50-51. Casaubon sees in this passage an imitation of Hesiod, O. et D.,
369: +deilê d' eni puthmeni pheidô+ (_sera parsimonia in fundo est_,
Sen., Ep., 1, 5). I have followed the old reading, which makes _nummus_
the subject. The personification is in Persius's vein, as Schlüter
correctly remarks. Comp. _tacita acerra_, v. 5; _gemuerunt aera_, 3, 39;
_sapiens porticus_, 3, 53; _modice sitiente lagoena_, 3, 92. _Nummi_ are
nursed as children, 5, 149; there is a kind of personification in
_dolosi nummi_, Prol., 12, and literature is full of personified coins,
of 'nimble sixpences,' 'slow shillings,' 'adventurous guineas.' Add: _ac
velut exhausta redivivus pullulet arca | #nummus#_, Juv., 6, 363. Paley
(ap. Pretor) suggests that _nequiquam_ may be considered the exclamation
of the _#nummus#_. This gives so happy a turn that I am almost tempted
to put it in the text. It is the familiar story of 'the bottom dime,'
set to the familiar tune of the 'Last Rose of Summer.' Jahn makes the
numbskull, not the _nummus_, the subject, and reads in his ed. of 1843:
_Nequiquam fundo_, suspiret, _nummus in imo_!
In his ed. of 1868 he follows Hermann, who reads:
Nequiquam _fundo_, suspiret, _nummus in imo_!
Pretor prints:
_Nequiquam: fundo_, suspiret, _nummus in imo_!
The scholiast hesitates. All much more prosaic and much less
satisfactory. --#suspiret#: See G., 574, R.; A., 62, 2, _d._
52-75. With a sudden start Persius strikes at the root of the matter--
the false conception of the divine character. 'Thou thoughtest,' saith
God, 'that I was altogether such a one as thyself,' Ps. 50, 21. Because
you love gold, you fancy that God loves gold, and judge of His Holiness
by your corruption. God demands a pure heart, and not 'thousands of
rams.' This is a plane on which the highest expressions of the most
various religions meet, so that Hebrew, Greek, and Christian hold almost
identical discourse. M. Martha (_Moralistes Romains_, p. 134) recognizes
'a progress' in thoughts, which are immemorial in their antiquity.
52. #creterras#: preferred by Jahn (1868) and Hermann to _crateras_, in
which the Acc. Sing. of the Greek word +kratêr+ seems to be taken as the
stem (G., 72, R. 2). See Hor., Od., 3, 18, 7: Sat., 2, 4, 80. Comp. also
_statera_ and _panthera_. G. Meyer (_Beitrage zur Stammbildung_ in
Curtius, _Studien_, 5, 72) questions the Accus. origin. --#argenti#: The
context indicates the material, which in prose would be _ex argento_ or
_argentea_ (G., 396; A., 54, 2). The Genitive should give us the
contents as in v. 11, _argenti seria_. Comp. Juv., 9, 141: _#argenti#
vascula puri_. --#incusa#: 'is a translation of +empaista+ (Casaubon),
+empaistikê technê+ being the art of embossing silver or some other
material with golden ornaments (_crustae_ or _emblemata_). Hence
_crateras argenti incusaque dona_ is probably a hendiadys' (Conington).
_Chrysendeta_, or parcel-gilt plate (Pretor). --#pingui#: 'thick,' not a
generic epithet.
53. #dona#: Predicate. --#pectore laevo#: Jahn strangely follows
Casaubon in understanding _pectore laevo_ as _mente laeva_. Comp. Verg.,
Ecl., 1, 16: _si mens non #laeva# fuisset_. The side of the heart is
meant. König comp. _#laeva# parte mamillae | nil salit Arcadico iuveni_,
Juv., 7, 159.
54. #excutiat#: In his ed. of 1868 Jahn has abandoned the harsh
_excutias_ of 1843, which leaves _laetari praetrepidum cor_ to take care
of itself, with _laetari_ as an histor. Inf. of habit. Comp. Verg.,
Georg., 1, 200; 4, 134; Aen., 4, 422; 7, 15. --#guttas#: 'Your heart in
an eager flutter of excited joy would drive the life-drops from your
left breast.' So Pretor, who adds that Persius alludes to the faintness
produced by any violent excitement. Comp. Verg., Georg., 3, 105: _cum
spes arrectae iuvenum exsultantiaque haurit | corda pavor pulsans_. With
_guttas_ comp. 'As dear to me as are the ruddy _drops_ that visit this
sad heart,' Shaksp. Jahn understands 'tears,' Heinrich 'sweat' (comp.
Juv., 1, 167: _tacita #sudant# praecordia culpa_). In the latter case we
should expect _ut_, as Schlüter observes. --#laetari praetrepidum#:
'over-hasty to rejoice' (Conington). For the construction, comp. Prol.,
11, and Hor., Od., 2, 4, 24: _cuius octavum #trepidavit# aetas |
claudere lustrum_. On the meaning of _trepidum_, see 1, 20.
55. #illud, quod#: 'that strange fashion that,' instead of the
impersonal construction with the Inf. with a different shade of meaning
(G., 525; A., 70, 5). --#subi[-i]t#: On the quantity of the final
syllable, see G., 705, Exc. 4; A., 84, _g_, 5. --#auro ovato#: Comp.
_triumphato auro_, Ov., Ep. ex Ponto, 2, 1, 41 (Jahn). An allusion to
the 'unjust acquisition of the gold offered to Heaven' seems to be too
modern, despite Juv., 8, 106.
56. #nam#: 'for instance.' G., 500, R. 1. --#fratres aenos#: 'brazen
brotherhood' (Gifford). There are various interpretations: 1. The gods
generally (Jahn). 2. The fifty sons of Aegyptus, whose statues stood in
the portico of the Palatine Apollo over against those of the fifty
Danaides, Prop., 2, 31, 1 seqq.; Ov., Trist., 3, 1, 59 seqq.
(Scholiast). 3. The Dioscuri. The first explanation is the best. All the
gods might appear in vision, but some were more famous for such
appearances than others. The very existence of the statues of the sons
of Aegyptus is problematical, and their connection with dreams
inexplicable (Jahn). As for the Dioscuri, they were notoriously
beardless youths, apart from the fact that _qui mittunt_ points to more
than two (Casaubon).
57. #pituita#: trisyllabic, as in Hor., Sat., 2, 2, 76; Ep., 1, 1, 108.
_Pituita_, 'phlegm,' 'gross humor.' 'That _pituita_ was supposed to mark
a heavy, cloudy intellect, is clear from the meaning of the opposite
expression, _emunctae naris_' (Pretor). See also the commentators on
Hor., ll.cc.
58. #aurea barba#: Cic., N. D., 3, 34, 83: _Aesculapii Epidaurii #barbam
auream# demi iussit [Dionysius], neque enim convenire barbatum esse
filium cum in omnibus fanis pater imberbis esset._
59. #vasa Numae#: called _capedines_ and _simpuvia_. --#Saturnia aera#:
Old coinage, according to Schol., Casaubon, and Jahn. The earliest
coinage is said to have been stamped on one side with the head of Janus,
the coiner, on the other with a ship, in honor of Saturn's arrival in
Italy. It is best to translate loosely by 'brass' or 'bronze,' as the
explanation is far from certain. --#inpulit#: 'kicked out.'
60. #Vestalis urnas#: always of earthenware. --#Tuscum fictile#:
'Etruscan pottery.' 'Etruscan' both by reason of its origin and its use
in Etruscan ritual.
61. #O curvae#: A passionate apostrophe, which reminds M. Martha of
Bossuet. --#in terris#: So Jahn and Hermann. We should expect _in
terras_, but the Abl. is more forcible as denoting the fixity rather
than the tendency of the position. --#caelestium inanes#: On the Gen.,
see G., 373, R. 6; A., 50, 3, _c_. Jahn quotes Hor., Od., 3, 11, 23:
_#inane# lymphae | dolium fundo pereuntis imo_.
62. #quid iuvat hoc#: So Jahn. _Hos_, Hermann's reading, is not
necessary, though natural. _Hoc_ often anticipates the contents of a
dependent clause, as here with the Inf., 5, 45; _ut_ with Subj., 5, 19.
--#templis inmittere mores#: is more than 'the opposite to v. 7:
_tollere de templis_.' _Inmittere_, 'turn loose upon,' like so many
_hostes_, _sicarii_, etc. _Mores_, 'courses of life.'
63. #bona dis#: Brachylogy. 'What is good in the eyes of the gods.'
--#ducere#: 'infer.' --#scelerata pulpa#: 'sinful, pampered flesh'
(Conington). _Pulpa_ is the Stoic +sarx, sarkidion+, in a stronger form.
M. Martha (l.c. p. 133, note) says that the Christian +sarx+ (_caro_) is
borrowed from the language of philosophy. Others only note the
coincidence. _Pulpa_ may be rendered 'blubber.'
64. #haec#: sc. _pulpa_. --#sibi#: 'to suit its taste.' --#corrupto#:
The oil is spoiled by the spice, Verg., Georg., 2, 465: _Alba nec
Assyrio fucatur lana veneno | nec #casia# liquidi #corrumpitur# usus
#olivi#._
65. #Calabrum#: 'The beauty of the Calabrian fleece consisted in its
perfect whiteness,' which is destroyed by the dye. --#coxit#: here in a
bad sense, as we often use 'cook,' 'doctor.' --#vitiato#: The _murex_ is
spoiled as well as the _vellus_; both have violence done to their
natures. Comp. Juv., 3, 20: _ingenuum #violarent# marmora tofum_. On the
hard treatment of the _murex_, or +kalchê+, see St. John, _Manners and
Customs of Ancient Greece_, 3, 225 foll.
66. #bacam#: 'pearl,' literally 'berry.' The transfer is explained by
Auson., Mos., 70: _albentes concharum germina #bacas#. Diluit insignem
#bacam#_, Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 241. --#rasisse#: Perf., like the Greek Aor.
Inf. See 1, 42.
67. #massae#: 'ore.' --#crudo de pulvere#: 'from their primitive slag'
(Conington).
68. #vitio utitur#: 'gets some good out of its sin.' --#nempe#: G., 500,
R. 2.
70. #pupae#: The ancients dedicated to the gods what they had done with.
So when the girl was ripe for marriage, she hung up her dolls. The
sailor hangs up his clothes, Hor., Od., 1, 5, 16; the lover his harp,
Od., 3, 26, 3. The Sixth Book of the Greek Anthology is full of
examples. An ingenious friend suggests that the practice of publishing a
list of commentators in editions of the classics is a survival of this
usage.
71. #quin damus#: See G., 268; A., 57, 7, _d_. --#lance#: 'sacrificial
plate,' 'paten.' Ov., Ep. ex P., 4, 8, 39: _nec quae de parva dis pauper
libat acerra | tura minus grandi quam data #lance# valet_ (Jahn).
72. #Messallae propago#: Lucius Aurelius Cotta Messalinus (Schol.), an
unworthy son of M. Valerius Messalla Corvinus. See Tac., Ann., 6, 7. He
was a notorious debauchee in the reign of Tiberius. --#lippa#: alludes
to the effect of his excesses. Comp. 5, 77.
73. #conpositum#: 'in just balance,' 'well blended' (Conington). --#ius
fasque#: 'duty to God and man' (Conington). --#recessus mentis#:
+phrenôn muchos+ Theocr., 29, 3 (Jahn).
74. #incoctum#: 'thoroughly imbued.' --#generoso honesto#: 'with the
honor of a gentleman.' See note on _mordaci vero_, 1, 107.
75. #cedo#: Notice the quantity. G., 190, 4; A., 38, 2, _f_. _C[)e]do_,
'give here,' 'let.' For the construction: _cedo ut bibam_, Plaut.,
Most., 2, 1, 26; _cedo ut inspiciam_, Curc., 5, 2, 54. --#admovere#:
a sacrificial word. --#farre litabo#: Comp. Hor., Od., 3, 23, 19:
_mollivit aversos Penatis | #farre# pio et saliente mica_. _Litare_ is
the Greek +kallierein+, 'offer acceptably.' The sentiment may be
illustrated without end. Comp. +thusia megistê tô theô to g' eusebein+,
Men., Mon., 246, and Eur., fr. 329 and 940 (Nauck).