83. #An quisquam-- Bruto#: These words are generally assigned to Dama,
and it is certainly more humorous to make the promoted stable-boy argue
in mood and figure than to rake up one of Persius's dead-alive
spectators, as König does, and after him Pretor. _Quisquam_, because of
the negative answer expected. See 1, 112, and G., 304; A., 21, 2, _h_.
84. #ut voluit#: The Stoic formula did not differ from the popular
definition. Certainly it does not sound recondite to say: _libertas est
potestas vivendi ut velis_, Cic., Parad., 5, 1, 34; or with Arrian,
Diss., 4, 1, 1: +eleutheros estin ho zôn hôs bouletai+, but the words
must be understood in their Stoic sense.
85. #Mendose colligis#: +phaulôs sullogizei+. 'Your syllogism is
faulty.' 'Marcus, thou reasonest ill.'
86. #stoicus hic#: 'our Stoic friend' (Conington). Persius himself.
--#aurem# --#lotus#: Comp. v. 63 and 1, 126. _Lotus_ may be reflexive.
G., 332, R. 2; A., 53, 3, _c_, R. --#aceto#: Vinegar was used in cases
of deafness, Cels., 6, 7, 2, 3 (König).
87. #accipio--tolle#: 'Persius admits the major, but denies the minor;
denies both that the man has a will (_volo_) and that he is free
(_licet_) to follow it' (Conington). Mr. Pretor limits the concession to
_vivere_ (+to zên+), and explains: 'The mere fact that you are a living
creature, I admit; the inference contained in _licet_ and _ut volo_,
I altogether deny.' 'This dissection of the argument word by word' may
be 'more in keeping with the character of the Stoic'-- the Stoics were
great choppers of logic-- but it is not in keeping with the style of
Persius, who is subtle every where except in his arguments.
88. #Vindicta#: the _festuca_, or 'wand,' with which the lictor struck
the manumittend. See v. 76. --#postquam recessi#: with a causal tone.
See note on 3, 90. --#meus#: 'my own man,' hence 'my own master' (G.,
299, R.); _mei iuris_ (Schol.).
90. #Masuri rubrica#: 'The canon of Masurius.' 'Masurius Sabinus, an
eminent lawyer, lived in the reigns of Tiberius and Nero, and wrote a
work in three books, entitled _Ius Civile_.' _Rubrica_, 'because the
titles and first few words of the laws were commonly picked out with
vermilion. Comp. _perlege #rubras# | maiorum leges_, Juv., 14, 192'
(Pretor, after Jahn). A low creature like Dama has a soul that is not
above the statute-book; lofty spirits, like our Stoic, and believers in
the higher law sneer at the canon and its maker. So Marc. Antonin., ap.
Front., Ep., 2, 7 (p. 32 Naber), speaks of _deliramenta Masuriana_.
Comp. Quint., 12, 3, 11. --#vetavit#: for _vetuit_, reminds us of the
slip of another youthful genius, Kirke White, and his 'rudely blow'd.'
There is no sufficient warrant for the form.
91-131. A Stoic sermon. Text: Do nothing that you will spoil in the
doing. You know nothing as you ought to know it, and you can do nothing
as you ought to do it. You are ignorant of the first principles of
morals; you have no control over your desires, your appetites. You may
call yourself free, but you are a slave for all that. For one master
without, you have a legion of masters within.
91. #Disce#: Comp. 3, 66. --#naso#: the simple Abl. as a whence case.
Comp. 1, 83. The nose is the familiar seat of anger. Theocr., 1, 18:
+kai hoi aei drimeia chola poti #rhini# kathêtai+. For Biblical
parallels, see Gesenius or Fürst, s.v. [Hebrew] ++af++. The anger is
shown by snorting, or, as here, by snarling. --#rugosa#: Comp.
_#corruget# nares_, Hor., Ep., 1, 5, 23. --#sanna#: 1, 62.
92. #dum revello#: '_while_ I _am_ plucking' = '_until_ I _have_
plucked.' See note on v. 10. --#veteres avias#: 'old grandmothers,' for
'inveterate, rooted, grandmotherish notions.' Comp. _patruos sapere_, 1,
11, and +ho legomenos #graôn# huthlos+, Plat., Theaet., 176B. --#de
pulmone#: The lung is the seat of pride in 3, 27 (comp. _suffla_, 4,
20). Jahn regards it here as the seat of wrath.
93. #erat#: 'as you thought.' G., 224, R. 3; A., 58, 3, _d_. --#tenuia
rerum officia#: 'mastery of the subtle distinctions of duty.' _Tenuia_,
a trisyllable, as often. G., 717. _Rerum_, parallel with _vitae_. See
1, 1.
94. #usum rapidae vitae#: 'the right management of the rapid course of
life.' The metaphor is taken either from a river (_#rapidus# amnis,
#rapidi# fluminum lapsus, #rapidum# flumen, #rapidus# Tigris_, Hor.),
which sweeps away the man who does not understand its current, or from a
race-course in which there is no stopping, as Conington thinks (3, 67).
Others understand _rapidae_ simply as 'fleeting.'
95. #sambucam#: The ordinary translation, 'dulcimer,' is not strictly
correct, though 'dulcimer' suggests the exotic refinement of the
_sambuca_, a four-stringed instrument of Eastern origin, synonymous with
cultivated luxury. --#citius aptaveris#: +thatton an harmoseias+;
written out = _citius aptaveris quam praetor det_, but it is better not
written out. Notice the Perf. Subj. 'You would sooner _succeed in
making_ a dulcimer fit, sooner _get_ a dulcimer _to fit_ [the hand of]
a gawky camp-porter.' --#caloni#: used in its original sense of a
soldier's hewer of wood and drawer of water. Persius, who has no
admiration for soldiers themselves, would naturally select a soldier's
drudge as a type of awkwardness and stupidity. So, in effect, Conington.
--#alto#: We combine 'tall and gawky;' 'hulking' (Conington). Comp. the
sneer at the _#ingentis# Titos_, 1, 20, and _Pulfennius #ingens#_, 5,
190, and the +anêr #triskaidekapêchus#+ of Theocr., 15, 17.
96. #stat contra#: 'confronts,' 'stops the way.' Jahn comp. Mart., 1,
53, 12: _#stat contra#, dicitque tibi tua pagina: Fur es_, a parallel
which no conscientious commentator can quote without qualms. Juv., 3,
290: _#stat contra# starique iubet_. --#ratio#: 'Right reason' here is
equivalent to _natura_ below, which is itself equivalent to _publica lex
hominum_. See Knickenberg, l.c. p. 20 seqq. --#secretam#: 'private.'
--#garrit#: It is hard choosing between _gannit_ and _garrit_. Martial
has _#garrire# in aurem, in auriculam_, 1, 89, 1; 3, 28, 2, and _aurem
dum tibi praesto #garrienti#_, 11, 24, 2; Afran., ap. Non., 452, 11 (283
Ribb.): _#gannire# ad aurem numquam didici dominicam_.