72. #locatus#: 'posted,' +tetagmenos+, 'a military metaphor' (Arrian,
Diss., 1, 9, 16; M. Anton., 11, 13). --#humana re#: 'humanity,' _inter
homines_.
73. #disce, nec invideas#: sc. _discere_, according to Jahn. _His te
quoque iungere, Caesar | #invideo#_, Lucan., 2, 550, like +phthonein: mê
#phthonei# moi apokrinasthai touto+, Plat., Gorg., 489A. Persius singles
out one of his audience, who is tempted away from philosophy by his
gains as an advocate. Others, less satisfactorily, suppose that the
lawyer is outside of the congregation. On _#nec# invideas_, see 1, 7.
--#multa fidelia putet#: 'Many a jar of good things is spoiling;' 'The
details are contemptuous. There is a coarseness in fees paid in kind'
(Conington). Comp. Juv., 7, 119. --#pinguibus Umbris#: 'fat' in every
sense, in figure, in fortune, and in wit. In Mart., 7, 53, an Umbrian
sends by eight huge Syrian slaves a miscellaneous lot of presents, value
30 nummi-- a proceeding due as much to stupidity as to stinginess
(_parcus Umber_, Cat., 39, 11). The appearance of the Umbrians was not
prepossessing, if we may judge by Ovid's portrait of an Umbrian dame
(A. A., 3, 303-4).
75. #et piper et pernae#: The _piper_ is not the Indian, but the
inferior Italian (Plin., H. N., 12, 7, 4; 16, 32, 59) (Meister).
_Pernae_, a stock present. Comp. _siccus #petasunculus# et vas |
pelamydum_, Juv., 7, 119. To supply _putet_ with _piper_ is not
satisfactory, and we must take refuge in Zeugma. Pretor is for dropping
v. 75, and sees in Persius's awkwardness traces of a _duplex recensio_,
as in vv. 12-14. --#Marsi#: For the simplicity of the Marsians, Jahn
compares Juv., 3, 169; 14, 180.
76. #mena#: 'sprat,' cheap sea-fish of some sort. 'You have not yet come
to the last sprat of the first barrel' (Conington). --#defecerit#: As
_non quod_ more commonly takes the Subjunctive, the shifting to the
Subjunctive from the Indicative, after _nec invideas_, is not strange.
G., 541, R. 1; A., 66, 1, _d_, R.
77-85. The discourse is cut short by a military man, who, with the
dogmatism of his class (_vieux soldat, vieille bête_), sets down all
philosophers as a pack of noodles. The lines of the picture which he
draws are familiar to every student of manners. 'Persius hates the
military cordially (comp. 5, 189-191) as the most perfect specimens of
developed animalism, and consequently most antipathetic to a
philosopher. See Nisard, _Études sur les Poetes Latins_ [1, 3^e éd.
273-277; Martha, _Moralistes Romains_, p. 141]. Horace merely glances at
the education their sons received, as contrasted with that given him by
his father, in spite of narrow means, Sat., 1, 6, 72. Juvenal has an
entire satire on them (16), in which he complains of their growing power
and exclusive privileges, but without any personal jealousy'
(Conington). Persius is so bookish that I suspect Greek influence. Comp.
+kompsos stratiôtês, oud' ean plattê theos, | oudeis genoit' an+,
Menand., fr. 711 (4, 277 Mein.). See Introd., xx.
77. #de gente#: G., 371, R. 5; A., 50, 2, _e_, R. 1. _Gente_, 'tribe,'
'crew.' --#hircosa#: 'Rammish' is not too strong, opposed to
_unguentatus_ in a fragment of Sen., ap. Gell., 12, 2, 11 (cited by
Jahn). The unsavory soldier and the perfumed dandy are alike foes to the
simplicity of the Stoic school. Your old soldier prided himself on his
stench, as would appear from the dainty anecdote in Plutarch, Mor.,
180C: +ô basileu, tharrei kai mê phobou to plêthos tôn polemiôn, auton
gar hêmôn #ton grason# ouch hupomenousi+. --#centurionum#: The rank is
higher, but the intellectual level is that of the typical German
_Wachtmeister_.
78. #Quod sapio satis est mihi#: Jahn (1868); _Quod satis est sapio
mihi_, Jahn (1843), Herm. With the latter reading the words _quod satis
est = satis_ must be taken together, and a little more stress is laid on
_mihi_. The general sense is the same. Comp. Plato, Phaedr., 242C:
+hôsper hoi ta grammata phauloi #hoson emautô monon# hikanos+, with a
very different tone. --#non ego#: 'no-- not I.' See 1, 45. --#curo#:
'care,' i.e., 'want.' See 2, 18.
79. #Arcesilas#: Arcesilaus, the founder of the New Academy, flourished
about 300 B.C. His great advance on Socrates was his knowing that he did
not even know that he knew nothing, Cic., Acad., 1, 12, 45. Solon
flourished about 600 B.C. Our hircose friend is made to jumble his
samples. --#aerumnosi Solones#: Notice the contemptuous use of the
Plural. _Aerumnosus_, +kakodaimôn+, 'God-forsaken,' 'poor devil,' is a
strange epithet for Solon, but we have to do with an ignoramus and a
jolter-head.
80. #obstipo capite#: 'with stooped head,' 'bent forward,' +kekuphotes+.
Hor., Sat., 2, 5, 92: _Davus sis comicus atque | stes capite #obstipo#,
multum similis metuenti._ Comp. the description of Ulysses in Il., 3,
217 foll. --#figentes lumine terram#: Jahn quotes a parallel from Stat.,
Silv., 5, 1, 140. More common forms are _figere lumina terra, in humo,
in terram_. 'They bore the ground with their eyes,' 'look at it as if
they would look through it.' Casaubon comp. Plat., Alcib. II., 138A. Add
Lucian, Vit. Auct., 7; Aristaenet., 1, 15.
81. #murmura#: Imitated by Auson., Id., 17, 24: _murmure concluso
rabiosa silentia rodunt_. --#rabiosa#: 'Mad dogs do not bark.'
--#silentia#: Poetic Plural; very common. --#rodunt#: 'biting the lips
and grinding the teeth.' 'Whether _murmura_ and _silentia_ are
Accusatives of the object, or cognates, is not clear' (Conington).
'Chewing the cud of mumbled words and mad-dog silence' is very much in
the vein of Persius. Comp. _rarus sermo illis et magna libido tacendi_,
Juv., 2, 14.
82. #exporrecto trutinantur#: The lips are thrust out (a sign of deep
thought) and quiver like a balance; hence they are said 'to poise their
words upon the quivering balance of a thrust-out lip'-- a caricature of
the simple figure _ponderare verba_. Jahn compares Luc., Hermot., 1, 1:
+kai #ta cheilê diesaleues# êrema hupotonthoruzôn+; and Casaubon,
Aristaen., 2, 3: +êrema #tô cheilê kinei# kai atta dêpou pros heauton
psithurizei+.
83. #aegroti veteris#: The _aegri somnia_ of Hor., A. P., 7. As usual,
Persius exaggerates, and makes the sick man (_aegroti_) a dotard to boot
(_veteris_). Jahn understands, 'a confirmed invalid.' Comp. Juv., 9, 16:
_#aegri veteris# quem tempore longo | torret quarta dies_, etc. --#gigni
| de nihilo nihilum#: The cardinal doctrine of Epicurus (Lucr., 1, 150),
but not confined to him.
85. #hoc est quod palles#: G., 331, R. 2; A., 52, 1, _b_. Comp. 1, 124.
The Cognate Accusative is susceptible of a great variety of
translations. 'Is this the stuff that you get pale on?' (Pretor). 'Is
this what makes you pale?' --#prandeat#: The _prandium_, originally a
military meal, was dear to the military stomach. Comp. _#impransi#
correptus voce magistri_, Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 257.
86. #his#: Abl. Conington makes it a Dative, and cites an evident Abl.
to prove it, Verg., Aen., 4, 128. Jahn comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 8, 83:
_ridetur fictis rerum_. --#multum#: with _torosa_, according to Jahn.
87. Conington notices the grandiloquence of the line. 'Cloth of frize'
is often 'matched' with 'cloth of gold' in Persius. --#naso crispante#:
'curling nostrils.' The mob laughs, the soldiers snicker. The listening
rabble is frankly amused. The crew to which the centurion belongs sneer
too much to laugh out. Or perhaps the poet makes the distinction between
the general _ridere_ (+gelan+) and the mocking laughter of _cachinnare_
(+kanchazein+).
88-106. It is strange, as Pretor observes, that the sudden change
introduced by this line should not have been noticed by the
commentators. With a more mature artist there would be a suspicion of
dislocation. As it is, the unity of the Satire would gain by omitting
66-87. Persius composed slowly, and we find here as elsewhere traces of
piecemeal work.
The preacher takes up his parable. A man feels sick, consults a
physician, lies by; is more comfortable, takes a fancy to a bath and a
draught of wine. He meets a friend, perhaps his medical friend, on the
way. 'My dear fellow, you are pale as a ghost.' --'Pshaw!' --'Look out!
You are yellow as saffron, and bless me! if you are not swelling.'
--'Pale? Why, you are paler than I am. Don't come the guardian over me.
My guardian has been dead a year and a day.' --'Go ahead, I'm mum.' --He
goes ahead, stuffs himself, takes his bath. While he is drinking a chill
strikes him, and he is a dead man. No expense spared on the funeral.
'You can't mean that for me,' says a literalist. 'If I'm sick, you are
another. I have no fever, no ague.' Nay, but you are subject to the
worst of diseases-- to the fever of covetousness, the fever of lust, to
daintiness with its sore mouth, to fear with its cold chill, and, worse
than all, to the raging delirium of anger.
88. #inspice#: +episkepsai+, a medical term. Comp. Plaut., Pers., 2, 5,
15. --#nescio quid#: G., 469, R. 2; A., 67, 2, _e_. _Quid_ is the
Accusative of the Inner Object. 'I have a strange fluttering at my
heart.' --#aegris#: 'out of order.' As _aegris_ is emphatic, co-ordinate
in English. There is 'something wrong about my throat _and_--'
89. #exsuperat#: Neuter. Comp. _#exsuperant# flammae_, Verg., Aen., 2,
759. --#gravis#: 'foul.' So Ov., A. A., 3, 277: _#gravis# oris odor_.
--#sodes#: The original form is commonly supposed to be _si audes_
(_saudes_), Plaut., Trin., 2, 1, 18; from _audeo_ (comp. _avidus_), 'if
you have the heart,' 'an thou wilt,' A., 35, 2, _a_. Others put _sodes_
under SA (pron.), as akin to _sodalis_, and comp. +êtheios+, 'own dear
friend,' '_mon cher_.' See Vanicek, _Lat. Etym. Wb._, S. 165. _Sodes_ =
_socius_ is an old tradition.
90. #requiescere#: 'keep quiet.' --#postquam vidit#: with a causal
shade. See 5, 88; 6,10, and G., 567; A., 62, 2, _e_.
91. #tertia nox#: The patient thinks that he has the more common
semitertian, whereas he has the quartan. When the third night comes
without a chill, he fancies that he is safe.
92. #de maiore domo#: The 'great house' is clearly that of a rich
friend, rather than that of a large dealer. Casaubon compares Juv., 5,
32: _cardiaco numquam cyathum, missurus amico_. --#modice sitiente
lagoena#: Thirst and capacity are near akin; a flagon of moderate thirst
is a flagon 'of moderate swallow,' as Conington renders it. The
personification of the flagon is old and not uncommon. See the humorous
epigram, Anthol. Pal., 5, 135.
93. #lenia Surrentina#: _Lenia_ is either 'mild' or 'mellow.' The
Surrentine was a light wine often recommended to invalids, Plin., H. N.,
14, 6, 8; 23, 1, 20. --#loturo#: He asks _before_ bathing; he drinks
_after_ bathing. For the custom Jahn compares Sen., Ep., 122, 6.
--#rogabit#: So Jahn (1868) and Hermann. Jahn (1843) reads _rogavit_,
like the Greek Aorist in descriptions. The Future makes it more
distinctly a supposed case.