caput et crepat ingens
Seianus, deinde ex facie toto orbe secunda
fiunt urceoli pelves sartago matellae.
pone domi laurus, due in Capitolia magnum 65
io8 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. IV. iii
cretatumque bovem : Seianus ducitur unco
spectandus, gaudent omnes. ' quae labra, quis illi
vultus erat. numquam, si quid mihi credis, amavi
hunc hominem.' ' sed quo cecidit sub crimine ? quisnam
delator quibus indicibus, quo teste probavit ? ' 70
' nil horum ; verbosa et grandis epistula venit
a Capreis.' ' bene habet, nil plus interrogo.' sed quid
turba Remi ? sequitur fortunam, ut semper, et odit
damnatos. idem populus, si Nortia Tusco
favisset, si oppressa foret secura senectus 75
principis, hac ipsa Seianum diceret hora
Augustum. iam pridem, ex quo suffragia nulli
vendimus, effudit curas ; nam qui dabat olim
imperium fasces legiones omnia, nunc se
continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat, 80
panem et circenses. ' perituros audio multos.'
'nil dubium, magna est fornacula.' 'pallidulus mi
Bruttidius meus ad Martis fuit obvius aram ;
quam timeo victus ne poenas exigat Aiax
ut male defensus. curramus praecipites et, 85
dum iacet in ripa, calcemus Caesaris hostem.
sed videant servi, ne quis neget et pavidum in ius
cervice obstricta dominum trahat.' hi sermones
tune de Seiano, secreta haec murmura vulgi.
visne salutari sicut Seianus, habere 90
tantundem, atque illi summas donare curules,
ilium exercitibus praeponere, tutor haberi
principis angusta Caprearum in rupe sedentis
cum grege Chaldaeo ? vis certe pila cohortes
egregios equites et castra domestica, quidni 95
haec cupias? et qui nolunt occidere quemquam,
posse volunt. sed quae praeclara et prospera tanti,
ut rebus laetis par sit mensura malorum ?
huius qui trahitur praetextam sumere mavis,
A. IV. iii] PHILOSOPHY 109
an Fidenarum Gabiorumque esse potestas 100
et de mensura ius dicere, vasa minora
frangere pannosus vacuis aedilis Vlubris?
ergo quid optandum foret ignorasse fateris
Seianum ; nam qui nimios optabat honores
et nimias poscebat opes, numerosa parabat 105
excelsae turris tabulata, unde altior esset
casus et inpulsae praeceps inmane ruinae.
quid Crassos, quid Pompeios evertit et ilium,
ad sua qui domitos deduxit flagra Quirites?
summus nempe locus nulla non arte petitus no
magnaque numinibus vota exaudita malignis.
ad generum Cereris sine caede ac vulnere pauci
descendunt reges et sicca morte tyranni.
eloquium aut famam Demosthenis aut Ciceronis
incipit optare et totis quinquatribus optat 115
quisquis adhuc uno parcam colit asse Minervam,
quern sequitur custos angustae vernula capsae.
eloquio sed uterque perit orator, utrumque
largus et exundans leto dedit ingenii fons.
ingenio manus est et cervix caesa, nee umquam 120
sanguine causidici maduerunt rostra pusilli.
'o fortunatam natam me consule Romam ! J
Antoni gladios potuit contemnere, si sic
omnia dixisset. ridenda poemata malo
quam te, conspicuae divina Philippica famae, 125
volveris a prima quae proxima. saevus et ilium
exitus eripuit, quern mirabantur Athenae
torrentem et pleni moderantem frena theatri.
dis ille adversis genitus fatoque sinistro,
quern pater ardentis massae fuligine lippus 130
a carbone et forcipibus gladiosque paranti
incude et luteo Vulcano ad rhetora misit.
bellorum exuviae, truncis adfixa tropaeis
no THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. IV. iii
lorica et fracta de casside buccula pendens
et curtum temone iugum victaeque triremis 135
aplustre et summo tristis captives in arcu
humanis maiora bonis creduntur. ad hoc se
Romanus Graiusque et barbarus induperator
erexit, causas discriminis atque laboris
inde habuit ; tanto maior famae sitis est quam 140
virtutis. quis enim virtutem amplectitur ipsam,
praemia si tollas ? patriam tamen obruit olim
gloria paucorum et laudis titulique cupido
haesuri saxis cinerum custodibus, ad quae
discutienda valent sterilis mala robora fici, 145
quandoquidem data sunt ipsis quoque fata sepulcris.
expende Hannibalem : quot libras in duce summo
invenies? hie est quern non capit Africa Mauro
percussa oceano Niloque admota tepenti
rursus ad Aethiopum populos aliosque elephantos ? 150
additur imperiis Hispania, Pyrenaeum
transilit. opposuit natura Alpemque nivemque :
diducit scopulos et montem rumpit aceto.
iam tenet Italiam, tamen ultra pergere tendit.
'actum' inquit 'nihil est, nisi Poeno milite portas 155
frangimus et media vexillum pono Subura.'
o qualis facies et quali digna tabella,
cum Gaetula ducem portaret belua luscum.
exitus ergo quis est ? o gloria, vincitur idem
nempe et in exilium praeceps fugit atque ibi magnus 160
mirandusque cliens sedet ad praetoria regis,
donee Bithyno libeat vigilare tyranno.
finem animae quae res humanas miscuit olim,
non gladii, non saxa dabunt nee tek, sed ille
Cannarum vindex et tanti sanguinis ultor 165
anulus. i demens et saevas curre per Alpes,
ut pueris placeas et declamatio fias.
A, IV. Hi] PHILOSOPHY m
unus Pellaeo iuveni non sufficit orbis,
aestuat infelix angusto limite mundi,
ut Gyarae clausus scopulis parvaque Seripho ; 170
cum tamen a figulis munitam intraverit urbem,
sarcophago contentus erit. mors sola fatetur
quantula sint hominum corpuscula. creditur olim
velificatus Athos et quidquid Graecia mendax
audet in historia ; constratum classibus isdem 175
suppositumque rotis solidum mare credimus, altos
defecisse amnes epotaque flumina Medo
prandente et madidis cantat quae Sostratus alis ;
ille tamen qualis rediit Salamine relicta,
in corum atque eurum solitus saevire flagellis 180
barbarus Aeolio numquam hoc in carcere passes,
ipsum conpedibus qui vinxerat Ennosigaeum
(mitius id sane, quod non et stigmate dignum
credidit; huic quisquam vellet servire deorum?)
sed qualis rediit? nempe una nave, cruentis 185
fluctibus ac tarda per densa cadavera prora.
has totiens optata exegit gloria poenas.
rex Pylius, magno si quidquam credis Homero,
exemplum vitae fuit a cornice secundae.
felix nimirum, qui tot per saecula mortem 190
distulit atque suos iam dextra conputat annos,
quique novum totiens mustum bibit. oro parumper
attendas quantum de legibus ipse queratur
fatorum et nimio de stamine, cum videt acris
Antilochi barbam ardentem, cum quaerit ab omni 195
quisquis adest socius, cur haec in tempora duret,
quod facinus dignum tam longo admiserit aevo.
haec eadem Peleus raptum cum luget Achillen,
atque alius cui fas Ithacum lugere natantem.
incolumi Troia Priamus venisset ad umbras 200
Assaraci magnis sollemnibus Hectore funus
ii2 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. IV. iii
portante ac reliquis fratrum cervicibus inter
Iliadum lacrimas., ut primos edere planctus
Cassandra inciperet scissaque Polyxena palla,
si foret extinctus diverse tempore, quo non 205
coeperat audaces Paris aedificare carinas.
longa dies igitur quid contulit? omnia vidit
eversa et flammis Asiam ferroque cadentem.
tune miles tremulus posita tulit arma tiara
et ruit ante aram summi lovis ut vetulus bos, 210
qui domini cultris tenue et miserabile collum
praebet ab ingrato iam fastiditus aratro.
exitus ille utcumque hominis, sed torva canino
latravit rictu quae post hunc vixerat uxor.
festino ad nostros et regem transeo Ponti 215
et Croesum, quern vox iusti facunda Solonis
respicere ad longae iussit spatia ultima vitae.
exilium et career Minturnarumque paludes
et mendicatus victa Carthagine panis
hinc causas habuere; quid illo cive tulisset 220
natura in terris, quid Roma beatius umquam,
si circumducto captivorum agmine et omni
bellorum pompa animam exhalasset opimam,
cum de Teutonico vellet descendere curru ?
provida Pompeio dederat Campania febres 225
optandas, sed multae urbes et publica vota
vicerunt, igitur Fortuna ipsius et urbis
servatum victo caput abstulit. hoc cruciatu
Lentulus, hac poena caruit ceciditque Cethegus
integer, et iacuit Catilina cadavere toto. 230
nil ergo optabunt homines? si consilium vis,
permittes ipsis expendere numinibus quid
conveniat nobis rebusque sit utile nostris.
nam pro iucundis aptissima quaeque dabunt di.
carior est illis homo quam sibi. nos animorum 235
A. IV. iii] PHILOSOPHY 113
inpulsu et caeca magnaque cupidine ducti
coniugium petimus partumque uxoris, at illis
notum qui pueri qualisque futura sit uxor.
ut tamen et poscas aliquid voveasque sacellis
exta et candiduli divina tomacula porci, 240
orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano.
fortem posce animum mortis terrore carentem,
qui spatium vitae extremum inter munera ponat
naturae, qui ferre queat quoscumque labores,
nesciat irasci, cupiat nihil et potiores 245
Herculis aerumnas credat saevosque labores
et venere et cenis et pluma Sardanapalli.
monstro quod ipse tibi possis dare, semita certe
tranquillae per virtutem patet unica vitae.
nullum numen habes si sit prudentia, nos te, 250
nos facimus, Fortuna, deam caeloque locamus.
Juv. Sat. x.
1130
H
ii4 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. IV. iii
NOTES
This Satire was imitated by Dr. Johnson in his 'Vanity of
Human Wishes', published in 1749. His poem opens thus :
Let Observation, with extensive view,
Survey mankind, from China to Peru ;
Remark each anxious toil, each eager strife,
And watch the busy scenes of crowded life :
How rarely reason guides the stubborn choice,
Rules the bold hand, or prompts the suppliant voice ;
How nations sink, by darling schemes oppress'd,
When Vengeance listens to the fool's request.
Fate wings with ev'ry wish th' afflictive dart,
Each gift of nature, and each grace of art;
With fatal heat impetuous courage glows,
With fatal sweetness elocution flows,
Impeachment stops the speaker's pow'rful breath,
And restless fire precipitates on death.
Line 16. C. Cassius Longinus * ceteros praeminebat peritia
legum' (Tac. Ann. xii. 12). He was accused by Nero in
A.D. 65 ostensibly because he kept the bust of his ancestor
C. Cassius, the murderer of Caesar, among his family imagines
[the wax masks of deceased ancestors kept in the atrhtm] (Suet.
Ner. 37), really for no better reason than his hereditary wealth
and conspicuous virtue (Tac. Ann. xvi. 7).
Seneca, the Stoic philosopher and tutor of Nero, and the
guiding influence of the first five years of his reign (A.D. 54-9),
was forced to commit suicide in A.D. 65, owing to his alleged
complicity with the conspiracy of Piso (Tac. Ann. xv. 60).
Seneca in A.D. 58 was accused of having amassed 300,000,000
sesterces (about ^2,400,000) in four years of royal favour (Tac.
Ann. xiii. 42).
17. Plautius Lateranus, consul-elect, was also put to death in
the Reign of Terror which followed the discovery of Piso's
conspiracy. He was allowed neither to embrace his children
nor to choose the manner of his death (Tac. Ann. xv. 60).
19. puri, 'plain ', 'unornamented', )( caelatum, 'embossed.'
28 ff. The ' Laughing Philosopher ' was Democritus of Abdera
in Thrace (460-36 1 B. c.),the ' Weeping Philosopher', Heracleitus
of Ephesus (circ. 500 B.C.). The contrast between the Laughing
and Weeping Philosophers became a commonplace.
36. In the procession from the Capitol to the Circus Maximus
before the ludi Romani the President of these Games, the
praetor urbanus^ rode in a triumphal chariot, clad in the richly
embroidered tunica lows.
A. IV. iii] PHILOSOPHY 115
50. Abdera, like Boeotia, seems to have been famous for the
stupidity of its inhabitants.
63. Aelius Sejanus was of Etruscan origin and equestrian
rank. He was sole praetorian prefect from A. D. 17 and Tiberius's
right-hand man till A.D. 31, the date of his fall.
74. Nortia : an Etruscan goddess.
77. The power of electing magistrates was transferred by
Tiberius in A.D. 15 from the comitia, where the utmost corrup-
tion had long prevailed, to the Senate (Tac. Ann. i. 15). The
people acquiesced in its own political annihilation with scarcely
a murmur. This acquiescence was largely due to the compensa-
tion for the loss of political power which was offered in the
shape of free distributions of food, and free games in the Circus
('panem et circenses,' 1. 81).
84. Ajax, unsuccessful in the competition for the arms of
Achilles, furiously upbraided the friends whom he thought to
have played him false. Tiberius might well do the same. But,
unfortunately for the comparison (a rhetorical commonplace),
Tiberius in A.D. 31 was anything but victus.
93. Tiberius retired to Capreae (modern Capri) in A.D. 27
(Tac. Ann. iv. 67), and spent his time in the company of astro-
logers (' genus hominum potentibus infidum, sperantibus fallax,
quod in civitate nostra et vetabitur semper et retinebitur ', Tac.
Hist. i. 22).
95. egregii eqitites, also called splendidi equites (A. III. iv. 2),
were knights who possessed the senatorial cens^ls (1,000,000 ses-
terces, the equestrian being 400,000), and were allowed to wear
the latus davus, the broad purple stripe running down the front
of the tunic, which was one of the special privileges of a senator.
95. castra domestica. Sejanus concentrated the praetorian
cohorts, hitherto scattered about Rome, into a single camp, there-
by greatly enhancing his powers as praetorian prefect, A.D. 23
(Tac. Ann. iv. i).
108 f. As typical instances of those who ' sink beneath mis-
fortune's blow, with louder ruin, to the gulfs below', Juvenal
cites the members of the First Triumvirate. Of these, M.Licinius
Crassus, famous for his wealth, fell in battle against the Parthians
at Carrhae in 53 B.C., Cn. Pompeius Magnus, the conqueror of
the East, was murdered on landing in Egypt in his flight after
the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 B.C., C. Julius Caesar, conqueror of
Gaul, * ad sua qui domitos deduxit flagra Quirites ', was assassin-
ated by Brutus, Cassius, and the other * Liberators ' in 44 B.C.
114. Demosthenes, the greatest of Greek orators (384-322 B.C.),
was the son of the owner of a large sword factory (referred to
below, 11. 130-2). He put the rhetoric he had learnt at school to
practical use in the legal proceedings which he took against his
guardians for mismanaging his property. He spent his life in
H 2
n6 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. IV. iii
rousing his fellow-citizens to stand for Greek liberty against
Philip of Macedon. Even after the real issue was settled in
favour of Philip by the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 B.C., Demo-
sthenes continued to agitate. After the futile revolt against
Macedon, which followed the death of Alexander in 323 B.C.,
and in which Athens took a leading part, Demosthenes took
poison to avoid falling into the hands of the Macedonian regent,
Antipater.
M. Tullius Cicero, the greatest Roman orator (106-43
B.C.), was murdered by order of M. Antonius, on whom a few
months before he had made a scathing attack in the Second Phi-
lippic, the most brilliant of his speeches (referred to below in lines
125-6). The peroration of this speech, or rather pamphlet (for
it was never delivered), contains the words ' Contempsi Catilinae
gladios, non pertimescam tuos ', which are echoed in line 123
below.
115. The Quinquatria (or Quinquatrus] was a festival held
from March 1 9th to 23rd in honour of Minerva : it owes its
name to the fact that it began on the fifth day after the Ides.
It was kept as a holiday in schools, and the school year began
at the end of it. The school fees appear to have been paid
annually at this time : but itnoparcam colit asse Minervam in the
next line refers not to these, but to an entrance fee or Minerval.
122. A quotation from Cicero's poem 'on his own times'.
Cf. Ep. ad Fam. i. 9. 23 ' Scripsi enim versibus tres libros de
temporibus meis'. Another half line from the same poem is
quoted in the Second Philippic xiv. 20 ' Cedant arma togae '.
147. Hannibal (247-183 B.C.) accompanied his father Hamil-
car to Spain, which was brought under the sway of Carthage
(236-228 B.C.), cf. line 151 below. In 218 B. c. the storming of
Saguntum, a Spanish town in alliance with Rome, by Hannibal,
led to the outbreak of the Second Punic War. In the same year
Hannibal crossed the Alps. His successive victories on the
Ticinus and the Trebia (218 B.C.), at Lake Trasimene (217 B.C.),
and at Cannae (216 B.C.), made it seem only too likely that the
one-eyed general would be carried into Rome on his sole sur-
viving elephant (1. 158 ; Livy xxii. 2). But the strategy of Fabius
Cunctator, the inadequacy of the support received by Hannibal
from home, the Roman successes in Spain under the Scipios and
in Sicily under Marcellus, and finally the defeat and death of
Hasdrubal at the Metaurus in 207 B.C., prevented Italy from
falling permanently into the hands of the Carthaginians. The
Romans in 204 B.C. carried the war into Africa, and in 202 B.C.
the final battle was fought at Zama. Some years afterwards
Hannibal, compelled to flee from Carthage, took refuge at the
court of Antiochus III, king of Syria. In 190 B.C. on the con-
clusion of peace between that monarch and Rome, the surrender
A. IV. iii] PHILOSOPHY 117
of Hannibal was insisted upon. He fled to Prusias of Bithynia
(cf. 1. 161), and remained with him till 183 B.C., when the
Romans again demanded his surrender. Thereupon Hannibal
took poison, it is said from a ring (cf. 11. 165-6), which Juvenal
aptly calls ' the avenger of Cannae '. This description is all the
more apt, if we accept the statement of Livy (xxiii. 12), that
Hannibal sent home a modius of golden rings taken from the
equites killed at Cannae.
153. montem rumpit aceto. This appears in Livy's account
(xxi. 37), but is not accepted by Polybius.
166. Cf. Johnson, Vanity of Human Wishes, 221-2:
He left a name, at which the world grew pale,
To point a moral, or adorn a tale.
Johnson's Hannibal is Charles XII of Sweden. His other chief
instances of fallen greatness are Wolsey, Laud, and Charles
Albert, Elector of Bavaria, who, a few years before the poem was
written, engaged in the war of the Austrian Succession against
Maria Theresa. But some of Juvenal's characters are retained,
e.g. Democritus and Xerxes. To Juvenal's examples of futile
effort, Johnson, with reference to his own career, adds the life of
the scholar :
There mark what ills the scholar's life assail
Toil, envy, want, the patron and the jail. (159-60).
1 68. Pellaeo invent ': Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) born
at Pella, which Philip, Alexander's father, had made the capital
of Macedon. Alexander's conquest of the Persian Empire (334-
331 B. c.), and campaigns in India (327-5 B.C.), had given men
cause to think that one world was too small for him. He died
in the brick-built (cf. 1. 171) city of Babylon.
174. The first armada sent against Greece by Persia under
the command of Mardonius was wrecked off Mount Athos,
492 B. c. Accordingly Xerxes, to insure his own expedition
(480 B. c.) against a similar disaster, dug a canal through the
isthmus behind the promontory (Hdt. vii. 22 f.). He also built
a bridge of boats across the Hellespont from Sestos to Abydos
(Hdt. vii. 33f. ; 11. 175, 176 below). Even though the word of
Herodotus may not always be worth more than that of the
bedraggled poet Sostratus, and though we are not bound to
take literally the statement (Hdt. vii. 21 ; 11. 176-8 below)
that the Persians drank whole rivers dry, yet traces of the canal
through Athos are still visible, and there is no reason to doubt
that the bridge of boats was actually made. The caprice of the
despot may well have led him to scourge the winds (1. 1 80),
and Herodotus (vii. 35) tells us that he not only ordered fetters
to be thrown into the Hellespont (1. 182), but even sent men
to brand it as a disobedient slave (11. 183, 184). After his defeat
n8 THE EARLY EMPIRE [A. IV. iii
by the Greeks at Salamis, he returned, if not in a single ship
(1. 185), at any rate with a greatly reduced armament.
1 88. rex Pylius. Nestor, father of Antilochus (1. 195), was
said to have survived three generations, and thus to have ap-
proached the proverbial longevity of the crow (1. 189). Having
reached the age of a hundred, he had henceforth to use his right
hand in counting up his years (1. 191), units and tens being
counted on the left hand, hundreds on the right.
198. Nestor was not the only Homeric hero who found old
age a doubtful blessing. Peleus had to mourn the loss of his
son Achilles (1. 198), Laertes, king of Ithaca (1. 199), the
wanderings of his storm-tossed son Ulysses. Priam too (1. 200)
might have gone down to the shade of Assaracus (his great-
uncle) without witnessing the Sack of Troy, and bewailed by
his daughters Cassandra and Polyxena, if he had died before
Paris set out to carry off Helen (1. 206).
214. Hecuba, wife of Priam, was, according to a late account,
changed into a dog. It is suggested that the myth arose from
the canine snarls which lent emphasis to her recriminations.
215. Mithradates VI Eupator ruled over Pontus from 120 to
63 B. c. A large portion of his life was spent in wars with Rome.
In 88 B. c. he occupied almost the whole of the Roman province
of Asia, and massacred 80,000 Roman citizens. Subsequent
campaigns were conducted against him by Sulla and Lucullus.
Finally, deserted by his own son, and hard pressed by Pompey
he committed suicide, at the age of 68 or 69.
216. Croesus ruled over Lydia from 560 to 546 B. c. He sub-
jugated all the Greek cities of the western coast of Asia Minor
with the exception of Miletus, and extended his empire from the
Halys to the Aegean. Solon, the great Athenian law-giver
(circ. 638-558 B.C.), is said by Herodotus to have visited Croesus
at his capital Sardis, and to have told him that until a man dies
he may not rightly be called happy, but only fortunate (Hdt. i.
32). There is no independent evidence to confirm Herodotus'
account of Croesus, which moreover is hard to reconcile with
the known chronology. Hence it cannot be regarded as trust-
worthy history : but the story of Croesus is exactly of the kind
which the Greeks liked to dwell on. Cf. the story of Polycrates
and his ring.
218 if. The Teutones tried to get into Italy from Provence, and
were crushed by Marius at Aquae Sextiae 102 B. c. The Cimbri
in concert with them did enter Italy not from Gaul but from the
north. Their route is not certainly identified, but at any rate
it was by a path east of the St. Gothard. Marius's colleague
Catulus was set to oppose them, but Marius was able to come
and reinforce him before the decisive battle, which was fought
in the Raudine Plain in 101 B.C.
A. IV. iii] PHILOSOPHY 119
In 88 B.C. Marius was driven from Rome by Sulla and forced
to take refuge first in the marshes of Minturnae in Latium and
afterwards at Carthage (11. 2 1 8-1 9). In 86 B. c. he became consul
for the seventh time, but died after a few days of office.
225. Pompey recovered from the fever which he caught at
Naples in 50 B. c., only to perish two years later on landing in
Egypt, on his flight from Pharsalus, when his head was cut off
in the presence of Ptolemy, king of Egypt. Even the ringleaders
of the Catilinarian conspiracy (63 B. c.) were spared this indignity
(11. 228-30).
241. Cf. Johnson, Vanity of Human Wishes, 359-64 :
Pour forth thy fervours for a healthful mind,
Obedient passions, and a will resign'd ;
For love, which scarce collective man can fill ;
For patience, sov'reign o'er transmuted ill :
For faith, that, panting for a happier seat,
Counts death kind Nature's signal of retreat.
The passage well illustrates the way in which Johnson has ex-
panded and altered Juvenal.
247. Sardanapallus, the historian Ctesias (arc. 400 B.C.) relates,
was the last king of Nineveh, and lived a licentious and effeminate
life, but, on the appearance of a Median army before Nineveh,
displayed great vigour and courage. After a siege of two years
he is said to have collected his wives and treasures, placed them
on a pyre, and himself shared their destruction. He went down
to posterity, notwithstanding, as a type of effeminate luxury.
The inscriptions show that as a matter of fact the last king of
Nineveh was called Sin-sharra-ishkun, and we know practically
nothing about him.
ROME UNDER THE EARLY EMPIRE
SCALE OF YARDS
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ff^^^f^f^ v^Ui//
Circus Gai(Neron is) ^
TT l_.*-.
.Salaria
Pta Nomentai
EXPLANATION
OF FIGURES
ON
INSET
'.Co///na\ \Castra ^ I. Aedes Concord iae
2.AedesSaturni
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Appia
"fl.V ^a^st^t.txM/qio,
INDEX NOMINVM
Academia II. i. 150.
Academicus II. i. 66, no.
Acestes III. v. 235.
Achaia II. i. 69.
Achilles III. v. 210, IV. iii.
198.
Acilius, Glabrio, I. ii. 58.
Actium I. iii. 5.
Adriacus rhombus I. ii. 3.
Aeacus I. iv. 90, 97, 109, 123,
III. ii. 10.
Aemilius III. v. 124.
Aeoliae rupes III. ii. 8.
Aeolius career IV. iii. 181.
Aethiopes IV. iii. 150.
Africa III. v. 149, IV. iii. 148.
Agamemnon, dramatis persona,
III. vi. 7.
Aganippe III. v. 6.
Agatho, cansidicus, I. iv. 83.
Agaue, mimus, III. v. 87.
Agricola, Gn. lulius, I. i. 34,
36, 49,78,81.
Aiax, Telamonis /., III. v.
1 15, IV. iii. 84.
Alba, Longa, I. ii. 25.
Albana arx I. i. 39, ii. 108.
Albanus I. ii. 64.
Alcithoe, tragoedia. III. v. 12.
Allobrox Cicero, Rufus, III. v.
214.
Alpes IV. iii. 166.
Alpis IV. iii. 152.
Anchemoli noverca III. v. 235.
Anchisae nutrix III. v. 234.
Ancon I. ii. 4.
Antilochus IV. iii. 195.
Antonius, triumvir, IV. iii.
123.
Aonides III. v. 59.
Aper II. i. 2, 168.
Apollo III. v. 37.
Appius Silanus I. iv. 68.
Aprilis, III. iii. 2.
Aquarius IV. ii. 36.
Arcadicus III. v. 160.
Aricini axes I. ii. 80.
Aristippi praecepta IV. i. 18.
Armillatus, delator, I. ii. 17.
Arulenus Rusticus I. i. i.
Arviragus I. ii. 90.
Asia II. i. 69, IV. iii. 208.
Asiani equites III. v. 14.
Asinius Pollio II. i. 216.
Assaracus IV. iii. 201.
Athenae III. v. 205, IV. ii 64,
iii. 127.
Athos velificatus IV. iii. 174.
Atia, A^lgust^ mater, II. i. 23.
Atreus, tragoedia, III. v. 73.
Atrides, Domitianus, I. ii. 29.
Aufidius Bassus III. vii. 20.
Aufidus IV. ii. 58.
Augustus, OctaviamiS) I. iv. 24,
355 II. i. 23
Augustus (prmceps] IV. iii. 77.
Aurelia, lul. Caesaris mater,
II. i. 23.
Aurora IV. iii. 2.
Auster IV. ii. 6.
Baebius, Massa, delator, I. i.
40.
Baiae|IV. i. 83.
Barea III. v. 91.
Basilus III. v. 145, 146, 147.
Bassus, Aufidius, III. vii. 20.
Bassus, Saleius, III. vi. 14, 27.
Bellona I. ii. 87,
Bithyni equites III. v. 15.
Bithynus tyrannus IV. iii. 162.
Britannia I. iii, 26.
124
INDEX NOMINVM
Britannica ballaena IV. iii. 14.
Britannus I. ii. 89.
Bruttidius IV. iii. 83.
Brutus, a regibu s liberator, I. ii.
67.
Brutus, Ciceronis liber, II. i. 62.
Caesar, C. Julius, II. i. 23,215.
Caesar, Caligula, I. iv. 120,
122, 123.
Caesar, Claudius, princeps,
III. iii. 13.
Caesar, Domitianus, I. ii. 98.
Caesar Nerva I. i. 17.
Caesar, princeps, I. ii. 15, III.
v. i, IV. iii. 86.
Calvus II. i. 217.
Camena IV. i. i.
Camenae III. v. 2.
Camerini III. v. 90.
Camilli IV. i. 64.
Campania I. iii. 31, IV. iii. 225.
Campus, Martins, IV. ii. 91.
Cannae III. v. 163, IV. iii. 165.
Capitolia, IV. iii. 65.
Capitolium I. iii. 32.
Cappadoces equites III. v. 15.
Capreae IV. iii. 72, 93.
Carbo C. I Li. 215.
Carrinas Secundus, III. v. 205.
Carthago IV. iii. 219.
Carus Metius, delator, Li. 39.
Cassandra IV. iii. 204.
Catilina IV. iii. 230.
Cato C. II. i. 216.
Catullus, Messalinus, I. ii. 76.
Celadus III. v. 215.
Cererisgener,/Y#/0, IV. iii. 112.
Cethegus, Catilinarius, IV. iii.
229.
Chaldaeus grex IV. iii. 94.
Chatti I. ii. no.
Christiani I. v. 5 et passim.
Christus I. v. -25, 31, 33.
Chrysogonus III. v. 176.
Cicero II. i. 62, 71, 148, 220,
223, III. v. 139, IV. iii. 114.
Cicero Allobrox III. v. 214.
Cilicis pugnae I. ii. 84.
Circeis ostrea I. ii. 103.
Cirrha III. v. 64.
Claudiana lingua I. iv. 95.
Claudius, princeps, I. iv.23, 28,
31,53,68,78,81,89, 101,106,
III. iii. 12.
Clio III. v. 7.
Cordus III. ii. 2.
Cornelia, Gracchorum mater,
II. i. 22.
Cornelia lex I. iv. 90.
Corvinus Messala I. iv. 43.
Cotta III. v. 95.
Crassi IV. iii. 108.
CrassusL.,0r<2/0r,II.i. 214,222.
Crispinus, praef. praetorio, I.
ii. 71.
Crispinus, lippus, IV. ii. 120.
Crispus, Vibius, I. ii. 45.
Croesus IV. iii. 216.
Curii IV. i. 64.
Cyllenius, Mercurius, I. iv. 74.
Daci I. ii. 74.
Dacus I. iii. 27.
December III. i. 27.
Democritus IV. iii. 34.
Demosthenes II. i. 146, IV.
iii. 114.
Diespiter I. iv. 19.
Diodotus Stoicus II. i. 66.
Dolabella II. i. 215.
Domitianus, princeps, I. i. 44,
iii. 15.
Domitius, Crassi oratoris col-
lega in censura, II. i. 222.
Dorica Ancon I. ii. 4.
Drusus Nero III. vii. 13.
Ennosigaeus IV. iii. 182.
Epicurus II. i. in.
Erinys III. v. 68.
Fabius, Ovidi Nasonis patro-
nus, III. v. 95.
INDEX NOMINVM
I2 5
Fabius loquax, Stoicus, IV. ii.
14.
Fabricius, Veiento, I. ii. 92.
Falernum, mnum, I. ii. 101.
Faustus III. v. 12.
Fidenae IV. iii. 100.
Flaccus, Horatius, III. v. 227.
Flavi ludus II. ii. 28.
Flavius I. ii. I.
Fortuna III. v. 197, IV. i. 68,
iii. 52, 227, 251.
Fronto III. ii. 12.
Fuscus, Cornelius, I. ii. 75.
Gabii III. v. 4, IV. iii. 100.
Gades IV. iii. I.
Gaetula belua IV. iii. 158.
Galba, Servms, flrincefls, I. iii.
I, IS-
Gallia III. v. 148.
Galliae I. iii. 25.
Gallus, causidicuS) II L v. 144.
Ganges IV. iii. 2.
Germani III. vii. II.
GermaniaIII.vii.io, ii, 12, 13.
Glyco, athletes, IV. i. 30.
Gracchi II. i. 23.
Graecia mendax IV. iii. 174.
Graecula II. i. 31.
Graecus II. i. 146.
Graius IV. iii. 138.
Gyara IV. iii. 170.
Hannibal 1 1 1. v. 161, IV. iii. 147.
Hector IV. iii. 201.
Helvidius Priscus I. i. 2, 41.
Hercules I. iv. 22, 31, IV. i. 5,
iii. 246.
Herennius Senecio Li. i.
Hispania III. vii. 66, IV. iii.
151.
Homerus III. v. 38, IV. iii. 188.
Horatius, Flaccus, III. v. 62.
lanus I. iv. 6, III. i. i.
lanus summus ab imo IV. i. 54.
lason, dramatis persona, III.
vi. 7.
lavolenus Priscus III. iv. 7.
Ilerda III. i. 13.
Iliades IV. iii. 203.
Illyricum I. iii. 25.
Indi IV. i. 45.
lovis tunica IV. iii. 38.
Italia I.iii.29, II.i.8,IV.iii. 154.
Ithacus IV. iii. 199.
luliae duae I. iv. 50.
lulius, mensis, I. iv. 7.
lunonis avis III. v. 32.
luppiter I. iv. i, 52, 56, IV. i.
106, ii. 20, iii. 210.
Ixion I. iv. 104.
Lacerna III. v. 114.
Lamiae I. ii. 117.
Lappa Rubrenus III. v. 72.
Larcius Licinus III. vii. 67.
Larvae I. iv. 17.
Laterani IV. iii. 17.
Lentulus, poetarum patronus,
III. v. 95.
Lentulus, Catilinarius, IV. iii.
229.
Lepidus, cos. a. C. 65, III. i. 28.
Letoia stirps I. vi. 3.
Liburnica, navis, III. viii. 28.
Liburnus I. ii. 39.
Lollius, cos. a. C.^, III. i. 28.
Longinus IV. iii. 16.
Lucanus III. v. 79.
Lucrinum saxum I. ii. 104.
Lycaonius axis I. vi. 2.
Lynceus IV. i. 28.
Machaera, praeco, III. v. 9.
Maculonis aedes III. v. 40.
Maecenas II. ii. 3, III. v. 94,
IV. i. 3, ii. i.
Maedi III. v. 132.
Maeotica glacies I. ii. 6.
Maro, Vergilius, III. v. 227.
Martis ara IV. iii. 83.
Martis lucus III. ii. 8.
126
INDEX NOMINVM
MassaBaebius, delator, 1. 1.40.
Maternus II. i. i, 156, III. vi.
i, 6, 13-
Matho III. v. 129.
Mauri III. v. 120.
Mauricus, lunius^ I. i. 42.
Maurus IV. iii. 148.
Medus, Xerxes, IV. iii. 177.
Menander I. iv. 123.
Mercurius I. iv. 77.
Messalina I. iv. 58, 69.
Messalinus, delator, I. i. 40.
Messalla II. i. i, 169.
Messalla Corvinus I. iv. 43.
Metamorphoses Ovidi, I. i v. 29.
Metius Carus, delator, I. i. 39.
Metrodorus II. i. ill.
Minerva IV. iii. 116.
Minturnae IV. iii. 218.
Misenum III. viii. 14, 89.
Montanus, T. fun/us, I. ii. 70,
94.
Monychus III. ii. n.
Mucius, Scaevola, II. i. 65.
Musa I. vi. 6.
Musae III. v. 37.
Naevius, prodigus, IV. ii. 101.
Nero I. i. 43, ii. loo, iii. 57, 67,
IV. iii. 15.
Nero calvus, Domitianns, I. ii.
2.
Nero Drusus III. vii. 13, 18.
Nero falsus I. iii. 28.
Nerva Caesar I. i. 17.
Nerva divus I. iii. 18.
Nerva Traianus I. i. 19.
Nilus IV. iii. 149.
Nomentanus, prodigus, IV. ii.
102.
Nonianus III. iii. 15.
Nortia IV. iii. 74.
Numidae I. ii. 64, III. v. 182.
Numitor III. v. 74.
Nysa III. v. 64.
Occidens I. iii. 24.
O\ympia,praemza, IV. i. 50.
Olympus I. iv. 72.
, Orestes, tragoedia, III, ii. 6.
Qriens I. iii. 24.
Otho, princeps, I. iii. 13.
Ovidius, Naso, I. iv. 30.
Paccius III. v. 12.
Paetus Thrasea I. i. i.
Palaemon III. v. 215, 219.
Palfurius, delator, I. ii. 17.
Paris, pantomimus, III. v. 87.
Paris, Troianus, IV. iii. 206.
Parthi I. iii. 28.
Passennus Paulus III. iv. 2.
Paulus Passennus III. iv. 2, 8,
12.
Paulus, causidicus, III. v. 143.
Pedo III. v. 129.
Pedo Pompeius I. iv. 96.
Pegasus, praef. urbi, I. ii. 41.
Peleus IV. iii. 198.
Pellaeus iuvenis, Alexander,
IV. iii. 168.
Pelopea, mimus, III. v. 92.
Peripateticus II. i. 108.
Petronius, P., Claudii con-
vict or > I. iv. 94.
Philippica, oratio secunda, IV.
iii. 125.
Philo Academicus II. i. 66.
Philomela, mimus, III. v. 92.
Phoebi balnea III. v. 233.
Phryx III. v. 236.
Picens I. ii. 29.
Pierides I. vi. 3.
Pierius III. v. 8, 60.
Plato II. i. no, 147.
Pluto, Cereris gener, IV. iii. 1 12
Poenus IV. iii. 155.
Pollio Asinius II. i. 216.
Pollio, musicus III. v. 176.
Polyxena IV. iii. 204.
Pompeius, comes Domitiani, I.
ii- 73-
Pompeius Pedo I. iv. 96.
Pompeius, triumvir, IV. iii. 225.
INDEX NOMINVM
127
Pompeii, gens, IV. iii. 108.
Pomponianus III. viii. 45, 65.
Pomponius Secundus III.vii.8.
Pontus I. ii. 7, vi. 8, IV. iii.
215.
Priamus IV. iii. 200.
Prisons Helvidius I. i. 2.
Priscus lavolenus III. iv. 7, 9.
Proculeius III. v. 94.
Prometheus I. ii. 96.
Proper t ius, poeta, III. iv. 5, 6.
Proteus IV. i. 90.
Pupius IV. i. 67.
Pylius rex, Nestor, IV. iii. 188.
Pyrenaeus IV. iii. 151.
Quint ilianus III. v. 186, 189.
Quintilla III. v. 75.
Quirites IV. iii. 45, 109.
Rectina III. viii. 31, 35.
Remi turba IV. iii. 73.
Roma I. ii. 2, II. ii. 32, III.
i. 10, v. 4, IV. iii. 221.
Roma, arcanum posse princi-
pem alibi quam Romae fieri,
I. iii. 61.
Roma domusque subit I. vi. 21.
Roma prodiga III. v. 138.
Romam natam me consule IV.
iii. 122.
Romanus I. i. 6, iii. 4, 50, iv.
82, v. 1 8, II. ii. 4, IV. i. 70,
iii. 138.
Romulus I. iv. 27.
Roscia lex, theatralis, IV. i. 62.
Rubrenus Lappa III. v. 72.
Rubrius I. ii. 69.
Rufus Allobrox Cicero III. v.
213,214.
Rusticus Arulenus I. i. i, 42.
Rutulus, Turnus, III. v. 68.
Rutupinus fundus I. ii. 104.
Salamis IV. iii. 179.
Saleius, Bassus, poeta, III. v.
80; vi. 8.
Sardanapallus IV. iii. 247.
Sarmatae I. iii. 26.
Sarrana aulaea togae IV. iii.
38.
Satureianus caballus II. ii. 15.
Saturnalia I. iv. 88.
Scythia I. vi. I.
Secundus II. i. 2, 168, III. vi.
12.
Secundus Carrinas III. v. 204.
Secundus Plinius I. v. 57.
Secundus Pomponius III. vii. 8
Seianus IV. iii. 63, 66, 76, 89,
90, 104.
Seneca IV. iii. 16.
Senecio Herennius I. i. 2, 43.
September, mensis, III. viii.
5 :
Seriphos IV. iii. 170.
Serranus III. v. 80.
Servius CaiSos^frince^s. I. iii. i.
Setinum, vinum, IV. iii. 27.
Siculus III. v. 236.
Silanus Appius I. iv. 68.
Silanus L. I. iv. 52.
Solon IV. iii. 216.
Sosii III. i. 2.
Sostratus IV. iii. 178.
Stabiae III. viii. 46.
Statius III. v. 83.
Stoicus II. i. 67, 114.
Subura IV. iii. 156.
Suebi I. iii. 27.
Sulla III. ii. 16.
Sycambri I. ii. no.
Tanais, libertus, IV. ii. 105.
Tantalus I. iv. 103, IV. ii. 68.
Tascus III. viii. 31.
Teanum, Sidicinum, IV. i. 86.
Telephus, tragoedia^ III. ii. 5.
Telesinus III. v. 25.
Tereus, tragoedia, III. v. 12.
Terpsichore III. v. 35.
Teutonicus currus IV. iii. 224.
Thebae Fausti, tragoedia, III.
v. 12.
128
INDEX NOMINVM
Thebais, Statii, III. v. 83.
Theodori, rhetoris ars, III. v.
177.
Theseis Cordi III. ii. 2.
Thrasea Paetus I. i. I.
Thrasymachus III. v. 204.
Tiberi vinum devectum III. v.
121.
Titus, princeps, I. iii. 15.
Tongilius III. v. 130.
Traianus, princeps, I. i. 19 ; I.
iii. 18.
Troia IV. iii. 200.
Troianus ignis I. ii. 25.
Tullius, Servius, III. v. 199.
Tuscus, Seianus, IV. iii. 74.
Tyndaridarum fortissima IV.
ii. loo.
Tyrium filum III. v. 134.
Ulubrae IV. iii. 102.
Ummidius, sordidus, IV. ii.
95/
Utica III. i. 13.
Varius II. ii. n.
Vatinius II. i. 217.
Veianius, gladiator emeritus
IV. i. 4.
Veiento, Fabricius, I. ii. 76, 86.
Veneris maritus, Vulcanus, III.
v. 25.
Ventidius, fiassus, III. v. 199.
Venus I. ii. 4.
Vergilius, Maro, II. ii. u, III.
v. 69.
Vertumnus III. i. I.
Vespasianus, princeps, I. iii.
14, III. vi. 26, vii. 33.
Vesta minor Albae, I. ii. 25.
Vesuvius III. viii. 20, 55.
Vettius III. v. 150.
Via Sacra I. iv. 77.
Vica Pota I. iv. 19.
Vinius Titus, cos. p. C. 69, I.
iii. I.
Viselli socer IV. ii. 105.
Vitellius, princeps, I. iii. 13.
Vulcanalia III. vii. 29.
Vulcanus I. iv. 57, III. ii. 9,
IV. iii. 132 ; Veneris inaritus,
III. v. 25.
Xenophon II. i. no.
SELECTION FROM
THE LATIN LITERATURE OF THE
EARLY EMPIRE
EDITED BY
A. C B. BROWN, M.A.
FEREDAY FELLOW OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE
ASSISTANT MASTER AT MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE
PART B : OUTER LIFE
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1910
HENRY FROWDE, M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK
TORONTO AND MELBOURNE
PREFACE
THIS Selection has been undertaken at the suggestion and
with the help of the Rev. Hereford B. George, M.A., Fellow
of New College, and, primarily, to serve as a textbook for
the Oxford Local Examinations. The text is that of the
Oxford Classical Texts, so far as the authors included in
this book have appeared in that series. The following texts
have been used, by kind permission, in cases where no
Oxford Text exists: Friedlander's Petronius, Ball's Seneca
(Ludus), C. F. W. Mueller's Pliny (Teubner Edition).
The notes do not attempt to deal with questions of
textual criticism or of syntax. The critical results arrived
at by the editors of the texts employed have been taken for
granted. And the best way of dealing with questions of
syntax is to refer to one's grammar. The scope of the notes
is therefore limited to the explanation of the subject-matter.
An attempt has been made to exclude from them such
things as may be discovered by any one who is prepared to
use both his dictionary and his wits. The small Latin-
English Dictionary of Gepp and Haigh has been used as
a rough standard in measuring the amount of help that is
forthcoming in a dictionary, but a few of the less common
words which do occur in that book have been explained in
the notes, in case they should be absent from other diction-
aries. Analyses or paraphrases of whole passages have been
avoided, except in one case (Juv. vii), on the view that the
puzzling-out of the sense of whole passages without knowing
beforehand exactly what they are about is a valuable
element in classical training. A short heading has, however,
A 2
4 PREFACE
been placed before each passage, to show how it illus-
trates the general idea of the section in which it is placed.
It is hoped that this book will not add to the number of
' those editions of authors which are constructed upon the
principle of supplying ready-made solutions of all difficulties,
and thus reducing the study of Latin to a mere effort of
memory exercised upon inferior materials' (Classical Associa-
tion, Report of Curricula Committee, 1909, p. 14).
I have throughout consulted the standard editions of
Juvenal (Mayor, Hardy), Horace (Wickham), Tacitus
(Furneaux, Spooner, Peterson), Friedlander's 'Cena Tri-
malchionis ', and Ball's edition of the ' Ludus ' of Seneca.
More especially is the book indebted in all its parts to
the valuable criticisms and suggestions of Mr. George, to
whom the whole has been submitted, and of Mr. H. E.
Butler, Fellow of New College, who has read the proofs.
CONTENTS
PART B. OUTER LIFE
PAGE
PREFACE 3
LIST OF CHIEF DATES 8
INTRODUCTION 9
TEXT :
I. SOCIAL TYPES
The Bore.
i. HOR. Sat. i. 9 . . . . . . 17
The Greek.
ii. Juv. Sat. iii . . . . . . . .21
The Legacy- Hunter.
iii. HOR. Sat. ii. 5 . . . . . .26
iv. PLINY, Ep. ii. 20 31
Patron and Client.
v Juv. Sat. v 34
vi. PLINY, Ep. ii. 6 . . . . . . . 44
vii. MART. vi. 88 45
viii. MART. iii. 30 ....... 47
The Spendthrift.
ix. Juv. Sat. xi 49
6 CONTENTS
PAGE
The Smart Man.
x. MART. iii. 63 .... 52
The Jack of all Trades.
xi. MART. ii. 7 ...... .54
The Persistent Poet.
xii, MART. iii. 44 -55
The Learned Woman.
xiii. Juv. Sat. vi . . 56
II. SOCIAL INCIDENTS
The Roman Day.
i. MART. iv. 8 . . . . . . -59
Dinner Parties in Bad Taste.
ii. HOR. Sat. ii. 8 .61
iii. PETRONIUS, Cena Trimalchionis . . .66
Dinner Parties in Good Taste.
iv. HOR. Ep. i. 5 81
v. PLINY, Ep. i. 15 . . . . . . .83
Saturnalia.
vi. MART. xi. 6 . . . . . . . .84
The Circus.
vii. Juv. Sat. xi 86
A Journey.
viii. HOR. Sat. i. 5 88
CONTENTS
III. TOWN AND COUNTRY
i. HOR. Sat. ii. 6
PAGE
- 93
100
iii. HOR. Ep. i. 14
iv. Juv. Sat. iii .
v. MART. iv. 64
... . 103
. 105
^3
. 116
vii. PLINY, Ep. i. 9
118
INDEX NOMINUM .
.123
MAPS
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ITALY . .16
ROME UNDER THE EARLY EMPIRE . . . I2O-2I
LIST OF CHIEF DATES
Literary.
Horace, B.C. 65-8.
Satires, Book i. 6.0.35.
Satires, Book ii. B.C. 30.
Epistles, Book i. B.C. 20.
Ovid, B.C. 43-A.D. 17.
His banishment, A. D. 8.
Tristia, A.D. 9-12.
Seneca, B.C. 4-A.D. 65.
Ludus, A.D. 54 or 55.
PetroniiiS) died A.D. 66.
Martial, about A.D. 40-104.
Book ii. A.D. 86.
Books iii-xi. A.D. 87-96.
Book xii. A.D. 96.
Tacitus, about A. D. 55-120.
Dialogus, about A.D. 81.
Agricola, A.D. 98.
Histories, about A.D. no.
Juvenal, about A.D. 60-140.
Satires i-v, between A.D. 100
and A.D. 116.
Satires vi, A.D. 116.
vii-ix, about A.D. 120.
x-xii, about A.D. 125.
Pliny the Younger, A.D. 62-
about A.D. 113.
Books i-ix. A.D. 97-109.
Book x. A.D. 112 or 113.
Political
Principate of Augustus
B.C. 27-A.D. 14.
Principate of Tiberius
^ A.D. 14-37.
Principate of Gaius (Caligula)
A.D. 37-41-
Principate of Claudius
A.D. 41-54.
Principate of Nero
A.U. 54-68.
' Year of Four Emperors '
(Galba Otho Vitellius
Vespasian)
A.D. 69.
Principate of Vespasian
A.D. 69-79.
Principate of Titus
A.D. 79-81.
Principate of Domitian
A.D. 81-96.
Principate of Nerva
A.D. 96-98.
Principate of Trajan
A.D. 98-117.
Principate of Hadrian
A.D. 117-138.
INTRODUCTION
i
ANY ONE reading for the first time an account of Domitian's
Reign of Terror must wonder how it happened that the
citizens of a state that was mistress of the world should have
endured such tyranny at home. Why was it that what
appears to be the grinding despotism of the imperial govern-
ment was for a moment tolerated? The answer to this
question requires a brief survey of earlier Roman history.
The earliest form of Roman government of which a tradition
exists is the kingship. Towards the end of the sixth century
B. c. the tyrannical conduct of one of these kings led to the
abolition of this form of government and the establishment
of a republic, the highest powers of which were vested in
two yearly magistrates called consuls. The other magistra-
cies, which were established one by one, with less supreme
functions, were always in the same fashion given to more
than one at a time and for a limited period. It was under
this form of government that Rome developed from an
obscure city-state into the head of an empire including the
whole of the Mediterranean basin. The result of the con-
stitutional device by which the evils of despotism were
avoided by having yearly co-ordinate magistrates, each of
whom acted as a check on the others, was to bring the real
power into the hands of the Senate. The Senate originally
was merely an advisory council, but as the one permanent
factor in a system of administration where so much was
transient, it gradually developed into a powerful oligarchy.
Under the senatorial system one man after another had his
ro INTRODUCTION
turn at the top. It became the practice for men to work up
through the lower magistracies, and provinces were com-
mitted to ex-magistrates. If a man was rapacious, his
province suffered, if he was incompetent, his army was
defeated : but, speaking generally, there was a fair amount
of good administrative work done. Romans, like English-
men, seem, on the whole, to have had an instinctive respect
for law. But after giving the Senate due credit for the good
points in its administration, we must admit that by the first
century B. c. it had shown itself unequal to the task. Hence-
forth men began more clearly to see that efficiency demanded
more concentration of power. So throughout the first
century B.C. we find experiments, more or less tentative,
being made in the direction of monarchy. First Marius, by
a series of consulships, aided by his prestige as the deliverer
of his country from the Cimbri and Teutones, then Sulla
by means of an extended form of the dictatorship, an extra-
ordinary autocratic magistracy which in the earlier republican
period had only been employed in case of urgent military
necessity, then Pompey by means of special laws giving him
power to supersede the ordinary provincial governors in his
wars against the pirates in the Mediterranean, and against
Mithradates in the East : each pointed out a different path
by which despotism could be attained. It was actually
attained, though perhaps not from the first intended, by
Julius Caesar, who first got a ten years' term of government
in his province of Gaul, and then, under provocation from
the action of his political enemies in Rome, with the power-
ful army thus trained stepped at once across the Rubicon,
the boundary line of his province, and across that other
boundary line which separates a republican subject from the
aspirant to a despotic monarchy. Three years of civil war
brought Rome and her empire to Caesar's feet, and we then
find him trying to disguise an actual kingship by the
INTRODUCTION n
unconvincingly euphemistic title of dictator. The Ides of
March taught his nephew, who after another period of civil
war succeeded to Caesar's supremacy in the Roman world,
to be more cautious, and to avoid a regal or quasi-regal
attitude. So Octavian (Augustus) poses as a private indivi-
dual with an honorary precedence over every one else, which
he denotes by the title princeps. His constitutional position
ultimately becomes that of the possessor of a number of powers
and privileges belonging to various republican magistracies,
which are conferred on him for life, and the possession of
which gives him the control of the ordinary republican magi-
strates who are still allowed to exist. The princeps takes the
Senate into partnership in the government of the world, and
so there arises that partition of functions between the two
which Mommsen has called the 'Dyarchy'. But the partners
were unequally yoked from the first, and however sincere the
deference which the best among the principes show to the
Senate, the princeps is led by force of circumstances to
become more and more the predominant partner. The
transformation of the Roman government from an oligarchy
to a despotism was now complete. The change had been
chiefly due to personal ambition in the leaders of the
opposing parties, which achieved successful results because
it accorded with the changed conditions resulting from the
development of a City State into a World Empire. Its
success was also due in large measure to the sound sense
which underlay Caesar's policy, a policy which found
expression, to what extent we do not know, but probably to
a large extent, in the acts of Augustus, who posed as his
uncle's heir in all things. It may perhaps seem strange
that the Senate acquiesced as easily as it did in the diminu-
tion of its powers. But the power of the princeps ultimately
rested on the army, and, as Tacitus remarks (Ann. i. 2),
every one was so tired of the civil wars which had raged
12 INTRODUCTION
almost without cessation during the first three quarters of the
first century B. c. that they were ready to accept anything for
the sake of peace and quiet. Also the wise and prudent
government of Augustus did much to consolidate the power
of the princepS) so that when the senatorial opposition arose,
as it did from time to time, \hzprinceps had little difficulty
in suppressing it. In fact, as time went on, the institution
of the principate became so strong that the actual personality
of fa&princeps mattered comparatively little. It made little
difference to the world at large whether the supreme power
was held by wise and competent men like Augustus,
Vespasian, and Trajan, or by a lunatic like Caligula and a
debauchee like Nero. The personality of the princeps did
matter a great deal to the senatorial aristocracy who dwelt
beneath the shadow of the Palatine. But away from Rome
the ' pax Romana ' and upright provincial administration
remain constant, except for one brief interval, in spite of the
varying scenes of atrocity in the capital. The literature of
the Early Empire, with few exceptions, focuses our attention
on the life of the metropolis. But we must not forget, and
we have the inscriptions to remind us, that outside the
tainted air of Rome there existed a larger and a healthier
life : that under the Principate Roman history ceases to be
the history of a town and becomes that of an empire, and
that even under a Nero and a Domitian Rome remained true
to her ideal,
Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento,
Parcere subiectis et debellare superbos.
II
The difference between the Rome of the middle of the
third century B. c. and that of the opening of the Christian
era does not consist merely in the change of the form of
government. This great political change was involved in
INTRODUCTION 13
the social and economic transformation of Italy, which
begins in the first half of the second century B. c. At the
time of the Punic Wars the mainstay of the Roman state
was the class of yeoman who cultivated the land in time of
peace and formed the backbone of the legions in time of war,
the stubborn brood who, a century before, had vanquished
the Samnites. As long as Italian agriculture flourished,
the mass of Roman citizens remained hardy and ready for
war. But the conquest of Italy led to the accumulation
of large public domains which fell into the hands of
capitalists who either turned them into pasture or cultivated
them by means of slaves. The independent class of small
farmers was gradually eliminated, and capitalism, working
through slave-labour, proved the ruin of Italy (' Latifundia
perdidere Italiam '). The result was that the yeoman
class of Italy tended to drift into Rome and to swell the
ranks of the city rabble. The population of Rome was
also increased by the large influx of Greeks and Orientals
which first set in when, at the end of the first quarter of the
second century B. c., Rome had become the chief power of
the Eastern Mediterranean. These immigrants in many
cases no doubt found employment in medicine, education,
art, the stage, among other things, and went some way
also towards monopolizing the shady or vicious professions.
But they must too often have added to the number of the
unemployed. The political importance of this rabble in an
age when political questions so often found their solution in
street fights led to the pampering of the city multitude by
food supplies and shows provided at the expense of the State
or very frequently of individual magistrates. The corn-
doles were started by Gains Gracchus (B.C. 123) and
continued off and on till the time of Caesar, who, by
limiting them to those who really needed them, transformed
a system of political bribery into an institution of poor
14 INTRODUCTION
relief. Under the Principate such bounties were widely
extended, and at the end of the first century A. D. we find
Juvenal (A. IV. iii. 80, 81 in this book), in his description
of the fall of Seianus in A. D. 31, lamenting that the people
which once ruled the world is quite content if it can get two
things, bread and circus-games (' panem et circenses ').
Such was the state of the lower classes of the free popula-
tion of the capital, which mingled with and became con-
taminated by the constantly increasing number of Greek and
Oriental slaves and freedmen. But foreign influence was no
less strongly exerted upon the wealthier classes. Here the
old Roman traditions of discipline and economy were
broken down by the luxury which continually increased as
new conquests brought in fresh tribute of wealth and slaves.
In the best period of the Republic stringent laws had
restricted the amount of silver plate and the kinds of food
which might be placed on a Roman dinner-table. These
laws remained during the period of degeneration, but were
ignored, in spite of spasmodic efforts to enforce them.
Under the Principate the luxury of the table, and indeed
luxury of all kinds, developed to an extent which is almost
incredible, and forms a stock subject of contemporary history
and satire.
In religion, no less than in manners, we see foreign influ-
ences at work. The rustic worship of the Lares and Penates,
the deification of abstract qualities, and the assignment of
the ordinary acts of daily life each to the patronage of its
own special divinity, were despised as a creed outworn by
those who had made acquaintance with Hellenic religion
and theology. The abstract character of the native Roman
religion of itself facilitated the amalgamation of the Roman
with the Greek gods and goddesses by means of a series
of equations (Jupiter = Zeus, Minerva = Athena, Venus =
Aphrodite, &c.). And those who sought a more sensational
INTRODUCTION 15
worship than the Hellenic Olympus provided found it in the
cults of the East and of Egypt, which from the end of the
third century B. c. had begun to find a home in Italy.
Under the Principate these religions found favour with
many, owing to their sacramental mysteries and the hope
which they offered of immortality.
Thus all classes at Rome, the highest and lowest alike,
had adopted a cosmopolitan character, in which the old-
fashioned virtues of the city-state of Italian yeomen no
longer appear. But it would be a mistake to suppose that
the change was pure loss. The old Roman character, with
its narrow prudential virtues and its police restraint of vice,
had something to gain from the wider horizons opened to it
by Hellenic intellect and culture. How great this gain was
may be seen from the characters and writings of the great
men of the Augustan age, and from such men as Seneca and
Agricola in the following century.
We have no reason to doubt either the reality of the
luxury, vice, and extravagance of Rome or the fact, to
which we have already referred (p. 12), that provincial life was
much purer and simpler. The same thing is plainly visible
in the modern world, perhaps more obviously in France
than in any other nation possessing a great and wealthy
capital. Novels and other literature make familiar the
luxury and vice of Paris, but they leave more or less out of
sight the decent domestic life which prevails in the provinces
and is wide-spread, though not so conspicuous, in Paris.
Both aspects of life are true alike of modern France and of
imperial Rome.
B. I. SOCIAL TYPES
i. The Bore
IBAM forte via Sacra, sicut meus est mos>
nescio quid meditans nugarum, totus in illis.
accurrit quidam notus mihi nomine tantum,
arreptaque manu ' quid agis, dulcissime rerum ? '
' suaviter, ut nunc est,' inquam, ( et cupio omnia quae vis.' 5
cum adsectaretur, ' num quid vis ? ' occupo. at ille
1 noris nos ' inquit ; ' docti sumus.' hie ego ' pluris
hoc ' inquam ' mihi eris.' misere discedere quaerens,
ire modo ocius, interdum consistere, in aurem
dicere nescio quid puero, cum sudor ad imos 10
manaret talos. 'o te, Bolane, cerebri
felicem ! ' aiebam tacitus, cum quidlibet ille
garriret, vicos, urbem laudaret. ut illi
nil respondebam, ' misere cupis ' inquit ' abire ;
iamdudum video : sed nil agis ; usque tenebo ; 1 5
persequar hinc quo nunc iter est tibi.' 'nil opus est te
circumagi : quendam volo visere non tibi notum :
trans Tiberim longe cubat is, prope Caesaris hortos.'
' nil habeo quod agam et non sum piger : usque sequar te.'
demitto auriculas, ut iniquae mentis asellus, 20
cum gravius dorso subiit onus, incipit ille :
'si bene me novi non Viscum pluris amicum,
non Varium facies : nam quis me scribere pluris
aut citius possit versus? quis membra movere
mollius ? invideat quod et Hermogenes ego canto.' 25
interpellandi locus hie erat : ' est tibi mater,
1130 B
1 8 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. i
cognati, quis te salvo est opus ? ' ' baud mihi quisquam :
omnis composui.' ' felices ! nunc ego resto.
confice; namque instat fatum mihi triste, Sabella
quod puero cecinit divina mota anus urna : 30
hunc neque dira venena nee hosticus auferet ensis,
nee laterum dolor aut tussis, nee tarda podagra ;
garrulus hunc quando consumet cumque : loquaces,
si sapiat, vitet, simul atque adoleverit aetas.'
ventum erat ad Vestae, quarta iam parte diei 35
praeterita, et casu tune respondere vadato
debebat ; quod ni fecisset, perdere litem.
' si me amas ' inquit ' paulum hie ades.' ' inteream si
aut valeo stare aut novi civilia iura ;
et propero quo scis.' * dubius sum quid faciam ' inquit, 40
'tene relinquam an rem.' 'me, sodes.' ' non faciam ' ille,
et praecedere coepit. ego, ut contendere durum est
cum victore, sequor. 'Maecenas quomodo tecum?'
hinc repetit : * paucorum hominum et mentis bene sanae ;
nemo dexterius fortuna est usus. haberes 45
magnum adiutorem, posset qui ferre secundas,
hunc hominem velles si tradere : dispeream ni
summosses omnis.' ' non isto vivimus illic
quo tu rere modo ; domus hac nee purior ulla est
nee magis his aliena malis; nil mi officit' inquam 50
' ditior hie aut est quia doctior ; est locus uni
cuique suus.' 'magnum narras, vix credibile.' 'atqui
sic habet.' 'accendis, quare cupiam magis illi
proximus esse.' ' velis tantummodo, quae tua virtus,
expugnabis ; et est qui vinci possit, eoque 55
difficilis aditus primos habet.' ' haud mihi deero :
muneribus servos corrumpam ; non, hodie si
exclusus fuero, desistam ; tempora quaeram ;
occurram in triviis \ deducam. nil sine magno
vita labore dedit mortalibus.' haec dum agit, ecce 60
B. I. i] SOCIAL TYPES 19
Fuscus Aristius occurrit, mihi carus et ilium
qui pulchre nosset. consistimus. 'unde venis?' et
'quo tendis?' rogat et respondet. vellere coepi,
et pressare manu lentissima bracchia, nutans,
distorquens oculos, ut me eriperet. male salsus 65
ridens dissimulare : meum iecur urere bilis.
1 certe nescio quid secreto velle loqui te
aiebas mecum.' ' memini bene, sed meliore
tempore dicam : hodie tricesima sabbata.'
' nulla mihi ' inquam 70
1 religio est.' 'at mi : sum paulo infirmior, unus
multorum : ignosces : alias loquar.' huncine solem
tarn nigrum surrexe mihi ! fugit improbus ac me
sub cultro linquit. casu venit obvius illi
adversarius et 'quo tu turpissime ? ' magna 75
inclamat voce, et 'licet antestari?' ego vero
oppono auriculam. rapit in ius : clamor utrimque :
undique concursus. sic me servavit Apollo.
HOR. Sat. i. Q.
B 2
20 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. i
NOTES
Lines i ff. An account of Horace's adventure with a bore.
It is intended also to show the wrong way to become a friend of
Maecenas, just as Sat. i. 6. 45 ff. (A. II. ii. i ff. in this book)
shows the right way.
I. via Sacra. Look up this, and the other parts of Rome
mentioned in this Satire, in the plan of Rome.
ii. Bolane : a person otherwise unknown, whose quick temper
(cerebri) 1. n) would soon have extricated him from such
a situation.
1 8. Caesaris hortos : the gardens on the Janiculum, left by
Caesar to the Roman people.
22. Visctim : probably one of the two of this name for whose
opinions on literary subjects Horace expresses regard(Sat.i. 10. 83) .
23. Varium : see note on B. II. viii. 40.
25. Hermogenes : an effeminate musician much disliked by
Horace.
26. The point of the question may be that such a paragon
will provoke the jealousy of the gods, he is too good to live.
So has he any relations who are interested in his welfare ?
36. ' The plaintiff in a civil suit when, with the Praetor's
leave, he had declared the nature and process of his action, had
to give the defendant time to prepare his answer. He called on
him therefore " dare vades " and was said " vadari reum ", to bind
him over to appear. If the defendant failed at the appointed time
to come into court (" vadimonium sistere ", " respondere " or
apparently as here " respondere vadato ") he was said " vadi-
monium deseruisse ", and the plaintiff moved for judgement " ut
ex edicto bona possidere liceat ". ' (Wickham.)
44. paucorum homimtm : a man of few friends, who does not
make himself cheap.
47. hunc hominem, sc. me. It is very hard to get to know
Maecenas. If you want some one to help you to do so, some one
who would not try to supplant yourself, you might do worse than
introduce me to him.
56 ff. Contrast the way in which Horace himself had gained
the intimacy of Maecenas, Hor. Sat. i. 6. 54 ff. (A. II. ii. 10 ff. in
this book).
69. tricesima sabbata. We do not know the meaning of this,
or even if it is intended to have any definite meaning. Sabbata
may be used vaguely for a Jewish sacred day, and tricesima
(the 30th of the month) may refer to the new moon.
76. licet antestari ? The opponent asks Horace whether he
will bear witness to the fact that he has summoned the bore.
Horace, in accordance with the regular form, allows his ear to
be touched as a sign that he is willing to act as witness.
B. I. iil SOCIAL TYPES 21
ii. The Greek
QVAE mine divitibus gens acceptissima nostris,
et quos praecipue fugiam, properabo fateri,
nee pudor opstabit. non possum ferre, Quirites,
Graecam urbem (quamvis quota portio faecis Achaei?
iam pridem Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes). 5
rusticus ille tuus sumit trechedipna, Quirine,
et ceromatico fert niceteria collo.
hie alta Sicyone, ast hie Amydone relicta,
hie Andro, ille amo, hie Trallibus aut Alabandis
Esquilias dictumque petunt a vimine collem, 10
viscera magnarum domuum dominique futuri.
ingenium velox, audacia perdita, sermo
promptus et Isaeo torrentior. ede quid ilium
esse putes. quemvis hominem secum attulit ad nos :
grammaticus rhetor geometres pictor aliptes 15
augur schoenobates medicus magus, omnia novit
Graeculus esuriens; in caelum miseris, ibit.
in summa non Maurus erat neque Sarmata nee Thrax
qui sumpsit pinnas, mediis sed natus Athenis.
horum ego non fugiam conchylia? me prior ille 20
signabit fultusque toro meliore recumbet,
advectus Romam quo pruna et cottona vento?
usque adeo nihil est quod nostra infantia caelum
hausit Aventini baca nutrita Sabina?
quid quod adulandi gens prudentissima laudat 25
sermonem indocti, faciem deformis amici,
et longum invalidi collum cervicibus aequat
Herculis Antaeum procul a tellure tenentis,
miratur vocem angustam, qua deterius nee
ille sonat quo mordetur gallina marito? 30
22 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. ii
haec eadem licet et nobis laudare, sed illis
creditur. an melior, cum Thaida sustinet aut cum
uxorem comoedus agit vel Dorida nullo
cultam palliolo? mulier nempe ipsa videtur.
nee tamen Antiochus nee erit mirabilis illic 35
aut Stratocles aut cum molli Demetrius Haemo :
natio comoeda est. rides, maiore cachinno
concutitur ; flet, si lacrimas conspexit amici,
nee dolet ; igniculum brumae si tempore poscas,
accipit endromidem ; si dixeris ' aestuo,' sudat. 40
non sumus ergo pares : melior, qui semper et omni
nocte dieque potest aliena sumere vultum
a facie, iactare manus, laudare paratus.
Juv. Sat. i\\.
B. I. iij SOCIAL TYPES 23
NOTES
Lines 3 fif. Cf. Johnson, London, 1. 93 flf. :
London, the needy villain's gen'ral home,
The common sewer of Paris and of Rome,
With eager thirst, by folly or by fate,
Sucks in the dregs of each corrupted state.
Forgive my transports on a theme like this,
I cannot bear a French metropolis.
3, 4. Non possum ferre, Quirites, Graecam urbem. Ever
since the conquest of Greece by Rome in 146 B.C., there had
been a steady influx of Greeks into the city. These were often
accomplished men who were employed in literary, artistic, and
educational work. Cf. Hor. Ep. ii. i. 156-7 * Graecia capta
ferum victorem cepit et artis intulit agresti Latio '. But the
behaviour of these immigrants was always marked by servility.
The introduction of Greek culture into Rome had from the first
been distasteful to admirers of the old Roman manners, notably
to Cato.
5. Orontes : the river of Antioch, the capital of Syria. Rome
had been in contact with Syria ever since 190 B.C., when she
beat the Syrian king Antiochus and reduced Syria to a second-
class power. In 163 B. c. Syria received a Roman resident, and
a century later (64 B.C.) was made a Roman province by
Fompey.
6, 7. The Greek words in these lines are scornfully introduced
in mockery of Greek manners.
trechedeipna (rp^o) + deinvov ' run to dinner ') : dress
clothes, or, possibly, shoes.
ceromatico. ceroma was a mixture of oil, wax, and earth,
with which athletes rubbed themselves before wrestling (Mayor).
niceteria (i/t/caco ' conquer ') : prizes of victory.
12 fif. Cf. Johnson, London, 1. 107 fif. :
All that at home no more can beg or steal,
Or like a gibbet better than a wheel,
Hiss'd from the stage, or hooted from the court,
Their air, their dress, their politics import ;
Obsequious, artful, voluble, and gay,
On Britain's fond credulity they prey,
All sciences a fasting Monsieur knows,
And bid him go to hell, to hell he goes.
24 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. ii
Studious to please and ready to submit,
The supple Gaul was born a parasite :
Still to his int'rest true, where'er he goes,
Wit, brav'ry, worth, his lavish tongue bestows ;
In ev'ry face a thousand graces shine,
From ev'ry tongue flows harmony divine.
These arts in vain our rugged natives try,
Strain out with falt'ring diffidence a lie,
And get a kick for awkward flattery.
13. Isaeus is not the Attic orator of the fourth century B.C.,
but an Assyrian rhetorician who came to Rome over the age of
sixty, about A.D. 97. Cp. Plin. Ep. ii. 3 ' magna Isaeum fama
praecesserat : maior inventus est. Summa est facultas, copia,
ubertas : dicit semper ex tempore. . . . statim omnia ac paene
pariter ad manum '.
1 8 f. It is in keeping with the versatility of the Greek character
that the first aeronaut, Daedalus, should have been a Greek of
Athens, and not a Moor or Thracian.
20 f. The signatures of witnesses to legal documents were
written in the order of precedence of the persons signing, so
that a foreign upstart of high position would often sign before
a native Roman. This witnessing of marriage contracts, wills,
and other documents was a social duty, sometimes a burden, at
Rome. Cf. Plin. Ep. i. 9 (B. III. vii. 6 f.) ' ille me ad signandum
testamentum . . . rogavit '.
The assigning of places at table in accordance with social
position was a Roman no less than a Jewish (St. Luke xiv. 9, 10)
custom. See note on B. I. v. 17.
22. cottona : small Syrian figs.
28. Antaeus, son of Poseidon and Ge (Earth), was a wrestler in
Libya, who obtained more strength each time he touched his
mother Earth. Hercules, discovering this, held him away from
the earth and strangled him.
30. i.e. a cock. Cf. Quint, xi. 3. 51 ' suffocatur saepe vox et
maiore nisu minus clara est, et interim elisa in ilium sonum
erumpit, cui Graeci nomen a gallorum immaturo cantu dederunt ',
quoted by Mayor.
31 ff. A Roman can flatter no less than a Greek, but then
a Roman's flattery is not convincing. A Greek can play the
part of flatterer as easily and as naturally as an actor plays the
stock parts in a comedy.
37 ff. Cf. Johnson, London, 1. 130 ff. :
Besides, with justice this discerning age
Admires their wond'rous talents for the stage :
Well may they venture on the mimic's art,
Who play from morn to night a borrow'd part ;
B. I. ii] SOCIAL TYPES 25
Practis'd their master's notions to embrace
Repeat his maxims, and reflect his face ;
With ev'ry wild absurdity comply,
And view each object with another's eye ;
To shake with laughter ere the jest they hear,
To pour at will the counterfeited tear,
And as their patron hints the cold or heat,
To shake in dog-days, in December sweat.
26 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. iii
The Legacy- Hunter
Hoc quoque, Tiresia, praeter narrata petenti
responde, quibus amissas reparare queam res
artibus atque modis. quid rides ? ' iamne doloso
non satis est Ithacam revehi patriosque penatis
aspicere?' o nulli quicquam mentite, vides ut 5
nudus inopsque domum redeam te vate, neque illic
aut apotheca precis intacta est aut pecus ; atqui
et genus et virtus nisi cum re vilior alga est.
'quando pauperiem missis ambagibus horres,
accipe qua ratione queas ditescere. turdus 10
sive aliud privum dabitur tibi, devolet illuc
res ubi magna nitet domino sene ; dulcia poma
et quoscumque feret cultus tibi fundus honores
ante Larem gustet venerabilior Lare dives;
qui quamvis periurus erit, sine gente, cruentus 15
sanguine fraterno, fugitivus, ne tamen illi
tu comes exterior si postulet ire recuses.'
utne tegam spurco Damae latus? baud ita Troiae
me gessi certans semper melioribus. ' ergo
pauper eris.' fortem hoc animum tolerare iubebo ; 20
et quondam maiora tuli. tu protinus unde
divitias aerisque ruam die, augur, acervos.
' dixi equidem et dico : captes astutus ubique
testamenta senum, neu, si vafer unus et alter
insidiatorem praeroso fugerit hamo, 25
aut spem deponas aut artem illusus omittas.
magna minorve foro si res certabitur olim,
vivet uter locuples sine natis, improbus, ultro
B. I. iii] SOCIAL TYPES 27
qui meliorem audax vocet in ius, illius esto
defensor; fama civem causaque priorem 30
sperne, domi si gnatus erit fecundave coniunx.
11 Quinte," puta, aut " Publi," (gaudent praenomine molles
auriculae) " tibi me virtus tua fecit amicum ;
ius anceps novi, causas defendere possum ;
eripiet quivis oculos citius mihi quam te 35
contemptum cassa nuce pauperet ; haec mea cura est,
ne quid tu perdas neu sis iocus." ire domum atque
pelliculam curare iube; fi cognitor ipse,
persta atque obdura, seu rubra Canicula findet
infantis statuas, seu pingui tentus omaso 40
Furius hibernas cana nive conspuet Alpis.
"nonne vides," aliquis cubito stantem prope tangens
inquiet, "ut patiens, ut amicis aptus, ut acer?"
plures adnabunt thynni et cetaria crescent.
si cui praeterea validus male films in re 45
praeclara sublatus aletur, ne manifestum
caelibis obsequium nudet te, leniter in spem
adrepe ofificiosus, ut et scribare secundus
heres et, si quis casus puerum egerit Oreo,
in vacuum venias : perraro haec alea fallit. 50
qui testamentum tradet tibi cumque legendum,
abnuere et tabulas a te removere memento,
sic tamen ut limis rapias quid prima secundo
cera velit versu ; solus multisne coheres,
veloci percurre oculo. plerumque recoctus 55
scriba ex quinqueviro corvum deludet hiantem,
captatorque dabit risus Nasica Corano.'
num furis? an prudens ludis me obscura canendo?
' o Laertiade, quidquid dicam aut erit aut non :
divinare etenim magnus mihi donat Apollo.' 60
quid tamen ista velit sibi fabula, si licet, ede.
' tempore quo iuvenis Parthis horrendus, ab alto
28 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. iii
demissum genus Aenea, tellure marique
magnus erit, forti nubet procera Corano
filia Nasicae metuentis reddere soldum. 65
turn gener hoc faciet : tabulas socero dabit atque
ut legat orabit ; multum Nasica negatas
accipiet tandem et tacitus leget, invenietque
nil sibi legatum praeter plorare suisque.
illud ad haec iubeo : mulier si forte dolosa 70
libertusve senem delirum temperet, illis
accedas socius ; laudes, lauderis ut absens.
adiuvat hoc quoque ; sed vincit longe prius ipsum
expugnare caput. scribet mala carmina vecors :
laudato. 75
me sene quod dicam factum est : anus improba Thebis
ex testamento sic est elata : cadaver
unctum oleo largo nudis umeris tulit heres,
scilicet elabi si posset mortua; credo,
quod nimium institerat viventi. cautus adito : 80
neu desis operae neve immoderatus abundes.
difficilem et morosum offendet garrulus ; ultra
non etiam sileas. Davus sis comicus atque
stes capite obstipo, multum similis metuenti.
obsequio grassare ; mone, si increbruit aura, 85
cautus uti velet carum caput; extrahe turba
oppositis umeris ; aurem substringe loquaci.
importunus amat laudari : donee ohe ! iam
ad caelum manibus sublatis dixerit, urge,
crescentem tumidis infla sermonibus utrem. 90
cum te servitio longo curaque levarit,
et certum vigilans, QVARTAE SIT PARTIS VLIXES,
audieris, HERES : " ergo nunc Dama sodalis
nusquam est ? unde mihi tarn fortem tamque fidelem ? "
sparge subinde et, si paulum potes, illacrimare : est 95
gaudia prodentem vultum celare. sepulcrum
B. I. iii] SOCIAL TYPES 29
permissum arbitrio sine sordibus exstrue ; funus
egregie factum laudet vicinia. si quis
forte coheredum senior male tussiet, huic tu
die, ex parte tua sen fundi sive domus sit 100
emptor, gaudentem nummo te addicere. sed me
imperiosa trahit Proserpina ; vive valeque.'
HOR. Sat. ii. 5.
30 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. iii
NOTES
Lines I ff. This satire is conceived as a continuation of the
dialogue between Ulysses (Odysseus) and Tiresias in the Lower
World, related in Homer, Odyssey xi. Ulysses wants to know
how to obtain money to repair the ravages which Penelope's
suitors have made in his property. Tiresias advises him to turn
legacy- hunter.
8. re: property. Cf. Hor. Ep. i. i. 52 ff. (A. IV. i. 52 in this
book) :
Vilius argentum est auro, virtutibus aurum.
' o cives, cives, quaerenda pecunia primum est ;
virtus post nuinmos.' ....
isne tibi melius suadet qui, rem facias, rem,
si possis recte, si non, quocumque modo rem?
and Tennyson, Northern Farmer, New Style, XI :
Proputty, proputty's ivrything 'ere.
41. Horace here parodies the line ' luppiter hibernas cana nive
conspuit Alpes ', probably the work of a Furius Alpinus, who is
again referred to in Sat. i. 10, 36, and is almost certainly not
identical with Furius Bibaculus.
53 f. The second line of the first page of the will would contain
the names of the legatees. The first line would contain the
name of the testator.
5 5 f. recoctus scriba ex qitinqiteviro : a commissioner who has
gone into the melting-pot and come out as a clerk (Wickham).
The sense of the passage has not been satisfactorily explained.
59. A parody of the ambiguities of ancient oracles.
83. Davus\ the typical slave of the comic stage.
101. nummo : a sesterce. If one of your co-legatees wants to
buy some property that has fallen to your share, let him have it
for a mere nothing, in the hope that he will mention you in his
will.
B. I. iv] SOCIAL TYPES 31
IV
C. PLINIVS CALVISIO SVO S.
ASSEM para et accipe auream fabulam, fabulas immo ;
nam me priorum nova admonuit, nee refert, a qua potis-
simum incipiam. Verania Pisonis graviter iacebat, huius
5 dico Pisonis, quern Galba adoptavit. Ad hanc Regulus
venit. Primum inpudentiam hominis, qui venerit ad ae-
gram, cuius marito inimicissimus, ipsi invisissimus fuerat !
Esto, si venit tantum ; at ille etiam proximus toro sedit,
quo die, qua hora nata esset, interrogavit. Vbi audiit,
10 componit vultum, intendit oculos, movet labra, agitat
digitos, computat ; nihil. Vt diu miseram expectatione
suspendit, 'Habes' inquit ' climactericum tempus, sed
evades. Quod ut tibi magis liqueat, haruspicem consulam,
quern sum frequenter expertus.' Nee mora, sacrificium
15 facit, adfirmat exta cum siderum significatione congruere.
Ilia ut in periculo credula poscit codicillos, legatum Re-
gulo scribit. Mox ingravescit ; clamat moriens hominem
nequam, perfidum ac plus etiam quam periurum, qui sibi
per salutem filii perierasset. Facit hoc Regulus non minus
20 scelerate quam frequenter, quod iram deorum, quos ipse
cotidie fallit, in caput infelicis pueri detestatur.
Velleius Blaesus, ille locuples consularis, novissima vale-
tudine conflictabatur. Cupiebat mutare testamentum. Re-
gulus, qui speraret aliquid ex novis tabulis, quia nuper
25 captare eum coeperat, medicos hortari, rogare, quoquo
modo spiritum homini prorogarent. Postquam signatum
est testamentum, mutat personam, vertit adlocutionem
isdemque medicis : ' Quousque miserum cruciatis ? quid
invidetis bona morte, cui dare vitam non potestis?' Mori-
30 tur Blaesus et, tamquam omnia audisset, Regulo ne tantu-
32 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. iv
lum quidem. Sufficiunt duae fabulae, an scholastica lege
tertiam poscis? est, unde fiat.
Aurelia, ornata femina, signatura testamentum sumpserat
pulcherrimas tunicas. Regulus cum venisset ad signandum,
1 Rogo ' inquit, ' has mihi leges.' Aurelia ludere hominem 35
putabat, ille serio instabat; ne multa, coegit mulierem
aperire tabulas ac sibi tunicas, quas erat induta, legare ;
observavit scribentem, inspexit, an scripsisset. Et Aurelia
quidem vivit, ille tamen istud tamquam morituram coegit.
Et hie hereditates, hie legata, quasi mereatur, accipit. 40
'AAAa TL 8taTiVo//,ai in ea civitate, in qua iam pridem non
minora praemia, immo maiora nequitia et improbitas quam
pudor et virtus habent ? Aspice Regulum, qui ex paupere
et tenui ad tantas opes per flagitia processit, ut ipse mihi
dixerit, cum consuleret, quam cito sestertium sescenties 45
inpleturus esset, invenisse se exta duplicia, quibus portendi
milies et ducenties habiturum. Et habebit, si modo, ut
coepit, aliena testamenta, quod est inprobissimum genus
falsi, ipsis, quorum sunt ilia, dictaverit. Vale.
PLIN. Ep. ii. 20.
B. I. iv] SOCIAL TYPES 33
NOTES
Line 4. Verania Pisonis^ sc. uxor.
5. Regulus: one of the most infamous delator es under Domitian.
12. climactericum tempus: a crisis of the disease.
41. dXXa TI dinTeii'op.ai, ' But why do I exert myself ?' in exposing
such abuses. ' What is the use of this tirade ? '
nao
34 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. v
Patron and Client
Si te propositi nondum pudet atque eadem est mens,
ut bona summa putes aliena vivere quadra,
si potes ilia pati quae nee Sarmentus iniquas
Caesaris ad mensas nee vilis Gabba tulisset,
quamvis iurato metuam tibi credere testi. 5
ventre nihil novi frugalius. hoc tamen ipsum
defecisse puta, quod inani sufficit alvo :
nulla crepido vacat? nusquam pons et tegetis pars
dimidia brevior ? tantine iniuria cenae,
tarn ieiuna fames, cum possit honestius illic 10
et tremere et sordes farris mordere canini ?
primo fige loco quod tu discumbere iussus
mercedem solidam veterum capis officiorum.
fructus amicitiae magnae cibus, inputat hunc rex,
et quamvis rarum tamen inputat. ergo duos post 15
si libuit menses neglectum adhibere clientem,
tertia ne vacuo cessaret culcita lecto,
' una simus ' ait. votorum summa. quid ultra
quaeris? habet Trebius propter quod rumpere somnum
debeat et ligulas dimittere, sollicitus ne 20
tota salutatrix iam turba peregerit orbem
sideribus dubiis aut illo tempore, quo se
frigida circumagunt pigri serraca Bootae.
qualis cena tamen. vinum quod sucida nolit
lana pati : de con viva Corybanta videbis. 25
iurgia proludunt, sed mox et pocula torques
saucius et rubra deterges vulnera mappa,
inter vos quotiens libertorumque cohortem
pugna Saguntina fervet commissa lagona.
ipse capillato diffusum consule potat 30
calcatamque tenet bellis socialibus uvam
B. I. v] SOCIAL TYPES 35
cardiaco numquam cyathum missurus amico ;
eras bibet Albanis aliquid de montibus aut de
Setinis, cuius patriam titulumque senectus
delevit multa veteris fuligine testae, 35
quale coronati Thrasea Helvidiusque bibebant
Brutorum et Cassi natalibus. ipse capaces
Heliadum crustas et inaequales berullo
Virro tenet phialas : tibi non committitur aurum,
vel si quando datur, custos adfixus ibidem, 40
qui numeret gemmas, ungues observet acutos.
da veniam, praeclara illi laudatur iaspis ;
nam Virro, ut multi, gemmas ad pocula transfert
a digitis, quas in vaginae fronte solebat
ponere zelotypo iuvenis praelatus larbae. 45
tu Beneventani sutoris nomen habentem
siccabis calicem nasorum quattuor ac iam
quassatum et rupto poscentem sulpura vitro,
si stomachus domini fervet vinoque ciboque,
frigidior Geticis petitur decocta pruinis. 50
non eadem vobis poni modo vina querebar:
vos aliam potatis aquam. tibi pocula cursor
Gaetulus dabit aut nigri manus ossea Mauri
et cui per mediam nolis occurrere noctem,
clivosae veheris dum per monumenta Latinae : 55
flos Asiae ante ipsum, pretio maiore paratus
quam fuit et Tulli census pugnacis et Anci
et, ne te teneam, Romanorum omnia regum
frivola. quod cum ita sit, tu Gaetulum Ganymedem
respice, cum sities. nescit tot milibus emptus 60
pauperibus miscere puer; sed forma, sed aetas
digna supercilio. quando ad te pervenit ille?
quando rogatus adest calidae gelidaeque minister?
quippe indignatur veteri parere clienti
quodque aliquid poscas et quod se stante recumbas. 65
c 2
36 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. v
maxima quaeque domus servis est plena superbis.
ecce alius quanto porrexit murmure panem
vix fractum, solidae iam mucida frusta farinae,
quae genuinum agitent, non admittentia morsum.
sed tener et niveus mollique siligine rictus 70
servatur domino, dextram cohibere memento,
salva sit artoptae reverentia. finge tamen te
inprobulum, superest illic qui ponere cogat :
1 vis tu consuetis, audax conviva, canistris
impleri panisque tui novisse colorem?' 75
' scilicet hoc fuerat, propter quod saepe relicta
coniuge per montem adversum gelidasque cucurri
Esquilias, fremeret saeva cum grandine vernus
luppiter et multo stillaret paenula nimbo.'
aspice quam longo distinguat pectore lancem 80
quae fertur domino squilla, et quibus undique saepta
asparagis qua despiciat convivia cauda,
dum venit excelsi manibus sublata ministri.
sed tibi dimidio constrictus cammarus ovo
ponitur exigua feralis cena patella. 85
ipse Venafrano piscem perfundit : at hie qui
pallidus adfertur misero tibi caulis olebit
lanternam ; illud enim vestris datur alveolis quod
canna Micipsarum prora subvexit acuta,
propter quod Romae cum Boccare nemo lavatur, 90
quod tutos etiam facit a serpentibus atris.
mullus erit domini, quem misit Corsica vel quem
Tauromenitanae rupes, quando omne peractum est
et iam defecit nostrum mare, dum gula saevit,
retibus adsiduis penitus scrutante macello 95
proxima, nee patimur Tyrrhenum crescere piscem.
instruit ergo focum provincia, sumitur illinc
quod captator emat Laenas, Aurelia vendat.
Virroni muraena datur, quae maxima venit
B. I. v] SOCIAL TYPES 37
gurgite de Siculo ; nam dum se continet auster, 100
dum sedet et siccat madidas in carcere pinnas,
contemnunt mediam temeraria lina Charybdim :
vos anguilla manet longae cognata colubrae,
aut glacie aspersus maculis Tiberiniis, et ipse
vernula riparum, pinguis torrente cloaca 105
et solitus mediae cryptam penetrare Suburae.
ipsi pauca velim, facilem si praebeat aurem.
1 nemo petit, modicis quae mittebantur amicis
a Seneca, quae Piso bonus, quae Cotta solebat
largiri ; namque et titulis et fascibus olim 1 10
maior habebatur donandi gloria, solum
poscimus ut cenes civiliter. hoc face et esto,
esto, ut nunc multi, dives tibi, pauper amicis.'
anseris ante ipsum magni iecur, anseribus par
altilis, et flavi dignus ferro Meleagri 115
spumat aper. post hunc tradentur tubera, si ver
tune erit et facient optata tonitrua cenas
maiores. ' tibi habe frumentum ' Alledius inquit
' o Libye, disiunge boves, dum tubera mittas.'
structorem interea, nequa indignatio desit, 120
saltantem spectes et chironomunta volanti
cultello, donee peragat dictata magistri
omnia ; nee minimo sane discrimine refert,
quo gestu lepores et quo gallina secetur.
duceris planta velut ictus ab Hercule Cacus 125
et ponere foris, si quid temptaveris umquam
hiscere, tamquam habeas tria nomina. quando propinat
Virro tibi sumitve tuis contacta labellis
pocula ? quis vestrum temerarius usque adeo, quis
perditus, ut dicat regi f bibe'? plurima sunt quae 130
non audent homines pertusa dicere laena.
quadringenta tibi si quis deus aut similis dis
et melior fatis donaret homuncio, quantus,
38 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. v
ex nihilo quantus fieres Virronis amicus.
'da Trebio, pone ad Trebium. vis, frater, ab ipsis 135
ilibus ? ' o nummi, vobis hunc praestat honorem,
vos estis fratres. dominus tamen et domini rex
si vis tu fieri, nullus tibi parvolus aula
luserit Aeneas nee filia dulcior illo j
iucundum et carum sterilis facit uxor amicum. 140
sed tua nunc Mycale pariat licet et pueros tres
in gremium patris fundat semel, ipse loquaci
gaudebit nido, viridem thoraca iubebit
adferri minimasque nuces assemque rogatum,
ad mensam quotiens parasitus venerit infans. 145
vilibus ancipites fungi ponentur amicis,
boletus domino, sed quales Claudius edit
ante ilium uxoris, post quern nihil amplius edit.
Virro sibi et reliquis Virronibus ilia iubebit
poma dari, quorum solo pascaris odore, 150
qualia perpetuus Phaeacum autumnus habebat,
credere quae possis subrepta sororibus Afris :
tu scabie frueris mali, quod in aggere rodit
qui tegitur parma et galea metuensque flagelli
discit ab hirsuta iaculum torquere capella. 155
forsitan inpensae Virronem parcere credas.
hoc agit ut doleas ; nam quae comoedia, mimus
quis melior plorante gula? ergo omnia fiunt,
si nescis, ut per lacrimas effundere bilem
cogaris pressoque diu stridere molari. 160
tu tibi liber homo et regis conviva videris :
captum te nidore suae putat ille culinae,
nee male coniectat ; quis enim tarn nudus, ut ilium
bis ferat, Etruscum puero si contigit aurum
vel nodus tantum et signum de paupere loro ? 165
spes bene cenandi vos decipit. ' ecce dabit iam
semesum leporem atque aliquid de clunibus apri,
B. I. v] SOCIAL TYPES 39
ad nos iam veniet minor altilis.' inde parato
intactoque omnes et stricto pane iacetis.
ille sapit qui te sic utitur. omnia ferre 170
si potes, et debes. pulsandum vertice raso
praebebis quandoque caput nee dura timebis
flagra pati, his epulis et tali dignus amico.
Juv. Sat. v.
THE EARLY EMPIRE
[B. I. v
NOTES
Lines 3 f. Sarmentus and Gabba were obscure and disreput-
able persons. The former lived under Augustus and assumed
equestrian rank under false pretences.
8. Pavements and bridges were and are the haunts of beggars.
1 7. lecto. The three lecti of the triclinium were called medius,
imus, and summits. A person reclining on the medius would
have the summits on his left and the imus on his right. The
medius and summus lectus were reserved for guests, the medius
for the most distinguished ; the imus for the host, his wife, and
a child or freedman. The place of honour on the lectus summus
and imus was the first, that on the medius (the so-called locus
consularis] the third, which was next to the host, and allowed
the occupant to retire or to receive a message without disturbing
the rest of the company.
Mcnsa
(Marquardt]
22 f. sideribus dubiis : i. e. early morning.
aut illo tempore : earlier in the night, when Bootes is still
high in the sky (Hardy).
24. sucida lana is wool shorn in early summer ' cum sudare
inceperunt oves ' (Varro). It was used with wine or vinegar in
fomentations. The wine offered to clients was, according to
Juvenal, not good enough even for this.
25. Corybants were priests of Cybele, noted for the violence
of their enthusiasm.
29. Saguntina. Saguntum, a town in Spain famous for its
B. I. v] SOCIAL TYPES 41
earthenware. It is better known to us as the town the capture
of which by Hannibal in 218 B.C. led to the Second Punic War.
30. capillato diffusum consiile. The date at which the wine
was made, denoted as usual by the name of the consul, and the
vineyard from which it came were written on the label or painted
on the amphora. According to Varro barbers came into Italy
from Sicily in 300 B. c. The elder Pliny tells us that the younger
Scipio Africanus (who destroyed Carthage 146 B. C.) was the first
to shave every day. He also speaks of the vintage of 121 B. C.
as still drunk in his time (i.e. the middle of the first century A. D.).
So the present line is much less of an exaggeration than would
seem.
31. bellis socialibus. The wars carried on by the Italian allies,
headed by the Marsi against Rome between 91 and 88 B. c.
Their object was to obtain Roman citizenship, which had been
promisee! them by Livius Drusus. In the end Rome had to
give way.
36. For Thrasea and Helvidius see note on A. I. iii. 44. Brutus
and Cassius were the two leaders of the champions of Liberty
who murdered Julius Caesar (March 1 5, 44 B. c.), and committed
suicide during the Campaign of Philippi two years later.
38. Heliadum crustas. Phaethon, son of Helios the God
of the Sun, insisted on driving the chariot in which his father
crossed the heavens. The horses rushed out of their usual track
and nearly burnt up the earth, whereupon Zeus slew Phaethon
with a thunderbolt. His sorrowing sisters, the Heliades, were
changed into poplars, and their tears into amber.
45. Aeneas was preferred as a suitor by Dido, queen of Car-
thage, to her Gaetulian neighbour larbas. See Verg. Aen. iv.
36 ; Ov. Her. vii. 123 ff.
46. Vatinius was an ugly buffoon with a long nose, the memory
of which seems to have been perpetuated in a particular kind of cup
with long spouts. He was originally a cobbler of Beneventum.
He was introduced into Nero's court as a butt ; afterwards, by
means of false accusations, he obtained considerable power (Tac.
Ann. xv. 34 ; Mart. xiv. 96).
48. rupto poscentein sulpura vitro. Brimstone was often ex-
changed for broken glass. Or perhaps there is a reference to the
use of brimstone as a cement.
52 fif. The client has a black African to wait upon him, the
kind of person one would not like to meet in the dark. The
patron is attended by an expensive slave from Asia Minor, who
cost more than the whole fortune of the early kings of Rome,
such as Tullus Hostilius and Ancus Martius.
Ganymedes (1. 59) a Trojan prince, remarkable for his beauty,
carried off to be Zeus's cup-bearer. The name is here applied
ironically to the ugly negro.
42 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. v
55. monumenta Latinae. The chief roads out of Rome, such
as the via Latina, were bordered for a considerable distance by
the tombs of the dead. Interment in the city was only allowed
exceptionally.
76 ff. i. e. to attend the early morning salutatio.
86 ff. The town of Venafrum, on the borders of Samnium and
Campania, was supposed to make the best olive oil in the world.
This is served to the patron, while the client has to be content
with lamp-oil, or with oil from Numidia, the land of King Micipsa,
such oil as, when used at the baths by the Mauretanian Boccar,
produces a solitude.
98. For legacy-hunters see Hor. Sat. ii. 5 ; Plin. Ep. ii. 20
(B. I. iii and B. I. iv in this book). Laenas, in the hope of ob-
taining a legacy, sends presents of dainties to Aurelia, which she
promptly sells.
101. carccre'. i. e. the prison in which the winds were kept by
Aeolus. Cf. Verg. Aen. i. 52-4.
1 06. The Cloaca Maxima, or main drain of Rome, went under
the Subura. For the Subura see note on B. III. iv. 5 and plan
of Rome.
109. There had apparently been a great deterioration in the
liberality of patrons between the time of Nero (A. D. 54-68) and
that of Trajan (A.D. 98-117). Seneca, Nero's tutor, Piso, the
head of the disastrous conspiracy of A. D. 65, and Cotta, the poet
Ovid's patron, were all famous for their liberality to clients.
115. Meleager, son of Oeneus king of Calydon, slew the boar
which ravaged the fields of his country. He gave its hide to
Atalanta, but his mother's brothers took it away from her, where-
upon he slew them. His mother, enraged at this, threw into the
fire the firebrand, on which, by a decree of the fates, Meleager's
life depended.
1 19. A great part of the corn-supply of Rome came from Africa,
especially from Egypt.
I2off. Cf. Petronius, Cena Trimalchionis (B. II. iii. 98 in
this book).
125. Cacus, son of Vulcan, was a giant who dwelt on Mount
Aventine. He stole some cattle belonging to Hercules and
thought he would be able to disguise the theft by dragging them
backwards by the tail into his cave. Just as Hercules was
going away one of his oxen lowed, and a cow inside the cave
replied. Hercules then burst into the cave and slew Cacus. Cf.
Verg. Aen. viii. 190-267, esp. 264 'pedibusque informe cadaver
protrahitur '.
127. tamquam habeas tria nomina. A freeborn Roman had
three names: (i) a praenomen, e.g. Marcus, denoting the in-
dividual, (2) a nomen, e.g. Tullius, denoting his gens, (3) a
cognomen., e.g. Cicero, denoting his familia. Freedmen also
B. I. v] SOCIAL TYPES 43
took the praenomen and nomen of their patron, as M. Tullius
Tiro. The phrase therefore means ' as if you were a free man '.
Slaves had only one name, e.g. Davus, Syrus.
130. regi, the name by which patrons were addressed by
clients. Another common form of address from client to patron
was domine. It was as much as a client's place was worth to
address his patron by name. Cf. Mart. vi. 88 (B. I. vii in this
book).
132. quadringenta (sc. milia sestertiuni) : the amount of money
necessary for a man who wished to rank as an eques or knight,
the second of the great orders in the State.
138-9. A satirical reference to Verg. Aen. iv. 328-9 'si quis
mihi parvulus aula luderet Aeneas, qui te tamen ore referret '.
The meaning is that it is childless persons (orbf) who alone
give scope to legacy-hunters, and in this way obtain social
importance.
143. thoraca'. a kind of waistcoat.
147-8. Claudius was poisoned by his wife Agrippina on Oct.
13, A.D. 54, by means of a mushroom.
151. Refers to the famous gardens of Alcinous, described by
Homer in Odyssey vii. 1 14 ff. The Phaeacians, of whom Alcinous
was king, are supposed to have lived in Corcyra. Cf. Austin
Dobson, In a Garden,
All the seasons run their race
In this quiet resting-place ;
Peach and apricot and fig
Here will ripen and grow big:
Here is store and overplus,
More had not Alcinous.
See also B. III. v. 29.
152. sororibus Afris : the Hesperides, guardians of the golden
apples which Ge (Earth) gave to Hera when she married Zeus.
They were by some supposed to live near Mount Atlas.
Hercules had to get these apples as one of his Labours. Cf.
B. III. v. 2.
153 ff. Such as the ape gnaws dressed in uniform, and taught
by fear of the lash to hurl a javelin from a goat's back. Mart,
xiv. 202 speaks of a soldier ape * callidus emissas eludere simius
hastas ' (Mayor). The agger was that of Servius Tullius : see
plan of Rome.
164. Etruscum puero si contigit aurum : the bulla, a golden
ornament, introduced from Etruria, worn by boys of free birth
until they assumed the toga mrilis. Instead of the bulla the
sons of freedmen wore a badge of leather.
171. vertice raso : with shaven head, as a professional jester.
44 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. vi
VI
C. PLINIVS AVITO SVO S.
LONGVM est altius repetere, nee refert, quemadmodum
accident, ut homo minime familiaris cenarem apud quen-
dam, ut sibi videbatur, lautum et diligentem, ut mihi,
sordidum simul et sumptuosum. Nam sibi et paucis opima 5
quaedam, ceteris villa et minuta ponebat. Vinum etiam
parvolis lagunculis in tria genera discripserat, non ut
potestas eligendi, sed ne ius esset recusandi, aliud sibi et
nobis, aliud minoribus amicis (nam gradatim amicos habet),
aliud suis nostrisque libertis. Animadvertit, qui mihi proxi- 10
mus recumbebat, et, an probarem, interrogavit. Negavi.
' Tu ergo ' inquit ' quam consuetudinem sequeris ? ' ' Eadem
omnibus pono ; ad cenam enim, non ad notam invito
cunctisque rebus exaequo, quos mensa et toro aequavi.'
' Etiamne libertos ? ' ' Etiam ; convictores enim tune, non 15
libertos puto.' Et ille : * Magno tibi constat.' ' Minime.'
' Qui fieri potest ? ' ' Quia scilicet liberti mei non idem quod
ego bibunt, sed idem ego quod liberti.' Et hercule, si
gulae temperas, non est onerosum, quo utaris, ipse com-
municare cum pluribus. Ilia ergo reprimenda, ilia quasi 20
in ordinem redigenda est, si sumptibus parcas, quibus
aliquanto rectius tua continentia quam aliena contumelia
consulas.
Quorsus haec? ne tibi, optimae indolis iuveni, quo-
rundam in mensa luxuria specie frugalitatis inponat. Con- 25
venit autem amori in te meo, quotiens tale aliquid incident,
sub exemplo praemonere, quid debeas fugere. Igitur
memento nihil magis esse vitandum quam istam luxuriae
et sordium novam societatem ; quae cum sint turpissima
discreta ac separata, turpius iunguntur. Vale. 30
PUN. Ep. ii. 6.
B. I. viij SOCIAL TYPES 45
vn
MANE salutavi vero te nomine casu
nee dixi dominum, Caeciliane, meum.
Quanti libertas constat mihi tanta, requiris?
Centum quadrantes abstulit ilia mihi.
MART. vi.
46 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. vii
NOTES
Line 4. centum quadrantes : the dole daily received by the
client from the patron in consideration of his appearance at the
early morning salutatio. For a short time in the principate of
Domitian we hear of the clients being entertained at a meal
(cena recta) instead of receiving this payment. But this was
more trouble to the patrons and in some cases meant ruin to the
clients, so the money payment was restored. See the next
epigram in this book (Mart. iii. 30).
B I. viii] SOCIAL TYPES 47
Vlll
SPORTVLA nulla datur ; gratis conviva recumbis :
die mihi, quid Romae, Gargiliane, facis ?
unde tibi togula est et fuscae pensio cellae ?
unde datur quadrans ? unde vir es Chiones ?
cum ratione licet dicas te vivere summa,
quod vivis, nulla cum ratione facis.
MART. iii. 30.
48 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. viii
NOTES
Line I. gratis : the cena recta being regarded as one more
service rendered by the client to the patron, and not as pay
at all.
5. 'You live most reasonably (cheaply) you say: but under
such conditions it isn't reasonable to live to all.'
B. I. ix] SOCIAL TYPES 49
ix. The Spendthrift
ATTICVS eximie si cenat, lautus habetur :
si Rutilus, demens. quid enim maiore cachinno
excipitur vulgi quam pauper Apicius? omnis
convictus thermae stationes, omne theatrum
de Rutilo. nam dum valida ac iuvenalia membra 5
sufficiunt galeae dumque ardent sanguine, fertur
non cogente quidem, sed nee prohibente tribune
scripturus leges et regia verba lanistae.
multos porro vides, quos saepe elusus ad ipsum
creditor introitum solet expectare macelli, 10
et quibus in solo vivendi causa palato est.
egregius cenat meliusque miserrimus horum
et cito casurus iam perlucente ruina.
interea gustus elementa per omnia quaerunt
numquam animo pretiis opstantibus ; interius si 15
adtendas, magis ilia iuvant, quae pluris ementur.
ergo haut difficile est perituram arcessere summam
lancibus oppositis vel matris imagine fracta,
et quadringentis nummis condire gulosum
fictile ; sic veniunt ad miscillanea ludi. 20
refert ergo quis haec eadem paret; in Rutilo nam
luxuria est, in Ventidio laudabile nomen
sumit et a censu famam trahit. ilium ego iure
despiciam, qui scit quanto sublimior Atlans
omnibus in Libya sit montibus, hie tamen idem 25
ignoret quantum ferrata distet ab area
sacculus. e caelo descendit yi/w0i trecurrdi',
figendum et memori tractandum pectore, sive
coniugium quaeras vel sacri in parte senatus
esse velis (neque enim loricam poscit Achillis 30
Thersites, in qua se traducebat Vlixes)
1130 B
50 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. ix
ancipitem seu tu magno discrimine causam
protegere adfectas, te consule, die tibi qui sis,
orator vehemens an Curtius et Matho buccae.
noscenda est mensura sui spectandaque rebus 35
in summis minimisque,, etiam cum piscis emetur,
ne mullum cupias, cum sit tibi gobio tantum
in loculis. quis enim te deficiente crumina
et crescente gula manet exitus, aere paterno
ac rebus mersis in ventrem faenoris atque 40
argenti gravis et pecorum agrorumque capacem ?
talibus a dominis post cuncta novissimus exit
anulus, et digito mendicat Polio nudo.
non praematuri cineres nee funus acerbum
luxuriae, sed morte magis metuenda senectus. 45
hi plerumque gradus : conducta pecunia Romae
et coram dominis consumitur ; inde ubi paulum
nescio quid superest et pallet faenoris auctor,
qui vertere solum, Baias et ad ostrea currunt.
cedere namque foro iam non est deterius quam 50
Esquilias a ferventi migrare Subura.
ille dolor solus patriam fugientibus, ilia
maestitia est, caruisse anno circensibus uno.
sanguinis in facie non haeret gutta, morantur
pauci ridiculum et fugientem ex urbe pudorem. 55
Juv. Sat. xi.
B. I. ix] SOCIAL TYPES 51
NOTES
Lines I ff. Ti. Claudius Atticus discovered a large treasure
and was allowed by Nerva (emperor from A.D. 96 to 98) to keep
the whole of it. Rutilus was a poor noble. Apicius, who
became in literature the type of the glutton, lived in the time of
Augustus and Tiberius.
7. The tribune has not indeed assigned over Rutilus's estate to
his creditors, and so driven him to engage himself to the lanista
for his bread ; but yet he has not interposed to save him from
a degradation worse than slavery. The chief function of the
tribunate was jealously to guard the freedom of Roman citizens
(Mayor).
8. Freemen who undertook to serve as gladiators were made
to take an oath that they would allow themselves ' uri vinciri
ferroque necari ' and submit to anything else that the lanista
demanded.
18. fracta : so that he may pawn it as old silver.
20. ficiiU : his plate being pawned, he must eat off earthen ware.
27. yv>0i o-eavroV, ' know thyself,' an inscription at Delphi.
, 30 f. Achilles, the hero of the Iliad, was the greatest Greek
warrior of the epic legends. After his death his arms were
competed for as the prize of valour and fell to Ulysses. But
Ulysses in the role of Achilles was inadequate: much more
absurd would it have been if Thersites, the ugly, deformed and
ridiculous demagogue of the Iliad, had entered for the competi-
tion. A Thersites who remembers yvu>6t o-eavrov will stand aside.
34. Curtius et Matho : windbags.
43. anulus : the sign of equestrian rank. Strictly speaking,
a man whose property fell below 400,000 sesterces (about ,3,200)
was no longer an egues, and therefore no longer entitled to wear
the ring.
47. dominis : the people who lend the money (cf. ' faenoris
auctor', 1. 48).
51. Esquilias : a healthy quarter, where the rich lived.
Maecenas' house was there. If the Esquiline is the 'West End '
of Rome, the Subura is the * City'.
D 2
52 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. x
x. The Smart Man
COTILE, bellus homo es : dicunt hoc, Cotile, multi.
audio : sed quid sit, die mihi, bellus homo ?
* Bellus homo est, flexos qui digerit ordine crines,
balsama qui semper, cinnama semper olet ;
cantica qui Nili, qui Gaditana susurrat, 5
qui movet in varies bracchia volsa modos ;
inter femineas tota qui luce cathedras
desidet atque aliqua semper in aure sonat,
qui legit hinc illinc missas scribitque tabellas ;
pallia vicini qui refugit cubiti ; 10
qui scit quam quis amet, qui per convivia currit,
Hirpini veteres qui bene novit avos.'
Quid narras ? hoc est, hoc est homo, Cotile, bellus ?
res pertricosa est, Cotile, bellus homo.
MART. iii. 63.
B. I. x] SOCIAL TYPES 53
NOTES
Line 12. Hirpini: a famous race-horse, which, as an inscrip-
tion tells us, won 131 first prizes, 56 second, and 36 third. The
grandsire Aquilo won the first prize 130 times, the second 88
times, the third 37 times (Mayor on Juv. viii. 63, which passage
should be compared).
54 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. xi
xi. The Jack of all Trades
DECLAMAS belle, causas agis, Attice, belle,
historias bellas, carmina bella facis,
componis belle mimos, epigrammata belle,
bellus grammaticus, bellus es astrologus,
et belle cantas et saltas, Attice, belle,
bellus es arte lyrae, bellus es arte pilae.
Nil bene cum facias, facias tamen omnia belle,
vis dicam quid sis ? magnus es ardalio.
MART. ii.
B. I. xii] SOCIAL TYPES 55
xii. The Persistent Poet
OCCVRRIT tibi nemo quod libenter,
quod, quacumque venis, fuga est et ingens
circa te, Ligurine, solitudo,
quid sit, scire cupis? Nimis poeta es.
hoc valde vitium periculosum est. 5
non tigris catulis citata raptis,
non dipsas medio perusta sole,
nee sic scorpios inprobus timetur.
nam tantos, rogo, quis ferat labores?
et stanti legis et legis sedenti. ro
in thermas fugio : sonas ad aurem.
piscinam peto : non licet natare.
ad cenam propero : tenes euntem.
ad cenam venio : fugas sedentem.
lassus dormio : suscitas iacentem. 15
Vis, quantum facias mali, videre ?
vir Justus, probus, innocens timeris.
MART. iii. 44.
56 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. I. xiii
xiii. The Learned Woman
ILLA tamen gravior, quae cum discumbere coepit
laudat Vergilium, periturae ignoscit Elissae,
committit vates et comparat, inde Maronem
atque alia parte in trutina suspendit Homerum.
cedunt grammatici, vincuntur rhetores, omnis 5
turba tacet, nee causidicus nee praeco loquetur,
altera nee mulier. verborum tanta cadit vis,
tot pariter pelves ac tintinnabula dicas
pulsari. iam nemo tubas, nemo aera fatiget ;
una laboranti poterit succurrere Lunae. 10
inponit finem sapiens et rebus honestis ;
nam quae docta nimis cupit et facunda videri,
crure tenus medio tunicas succingere debet,
caedere Silvano porcum, quadrante lavari.
non habeat matrona, tibi quae iuncta recumbit, 15
dicendi genus, aut curvum sermone rotate
torqueat enthymema, nee historias sciat omnes,
sed quaedam ex libris et non intellegat. odi
hanc ego quae repetit volvitque Palaemonis artem
servata semper lege et ratione loquendi 20
ignotosque mihi tenet antiquaria versus
nee curanda viris opicae castigat amicae
verba : soloecismum liceat fecisse marito.
Juv. Sat. vi.
B. I. xiii] SOCIAL TYPES 57
NOTES
Line I. gravior. The ' blue-stocking ', according to Juvenal,
is worse even than the types of revolting profligacy which he has
just described. This shows how, under the influence of rhetoric,
he loses all sense of proportion.
2. Elissae : Dido. See Vergil, Aeneid iv.
3 f. The comparison between Homer and Vergil was a stock
topic of literary conversation. Even before the publication of
the Aeneid, we find Propertius saying
cedite Romani scriptores, cedite Grai !
nescio quid maius nascitur Iliade.
ii. 34. 65-6.
10. Cymbals were clashed during an eclipse of the moon,
a magic rite which was supposed to drive away evil spirits and
help the moon in her ' labours '. The noise made by the learned
woman's talk does equally well.
13, 14. To behave in all sorts of ways like men.
19. Palaemonis artem\ Palaemon's (see note on A. III. v.
215) Treatise on Grammar.
22. opicae. See note on B. III. iv. 53.
B. II. SOCIAL INCIDENTS
i. The Roman Day
PRIMA salutantes atque altera content hora,
exercet raucos tertia causidicos,
in quintam varies extendit Roma labores,
sexta quies lassis, septima finis erit,
sufficit in nonam nitidis octava palaestris,
imperat extructos frangere nona toros :
hora libellorum decuma est, Eupheme, meorum,
temperat ambrosias cum tua cura dapes
et bonus aetherio laxatur nectare Caesar
ingentique tenet pocula parca manu.
tune admitte iocos : gressu timet ire licenti
ad matutinum nostra Thalia lovem.
MART. iv. 8.
60 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. i
NOTES
Lines 7 fif. The poet asks Euphemus, Domitian's cup-bearer,
to present his poems to the emperor at the right time. The
following lines are interesting as presenting the literary deifica-
tion of a living emperor by a court-poet. The official deification,
which did not take place till after an emperor's death, is treated
very differently in Seneca's Ludus (A. I. iv. in this book).
B. II. ii] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 61
Dinner Parties in Bad Taste
VT Nasidieni iuvit te cena beati?
nam mihi quaerenti convivam dictus here illic
de medio potare die. 'sic ut mihi numquam
in vita fuerit melius.' die, si grave non est,
quae prima iratum ventrem placaverit esca. 5
'in primis Lucanus aper; leni fuit Austro
captus, ut aiebat cenae pater ; acria circum
rapula, lactucae, radices, qualia lassum
pervellunt stomachum, siser, allec, faecula Coa.
his ubi sublatis puer alte cinctus acernam 10
gausape purpureo mensam pertersit, et alter
sublegit quodcumque iaceret inutile quodque
posset cenantis offendere ; ut Attica virgo
cum sacris Cereris procedit fuscus Hydaspes
Caecuba vina ferens, Alcon Chium maris expers. 15
hie erus : Albanum, Maecenas, sive Falernum
te magis appositis delectat, habemus utrumque.'
divitias miseras ! sed quis cenantibus una,
Fundani, pulchre fuerit tibi, nosse laboro.
' summus ego et prope me Viscus Thurinus et infra, 20
si memini, Varius ; cum Servilio Balatrone
Vibidius, quas Maecenas adduxerat umbras.
Nomentanus erat super ipsum, Porcius infra
ridiculus totas simul absorbere placentas;
Nomentanus ad hoc, qui si quid forte lateret 25
indice monstraret digito : nam cetera turba,
nos, inquam, cenamus avis, conchylia, piscis,
longe dissimilem noto celantia sucum ;
ut vel continue patuit, cum passeris atque
ingustata mihi porrexerat ilia rhombi. 30
post hoc me docuit melimela rubere minorem
62 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. ii
ad lunam delecta. quid hoc intersit ab ipso
audieris melius. turn Vibidius Balatroni :
"nos nisi damnose bibimus moriemur inulti,'
et calices poscit maiores. vertere pallor 35
turn parochi faciem nil sic metuentis ut acris
potores, vel quod male dicunt liberius vel
fervida quod subtile exsurdant vina palatum.
invertunt Allifanis vinaria tota
Vibidius Balatroque, secutis omnibus ; imi 40
convivae lecti nihilum nocuere lagoenis.
adfertur squillas inter murena natantis
in patina porrecta. sub hoc erus : "haec gravida" inquit
"capta est, deterior post partum carne futura.
his mixtum ius est : oleo quod prima Venafri 45
pressit cella ; garo de sucis piscis Hiberi ;
vino quinquenni, verum citra mare nato,
dum coquitur (cocto Chium sic convenit, ut non
hoc magis ullum aliud) ; pipere albo, non sine aceto
quod Methymnaeam vitio mutaverit uvam. 50
erucas viridis, inulas ego primus amaras
monstravi incoquere, illutos Curtillus echinos,
ut melius muria quod testa marina remittat."
interea suspensa gravis aulaea ruinas
in patinam fecere, trahentia pulveris atri 55
quantum non Aquilo Campanis excitat agris.
nos maius veriti, postquam nihil esse pericli
sensimus, erigimur. Rufus posito capite, ut si
films immaturus obisset, flere. quis esset
finis ni sapiens sic Nomentanus amicurn 60
tolleret "heu, Fortuna, quis est crudelior in nos
te deus? ut semper gaudes illudere rebus
humanis ! " Varius mappa compescere risum
vix poterat. Balatro suspendens omnia naso
"haec est condicio vivendi" aiebat, "eoque 65
B. II. ii] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 63
responsura tuo numquam est par fama labori.
tene, ut ego accipiar laute, torcjuerier omni
sollicitudine districtum, ne panis adustus,
ne male conditum ius apponatur, ut omnes
praecincti recte pueri comptique ministrent ! 70
adde hos praeterea casus, aulaea ruant si,
ut modo; si patinam pede lapsus frangat agaso.
sed convivatoris uti ducis ingenium res
adversae nudare sclent, celare secundae."
Nasidienus ad haec "tibi di quaecumque preceris 75
commoda dent ! ita vir bonus es convivaque comis " :
et soleas poscit. turn in lecto quoque videres
stridere secreta divisos aure susurros.'
nullos his mallem ludos spectasse; sed ilia
redde age quae deinceps risisti. 'Vibidius dum 80
quaerit de pueris num sit quoque fracta lagoena,
quod sibi poscenti non dantur pocula, dumque
ridetur fictis rerum, Balatrone secundo,
Nasidiene, redis mutatae frontis, ut arte
emendaturus fortunam : deinde secuti 85
mazonomo pueri magno discerpta ferentes
membra gruis sparsi sale multo, non sine farre,
pinguibus et ficis pastum iecur anseris albae,
et leporum avulsos, ut multo suavius, armos,
quam si cum lumbis quis edit; turn pectore adusto 90
vidimus et merulas poni et sine clune palumbes,
suavis res, si non causas narraret earum et
naturas dominus ; quern nos sic fugimus ulti,
ut nihil omnino gustaremus, velut illis
Canidia adflasset peior serpentibus Afris.' 95
HOR. Sat. ii. 8.
THE EARLY EMPIRE
[B. II. ii
NOTES
A dinner-party given in honour of Maecenas by Nasidienus
Rufus (a fictitious name which perhaps disguises Salvidienus
Rufus, a parvenu of the time of Augustus) described to Horace
by Fundanius, the comic poet. The vulgarity of the host and
his tasteless devotion to the art of gastronomy are satirized.
Cf. Petronius, Cena Trimalchionis (B. II. iii. in this book).
Line 13. ut Attica virgo : the maiden who carried on her head
the basket containing the sacrificial implements in the procession
at the festivals of Demeter (Ceres), Bacchus, and Athena. The
pontifical solemnity of these slaves is contrasted with the brisk-
ness of the slave mentioned in 1. 10 (alte cinctus].
15. maris expers . This probably means that, for some reason
or other, the usual practice of mixing brine with Greek wines had
not in this case been observed. The object of the mixture was
partly to improve the flavour, partly to make the wine more
wholesome.
20 ff. The places at table were probably arranged as under :
Lectu5 ncdius
22. umbras : buffoons or humble friends whom a distinguished
guest was allowed to bring, and who were included in his invita-
tion. Cf. Hor. Ep. i. 5. 28 (B. II. iv. 28 in this book) 'locus
est et pluribus umbris '.
The parasiti differ from umbrae in being the dependents of
the host, not of the guest.
B. II. ii] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 65
25 f. Maecenas had Nomentanus next to him, in the place
usually occupied by the host, to give him the hints necessary for
the full appreciation of a banquet, where so much was unexpected.
The cetera turba (1. 26) was left without gastronomic guidance.
34. The only possible form of revenge was to drink the host
' out of house and home '.
39. Allifae was a town on the borders of Campania and
Samnium where large cups were made.
40 f. imi convivae : Nomentanus and Porcius, Nasidienus's own
parasites, who were naturally anxious not to offend him. Contrast
the behaviour of Maecenas' umbrae, who take advantage of
his protection to poke fun at their host.
92, 93. causas, naturas : words that suggest a philosophy of
the table, 'rerum causas,' Verg. Georg. ii. 490 ; 'rerum natu-
ram,' Lucretius i. 21 &c. (Wickham).
95. Canidia : Gratidia, a perfume-seller of Naples. Horace
was attached to her at one time, but, after some quarrel,
represented her as a witch (Hor. Sat. i. 8, Epod. v and xvii).
1130 B
66 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. iii
iii
ALLATA est tamen gustatio valde lauta ; nam iam omnes
discubuerant praeter ipsum Trimalchionem, cui locus novo
more primus servabatur. Ceterum in promulsidari asellus
erat Corinthius cum bisaccio positus, qui habebat olivas
in altera parte albas, in altera nigras. Tegebant asellum 5
duae lances, in quarum marginibus nomen Trimalchionis
inscriptum erat et argenti pondus. Ponticuli etiam fer-
ruminati sustinebant glires melle ac papavere sparsos.
Fuerunt et tomacula supra craticulam argenteam ferventia
posita, et infra craticulam Syriaca pruna cum granis Punici 10
mali.
In his eramus lautitiis, cum ipse Trimalchio ad sym-
phoniam allatus est positusque inter cervicalia minutissima
expressit imprudentibus risum. Pallio enim coccineo ad-
rasum excluserat caput circaque oneratas veste cervices 15
laticlaviam immiserat mappam nmbriis hinc atque illinc
pendentibus. Habebat etiam in minimo digito sinistrae
manus anulum grandem subauratum, extremo vero arti-
culo digiti sequentis minorem, ut mihi videbatur, totum
aureum, sed plane ferreis veluti stellis ferruminatum. Et ne 20
has tantum ostenderet divitias, dextrum nudavit lacertum
armilla aurea cultum et eboreo circulo lamina splendente
conexo. Vt deinde pinna argentea dentes perfodit, * amici '
inquit 'nondum mihi suave erat in triclinium venire, sed
ne diutius absentivos morae vobis essem, voluptatem mihi 25
negavi. Permittetis tamen finiri lusum.' Sequebatur puer
cum tabula terebinthina et crystallinis tesseris, notavique
rem omnium delicatissimam. Pro calculis enim albis ac
nigris aureos argenteosque habebat denarios. Interim dum
B. II. iii] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 67
30 ille omnium textorum dicta inter lusum consumit, gustan-
tibus adhuc nobis repositorium allatum est cum corbe, in
quo gallina erat lignea patentibus in orbem alis, quales
esse solent quae incubant ova. Accessere continue duo
servi et symphonia strepente scrutari paleam coeperunt
35 erutaque subinde pavonina ova divisere convivis. Con-
vertit ad hanc scaenam Trimalchio vultum et 'amici' ait
'pavonis ova gallinae iussi supponi. Et mehercules timeo
ne iam concepti sint; temptemus tamen, si adhuc sorbilia
sunt.' Accipimus nos cochlearia non minus selibras pen-
40 dentia "ovaque ex farina pingui figurata pertundimus. Ego
quidem paene proieci partem meam, nam videbatur mihi
iam in pullum coisse. Deinde ut audivi veterem convivam :
'hie nescio quid boni debet esse,' persecutus putamen
manu pinguissimam ficedulam inveni piperato vitello cir-
45 cumdatam.
Iam Trimalchio eadem omnia lusu intermisso poposce-
rat feceratque potestatem clara voce, si quis nostrum
iterum vellet mulsum sumere, cum subito signum sym-
phonia datur et gustatoria pariter a choro cantante rapiun-
50 tur. Ceterum inter tumultum cum forte paropsis excidisset
et puer iacentem sustulisset, animadvertit Trimalchio co-
laphisque obiurgari puerum ac proicere rursus paropsidem
iussit. Insecutus est supellecticarius argentumque inter
reliqua purgamenta scopis coepit everrere. Subinde in-
55 traverunt duo Aethiopes capillati cum pusillis utribus,
quales solent esse qui harenam in amphitheatre spargunt,
vinumque dedere in manus ; aquam enim nemo porrexit.
Laudatus propter elegantias dominus 'aequum' inquit
' Mars amat. Itaque iussi suam cuique mensam assignari.
60 Obiter et putidissimi servi minorem nobis aestum frequen-
tia sua facient.'
Statim allatae sunt amphorae vitreae diligenter gyp-
satae, quarum in cervicibus pittacia erant affixa cum hoc
E 2
68 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. iii
titulo : ' Falernum Opimianum annorum centum.' Dum
titulos perlegimus, complosit Trimalchio manus et ' eheu ' 65
inquit 'ergo diutius vivit vinum quam homuncio. Quare
tangomenas faciamus. Vinum vita est. Verum Opimianum
praesto. Heri non tarn bonum posui, et multo honestiores
cenabant.' Potantibus ergo nobis et accuratissime lautitias
mirantibus larvam argenteam attulit servus sic aptatam, 7<>
ut articuli eius vertebraeque luxatae in omnem partem
flecterentur. Hanc cum super mensam semel iterumque
abiecisset, et catenatio mobilis aliquot figuras exprimeret,
Trimalchio adiecit :
eheu nos miseros, quam totus homuncio nil est. 75
sic erimus cuncti, postquam nos auferet Orcus.
ergo vivamus, dum licet esse bene.
Laudationem ferculum est insecutum plane non pro
expectatione magnum ; novitas tamen omnium convertit
oculos. Rotundum enim repositorium duodecim habebat 80
signa in orbe disposita, super quae proprium convenien-
temque materiae structor imposuerat cibum : super arie-
tem cicer arietinum, super aurum buoulae frustum, super
cancrum coronam, super leonem ficum Africanam. Circum-
ferebat Aegyptius puer clibano argenteo panem . . . atque 85
ipse etiam taeterrima voce de mimo canticum extorsit. Nos
ut tristiores ad tarn viles accessimus cibos, ' suadeo ' in-
quit Trimalchio ' cenemus.' Haec ut dixit, ad symphoniam
quattuor tripudiantes procurrerunt, superioremque partem
repositorii abstulerunt. Quo facto videmus infra altilia et 90
sumina leporemque in medio pinnis subornatum, ut Pega-
sus videretur. Notavimus etiam circa angulos repositorii
Marsyas quattuor, e quibus garum piperatum currebat super
pisces, qui tanquam in euripo natabant. Damus omnes
plausum a familia inceptum et res electissimas ridentes 95
aggredimur. Non minus et Trimalchio eiusmodi methodio
B. II. in] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 69
laetus ' Carpe ' inquit. Processit statim scissor et ad sym-
phoniam gesticulatus ita laceravit obsonium, ut putares
essedarium hydraule cantante pugnare. Ingerebat nihilo
ioo minus Trimalchio lentissima voce : ' Carpe, Carpe.' Ego
suspicatus ad aliquam urbanitatem totiens iteratam vocem
pertinere, non erubui eum qui supra me accumbebat, hoc
ipsum interrogare. At ille, qui saepius eiusmodi ludos
spectaverat, ' vides ilium ' inquit * qui obsonium carpit :
105 Carpus vocatur. Ita quotiescunque dicit " Carpe ", eodem
verbo et vocat et imperat.'
Non potui amplius quicquam gustare, sed conversus ad
eum, ut quam plurima exciperem, longe accersere fabulas
coepi sciscitarique, quae esset mulier ilia, quae hue atque
uoilluc discurreret. 'Vxor' inquit ' Trimalchionis, Fortunata
appellatur, quae nummos modio metitur. Et modo, modo
quid fuit ? ignoscet mihi genius tuus, noluisses de manu
illius panem accipere. Nunc, nee quid nee quare, in caelum
abiit et Trimalchionis topanta est. Ad summam, mero meridie
115 si dixerit illi tenebras esse, credet. Ipse nescit quid habeat,
adeo saplutus est; sed haec providet omnia et ubi non
putes. Est sicca, sobria, bonorum consiliorum, est tamen
malae linguae, pica pulvinaris. Quern amat,, amat ; quern
non amat, non amat. Ipse Trimalchio fundos habet, qua
120 milvi volant, nummorum nummos. Argentum in ostiarii
illius cella plus iacet, quam quisquam in fortunis habet.
Familia vero babae babae, non mehercules puto decumam
partem esse quae dominum suum noverit. Ad summam,
quern vis ex istis babaecalis in rutae folium coniciet. Nee
125 est quod putes ilium quicquam emere. Omnia domi nas-
cuntur : lana, credrae, piper, lacte gallinaceum si quaesieris,
invenies. Ad summam, parum illi bona lana nascebatur;
arietes a Tarento emit. Mel Atticum ut domi nasceretur,
apes ab Athenis iussit afferri ; obiter et vernaculae quae
130 sunt, meliusculae a Graeculis fient. Ecce intra hos dies
70 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. iii
scripsit, ut illi ex India semen boletorum mitteretur. Nam
mulam quidem nullam habet, quae non ex onagro nata sit.
Vides tot culcitras : nulla non aut conchyliatum aut cocci-
neum tomentum habet. Tanta est animi beatitude. Reli-
quos autem collibertos eius cave contemnas. Valde sucossi 135
sunt. Vides ilium qui in imo imus recumbit : hodie sua
octingenta possidet. De nihilo crevit. Modo solebat collo
suo ligna portare. Sed quomodo dicunt ego nihil scio,
sed audivi quom Incuboni pilleum rapuisset, thesaurum
invenit. Ego nemini invideo, si quid deus dedit. Itaque 140
proxime cenaculum hoc titulo proscripsit : " C. Pompeius
Diogenes ex kalendis luliis cenaculum locat; ipse enim
domum emit." Quid ille qui libertini loco iacet, quam
bene se habuit. Non impropero illi. Sestertium suum
vidit decies, sed male vacillavit. Non puto ilium capillos 145
liberos habere, nee mehercules sua culpa ; ipso enim homo
melior non est ; sed liberti scelerati, qui omnia ad se fece-
runt. Scito autem : sociorum olla male fervet, et ubi semel
res inclinata est, amici de medio. Et quam honestam
negotiationem exercuit, quod ilium sic vides. Libitinarius 150
fuit. Solebat sic cenare, quomodo rex : apros gausapatos,
opera pistoria, avis, cocos, pistores. Plus vini sub mensa
effundebatur, quam aliquis in cella habet. Phantasia, non
homo. Inclinatis quoque rebus suis, cum timeret ne credi-
tores ilium conturbare existimarent, hoc titulo auctionem 155
proscripsit : " C. lulius Proculus auctionem faciet rerum
supervacuarum." '
Advenerunt ministri ac toralia praeposuerunt toris, in
quibus retia erant picta subsessoresque cum venabulis et
totus venationis apparatus. Necdum sciebamus, quo mit- 160
teremus suspiciones nostras, cum extra triclinium clamor
sublatus est ingens, et ecce canes Laconici etiam circa
mensam discurrere coeperunt. Secutum est hos reposi-
torium, in quo positus erat primae magnitudinis aper, et
B. II. iii] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 71
165 quidem pilleatus, e cuius dentibus sportellae dependebant
duae palmulis textae, altera caryotis altera thebaicis repleta.
Circa autem minores porcelli ex coptoplacentis facti, quasi
uberibus imminerent, scrofam esse positam significabant.
Et hi quidem apophoreti fuerunt. Ceterum ad scindendum
1 70 aprum non ille Carpus accessit, qui altilia laceraverat, sed
barbatus ingens, fasciis cruralibus alligatus et alicula subor-
natus polymita, strictoque venatorio cultro latus apri vehe-
menter percussit, ex cuius plaga turdi evolaverunt. Parati
aucupes cum harundinibus fuerunt et eos circa triclinium
1 75 volitantes momento exceperunt. Inde cum suum cuique
iussisset referri Trimalchio, adiecit : * etiam videte, quam
porcus ille silvaticus lotam comederit glandem/ Statim
pueri ad sportellas accesserunt, quae pendebant e denti-
bus, thebaicasque et caryotas ad numerum divisere cenanti-
180 bus. Interim ego, qui privatum habebam secessum, in
multas cogitationes deductus sum, quare aper pilleatus
intrasset. Postquam itaque omnis bacalusias consumpsi,
duravi interrogare ilium interpretem meum, quod me tor-
queret. At ille : * plane etiam hoc servus tuus indicare
185 potest; non enim aenigma est, sed res aperta. Hie aper,
cum heri summa cena eum vindicasset, a convivis dimis-
sus est; itaque hodie tanquam libertus in convivium re-
vertitur.' Damnavi ego stuporem meum et nihil amplius
interrogavi, ne viderer nunquam inter honestos cenasse.
190 Dum haec loquimur, puer speciosus, vitibus hederisque
redimitus, modo Bromium, interdum Lyaeum Euhiumque
confessus, calathisco uvas circumtulit et poemata domini
sui acutissima voce traduxit. Ad quern sonum conversus
Trimalchio 'Dionyse' inquit 'liber esto.' Puer detraxit
195 pilleum apro capitique suo imposuit. Turn Trimalchio
rursus adiecit : * non negabitis me ' inquit ' habere Liberum
patrem.' Laudavimus dictum Trimalchionis et circumeuntem
puerum sane perbasiamus.
72 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. iii
Ab hoc ferculo Trimalchio surrexit. Nos libertatem sine
tyranno nacti coepimus invitare convivarum sermones. 200
Dama itaque primus cum pataracina poposcisset, 'dies'
inquit ' nihil est. Dum versas te, nox fit. Itaque nihil est
melius, quam de cubiculo recta in triclinium ire. Et mun-
dum frigus habuimus. Vix me balneus calfecit. Tamen
calda potio vestiarius est. Staminatas duxi, et plane matus 205
sum. Vinus mihi in cerebrum abiit.'
Excepit Seleucus fabulae partem et ' ego ' inquit * non
cotidie lavor ; balniscus enim fullo est, aqua dentes habet,
et cor nostrum cotidie liquescit. Sed cum mulsi pultarium
obduxi, frigori laecasin dico. Nee sane lavare potui ; fui 210
enim hodie in funus. Homo bellus, tarn bonus Chrysan-
thus animam ebulliit. Modo, modo me appellavit. Videor
mihi cum illo loqui. Heu, eheu. Vtres inflati ambulamus.
Minoris quam muscae sumus, muscae tamen aliquam vir-
tutem habent, nos non pluris sumus quam bullae. Et quid 215
si non abstinax fuisset. Quinque dies aquam in os suum
non coniecit, non micam panis. Tamen abiit ad plures.
Medici ilium perdiderunt, immo magis malus Fatus ; medi-
cus enim nihil aliud est quam animi consolatio. Tamen
bene elatus est, vitali lecto, stragulis bonis. Planctus est 220
optime manu misit aliquot etiam si maligne ilium
ploravit uxor. Quid si non illam optime accepisset. Sed
mulier quae mulier milvinum genus. Neminem nihil boni
facere oportet; aeque est enim ac si in puteum conicias.
Sed antiquus amor cancer est.' 225
Molestus fuit, Philerosque proclamavit : ' vivorum me-
minerimus. Ille habet, quod sibi debebatur : honeste vixit,
honeste obiit. Quid habet quod queratur? ab asse crevit
et paratus fuit quadrantem de stercore mordicus tollere.
Itaque crevit, quicquid crevit, tanquam favus. Puto me- 230
hercules ilium reliquisse solida centum, et omnia in nummis
habuit. De re tamen ego verum dicam, qui linguam cani-
B. II. iii] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 73
nam comedi : durae buccae fuit, linguosus, discordia, non
homo. Frater eius fortis fuit, amicus amico, manu plena,
235 uncta mensa. Et inter initia malam parram pilavit, sed
recorrexit costas illius prima vindemia ; vendidit enim vinum,
quanti ipse voluit. Et quod illius mentum sustulit, heredi-
tatem accepit, ex qua plus involavit, quam illi relictum est.
Et ille stips, dum fratri suo irascitur, nescio cui terrae filio
240 patrimonium elegavit. Longe fugit, quisquis suos fugit.
Habuit autem oricularios servos, qui ilium pessum dede-
runt. Nunquam autem recte faciet, qui cito credit, utique
homo negotians. Plane Fortunae filius, in manu illius
plumbum aurum fiebat. Facile est autem, ubi omnia quad-
245 rata currunt. Et quot putas ilium annos secum tulisse ?
septuaginta et supra. Sed corneolus fuit, aetatem bene
ferebat, niger tanquam corvus. Noveram hominem olim.'
Haec Phileros dixit, ilia Ganymedes : c narratis quod nee
ad caelum nee ad terram pertinet, cum interim nemo curat
250 quid annona mordet. Non mehercules hodie buccam panis
invenire potui. Et quomodo siccitas perseverat. lam annum
esuritio fuit. Aediles male eveniat, qui cum pistoribus
colludunt "serva me, servabo te." Itaque populus minutus
laborat ; nam isti maiores maxillae semper Saturnalia agunt.
255 O si haberemus illos leones, quos ego hie inveni, cum
primum ex Asia veni. Illud erat vivere. Memini Safinium :
tune habitabat ad arcum veterem, me puero, piper, non
homo. Is quacunque ibat, terram adurebat. Sed rectus,
sed certus, amicus amico, cum quo audacter posses in tene-
260 bris micare. Cum ageret porro in foro, sic illius vox cresce-
bat tanquam tuba. Et quam benignus resalutare, nomina
omnium reddere, tanquam unus de nobis. Itaque illo tern-
pore annona pro luto erat. Asse panem quern emisses, non
potuisses cum altero devorare. Nunc oculum bublum vidi
265 maiorem. Heu heu, quotidie peius. Haec colonia retro-
versus crescit tanquam coda vituli. Sed quare nos habemus
74 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. iii
aedilem trium cauniarum, qui sibi mavult assem quam vitam
nostram ? itaque domi gaudet, plus in die nummorum
accipit, quam alter patrimonium habet. lam scio, unde
acceperit denarios mille aureos. Sed si nos viri essemus, 270
non tantum sibi placeret. Nunc populus est domi leones,
foras vulpes. Quod ad me attinet, iam pannos meos comedi,
et si perseverat haec annona, casulas meas vendam. Quid
enim futurum est, si nee dii nee homines huius coloniae
miserentur? ita meos fruniscar, ut ego puto omnia ilia a 275
diibus fieri. Nemo enim caelum caelum putat, nemo ieiu-
nium servat, nemo lovem pili facit, sed omnes opertis oculis
bona sua computant. Antea stolatae ibant nudis pedibus
in clivum, passis capillis, mentibus puris, et lovem aquam
exorabant. Itaque statim urceatim plovebat : aut tune aut 280
nunquam : et omnes ridebant, udi tanquam mures.
'Oro te' inquit Echion centonarius 'melius loquere.
" Modo sic, modo sic " inquit rusticus ; varium porcum
perdiderat. Quod hodie non est, eras erit : sic vita tru-
ditur. Non mehercules patria melior dici potest, si ho- 285
mines saperent. Sed laborat hoc tempore, nee haec sola.
Non debemus delicati esse, ubique medius caelus est. Tu
si aliubi fueris, dices hie porcos coctos ambulare.'
Eiusmodi fabulae vibrabant, cum Trimalchio intravit et
detersa fronte unguento manus lavit spatioque minimo 290
interposito 'vinum' inquit 'si non placet, mutabo; vos illud
oportet bonum faciatis. Deorum beneficio non emo, sed
nunc quicquid ad salivam facit, in suburbano nascitur eo,
quod ego adhuc non novi. Dicitur confine esse Tarraci-
niensibus et Tarentinis. Nunc coniungere agellis Sicilian! 295
volo, ut cum Africam libuerit ire, per meos fines navigem.
Sed narra tu mini, Agamemnon, quam controversiam hodie
declamasti? ego etiam si causas non ago, in domusionem
tamen literas didici. Et ne me putes studia fastiditum, II
bibliothecas habeo, imam Graecam, alteram Latinam. Die 300
B. II. iii] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 75
ergo, si me amas, peristasim declamationis tuae.' Cum
dixisset Agamemnon : ' pauper et dives inimici erant,' ait
Trimalchio ' quid est pauper ? ' ' Vrbane' inquit Agamemnon
et nescio quam controversiam exposuit. Statim Trimalchio
305 ( hoc ' inquit ' si factum est, controversia non est ; si factum
non est, nihil est.' Haec aliaque cum effusissimis prose-
queremur laudationibus, ' rogo ' inquit ' Agamemnon mihi
carissime, numquid duodecim aerumnas Herculis tenes, aut
de Vlixe fabulam ? solebam haec ego puer apud Homerum
310 legere.'
PETRONIUS, Cena Trimalchionis, 31-8, 40-5, 47-8.
76 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. iii
NOTES
An account of a feast given at Cumae by a rich freedman,
Trimalchio. Only the first part of the feast is described in this
selection. The points to notice are the vulgar ostentation of the
host in which he resembles the Nasidienus of Horace, Satires ii.
8 (B. II. ii. above), and the easy chatty conversation of the
guests, which is a unique specimen of the ordinary talk of semi-
educated people.
Line 2. locus primus : i. e. summits in summo (lecto). Ordi-
narily the host sat summits in imo. See note on B. II. ii. 25 f.
3. proimtlsidari : a dish on which the promulsis was served.
bisaccio (1. 4), a pair of saddle-bags, ferruminati (1. 7), glued.
craticulam (1. 9), gridiron.
12. ad symphoniam : to the accompaniment of music, lati-
clcmiam (1. 16), with a broad purple stripe.
25. absentia os \ colloquial for absens.
27. tabula, the board, and tesseris, the dice, used in the ' Indus
duodecim scriptorum ', a game which closely resembles our
backgammon.
30. textorum : typical of uncultured artisans.
38. concepti sint : sc. pulli.
sorbilia : that can be sucked up.
50. paropsis : a dish.
53. supellecticarius : a slave that looked after the furniture.
57. in manus\ i.e. to wash the hands with.
63. pittacia : labels.
64. Opimianum. Opimius was consul in 121 B.C.
67. tangomenasfaciarnus\a!S> not been explained. It looks as
if it was an invitation to make merry.
83. deer arietimim : a chick-pea like a ram's head in shape.
bubulae of beef.
84. coronam : Trimalchio himself was born under the sign of
Cancer, so he puts a crown there as a tribute to his own success.
ficum Africanam : because the sun at the time of the greatest
heat (August) is in Leo.
96. methodic : trick.
98. utputares &c. The carver made gestures to the time of
the music. One would have thought that a cabman was fighting
to the accompaniment of an organ.
loo. * Carpe, Carpe] ' Carve her, Carver.' He orders the
carver, whose name is Carpus, to set to work on the joints.
112. genius tuus. The genius of each individual was the part
of the divine nature inherent in him which gave him protection.
B. II. iii] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 77
This use of geniiis tuus as a polite paraphrase for tu seems to
have been affected by freedmen.
113. nee quid nee quare, ' I don't know why or wherefore' is
one of the alliterative expressions common in the speech of the
common people.
in caelum abiit, ' reached the seventh heaven of prosperity.'
Cf. Cic. Att. ii. 19. 2 ' Bibulus in caelo est ; nee quare scio ; sed
ita laudatur ' &c.
114. topanta, ' all in all,' a vulgar corruption of the Greek TO
navra.
ad summam. See note on A. I. iv. 62.
mero meridie. The adjective seems to have been a favourite
in vulgar speech.
116. saplutiis, 'very rich, 3 the Greek {dnXovros.
H7.stcca> sobria: another alliteration. Cp. Mart. xii. 30. I
' siccus, sobrius est Aper'.
118. pica pulvinaris, ' a magpie on a cushion,' perhaps refers
to Fortunata's loquacity at meals.
1 19. qua milvi volant, ' as far as a kite (the bird) can fly,'
a proverbial expression.
124. babaecalis seems to be derived from babae ( 1 22), an inter-
jection expressing astonishment, and to mean ' foolish people '.
It is here applied to the local aristocracy. ' in rutae folium
coniciet ', a proverbial phrase, means ' pack them into a very
small space ', ' make them look very small '.
126. credrae: citrons.
lacte gallinaceum, ' hen's milk,' cf. the Greek opvidav yd\a.
135. sucossi for sucosi, ' sappy ', then c rich '.
139. quom Incuboni pilleum rapuisset. The belief was that
a goblin who guarded a treasure would be compelled, if you
seized his cap, to tell you where the treasure was.
142. ex kalendis luliis cenaculum locat. He sub-lets the
garret he has hitherto occupied. July 1st was the regular date
for the beginning of a lease. Cf. Mart. xii. 32.
143. libertiniloco : ordinarily imus in imo, but this has already
been mentioned as occupied by another (1. 136 above). So
perhaps medius in imo.
144. improper o, ' taunt.'
145. decies : the senatorial census.
non puto ilium capillos liberos habere. He is so deep in
debt that he cannot even call his hair his own. Cf. Terence,
Phormio 661 ' Quid si animam debet?'
151. gausapatos, ' covered over,' perhaps with pastry. A tech-
nical term of cookery.
153. phantasia, non homo. This turn of phrase is common
in Petronius : cf. 1. 233 'discordia, non homo', 1. 257 'piper,
non homo'. Phantasia here may mean either (i) 'a dream',
78 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. iii
i.e. not really existing, or (2) ' the type of magnificence', the
word (fravTao-ia in Greek having occasionally this meaning, (i)
seems preferable.
1 66. caryotis, thebaici s : kinds of dates.
167. coptoplacentis : a kind of cake.
171. alicula : a light hunting-dress.
172. polymita of damask.
177. lotam for lautwn : cf. oricularios for auricularios , 1. 241
below. This was a characteristic of the emperor Vespasian's
pronunciation. Cf. Suet. Vesp. 22 * Mestrium Florum consula-
rem, admonitus ab eo plaustra potius quam plostra dicenda,
postero die Flaurum ( = Greek <f>\avpov, " worthless ") salutavit '.
182. bacalusias \ perhaps ' follies '.
1 86. summa cena : the chief course.
191. modo Bromium &c. The boy probably gave a panto-
mimic representation of some text describing Bacchus under his
various aspects. Cf. Juv. vii. 87, 92 (A. III. v. 87, 92 in this book).
199. From this point there is an excellent translation in
Tyrrell's Latin Poetry, pp. 276-9. The same book contains
a good account of the work of Petronius as a whole (pp. 272-80).
201. pataracina : probably a large kind of drinking-cup. The
same liberty is taken in the temporary absence of the host in
Nasidienus's banquet, Hor. Sat. ii. 8. 35 ff. (B. II. ii. 35 ff. in this
book).
203 ff. mundum frigus &c. ' And what a regular freezing we
have been having of late ! I could scarcely get hot in my bath.
However a hot drink is as good as a great-coat. I've had some
stiff ones, and I am about full ; it has got into my head' (Tyrrell).
207 ff. Tyrrell compares the inconsequence of Seleucus here
and of Ganymedes in 11. 248 ff. below with that of Mr. Brooke
in ' Middlemarch'.
208. balniscus enim fullo est. Friedlander quotes a passage
from Clement of Alexandria : ' Frequent bathing impairs men's
strength and lowers the tone of the nerves : it often produces
faintness and swoons. The ancients called baths " Fullers of
Men", for they wear out the body too soon and make it old
before its time by softening it. Flesh is softened by heat just as
much as iron.' Sen. Ep. 86 tells us on the authority of more
ancient writers, that in old times the Romans washed their arms
and legs daily, but their whole bodies only once a week (' toti
nnndinis lavabantur 3 ).
209. pultarium : derived from puts, and originally meaning a
vessel for pottage. Here it means something that would hold
a warm drink.
210. frigpri laecasin dico, ' bid the cold go hang.'
laecasin is a Greek Present Infinitive transliterated.
220. uitali lee to : euphemism for mortali.
B. II. Hi] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 79
221. aliquot', sc. servos.
223. mitoinum genus : Mart. ix. 54. 10 ' rapax milvus '; Jerome,
Epistles Ixviii. I 'feritate lupos, rapacitate milvos -vincere ' are
quoted by Friedlander.
neminem nihil : notice the doubling of the negative in vulgar
speech, ' no one ought to do nothing good to them.'
224. aeque est enim. ' You may as well throw your money into
a well, as spend it on a woman '.
228. ab asse crevit : cf. 1. 137 above ' de nihilo crevit '.
232 f. verum dicam qui linguam caninam comedi : a popular
belief of which we do not hear elsewhere. ' I wear my heart
upon my sleeve ' is Tyrrell's rendering.
235. malam parram pilawi, * took an unlucky owl's nest,' a
proverb for bad luck. ' Everything went wrong with him.'
236. recorrexit costas, ' set him on his legs again.'
237. menium sustulit^ ' kept his head above water ' (Tyrrell).
238. involavit, 'took possession of,' lit. 'flew into'.
241. oriculariosauricularios (see note on 1. 177 above), 'con-
fidential.'
244 f. ubi omnia quadrata curnmt, ' when everything goes
square.' The metaphor is perhaps of square stones which fit
well together in building ; cf. Cic. Brut. 1 1 ' quoniam tibi ita quad-
rat ' ( = ' since it pleases you so'), currunt then refers simply
to the course of things, and is really a change of metaphor.
246. corneolus, ( horny ' ' as hard as nails ' (Tyrrell).
250. qitid annona mordet, 'how the shoe pinches in the corn-
supply.'
253. ' serva me, servabo tej ' one good turn deserves another.'
itaque populus minutus labor at &c. 'So it's the folk in
a small way bear the brunt, while the topsawyers have high jinks
all the time ' (Tyrrell).
259 f. in tenebris micare. Like our ' tossing up ' this could be
used either as a game of chance or as a means of selecting
between two alternative courses of action. It consisted in
holding up some fingers for a moment, and asking the other
person to guess their number. To play this game in the dark,
where cheating would be so easy, would be a compliment to the
honesty of one's opponent. Cf. Cic. Off. iii. 19. 77 'cum enim
fidem alicuius bonitatemque laudant, dignum esse dicunt quicum
in tenebris mices'. Still played in Italy, under the name mora.
264. oculum bublum (for bubuluni) : a bull's eye. This may
have been a name for the kind of bun discovered at Pompeii.
265. haec colonia : Cumae.
266. coda for cauda (see note on 1. 177 above).
267. trium catmiarum, ( worth three figs.'
275. fruniscar: a lengthened form offntar, governing, how-
ever, an accusative.
8o THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. iii
276. diibus for dels : in inscriptions dibus is often found.
278. stolatae : i. e. the matrons, so called from their garment
the stola.
280. urceatim plovebat (=pluebat), 'rained buckets full.'
282. centonarius : a dealer in rags.
292. bonum faciatis : i.e. by your conversation while drink-
ing it.
295. An estate which touched both Tarracina (Anxur) and
Tarentum would stretch from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic.
See map.
297. controversial, : see note on A. II. i. 232.
298. in domusioneni) l for my private amusement. 3
301. peristasim : the Greek equivalent of the Latin cir-
cuinstantiam, there being a natural tendency to use Greek
technical terms in an art so thoroughly Greek as rhetoric. The
circumstantia consisted in the answers to the following seven
questions, ' quis, quid, quando, ubi, cur, quemadmodum, quibus
adminiculis (= " instruments ").'
305 f. ' hoc ' inquit ' si factum est ' &c. A weak pun on the
technical and ordinary meanings of controversia. ' If it hap-
pened, it's a case of certainty : if it didn't, the case doesn't lie.'
309 f. apud Homerum legere. Later on (c. 50) Trimalchio
makes further excursions into classical history and mythology,
which suggest that his study of his ' two libraries, one Greek
the other Latin ' (1. 300 above), was not very profound. He
thinks that Hannibal was present at the Siege of Troy, that
Cassandra killed her sons, and that Daedalus shut Niobe into
the Trojan Horse.
B. II. iv] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 81
Dinner Parties in Good Taste
iv.
Si potes Archiacis conviva recumbere lectis
nee modica cenare times holus omne patella,
supremo te sole domi, Torquate, manebo.
vina bibes iterum Tauro diffusa palustris
inter Minturnas Sinuessanumque Petrinum. 5
si melius quid habes, arcesse vel imperium fer.
iamdudum splendet focus et tibi munda supellex.
mitte levis spes et certamina divitiarum
et Moschi causam : eras nato Caesare festus
dat veniam somnumque dies ; impune licebit 10
aestivam sermone benigno tendere noctem.
quo mihi fortunam, si non conceditur uti?
parcus ob heredis curam nimiumque severus
adsidet insano. potare et spargere flores
incipiam, patiarque vel inconsultus haberi. 15
quid non ebrietas dissignat? operta recludit,
spes iubet esse ratas, ad proelia trudit inertem ;
sollicitis animis onus eximit, addocet artis.
fecundi calices quern non fecere disertum ?
contracta quem non in paupertate solutum? 20
haec ego procurare et idoneus imperor et non
invitus, ne turpe toral, ne sordida mappa
corruget naris, ne non et cantharus et lanx
ostendat tibi te, ne fidos inter amicos
sit qui dicta foras eliminet, ut coeat par 25
iungaturque pari. Butram tibi Septiciumque,
et nisi cena prior potiorque puella Sabinum
detinet adsumam : locus est et pluribus umbris,
sed nimis arta premunt olidae convivia caprae.
tu quotus esse velis rescribe, et rebus omissis 30
atria servantem postico falle clientem.
HOR. Ep. i. 5.
1130 B
82 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. iv
NOTES
Line i. Archiatis. Archias was a maker of cheap couches.
4 f. iterum Tauro : sc. consule. Taurus was consul for the
second time in 26 B.C. The wine came from the Mons Petrinus,
somewhere near the Mons Massicus in Campania.
6. i mperium fer : submit to my orders, i.e. drink what I offer
you.
9. Moschi causam : a lawsuit in which Torquatus was engaged.
The Scholiast says that Moschus was a rhetor from Pergamum,
who was tried for poisoning.
nato Caesare : cf. Suet. Aug. 57 ' equites Romani natalem
eius sponte atque consensu biduo semper celebravernnt '.
B. II. v] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 83
C. PLINIVS SEPTICIO CLARO SVO S.
HEVS tu ! promittis ad cenam nee venis. Dicitur ius ;
ad assem inpendium reddes nee id modicum. Paratae
erant lactucae singulae, cochleae ternae, ova bina, alica
5 cum mulso et nive (nam hanc quoque computabis, immo
hanc in primis, quae periit in ferculo), olivae, betacei,
cucurbitae, bulbi, alia mille non minus lauta. Audisses
comoedum vel lectorem vel lyristen vel, quae mea liberalitas,
omnis. At tu apud nescio quern ostrea, vulvas, echinos,
10 Gaditanas maluisti. Dabis poenas, non dico quas. Dure
fecisti; invidisti, nescio an tibi, certe mihi, sed tamen et
tibi. Quantum nos lusissemus, risissemus, studuissemus !
Potes apparatius cenare apud multos, nusquam hilarius,
simplicius, incautius. In summa experire et, nisi postea te
15 aliis potius excusaveris, mihi semper excusa. Vale.
PLIN. Ep. i. 15.
F 2
84 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. vi
vi. Saturnalia
VNCTIS falciferi senis diebus,
regnator quibus inperat fritillus,
versu ludere non laborioso
permittis, puto, pilleata Roma.
Risisti; licet ergo, non vetamur. 5
Pallentes procul hinc abite curae ;
quidquid venerit obvium loquamur
morosa sine cogitatione.
Misce dimidios, puer, trientes,
quales Pythagoras dabat Neroni, 10
misce, Dindyme, sed frequentiores :
possum nil ego sobrius ; bibenti
succurrent mihi quindecim poetae.
MART. xi. 6
B. II. vi] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 85
NOTES
Line I. falciferi senis: Saturn. The Saturnalia, the festival
in his honour, began on Dec. 17 and lasted for several days. It
was a general holiday, and the playing with dice, illegal at other
times, was indulged in then.
9. trientes : goblets containing a triens or 4 cyathi (a cyathus
is about a wine-glass), dimidios mixed with water in the propor-
tion of half and half, which was considered strong.
10. Pythagoras : a favourite of Nero.
86 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. vii
vii. The Circus
INTEREA Megalesiacae spectacula mappae
Idaeum sollemne colunt, similisque triumpho
praeda caballorum praetor sedet, ac mihi pace
inmensae nimiaeque licet si dicere plebis,
totam hodie Romam circus capit, et fragor aurem 5
percutit, eventum viridis quo colligo panni.
nam si deficeret, maestam attonitamque videres
hanc urbem, veluti Cannarum in pulvere victis
consulibus. spectent iuvenes, quos clamor et audax
sponsio, quos cultae decet adsedisse puellae : 10
nostra bibat vernum contracta cuticula solem
effugiatque togam. iam nunc in balnea salva
fronte licet vadas, quamquam solida hora supersit
ad sextam. facere hoc non possis quinque diebus
continuis, quia sunt talis quoque taedia vitae 15
magna ; voluptates commendat rarior usus.
Juv. Sat. xi.
B. II. vii] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 87
NOTES
Line I. Megalesiacae. The Megalesian Games were held in
honour of the Phrygian goddess Cybele, the * Great Mother ',
whose worship was introduced into Rome in 204 B.C. (cf.
' Idaeum sollemne ', line 2 below).
spectacula spectatores.
mappae. A napkin was dropped by the consul or praetor
as the signal for starting.
3. praeda caballorum. Magistrates often ruined themselves
by giving games.
5 f. Juvenal apologizes to the crowd for calling them 'all Rome ',
an expression which by its suggestion of a finite whole might be
unacceptable to a populace priding itself on being countless.
6. viridis panni. The four 'factions' in the Circus were the
White, Red, Blue, and Green. Cf. A. III. v. 114.
8. Cannarum in ptilvere : the great Battle of Cannae in which
Hannibal defeated the Romans (see note on A. IV. iii. 147).
The Romans, Livy tells us (xxii. 43), were blinded by the dust.
The defeat of the favourite chariot at the Circus is taken as
seriously as the gravest national disaster.
II. contracta, 'shrunk' by old age.
effugiatque togam: see note on B. III. iv. 18.
13. quamquam solida hora super sit &c. The usual time for
bathing was the eighth hour.
88 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. viii
viii. A Journey
EGRESSVM magna me accepit Aricia Roma
hospitio modico : rhetor comes Heliodorus,
Graecorum longe doctissimus ; inde Forum Appi,
differtum nautis, cauponibus atque malignis.
hoc iter ignavi divisimus, altius ac nos 5
praecinctis unum : minus est gravis Appia tardis.
hie ego propter aquam, quod erat deterrima, ventri
indico bellum, cenantis haud animo aequo
exspectans comites. iam nox inducere terris
umbras et caelo diffundere signa parabat. 10
turn pueri nautis, pueris convicia nautae
ingerere. ' hue appelle ! ' ' trecentos inseris : ohe
iam satis est ! ' dum aes exigitur, dum mula ligatur,
tota abit hora. mali culices ranaeque palustres
avertunt somnos, absentem ut cantat amicam 15
multa prolutus vappa nauta atque viator
certatim : tandem fessus dormire viator
incipit, ac missae pastum retinacula mulae
nauta piger saxo religat stertitque supinus.
iamque dies aderat, nil cum procedere lintrem 20
sentimus, donee cerebrosus prosilit unus
ac mulae nautaeque caput lumbosque saligno
fuste dolat. quarta vix demum exponimur hora.
ora manusque tua lavimus, Feronia, lympha.
milia turn pransi tria repimus atque subimus 25
impositum saxis late candentibus Anxur.
hue venturus erat Maecenas optimus atque
Cocceius, missi magnis de rebus uterque
legati, aversos soliti componere amicos.
hie oculis ego nigra meis collyria lippus 30
illinere. interea Maecenas advenit atque
Cocceius Capitoque simul Fonteius, ad unguem
B. II. viii] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 89
factus homo, Antoni non ut magis alter amicus.
Fundos Aufidio Lusco praetore libenter
linquimus, insani ridentes praemia scribae, 35
praetextam et latum clavum prunaeque vatillum.
in Mamurrarum lassi deinde urbe manemus,
Murena praebente domum, Capitone culinam.
postera lux oritur multo gratissima ; namque
Plotius et Varius Sinuessae Vergiliusque 40
occurrunt, animae qualis neque candidiores
terra tulit neque quis me sit devinctior alter.
o qui complexus et gaudia quanta fuerunt !
nil ego contulerim iucundo sanus amico.
proxima Campano ponti quae villula, tectum 45
praebuit, et parochi quae debent ligna salemque.
hinc muli Capuae clitellas tempore ponunt.
lusum it Maecenas, dormitum ego Vergiliusque ;
namque pila lippis inimicum et ludere crudis.
hinc nos Coccei recipit plenissima villa, 50
quae super est Caudi cauponas. nunc mihi paucis
Sarmenti scurrae pugnam Messique Cicirri,
Musa, velim memores, et quo patre natus uterque
contulerit litis. Messi clarum genus Osci;
Sarmenti domina exstat : ab his maioribus orti 55
ad pugnam venere. prior Sarmentus : 'equi te
esse feri similem dico.' ridemus, et ipse
Messius 'accipio,' caput et movet. 'o, tua cornu
ni foret exsecto frons ' inquit, * quid faceres, cum
sic mutilus minitaris ? ' at illi foeda cicatrix 60
saetosam laevi frontem turpaverat oris.
Campanum in morbum, in faciem permulta iocatus,
pastorem saltaret uti Cyclopa rogabat :
nil illi larva aut tragicis opus esse cothurnis.
multa Cicirrus ad haec : donasset iamne catenam 65
ex voto Laribus, quaerebat ; scriba quod esset,
9 o THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. viii
nihilo deterius dominae ius esse. rogabat
denique cur umquam fugisset, cui satis una
farris libra foret, gracili sic tamque pusillo.
prorsus iucunde cenam producimus illam. 70
tendimus hinc recta Beneventum ; ubi sedulus hospes
paene macros arsit dum turdos versat in igni :
nam vaga per veterem dilapso flamma culinam
Vulcano summum properabat lambere tectum.
convivas avidos cenam servosque timentis 75
turn rapere, atque omnis restinguere velle videres.
incipit ex illo mentis Apulia notos
ostentare mihi, quos torret Atabulus et quos
numquam erepsemus, nisi nos vicina Trivici
villa recepisset, lacrimoso non sine fumo, 80
udos cum foliis ramos urente camino.
quattuor hinc rapimur viginti et milia raedis,
mansuri oppidulo quod versu dicere non est,
signis perfacile est : venit vilissima rerum
hie aqua ; sed panis longe pulcherrimus, ultra 85
callidus ut soleat umeris portare viator ;
nam Canusi lapidosus, aquae non ditior urna
qui locus a forti Diomede est conditus olim.
flentibus hinc Varius discedit maestus amicis.
inde Rubos fessi pervenimus, utpote longum 90
carpentes iter et factum corruptius imbri.
postera tempestas melior, via peior adusque
Bari moenia piscosi ; dein Gnatia Lymphis
iratis exstructa dedit risusque iocosque,
dum flamma sine tura liquescere limine sacro 95
persuadere cupit. credat ludaeus Apella,
non ego : namque deos didici securum agere aevum,
nee si quid miri faciat natura, deos id
tristis ex alto caeli demittere tecto.
Brundisium longae finis chartaeque viaeque est. 100
HOR. Sat. i. 5.
B. II. viii] SOCIAL INCIDENTS 91
NOTES
Lines I ff. This Satire is an imitation of Lucilius, the first
Roman satirist, who largely influenced all subsequent Roman
satire (circ. 168-102 B.C.). The actual journey described cannot
have been the one preceding the Treaty of Brundisium between
Octavian and Antony in 40 B.C., as Horace was not admitted to
the intimacy of Maecenas till two or three years later. It may,
however, be the one made by Maecenas in 38 B.C. on his mission
to Antony who was probably at Athens.
6. Appia : the via Appia,
7 f. ventri indico bellum : by going without supper altogether.
The custom of mixing wine with water is so fixed that Horace
does not get out of the difficulty by drinking his wine neat, but
goes without his supper (Wickham).
ii. pueri : the slaves of travellers ; nautae : the bargemen.
24. Feronia, an Italian goddess. She had a shrine with
a fountain about three miles from Tarracina.
34. Aufidio Lusco : the self-important magistrate of a small
country town, who claimed for himself the title of praetor. He
was probably a praefectus iuri dicundo, appointed by the
Praetor Urbanus. He assumes not only the toga praetexta,
which belonged to magistrates in Rome and in the municipia
and coloniae, but also the lattts davits, the badge of the sena-
torial order. Why he had a ' shovel of charcoal ' we do not
know. It may have been a perquisite from the public baths, or
used to offer incense for the safe journey of the distinguished
visitors.
37. Mamurrarum urbe : Formiae. Mamurra was a friend of
Julius Caesar.
40. Varius Vergiliusque : the poets. Varius (circ. 74-146. c.),
the author of epic poems on Caesar and Octavian (Augustus)
and of a tragedy ' Thyestes ', and editor of the Aeneid. Vergil
(70-19 B. c.), the author of the Bucolics, Georgics, and Aeneid.
51. quae super est Caudi cauponas : i.e. they went further
than the inns of Caudium, the usual stopping-place.
92 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. II. viii
62. Campanum in morbum : perhaps warts, the removal of
which would leave a scar.
65. Implements for which their owner had no further use
were often dedicated to a god. The bulla (see note on B. I. v.
164) was dedicated to the Lares by a youth attaining manhood.
So a freedman might dedicate the chains he had worn as a slave.
87 f. The construction is : ' Nam lapidosus (est panis) Canusi,
qui locus, aquae non ditior urna (Abl.), a forti Diomede est
conditus olim.'
96. Apella : probably some Jewish freedman.
97. Cf. Lucretius v. 82, vi. 58 'bene qui didicere deos securum
agere aevum ', which expresses the Epicurean doctrine of the
inactivity of the gods.
B. III. TOWN AND COUNTRY
i
Hoc erat in votis : modus agri non ita magnus,
hortus ubi et tecto vicinus iugis aquae fons
et paulum silvae super his foret. auctius atque
di melius fecere. bene est. nil amplius oro,
Maia nate, nisi ut propria haec mihi munera faxis. 5
si neque maiorem feci ratione mala rem
nee sum facturus vitio culpave minorem ;
si veneror stultus nihil horum, ' o si angulus ille
proximus accedat qui nunc denormat agellum !
o si urnam argenti fors quae mihi monstret, ut illi, ro
thesauro invento qui mercennarius agrum
ilium ipsum mercatus aravit, dives amico
Hercule ! ' si quod adest gratum iuvat, hac prece te oro :
pingue pecus domino facias et cetera praeter
ingenium, utque soles custos mihi maximus adsis. 15
ergo ubi me in montis et in arcem ex urbe removi,
quid prius illustrem satiris musaque pedestri?
nee mala me ambitio perdit nee plumbeus Auster
autumnusque gravis, Libitinae quaestus acerbae.
Matutine pater, seu ' lane ' libentius audis, 20
unde homines operum primes vitaeque labores
instituunt, sic dis placitum, tu carminis esto
principium. Romae sponsorem me rapis : * eia,
ne prior officio quisquam respondeat, urge.'
sive Aquilo radit terras seu bruma nivalem 25
interiore diem gyro trahit, ire necesse est.
postmodo quod mi obsit clare certumque locuto
94 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. III. i
luctandum in turba et facienda iniuria tardis.
* quid vis, insane, et quas res agis ? ' improbus urget
iratis precibus ; ' tu pulses omne quod obstat, 30
ad Maecenatem memori si mente recurras ? '
hoc iuvat et melli est, non mentiar. at simul atras
ventum est Esquilias aliena negotia centum
per caput et circa saliunt latus. ' ante secundam
Roscius orabat sibi adesses ad Puteal eras.' 35
'de re communi scribae magna atque nova te
orabant hodie meminisses, Quinte, reverti.'
'imprimat his, cura, Maecenas signa tabellis.'
dixeris, ' experiar ' : 'si vis, potes ' addit et instat.
Septimus octavo propior iam fugerit annus 40
ex quo Maecenas me coepit habere suorum
in numero, dumtaxat ad hoc, quern tollere raeda
vellet iter faciens et cui concredere nugas
hoc genus, ' hora quota est ? Thraex est Gallina Syro par ?
matutina parum cautos iam frigora mordent ' : 45
et quae rimosa bene deponuntur in aure.
per totum hoc tempus subiectior in diem et horam
invidiae noster. ludos spectaverat una,
luserat in campo : ' Fortunae films ! ' omnes.
frigidus a Rostris manat per compita rumor : 50
quicumque obvius est me consulit : ' o bone, nam te
scire, deos quoniam propius contingis, oportet,
numquid de Dacis audisti ? ' nil equidem. ' ut tu
semper eris derisor ! ' at omnes di exagitent me
si quicquam. 'quid, militibus promissa Triquetra 55
praedia Caesar an est Itala tellure daturus?'
iurantem me scire nihil mirantur ut unum
scilicet egregii mortalem altique silenti.
perditur haec inter misero lux non sine votis :
o rus, quando ego te aspiciam? quandoque licebit 60
nunc veterum libris, nunc somno et inertibus horis,
B. III. i] TOWN AND COUNTRY 95
ducere sollicitae iucunda oblivia vitae?
o quando faba Pythagorae cognata simulque
uncta satis pingui ponentur holuscula lardo?
o noctes cenaeque deum ! quibus ipse meique 65
ante Larem proprium vescor vernasque procaces
pasco libatis dapibus. prout cuique libido est
siccat inaequalis calices conviva, solutus
legibus insanis, seu quis capit acria fortis
pocula seu modicis uvescit laetius. ergo 70
sermo oritur, non de villis domibusve alienis,
nee male necne Lepos saltet; sed quod magis ad nos
pertinet et nescire malum est agitamus : utrumne
divitiis homines an sint virtute beati;
quidve ad amicitias, usus rectumne, trahat nos ; 75
et quae sit natura boni summumque quid eius.
Cervius haec inter vicinus garrit anilis
ex re fabellas. si quis nam laudat Arelli
sollicitas ignarus opes, sic incipit : * olim
rusticus urbanum murem mus paupere fertur 80
accepisse cavo, veterem vetus hospes amicum,
asper et attentus quaesitis, ut tamen artum
solveret hospitiis animum. quid multa? neque ille
sepositi ciceris nee longae invidit avenae,
aridum et ore ferens acinum semesaque lardi 85
frusta dedit, cupiens varia fastidia cena
vincere tangentis male singula dente superbo;
cum pater ipse domus palea porrectus in horna
esset ador loliumque, dapis meliora relinquens. 89
tandem urbanus ad hunc " quid te iuvat " inquit, " amice,
praerupti nemoris patientem vivere dorso?
vis tu homines urbemque feris praeponere silvis ?
carpe viam, mihi crede, comes; terrestria quando
mortalis animas vivunt sortita, neque ulla est
aut magno aut parvo leti fuga : quo, bone, circa, 95
96 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. III. i
dum licet, in rebus iucundis vive beatus ;
vive memor, quam sis aevi brevis." haec ubi dicta
agrestem pepulere, domo levis exsilit; inde
ambo proposition peragunt iter, urbis aventes
moenia nocturni subrepere. iamque tenebat 100
nox medium caeli spatium, cum ponit uterque
in locuplete domo vestigia, rubro ubi cocco
tincta super lectos canderet vestis eburnos,
multaque de magna superessent fercula cena,
quae procul exstructis inerant hesterna canistris. 105
ergo ubi purpurea porrectum in veste locavit
agrestem, veluti succinctus cursitat hospes
continuatque dapes nee non verniliter ipsis
fungitur officiis, praelambens omne quod adfert.
ille Cubans gaudet mutata sorte bonisque no
rebus agit laetum convivam, cum subito ingens
valvarum strepitus lectis excussit utrumque.
currere per totum pavidi conclave, magisque
exanimes trepidare, simul domus alta Molossis
personuit canibus. turn rusticus "baud mihi vita 115
est opus hac " ait et " valeas : me silva cavusque
tutus ab insidiis tenui solabitur ervo."'
HOR. Sat. ii. 6.
B. III. i] TOWN AND COUNTRY 97
NOTES
Line 5. Maia nate : Mercury, the god of luck.
6 ff. Cf. Swift's imitation :
If I ne'er got or lost a groat,
By any trick or any fault ;
And if I pray by reason's rules,
And not like forty other fools,
As thus, ' Vouchsafe, oh ! gracious Maker
To grant me this and t'other acre;
Or, if it be thy will and pleasure,
Direct my plough to find a treasure ;
But only what my station fits,
And to be kept in my right wits,
Preserve, Almighty Providence,
Just what you give me, competence;
And let me in these shades compose
Something in verse as true as prose,
Removed from all the ambitious scene,
Nor puffed by pride, nor sunk by spleen.'
14. pingtte, applied to ingenium, means * stupid '. So there
is here a play on words.
19. For the unhealthiness of Rome in autumn, cp. Odes ii.
14. 15-16:
frustra per autumnos nocentem
corporibus metuemus Austrum.
Libitina was the goddess who presided over burials.
23. Janus is said to hurry him off to act as surety, because
that is the first thing he has to do in the morning, and Janus
(Matutine pater^ 1. 20) is god of the morning and of all begin-
nings.
26. interiore gyro. In winter the path in which the sun ap-
pears to travel across the sky is shorter than in summer.
32. atras Esqttilias. The Esquiline had been used as a
burial-ground. Maecenas built his palace and laid out his
gardens there.
35. Puteal. The word literally means a low wall raised
round a well (puteus) to prevent people from falling in. Places
struck by lightning and therefore deemed sacred were railed off
in the same way to escape profanation. Among these \htputeal
Libonis or Scribonianum in the forum was the chief resort of
usurers and the financial centre of Rome.
36. scribae : clerks in public offices, the Civil Service of Rome.
Horace had been a clerk in the quaestor's office, and is here
represented as being consulted by his former colleagues.
113U B ~
98 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. III. i
40. Cf. Swift's imitation :
Tis (let me see) three years and more
(October next it will be four)
Since Harley bid me first attend,
And chose me for an humble friend ;
Would take me in his coach to chat,
And question me of this and that ;
As < What's o'clock?' and 'How's the wind?'
' Whose chariot 's that we left behind ? '
Or gravely try to read the lines
Writ underneath the country signs;
Or ' Have you nothing new to-day
From Pope, from Parnell, or from Gay ? '
Such tattle often entertains
My lord and me as far as Staines,
As once a week we travel down
To Windsor, and again to town,
Where all that passes inter tws,
Might be proclaim'd at Charing-cross.
The date at which Horace was admitted into the circle of
Maecenas was probably 38 or 37 B. c.
44. Thraex\ a kind of gladiator, armed, like the natives of
Thrace, with a sharp curved knife and a small shield.
50 ff. Cf. Swift's imitation :
There flies about a strange report
Of some express arrived at court ;
I'm stopped by all the fools I meet,
And catechised in every street.
' You, Mr. Dean, frequent the great ;
Inform us, will the Emperor treat ?
Or do the prints and papers lie ? '
' Faith, sir, you know as much as I.'
' Ah ! Doctor, how you love to jest ;
5 Tis now no secret.' ' I protest,
'Tis one to me.' * Then tell us, pray,
When are the troops to have their pay ? '
And though I solemnly declare
I know no more than my lord mayor,
They stand amazed, and think me grown
The closest mortal ever known.
55. Triquetra (= 'three-cornered'): Sicily. The line prob-
ably refers to the distribution of land among Octavian's soldiers
after the battle of Actium (31 B.C.).
63. faba Pythagorae cognata. The philosopher Pythagoras
(fifth century B. c.) told his followers to abstain from beans. This
B. III. i] TOWN AND COUNTRY 99
prohibition may or may not have been connected with the
Pythagorean doctrine of the transmigration of souls.
65 ff. Cf. Swift's imitation :
Oh charming noons ! and nights divine !
Or when I sup, or when I dine,
My friends above, my folks below,
Chatting and laughing all-a-row,
The beans and bacon set before 'em,
The grace-cup served with all decorum,
Each willing to be pleased, and please,
And e'en the very dogs at ease:
Here no man prates of idle things,
How this or that Italian sings,
A neighbour's madness, or his spouse's,
Or what's in either of the Houses;
But something much more our concern,
And quite a scandal not to learn :
Which is the happier or the wiser,
A man of merit or a miser ?
Whether we ought to choose our friends
For their own worth or our own ends ?
What good, or better, we may call,
And what the very best of all.
G 2
roo THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. III. ii
VRBIS amatorem Fuscum salvere iubemus
ruris amatores, hac in re scilicet una
multum dissimiles, at cetera paene gemelli
fraternis animis quidquid negat alter et alter
adnuimtis pariter vetuli notique columbi. 5
tu nidum servas; ego laudo ruris amoeni
rivos et musco circumlita saxa nemusque.
quid quaeris? vivo et regno simul ista reliqui
quae vos ad caelum effertis rumore secundo,
utque sacerdotis fugitivus liba recuso, 10
pane egeo iam mellitis potiore placentis.
vivere naturae si convenienter oportet,
ponendaeque domo quaerenda est area primum,
novistine locum potiorem rure beato?
est ubi plus tepeant hiemes, ubi gratior aura 15
leniat et rabiem Canis et momenta Leonis,
cum semel accepit Solem furibundus acutum ?
est ubi divellat somnos minus invida cura?
deterius Libycis olet aut nitet herba lapillis?
purior in vicis aqua tendit rumpere plumbum, ao
quam quae per pronum trepidat cum murmure rivum?
nempe inter varias nutritur silva columnas,
laudaturque domus longos quae prospicit agros.
naturam expelles furca, tamen usque recurret,
et mala perrumpet furtim fastidia victrix. 25
non qui Sidonio contendere callidus ostro
nescit Aquinatem potantia vellera fucum
certius accipiet damnum propiusque medullis,
quam qui non poterit vero distinguere falsum.
quern res plus nimio delectavere secundae, 3
mutatae quatient. si quid mirabere, pones
B. III. ii] TOWN AND COUNTRY 101
invitus. fuge magna : licet sub paupere tecto
reges et regum vita praecurrere amicos.
cervus equum pugna melior communibus herbis
pellebat, donee minor in certamine longo 35
imploravit opes hominis frenumque recepit ;
sed postquam victor violens discessit ab hoste,
non equitem dorso, non frenum depulit ore.
sic qui pauperiem veritus potiore metallis
libertate caret, dominum vehet improbus atque 40
serviet aeternum, quia parvo nesciet uti.
cui non conveniet sua res, ut calceus olim,
si pede maior erit, subvertet, si minor, uret.
laetus sorte tua vives sapienter, Aristi,
nee me dimittes incastigatum, ubi plura 45
cogere quam satis est ac non cessare videbor.
imperat aut servit collecta pecunia cuique,
tortum digna sequi potius quam ducere funem.
haec tibi dictabam post fanum putre Vacunae,
excepto quod non simul esses cetera laetus. 50
HOR. Ep. i. 10.
io2 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. III. ii
NOTES
Line 10. A slave in a priest's house, fed on the honey-cakes
offered by worshippers, would be glad, if he ran away, to get
simpler food.
12 f. The Stoics held that the highest good was 'to live in
accordance with nature '. The first instance in which we shall
apply this maxim will be the choice of a place to live in. We
choose the country. Therefore the country is better than the
town.
26 ff. It is more important to be able to distinguish truth from
falsehood than real purple from sham.
48. Metaphor perhaps from a windlass, tortum then refers
to the coiling of the rope, and goes with sequi not with ducere.
49. Vacunae : a Sabine goddess of uncertain identification,
perhaps the same as Victoria, but connected by the Romans with
vacare, vacuus ('lazy ').
B. III. iii] TOWN AND COUNTRY 103
in
VILICE silvarum et mihi me reddentis agelli,
quern tu fastidis habitatum quinque focis et
quinque bonos solitum Variam dimittere patres,
certemus, spinas animone ego fortius an. tu
evellas agro, et melior sit Horatius an res. 5
me quamvis Lamiae pietas et cura moratur
fratrem maerentis, rapto de fratre dolentis
insolabiliter, tamen istuc mens animusque
fert et amat spatiis obstantia rumpere claustra.
rure ego viventem, tu dicis in urbe beatum. 10
cui placet alterius, sua nimirum est odio sors.
stultus uterque locum inimeritum causatur inique :
in culpa est animus, qui se non effugit umquam.
tu mediastinus tacita prece rura petebas,
nunc urbem et ludos et balnea vilicus optas : 1 5
me constare mihi scis et discedere tristem,
quandocumque trahunt invisa negotia Romam.
non eadem miramur; eo disconvenit inter
meque et te : nam quae deserta et inhospita tesqua
credis, amoena vocat mecum qui sentit, et odit 20
quae tu pulchra putas.
HOR. Ep. i. 14.
io 4 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. III. iii
NOTES
Line 2 f. This probably means that in former times the estate
now Horace's had supported five families and sent five members
to the municipal council of the local town.
5. res: his property. There are to be two comparisons, be-
tween the energy of their respective work and its success.
melior^ * in better condition ' (Wickham).
B. III. iv] TOWN AND COUNTRY 105
IV
QVAMVIS digressu veteris confusus amici,
laudo tamen vacuis quod sedem figere Cumis
destinet atque unum civem donare Sibyllae.
ianua Baiarum est et gratum litus amoeni
secessus. ego vel Prochytam praepono Suburae; 5
nam quid tarn miserum, tarn solum vidimus, ut non
deterius credas horrere incendia, lapsus
tectorum adsiduos ac mille pericula saevae
urbis et Augusto recitantes mense poetas?
haut facile emergunt quorum virtutibus opstat 10
res angusta domi, sed Romae durior illis
conatus : magno hospitium miserabile, magno
servorum ventres et frugi cenula magno.
fictilibus cenare pudet, quod turpe negabis
translatus subito ad Marsos mensamque Sabellam 15
contentusque illic Veneto duroque cucullo.
pars magna Italiae est, si verum admittimus, in qua
nemo togam sumit nisi mortuus. ipsa dierum
festorum herboso colitur si quando theatre
maiestas tandemque redit ad pulpita notum 20
exodium, cum personae pallentis hiatum
in gremio matris formidat rusticus infans,
aequales habitus illic similesque videbis
orchestram et populum, clari velamen honoris
sufficiunt tunicae summis aedilibus albae. 25
hie ultra vires habitus nitor, hie aliquid plus
quam satis est interdum aliena sumitur area.
commune id vitium est, hie vivimus ambitiosa
paupertate omnes. quid te moror? omnia Romae
cum pretio. quid das, ut Cossum aliquando salutes? 30
ut te respiciat clause Veiento labello?
106 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. III. iv
ille metit barbam, crinem hie deponit amati ;
plena domus libis venalibus : accipe et istud
fermentum tibi habe. praestare tributa clientes
cogimur et cultis augere peculia servis. 35
quis timet aut timuit gelida Praeneste ruinam
aut positis nemorosa inter iuga Volsiniis aut
simplicibus Gabiis aut proni Tiburis arce?
nos urbem colimus tenui tibicine fultam
magna parte sui ; nam sic labentibus opstat 40
vilicus, et veteris rimae cum texit hiatum,
secures pendente iubet dormire ruina.
vivendum est illic ubi nulla incendia, nulli
nocte metus. iam poscit aquam, iam frivola transfert
Vcalegon, tabulata tibi iam tertia fumant : 45
tu nescis ; nam si gradibus trepidatur ab imis,
ultimus ardebit quem tegula sola tuetur
a pluvia, molles ubi reddunt ova columbae.
lectus erat Codro Procula minor, urceoli sex
ornamentum abaci nee non et parvulus infra 50
cantharus, et recubans sub eodem marmore Chiro
iamque vetus graecos servabat cista libellos,
et divina opici rodebant carmina mures,
nil habuit Codrus, quis enim negat? et tamen illud
perdidit infelix totum nihil. ultimus autem 55
aerumnae est cumulus, quod nudum et frusta rogantem
nemo cibo, nemo hospitio tectoque iuvabit.
si magna Asturici cecidit domus, horrida mater,
pullati proceres, differt vadimonia praetor,
turn gemimus casus urbis, tune odimus ignem. 60
ardet adhuc, et iam accurrit qui marmora donet,
conferat inpensas ; hie nuda et Candida signa,
hie aliquid praeclarum Euphranoris et Polycliti,
haec Asianorum vetera ornamenta deorum,
hie libros dabit et forulos mediamque Minervam, 65
B. III. iv] TOWN AND COUNTRY 107
hie medium argenti. meliora ac plura reponit
Persicus orborum lautissimus et merito iam
suspectus tamquam ipse suas incenderit aedes.
si potes avelli circensibus, optima Sorae
aut Fabrateriae domus aut Fmsinone paratur, 70
quanti nunc tenebras unum conducis in annum.
hortulus hie puteusque brevis nee reste movendus
in tenuis plantas facili dififunditur haustu.
vive bidentis amans et culti vilicus horti,
unde epulum possis centum dare Pythagoreis. 75
est aliquid, quocumque loco, quocumque recessu
untus sese dominum fecisse lacertae.
plurimus hie aeger moritur vigilando (sed ipsum
languorem peperit cibus inperfectus et haerens
ardenti stomacho), nam quae meritoria somnum 80
admittunt? magnis opibus dormitur in urbe.
inde caput morbi. raedarum transitus arto
vicorum inflexu et stantis convicia mandrae
eripient somnum Druso vitulisque marinis.
si vocat officium, turba cedente vehetur 85
dives et ingenti curret super ora Liburna
atque obiter leget aut scribet vel dormiet intus ;
namque facit somnum clausa lectica fenestra.
ante tamen veniet : nobis properantibus opstat
unda prior, magno populus premit agmine lumbos 90
qui sequitur; ferit hie cubito, ferit assere duro
alter, at hie tignum capiti incutit, ille metretam.
pinguia crura luto, planta mox undique magna
calcor et in digito clavus mihi militis haeret.
nonne vides quanto celebretur sportula fumo? 95
centum convivae, sequitur sua quemque culina.
Corbulo vix ferret tot vasa ingentia, tot res
inpositas capiti, quas recto vertice portat
servulus infelix et cursu ventilat ignem.
io8 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. III. iv
scinduntur tunicae sartae modo, longa coruscat 100
serraco veniente abies, atque altera pinum
plaustra vehunt, nutant alte populoque minantur.
nam si procubuit qui saxa Ligustica portat
axis et eversum fudit super agmina montem,
quid superest e corporibus ? quis membra, quis ossa 105
invenit? obtritum vulgi perit omne cadaver
more animae. domus interea secura patellas
iam lavat et bucca foculum excitat et sonat unctis
striglibus et pleno componit lintea guto.
haec inter pueros varie properantur, at ille no
iam sedet in ripa taetrumque novicius horret
porthmea nee sperat caenosi gurgitis alnum
infelix nee habet quem porrigat ore trientem.
respice nunc alia ac diversa pericula noctis :
quod spatium tectis sublimibus unde cerebrum 115
testa ferit, quotiens rimosa et curta fenestris
vasa cadant, quanto percussum pondere signent
et laedant silicem. possis ignavus haberi
et subiti casus inprovidus, ad cenam si
intestatus eas : adeo tot fata, quot ilia 1 20
nocte patent vigiles te praetereunte fenestrae.
ergo optes votumque feras miserabile tecum,
ut sint contentae patulas defundere pelves,
ebrius ac petulans qui nullum forte cecidit,
dat poenas, noctem patitur lugentis amicum 125
Pelidae, cubat in faciem, mox deinde supinus ;
ergo non aliter poterit dormire : quibusdam
somnum rixa facit. sed quamvis improbus annis
atque mero fervens cavet hunc, quem coccina laena
vitari iubet et comitum longissimus ordo, 130
multum praeterea flammarum et aenea lampas.
me, quem lima solet deducere vel breve lumen
candelae, cuius dispense et tempero filum,
B. III. iv] TOWN AND COUNTRY 109
contemnit. miserae cognosce prohoemia rixae,
si rixa est ubi tu pulsas, ego vapulo tantum. 135
stat contra starique iubet, parere necesse est;
nam quid agas, cum te furiosus cogat et idem
fortior ? ' unde venis ? ' exclamat ' cuius aceto,
cuius conche tumes ? quis tecum sectile porrum
sutor et elixi vervecis labra comedit ? 140
nil mihi respondes ? aut die aut accipe calcem.
ede ubi consistas, in qua te quaero proseucha?'
dicere si temptes aliquid tacitusve recedas,
tantumdem est : feriunt pariter, vadimonia deinde
irati faciunt. libertas pauperis haec est : 145
pulsatus rogat et pugnis concisus adorat
ut liceat paucis cum dentibus inde reverti.
nee tamen haec tantum metuas. nam qui spoliet te
non derit clausis domibus, postquam omnis ubique
fixa catenatae siluit compago tabernae. 150
interdum et ferro subitus grassator agit rem;
armato quotiens tutae custode tenentur
et Pomptina palus et Gallinaria pinus,
sic inde hue omnes tamquam ad vivaria currunt.
qua fornace graves, qua non incude catenae? 155
maximus in vinclis ferri modus, ut timeas ne
vomer deficiat, ne marrae et sarcula desint.
felices proavorum atavos, felicia dicas
saecula, quae quondam sub regibus atque tribunis
viderunt uno contentam carcere Romam. 160
Juv. Sat. \\\.
iio THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. III. iv
NOTES
Line 3. unum civem donare Sibyllae. A Sibyl was a virgin
prophetess, dwelling in a cave, and inspired by vapour arising
from the earth. She was always connected with Apollo. The
most famous Sibyl dwelt at Cumae, and wrote her prophecies on
leaves. See Verg. Aen. vi beginning.
5. ego vel Prochytam praepono Suburae. Prochyta (Procida)
is a small island off the Campanian coast. In ancient times it
seems to have been deserted, though now populous and fertile.
Subura, one of the busiest parts of Rome, lay between the
Esquiline, Viminal, and Quirinal (see plan of Rome).
1 8. nemo togam sumit nisi mortuus. At Rome, on the other
hand, the toga was worn on all formal occasions, such as the
salutatio or early morning visit of client to patron. Augustus
insisted on the wearing of the toga in the forum and circus (Suet.
Aug. 40). One of the chief attractions of country-life to the
Romans seems to have been emancipation from the toga (cf.
Plin. Ep. v. 6 nulla necessitas togae ; Mart. x. 47. 5 toga rara).
25. The aediles, or chief magistrates of the place, condescend
to wear the tunica, which was more comfortable and less formal
than the toga. Their places were in the orchestra (1. 24). In the
country there is no lotus clavus, angustus clavus, or praetexta,
or any other distinction of dress, but all alike wear the white
tunic.
31. The prouder sort of patron often declined to take any
notice of the clients who presented themselves at the early
morning salutatio. They opened their mouths only to yawn.
For Veiento, who is here mentioned merely as a type, see note
on A. I. ii. 76.
32. The first beard of a youth was usually dedicated to some
god. This custom seems to have been borrowed from Greece,
and is not heard of earlier than the Imperial period.
33. venalibus : because, though the cakes were offered to all
who came, a present had to be made to the porter, accipe : sc.
libam. The fermentum appears to be righteous indignation at
the insults offered by slaves to clients.
39. tibicine : support, prop.
45. Cf. Verg. Aen. ii. 311 'iam proximus ardet Vcalegon ',
to which Juvenal here makes a mock-heroic reference. Ucalegon
is represented as dwelling in the third storey of an insula or
lodging-house: the person referred to as tu lives in the attic
above.
49. Procula, probably a dwarf. Dwarfs and misshapen persons
were often kept by Roman nobles as pets or curiosities.
B. III. iv] TOWN AND COUNTRY m
51. reciibans sub eodem mar more Chiro. The marmor is
the abacus (1. 50), a slab which served as a side-board on which
to show plate.
recubans Chiro : a statue of the centaur Chiron.
53. opici : originally ' Oscan ' (the non-Greek element in the
population of S. Italy). It was used, first perhaps in the Greek
cities of Magna Graecia, as a term of reproach for anything
anti- Greek or ignorant of Greek. It is here well applied to
Philistine mice who gnaw Greek poetry.
63. Euphranor and Polycleitus were famous Greek sculptors.
The former lived in the middle of the fourth century B. c., the
latter in the middle of the fifth.
64. The temples of Asia and other provinces were constantly
deprived of precious works of art by the Roman governors of
the late republican period. The depredations of Verres (pro-
praetor in Sicily 73 B.C.) have been immortalized by Cicero
(Verrines ii. 4).
65. A statue of Minerva, the patroness of learning, was usually
placed in libraries, medtam means ' among the books ', or
possibly ' a half-length figure '.
75. Vegetarianism was practised by the Pythagoreans.
82. Wheeled traffic was not allowed in Rome till the tenth
hour of the day ; this led to the streets being crowded with
carriages and wagons all night.
84. Tiberius Claudius Drustts, princeps from A.D. 41 to 54,
was a very heavy sleeper. So, apparently, are seals (Plin.
N. H. ix. 15 'nullum animal graviore somno premitur').
97. Corbulo conducted campaigns in Germany and Armenia
in the reigns of Claudius and Nero, by the latter of whom he
was put to death. Tacitus describes him as ' corpore ingens '
(Ann. xiii. 8). He appears here merely as a typical instance of
the strong man.
107. 'This slender stream of definitely poetic imagination
reveals itself suddenly and unexpectedly in strange forms and
circumstances. At the close of the passage in the third satire
describing the perils of the Roman streets, Juvenal imagines the
death of some householder in a street accident. All is bustle
and business at home in expectation of his return. Out of the
grotesque there gradually looms the horror of death and the
friendless ghost sitting lost and homeless by the Stygian waters.'
H. E. Butler, Post- Augustan Poets, p. 317.
113. trientem. The Greeks put an obol into the mouth of a
corpse, as the fare of Charon, the ferryman of the dead. A few
instances of coins between the teeth of skeletons have been found
in Roman localities, but there seems no reason to believe that
the custom was generally adopted by the Romans. It is here
a mere literary reminiscence.
H2 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. III. iv
115. spatium. The height of houses in Rome was limited by
Augustus to 70 feet, and by Trajan to 60.
1 1 8. stlicemi the pavement.
Cf. Johnson, London, 11. 220 ff. :
Prepare for death, if here at night you roam,
And sign your will before you sup from home.
Some fiery fop with new commission vain,
Who sleeps on brambles till he kills his man,
Some frolic drunkard, reeling from a feast,
Provokes a broil, and stabs you for a jest.
Yet ev'n these heroes, mischievously gay,
Lords of the street, and terrors of the way,
Flush'd as they are with folly, youth, and wine,
Their prudent insults to the poor confine;
Afar they mark the flambeau's bright approach,
And shun the shining train and golden coach.
124. Besides the nocturnal rioters of the Early Empire,
among whom we find the emperors Nero (Tac. Ann. xiii. 25, 47)
and Otho (Suet. Oth. 2), the * hooligans ' of fourth-century
Athens and of eighteenth-century London have been immor-
talized in literature, the former by Demosthenes in the ' Conon',
the latter by Addison in the 'Spectator'.
125. Achilles lamenting the death of Patroclus.
142. proseucha. The name (meaning ' place of prayer ')
given, in Egypt chiefly, to the places of worship of the Jews,
which might either be buildings or in the open air. They were
more commonly known as synagogues (places of assembly).
Judaism was much despised in Rome.
144. vadimoniafaciunt'. as if they were the injured party.
155 ff. Cf. Johnson, London, 11. 238 flf. :
Scarce can our fields, such crowds at Tyburn die,
With hemp the gallows and the fleet supply.
A single jail in Alfred's golden reign
Could half the nation's criminals contain.
B. III. v] TOWN AND COUNTRY
IVLI iugera pauca Martialis
hortis Hesperidum beatiora
longo laniculi iugo recumbunt :
lati collibus eminent recessus
et planus modico tumore vertex 5
caelo perfruitur sereniore
et curvas nebula tegente valles
solus luce nitet peculiar! :
puris leniter admoventur astris
celsae culmina delicata villae. 10
Hinc septem dominos videre mentis
et totam licet aestimare Romam,
Albanos quoque Tusculosque colles
et quodcumque iacet sub urbe frigus,
Fidenas veteres brevesque Rubras, 15
et quod virgineo cruore gaudet
Annae pomiferum nemus Perennae.
Illinc Flaminiae Salariaeque
gestator patet essedo tacente,
ne blando rota sit molesta somno, ao
quern nee rumpere nauticum celeuma
nee clamor valet helciariorum,
cum sit tam prope Mulvius sacrumque
lapsae per Tiberim volent carinae.
Hoc rus, seu potius domus vocanda est, 25
commendat dominus : tuam putabis,
tam non invida tamque liberalis,
tam comi patet hospitalitate :
credas Alcinoi pios Penates
aut facti modo divitis Molorchi. 30
Vos nunc omnia parva qui putatis,
1130 P
H
ii4 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. III. v
centeno gelidum ligone Tibur
vel Praeneste domate pendulamque
uni dedite Setiam colono,
dum me iudice praeferantur istis 35
luli iugera pauca Martialis.
MART. iv. 64.
B. III. v] TOWN AND COUNTRY 115
NOTES
Lines I f. htK Martialis : a friend of the poet, not the poet
himself.
Hesperidum : see note on B. I. v. 152.
17. Annae Perennae : an old Italian goddess, the protector or
bestower of the returning year, identified by Ovid (Fast. iii. 523
ff.) with the sister of Dido. On reaching Italy, fearing the
jealousy of Aeneas's wife Lavinia, she is said to have thrown
herself into the Numicius, and remained there as a nymph.
Her annual festival was celebrated with much licence, but the
meaning of virgineo cruore is not clear.
1 8. Flaminiae Salariaeque : roads leading out of Rome.
29 f. Alcinoi: see note on B. I. v. 151.
Molorchi: a poor vine-dresser who entertained Hercules
before he slew the Nemean Lion, and was rewarded by a grant
of land.
H 2
n6 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. III. vi
VI
DVM tu forsitan inquietus erras
clamosa, luvenalis, in Subura
aut collem dominae teris Dianae;
dum per limina te potentiorum
sudatrix toga ventilat vagumque 5
maior Caelius et minor fatigant :
me multos repetita post Decembres
accepit mea rusticumque fecit
auro Bilbilis et superba ferro.
Hie pigri colimus labore dulci 10
Boterdum Plateamque Celtiberis
haec sunt nomina crassiora terris :
ingenti fruor inproboque somno
quem nee tertia saepe rumpit hora,
et totum mihi nunc repono quidquid 15
ter denos vigilaveram per annos.
Ignota est toga, sed datur petenti
rupta proxima vestis a cathedra.
surgentem focus excipit superba
vicini strue cultus iliceti, 20
multa vilica quem coronat olla.
venator sequitur, sed ille quem tu
secreta cupias habere silva ;
dispensat pueris rogatque longos
levis ponere vilicus capillos. 25
Sic me vivere, sic iuvat perire.
MART. xii. 18.
B. III. vi] TOWN AND COUNTRY 117
NOTES
Lines 2 ff. luvenalis : the poet.
Subura: see note on B. III. iv. 5.
collem Dianae: the Aventine, where was the temple of
Diana.
per limina &c. refers to the early morning salutatio.
7. Martial left Rome in A. D. 98, and was supplied with money
for his journey by the younger Pliny (Ep. iii. 21). He had been
in Rome since A. D. 64.
9. BilbiliS) in Spain.
17. Cf. Juv. iii. 171 f. (B. III. iv. 17 f.).
24 f. Martial let his slaves wear their hair long, as was the
fashion in Rome. His steward protests.
n8 THE EARLY EMPIRE [B. III. vii
Vll
C. PLINIVS MINICIO FVNDANO SVO S.
MIRVM est, quam singulis diebus in urbe ratio aut constet
aut constare videatur, pluribus iunctisque non constet.
Nam, si quern interroges : ' Hodie quid egisti ?,' respond-
eat : ' Officio togae virilis interfui, sponsalia aut nuptias 5
frequentavi, ille me ad signandum testamentum, ille in
advocationem, ille in consilium rogavit.' Haec quo die
feceris, necessaria, eadem, si cotidie fecisse te reputes,
inania videntur, multo magis cum secesseris. Tune eninr
subit recordatio : ' Quot dies quam frigidis rebus absumpsi ! ' 10
Quod evenit mihi, postquam in Laurentino meo aut lego
aliquid aut scribo aut etiam corpori vaco, cuius fulturis
animus sustinetur. Nihil audio, quod audisse, nihil dico,
quod dixisse paeniteat ; nemo apud me quemquam sinistris
sermonibus carpit, neminem ipse reprehendo, nisi tamen 15
me, cum parum commode scribo ; nulla spe, nullo timore
sollicitor, nullis rumoribus inquietor, mecum tantum et cum
libellis loquor. O rectam sinceramque vitam, o dulce otium
honestumque ac paene omni negotio pulchrius ! O mare,
o litus, verum secretumque /xovo-etov, quam multa invenitis, 20
quam multa dictatis ! Proinde tu quoque strepitum istum
inanemque discursum et multum ineptos labores, ut primum
fuerit occasio, relinque teque studiis vel otio trade. Satius
est enim, ut Atilius noster eruditissime simul et facetissime
dixit, otiosum esse quam nihil agere. Vale. 25
PLIN. Ep. i. 9.
B. IILvii] TOWN AND COUNTRY 119
NOTES
Line 20. povtrtlov (museum) = haunt of the Muses.
ROME UNDER THE EARLY EMPIRE
'"\HHo\ti
fcaeskris
>^/ 3 a Nomentai
!aCo////a\ \ Castra
EXPLANATION
OF FIGURES
ON
INSET
I.Aedes Concordiae
INDEX NOMINVM
Achaeus I. ii. 4.
Achilles I. ix. 30.
Aegyptius II. iii. 85.
Aeneas I. iii. 63.
Aeneas, parvolus, I. v. 139.
Aethiopes II. iii. 55.
Afrae sorores I. v. 152.
Afri serpentes II. ii. 95.
Africa II. iii. 296.
Africana ficus II. iii. 84.
Agamemnon, Trimalchionis
con-diva, II. iii. 297, 302, 303,
307-
Alabanda I. ii. 9.
Albanus I. v. 33, III. v. 13.
Albanum vinum II. ii. 16.
Alcinous III. v. 29.
Alcon, servus Graecus, II. ii.
IS-
Alledius I. v. 118.
Allifana, pocula, II. ii. 39.
Alpes I. iii. 41.
Amydon I. ii. 8.
Ancus, Martins, I. v. 57.
Andros I. ii. 9.
Anna Perenna III. v. 17.
Antaeus I. ii. 28.
Antiochus, comoedus, I. ii. 35.
Antonius, triumvir, II. viii. 33.
Anxur II. viii. 26.
Apella ludaeus II. viii. 96.
Apicius pauper I. ix. 3.
Apollo I. i. 78, iii. 60.
Appi Forum II. viii. 3.
Appia, via, II. viii. 6.
Apulia II. viii. 77.
Aquilo II. ii. 56, III. i. 25.
Aquinas fucus III. ii. 27.
Archiaci lecti II. iv. i.
Arellius, Horati vicinus, 1 1 1. i .
78.
Aricia II. viii. I.
Aristius, Fuscus, I. i. 61, III.
ii. 44.
Asia I. v. 56, II. iii. 256.
Asianus III. iv. 64.
Asturicus III. iv. 58.
Atabulus, ventus, II. viii. 78.
Athenae I. ii. 19, II. iii. 129.
Allans I. ix. 24.
Atticus, ardaliO) I. xi. i, 5.
Atticus, Ti. Claudius , I. ix. I.
Attica virgo II. ii. 13.
Atticum mel II. iii. 128.
Aufidius Luscus II. viii. 34.
Augustus, mensis. III. iv. 9.
Aurelia, ornata femina, I.iv.
33, 35> 38.
Aurelia, orba, I. v. 98.
Auster II. ii. 6, III. i. 18.
Aventinus I. ii. 24.
Aventinus, col Us Dianae, III.
vi. 3.
Baiae I. ix. 49, III. iv. 4.
Balatro Servilius, Maecenatis
umbra, II. ii. 21, 33, 40, 64, 83.
Barium piscosum II. viii. 93.
Beneventanus sutor, Vatinius,
I. v. 46.
Beneventum II. 71.
Bilbilis III. vi. 9.
Blaesus Velleius I. iv. 22, 30.
Boccar quocum nemo lavatur
I. v. 90.
Bolanus, cerebrosus, I. i. n.
Bootes I. v. 23.
Boterdus III. vi. ii.
Bromius II. iii. 191.
Brundisium II. viii. 100.
Bruti, a lulio Caesar e liber a-
y I. v. 37.
124
INDEX NOMINVM
Butra II. iv. 26.
Cacus I. v. 125.
Caecilianus, dientium domi-
mts, I. vii. 2.
Caecubum vinum II. ii. 15.
Caelius, maior mons, III. vi. 6.
Caelius, minor mons, III. vi. 6.
Caesar, Augustus, II. iv. 9, III.
i. 56.
Caesar, C. Julius, I. i. 18, v. 4,
Caesar, Dontitianus, II. i. 9.
Campanus II. ii. 56, viii. 45, 62.
Canicula I. iii. 39.
Canidia II. ii. 95.
Canis III. ii. 16.
Cannae II. vii. 8.
Canusi lapidosus panis II. viii.
87.
Capito Fonteius II. viii. 32, 38.
Capua II. viii. 47.
Carpus, carptor, II. iii. 97, 100,
105, 170.
Cassius I. v. 37.
Caudium II. viii. 51.
Celtiberus III. vi. n.
Ceres II. ii. 14.
Cervius, Horati vicinus, III. i.
77-
Charybdis I. v. 102.
Chione I. viii. 4.
Chiro III. iv. 51.
Chium, vinum, II. ii. 15, 48.
Chrysanthus II. iii. 211.
Cicirrus Messius II. viii. 52, 65.
Claudius, princeps, I. v. 147.
Coa faecula II. ii. 9.
Cocceius, Nerva cos. a. C. 36, II.
viii. 28, 32, 50.
Codrus III. iv. 49, 54.
Coranus I. iii. 57, 64.
Corbulo Ill.iv. 97.
Corinthius asellus II. iii. 4.
Corsica I. v. 92.
Corybanta de conviva videbis
I. v. 25.
Cossus, nobilis, III. iv. 30.
Cotilus bellus homo I. x. i, 13,
14.
Cotta I. v. 109.
Cumae III. iv. 2.
Curtillus II. ii. 52.
Curtius, bucca I. ix. 34.
Cyclopa saltare II. viii. 63.
Daci III. i. 53.
Dama spurcus I. iii. 18, 93.
Dama, Trimalchionis conviva,
II. iii. 201.
Davus, servuscomicus, I. iii. 83.
December III. vi. 7.
Demetrius, comoedus, I. ii. 36.
Dindymus II. vi. n.
Diogenes,C. Pompeius,7Vz>/ztf/-
chionis conviva, II. iii. 141.
Diomedes II. viii. 88.
Dionysus II. iii. 194.
Doris, dramatis persona, I. ii.
Drusus, Claudius princeps, III.
iv. 84.
Echion, centonarius, II. iii. 282.
Elissa I. xiii. 2.
Esquiliae I. ii. 10, v. 78, ix. 51,
HI. i. 33-
Etruscum aurum I.v. 164.
Euhius II. iii. 191.
Euphemus II. i. 7.
Euphranor III. iv. 63.
Fabrateria III. iv. 70.
Falernum, vinum, II. ii. 16, iii.
64.
Fatus malus II. iii. 218.
Feronia II. viii. 24.
Fidenae III. v. 15.
Flaminia, via, III. v. 18.
Fonteius Capito II. viii. 32.
Fortuna II. ii. 6l, III. i. 49.
Fortunae filius II. iii. 243.
Fortunata, Trimalchionisuxor,
II. iii. no.
Forum Appi II. viii. 3.
INDEX NOMINVM
125
Frusino III. iv. 70.
Fundanius II. ii. 19.
Furius, Alpinus, I. iii. 41.
Fuscus, Aristiits, I. i. 61, III.
ii. i.
Gabba I. v. 4.
Gabii III. iv. 38.
Gaditana cantica I. x. 5.
Gaditanae II. v. 10.
Gaetulus I. v. 53.
Gaetulus Ganymedes I. v. 59.
Ga\b&, jrinctfs, I. iv. 5.
Ga\\\n&, gladiator Thraex, III.
i. 44.
Gallinaria pinus III. iv. 153.
Ganymedes, Gaetulus, I. v. 59.
Ganymedes, Trimalchionis
cowviva, II. iii. 248.
Gargilianus, cliens, I. viii. 2.
Geticae pruinae I. v. 50.
Gnatia, (Egnatia), II. viii. 93.
Graeca urbs I. ii. 4.
Graeculus I. ii. 17, II. iii. 130.
Graecus II. iii. 300, viii. 3.
Haemus, comoedus, I. ii. 36.
Heliades I. v. 38.
Heliodorus, rhetor, II. viii. 2.
Helvidius, Prisctts, I. v. 36.
Hercules I. ii. 28, v. 125, II. iii.
308, III. i. 13.
Hermogenes I. i. 25.
Hesperidum horti III. v. 2.
Hiberuspiscis II. ii. 46.
Hirpinus, equus, I. x. 12.
Homerus I. xiii. 4, II. iii. 309.
Horatius III. iii. 5.
Hydaspes, servus Indus, II.
ii. 14.
laniculum III. v. 3.
lanus III. i. 20.
larbas I. v. 45.
Idaeum sollemne II. vii. 2.
Incuboni pilleum rapere II. iii.
139-
India II. iii. 131.
Isaeus I. ii. 13.
Italia III. iv. 17.
Italus III. i. 56.
Ithaca I. iii. 4.
ludaeus II. viii. 96.
luli Martialis, poetae amicus,
III. v. i, 36.
lulius, mensis, II. iii. 142.
lulius Proculus, Trimalchionis
amicus, II. iii. 156.
luppiter I. v. 79, II. iii. 277,
279.
luppiter, Domitianus, II. i. 12.
I uvenalis, /<?/#, III. vi. 2.
Laconici canes II. iii. 162.
Laenas, captator I. v. 98.
Laertiades I. iii. 59.
Lamia, Horati amicus, III. iii.
6.
Lar I. iii. 14, III. i. 66.
Lares II. viii. 66.
Latina, via, I. v. 55.
Latinus II. iii. 300.
Laurentinum, praedium, III.
vii. II.
Leo III. ii. 16.
Lepos, mimus, III. i. 72.
Liber II. iii. 196.
Libitinae quaestus III. i. 19.
Liburnus III. iv. 86.
Libyci lapilli III. ii. 19.
Libye I. v. 119, ix. 25.
Ligurinus, nimis poeta I.xii. 3.
Ligustica saxa III. iv. 103.
Lucanus aper II. ii. 6.
Luna I. xiii. 10.
Luscus Aufjdius II. viii. 34.
Lyaeus II. iii. 191.
Lymphae II. viii. 93.
Maecenas I. i. 43, II. ii. 16, 22,
viii. 27, 31, 48, III. i. 31, 38, 41.
Maia natus III. i. 5.
Maro, Vergilius, I. xiii. 3.
126
INDEX NOMINVM
Mars II. iii. 59.
Marsi III. iv. 15.
Martialis lulms, floe foe amicus,
III. v. I, 36.
Marsyas II. iii. 93.
Mamurrarum urbs, Formiae,
II. viii. 37.
Matho, bucca I. ix. 34.
Matutinus pater, Janus, III.
i. 20.
Maurus I. ii. 18, v. 53.
Megalesiaca mappa Il.vii. I.
Meleager I. v. 115.
Messius Cicirrus II. viii. 52,
54, 58.
Methymnaea uva II. ii. 50.
Micipsarum canna I. v. 89.
Minerva III. iv. 65.
Minturnae II. iv. 5.
Molorchus III. v. 30.
Molossi canes III. i. 114.
Moschus II. iv. 9.
Mulvius, pons, III. v. 23.
Murena, Licinius, II. viii. 38.
Musa II. viii. 53.
Mycale, Trebi uxor, I. v. 141.
Nasica, captator, I. iii. 57, 65,
67.
Nasidienus, Rufus, II. ii. 1,75,
84.
Nero II. vi. 10.
Nili cantica I. x. 5.
Nomentanus, Nasidteni para-
situs, II. ii. 23, 25, 60.
Opimianum, vinum, II. iii. 64,
67.
Orcus I, iii. 49, II. iii. 76.
Orontes in Tiberim defluxit I.
ii. 5.
Oscus II. viii. 54.
Palaemon I. xiii. 19.
Parthi I. iii. 62.
Pegasus II. iii. 91.
Pelides III. iv. 126.
Penates III. v. 29.
Perenna Anna III. v. 17.
Persicus, orbus, III. iv. 67.
Petrinus, mons Sinuessanus,
II. iv. 5.
Phaeacum perpetuus autumnus
I. v. 151.
Phileros, Trimalchionis con-
viva, II. iii. 226, 248.
Piso I. v. 109.
Piso quern Galba adoptavit I. i v.
4, 5-
Platea III. vi. n.
Plotius Tucca II. viii. 40.
Polio, mendicus, I. ix. 43.
Polyclitus III. iv. 63.
Pompeius Diogenes, Trimal-
chionis amicus, II. iii. 141.
Pomptina palus III. iv. 153.
Porcius, Nasidieni flarasttus,
II. ii. 23.
Praeneste III. iv. 36, v. 33.
Prochytalll. iv. 5.
Procula III. iv. 49.
Proculus, lulius, Trimalchionis
amicus, II. iii. 156.
Proserpina I. iii. 102.
Publius, praenomen, I. iii. 32.
Punicum malum II, iii. 10.
Puteal III. i. 35.
Pythagorae faba cognata III.
i. 63.
Pythagoras, Neronianus, II.
vi. 10.
Pythagoreus III. iv. 75.
Ouintus, Horatius, III. i. 37.
Quintus, praenomen, I. iii. 32.
Quirinus I. ii. 6.
Ouirites I. ii. 3.
Regulus, delator, I. iv. 5 et
passim.
Roma I. v. 90, viii. 2, ix. 46,
II. i. 3, viii. I, III. i. 23, iii.
17, iv. ii, 29.
Roma pilleata II. vi. 4.
INDEX NOMINVM
127
Roma uno contenta carcere
III. iv. 160.
Romam advectus quo pruna et
cottona vento I. ii. 22.
Romam totam circus capit II.
vii. 5.
Romam totam licet aestimare
III. v. 12.
Romanorum regum frivola I.
v. 58.
Roscius, Horati amicus, III. i.
Rostra III. i. 50.
Rubi II. viii. 90.
Rubrae III. v. 15.
Rufus, Nasidienus, II. ii. 58.
r, I. ix. 2, 5, 21.
Sabella anus I. i. 29.
Sabella mensa III. iv. 15.
Sabinus II. iv. 27.
Sacra via I. i. I.
Safinius, piper non homo, II.
iii. 256.
Saguntina lagona I. v. 29.
Salaria, via. III. v. 1 8.
Sarmata I. ii. 18.
Sarmentus I. v. 3, II. viii. 52,
55> 56.
Samos 1. ii. 9.
Saturnalia II. iii. 254.
Saturnus, falcifer senex, II.
vi. I.
Seleucus, Trimalchionis con-
viva, II. iii. 207.
Seneca I. v. 109.
Septicius II. iv. 26.
Servilius Balatro, Maecenatis
umbra, II. ii. 21.
Setia III. v. 34.
Setinus I. v. 34.
Sibylla III. iv. 3.
Sicilia II. iii. 295.
Siculus I. v. lop.
Sicyon alta I. ii. 8.
Sidonium ostrum III. ii. 26.
Silvanus I. xiii. 14.
Sinuessa II. viii. 40.
Sinuessanus, mons Petrinus,
II. iv. 5.
Sora III. iv. 69.
Stratocles, comoedus, I. ii.
36.
Subura I. v. 106, ix. 51, III.
iv. 5, vi. 2.
Syriaca pruna II. iii. 10.
Syrus I. ii. 5.
Syrus, gladiator, III. i. 44.
Tarentini II. iii. 295.
Tarentum II. iii. 128.
Tarracinienses II. iii. 294.
Tauromenitanae rupes I. v. 93.
Taurus, Statilius, iterum cos.
a. C. 26, II. iv. 4.
Thais, dramatis persona, I. ii.
32-
Thalia II. i. 12.
Thebae I. iii. 76.
Thersites I. ix. 31.
Thraex, gladiator. III. i. 44.
Thrasea Paetus, I. v. 36.
Thrax I. ii. 18.
Thurinus Viscus II. ii. 20.
Tiber inu s, piscis, I. v. 104.
Tiberis I. i. 18, III. v. 24.
in Tiberim defluxit Orontes I.
ii. 5-
Tiburlll. iv. 38, v. 32.
Tiresias I. iii. I.
Torquatus, Horati amicus, II.
iv. 3.
Triquetra, Sicilia, III. i. 55.
Tralles I. ii. 9.
Trebius I. v. 19, 135.
Trimalchio II. iii. 2 et passim.
Trivicum II. viii. 79.
Troia I. iii. 1 8.
Tullus, Hostilius, I. v. 57.
Tusculus III. v. 13.
Tyrrhenus piscis I. v. 96.
Vacuna III. ii. 49.
128
INDEX NOMINVM
Varia, oppidum. III. iii. 3.
Varius I. i. 23, II. ii. 21, 63,
viii. 40, 89.
Vatinius, sutor Beneventanus,
I. v. 46.
Vcalegon III. iv. 45.
Veiento Fabricius III. iv. 31.
Velleius Blaesus I. iv. 22.
Venafranum, oleum, I. v. 86.
Venafri oleum II. ii. 45.
Venetus cucullus III. iv. 16.
Ventidius, lautus, I. ix. 22.
Verania, Pisonis uxor, I. iv. 4.
Vergilius, Maro> I. xiii. 2, II.
viii. 40, 48.
Vestae templum, I. i. 35.
Vibidius, Maecenatisumbra^ 1 1 .
ii. 22,33, 40, 80.
iS) dictus a vimine col-
lis, I. ii. 10.
Virro I. v. 39, 43, 99, 128, 134,
149, 156.
Viscus I. i. 22.
Viscus Thurinus II. ii. 20.
Vlixes I. iii. 92, ix. 31, II. iii.
309-
Volsinii III. iv. 37.
Vulcanus II. viii. 74.
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