The Sixth Satire is addressed to Caesius Bassus, a friend of Persius.
The theme of it is the Proper Use of the Goods of this Life, which takes
the personal form of a vindication of the poet's course in preferring
moderate enjoyment to mean parsimony or grasping avarice.
ARGUMENT.-- Are you by this time snugly ensconced by your Sabine fire?
And _do_ the chords of your lyre wake to life at your vigorous touch?
O cunning craftsman! in whose song the noble tongue of our sires is set
to manly music, while young and old alike feel the play of your sportive
wit, which in all its sport never forgets the gentleman (1-6).
While you are yonder, I am in my dear Liguria, where the coast is warm,
the sea is wintry but kindly, the rocks bar out the storm, and the shore
retreats far inland.
'Luna's port-- 'tis well worth while, good people, to know it.'
This was a saying of Ennius, as he woke up in his senses from his
Pythagorean dreams and became plain Quintus, instead of the 'blind old
man of Scio's rocky isle,' and a wise saying of that hearty old cock it
was (7-11).
Well, here I am, caring nothing for the rabble rout, caring nothing what
an ill wind may be getting up for my flock. My neighbor may have a
better patch of ground, men of lower birth may be growing rich over me.
I will not fret myself into a crooked old man for that, nor dine without
a bit of something nice, nor nose out a swindle in the imperfect seal of
a flagon of flat wine (12-17).
How men differ in such matters! The very same horoscope may bring forth
rights and lefts. Here is one that even on his birthday allows himself
only the scantiest and meanest fare. Here is another that eats up, like
a spirited lad as he is, a vast estate. For my part, 'Enjoyment,
enjoyment,' is my motto, although I do not intend to treat my freedmen
to turbots, and do not understand the difference between cock-ortolan
and hen-ortolan after they are cooked (18-24).
Now this is the way to live, I take it. Up to your harvest, up to the
last grain of your garners. What are you afraid of? It is a mere matter
of harrowing, and lo! another crop is there (25, 26).
But you say, Mr. Critic, 'There are claims on one. A friend is
shipwrecked, the poor fellow is utterly ruined. One must do something
for him.'
Well and good! Sell a piece of land, give the proceeds to the needy
friend, and keep him from begging up and down with a pictorial appeal to
the benevolent (27-33).
Ay, but what of the heir? _He_ will dock the funeral meats, if _you_
dock the estate. One, sure, would not be stenchful when one's dead, and
your bones will not be perfumed, or the perfumes will be stale or
adulterated. One can not expect to diminish one's property without
paying for it. Why, I heard Bestius say of your Greek teachers, from
whom you learned this precious wisdom of yours, that ever since this new
doctrine came to town the very haymakers have been spoiling their good,
wholesome fare by rancid grease.
Well, what of all this-- the heir's neglect and Bestius's
fault-finding-- would you fear _them_ beyond the grave? (34-41).
But come, my heir, let us dismiss the critic, and have a quiet chat
together. Consider the claims on me. Here comes a glorious piece of news
from the Emperor. The Germans have been defeated with great slaughter.
A grand triumph is preparing. This is no time to hold back. I am going
to bring out a hundred pairs of gladiators in honor of the occasion.
Forbid it, if you dare. If you don't like that, I am going to give
largess to the people-- none of your vile vetches, but oil and pasties.
Do you object? Out with it (42-51).
What do you say? 'My farm is hardly worth having after that.' Well, if
you don't want it, I can get some of the women to take it; and if there
is none of them left, I can go to the next village, and Hodge will
accept. 'A son of earth?' you say; 'a nobody?' Pshaw! If you come to
that, I can just remember who my great-great-grandfather was. Two
generations further back and I come to a son of earth, a nobody, and
Hodge is a relation-- a distant relation, but still a relation-- a kind
of great-great-uncle. Believe me, the Lord No Zoo is father of us all
(52-60).
You are an impatient heir, I must say. Why can't you wait for my shoes
until I take them off? I am the God of Fortune to you, just as he is
painted in the pictures, with a purse in his hand. Will you take what I
leave, and be glad to get it? It falls short; I know it does. But if I
have lessened it, it is for myself that I have lessened it, and what is
left is all yours. Don't stop to ask about that old legacy, and serve up
a stale dish of fatherly advice. I know how fathers talk. 'Credit
yourself by the interest. Debit yourself by the expenses. What is the
remainder?' Remainder? Fudge! Souse the cabbage, boy. Don't spare the
oil. Am I to dine off cow-heel and turnips on a holiday, that your
graceless grandson may stuff himself with _pâté de foie gras_, and
indulge himself in aristocratic connections? Am I to go through the eye
of a cambric needle that he may have a priestly paunch? (61-74).
Furthermore, if you are not content with the little that I can leave
you, sell your life for gain. Try every trade. Try every nook and corner
of the earth. Go to Cappadocia, for instance, where you can make
something by dealing in slaves, and become an adept in that dainty
business. Double your capital. 'I have done so. Nay, I have trebled it,
quadrupled it, decupled it. Tell me where to draw the line.' Tell you
where to draw the line? Why, Chrysippus himself could not find the limit
between wealth and poverty. A dollar more does not make a man rich,
a dollar less does not make him poor. Where is the turning-point? And
yet this man talks as if the turning-point had been found! (75-80.)
The Sixth Satire is the most obscure and unsatisfactory of the poems of
Persius, and baffled interpreters have taken refuge in the hypothesis
that the Satire is incomplete. The roughness of the metre and the
harshness of the transitions favor this view; but parts are wrought out
with all the minuteness of detail that is characteristic of our author's
style, and some of the highest authorities, such as Jahn, consider the
Satire complete. The close, as Mr. Pretor remarks, is exactly in
Persius's manner, and we must look elsewhere in the Satire for the
breaks-- if breaks there be.
1-11. Are you spending the winter on your Sabine farm, Bassus, and have
you resumed your poetry? I am in my Ligurian resort, so praised by
Ennius.
1. #iam#: in the question implies uncertainty, 'actually?' 'so?'
--#bruma# = _brevuma_ = _brevissuma_ (_dies_), 'the shortest day,'
'winter-solstice,' 'midwinter.' --#foco#: contrast between the
_fireside_ of the land of the Sabines and the open-air _warmth_ of
Liguria. --#Basse#: 'Caesius Bassus, one of the intimate friends of
Persius, was deputed by Cornutus to edit his Satires after his death. He
is classed with Horace, as a lyric poet, by Quintilian (10, 1, 96), who,
however, thinks him inferior to some of his own contemporaries, and he
is probably the same with the author of a treatise on Metres, which is
referred to by various grammarians, and still exists in an interpolated
epitome, but different from Gabius or Gavius Bassus, who wrote works on
the origin and signification of words and on the gods. Bassus was
killed, according to the Scholiast, in the famous eruption of Vesuvius'
(Conington, after Jahn). See also v. 5. --#Sabino#: The simplicity of
the Sabines has already been noted (see 1, 20), and Jahn thinks that the
life about the fireside (Verg., Georg., 2, 532) is an indication of the
primitive tastes of Bassus and his family. _Sabino_ also prepares the
way for _tetrico_ (below). Comp. _#tetrica# ac tristis disciplina
#Sabinorum#_, Liv., 1, 18 (quoted by Jahn).
2. #tetrico#: 'austere.' --#vivunt#: Persius was thinking of Horace's
_vivuntque commissi calores | Aeoliae fidibus puellae_, Od., 4, 9, 11.
12. _Iam vivunt_, 'wake to life' (Pretor), where 'wake' represents
_iam_. See note on 5, 33.
3. #mire#: is an Adjective or an Adverb, according as _opifex_ is a
Substantive or an Adjective. --#opifex#: Commentators supply _es_, but
the Nom. can be used in characteristic exclamation. See G., 340, R. 1,
and comp. 1, 5. With _opifex intendisse_ comp. Prol., 11, and _egregius
lusispe_ below. For the Perf., see 1, 41, note. --#veterum primordia
vocum#: Perhaps 'the racy richness of our early tongue.' Lucr. (4, 531)
uses _primordia vocum_ of the beginnings of articulate sound, as Quint.,
1, 9, 1, uses _dicendi primordia_ of instruction in the rudimentary
preparation for rhetoric. Bassus, as the whole context shows, affected
to belong to the _antiquiores homines_, and imitated the diction of an
earlier time. Persius belongs to a different school of art, and his
friendship makes him guarded. Jahn understands a grammatical poem, of
which Lucilius furnishes a familiar example in his Ninth Book (see L.
Müller's _Lucilius_, p. 221), but, as Pretor remarks, _numeris-- marem
strepitum fidis intendisse Latinae_ indicates lyric poetry.
4. #marem strepitum#: like +arrên phthongos+. Comp. Hor., A. P., 402:
_mares animos_. --#fidis Latinae#: Stress is to be laid on _Latinae_.
Persius himself is intensely Latin in his vocabulary. --#intendisse#:
'Verg., Aen., 9, 774, speaks of stringing the numbers on the chords;
Persius goes further [and fares worse], and talks of stringing sounds on
the numbers' (Conington).
5. #mox#: points to another side of Bassus's poetry, the non-lyrical,
probably satires, for one _Bassus in satyris_, mentioned by Fulgentius
(ap. Jahn), is most likely our man, despite Jahn's objections.
--#iocis#: Heinrich, _ex coni_. The passage is a very difficult one. The
interpretation turns on the two words, _iocos_ (or _iocis_), _senes_ (or
_senex_), as the reading _egregios_ for _egregius_ may be discarded.
(1.) Jahn reads in both editions (1843 and 1868) _iocos_ and _senes_.
(2.) Hermann's _senex_, the reading of Montepess., was
enthusiastically advocated by Hermann himself.
(3.) Heinrich's _iocis_ has the merit of making a perfectly clear
sense, and is accepted by Mr. Pretor.
(1.) If we read _iocos_ with the MSS., _iuvenes_ must be considered
an Adjective, and _iuvenes iocos_ = _iuvenilis iocos_. This almost
compels us to make _senes_ an Adjective also, and the following
translation may be given: 'Rare genius for carrying on the frolics
of youth [in song], and for giving play with virtuous skill to the
jests of the aged.'
(2.) Hermann's reading labors under the difficulty of requiring us to
understand _senex_ of Bassus, who was not an old man at the time;
but compare the note on _praegrandi sene_, 1, 124. Notice also the
want of balance in the absolute _lusisse_. 'Then showing yourself
excellent in your old age at wakening young loves and frolicking
over the chords with a virtuous touch' (Conington). _Iocus_ is
often used of love. Comp. Catull., 8, 6: _ibi illa multa tum
#iocosa# fiebant_.
(3.) Heinrich's _iocis_ gives us, 'Rarely skilled to rally the young
with jibe and jest and have a fling at old sinners, but all in
high-bred style.' _Pollice honesto_ is the _ingenuo ludo_ of 5, 16.
Comp. also 2, 74: _generoso #honesto#_; and the _#honesta# oratio_
of Ter., Andr., 1, 1, 114: _quae opponitur #plebeiae#_, as Gesner
says, s.v. It is hardly necessary to say that the English language
has no synonyme for _honestus_, which embraces the goodly outside
as well as the pure heart.
Mr. Conington translates Hermann's text and comments on Jahn's. _Lusisse
senes_ he understands as _amavisse senili more_, the poet being said to
do the deed he writes about, Verg., Ecl., 9, 19. It would be far more
simple to make _iocos senes_ = _amores senilis_, harsh as that would be.
Old men's philanderings are fair game for the satirist or comic poet to
have his fling at (_lusisse_). _Turpe senilis amor_, as the master says,
Ov., Am., 1, 9, 4. Compare the Casina of Plautus. --#pollice#: the
cithern being played chiefly with the thumb.
6. #lusisse#: Comp. _scit #risisse#_, 1, 132. --#mihi#: The step-father
of Persius probably had a seat there.
7. #intepet#: The warmth of the coast made it a favorite resort for
invalids. It is not unlikely that Persius was a man of delicate
constitution. --#hibernat#: According to some, 'my sea winters,' that
is, 'rests for the winter,' is not vexed by the keels of ships (Schol.).
According to others, 'is wintry,' like _hiemat_ (the more common word in
this sense). A stormy sea was supposed to lash itself warm. Jahn quotes,
among other passages, Cic., N. D., 2, 10, 26: _maria agitata ventis
#tepescunt#_. --#meum#: 'my sea,' 'my favorite haunt.' Some have
inferred falsely from this passage that Luna was the birthplace of
Persius.
8. #latus dant#: 'present their giant side,' 'interpose a mighty
barrier' against the winds. Jahn comp. Verg., Aen., 1, 105: _undis #dat
latus#_. --#valle# = _sinu_. The Abl. of manner may be translated
locally; 'into a deep bay' (Conington). --#se receptat#: 'retreats,'
'retires' from the storms. So Horace (Od., 1, 17, 17; Epod., 2, 11)
speaks of a _reducta vallis_. Jahn refers the frequentative to the
windings of the bay. 'Keeps retreating,' 'retreats further and further,'
might very well be said from the traveller's point of view. The
description of the harbor, now the Gulf of Spezia, is said to be very
accurate.
9. #Lunai portum#, etc.: Ennius, Ann., v. 16 (Vahl.). Luna, from which
the harbor took its name, was not on the gulf, but on the eastern side
of the Macra (Magra), near the modern Sarzana. --#est operae#: Commonly
explained by the ellipsis of _pretium_. But the Gen. is very elastic.
--#cognoscite#: is easier in tone, _cognoscere_ is easier for
translation. #cives#: 'good people all.' Ger. _Leutlein_. Jahn notices
the _antiqua gramtas_ of _civis_.
10. #cor Enni#: Comp. _re-#cor#-dor_ and _#cor#-datus_, and our 'get _by
heart_.' So _credidit meum #cor#_, Enn., Ann., 374 (Vahl.). See Mart.,
3, 26, 4; 11, 84, 17. The expression is little more than _cordatus
Ennius_, as in the familiar passage, _tergemini #vis# Geryonaï_, Lucr.,
5, 28. So _#corpore# Turni_, Verg., Aen., 7, 650; Greek, +bia, is,
demas, stoma+ (+Anutês stoma+, Anthol. P., 9, 26, 3). On the same
principle are based such combinations as _#mens# provida Reguli_, Hor.,
Od., 3, 5, 13, and _venit et Crispi iucunda #senectus#_. Juv., 4, 81,
and _Montani quoque #venter# adest_, l.c. 107. 'Ennius, in his sober
moments' (Gifford). --#destertuit#: On the Tense, see G., 563; A., 62,
2, _a_. 'Snored off his being,' i.e., the dream that he was Homer.
Ennius's dreams are touched up in Prol., 2, where it has been mentioned
that Ennius dreamed that he had seen Homer. For the further visions, see
the citations in Vahlen's ed. of Ennius, Ann., v. 15.
11. #Maeonides#: poetic 'flash-name,' like the 'Bard of Avon.'
--#Quintus#: 'plain Quintus' (Gifford). The Scholiast fancies that
_quintus_ is a numeral, and gives the following order of
transmigrations: 1. Pythagoras; 2. A peacock; 3. Euphorbus; 4. Homer.
Tertullian gives: 1. Euphorbus; 2. Pythagoras; 3. Homer; 4. A peacock.
The pun would be a wretched one, but that is no objection; more serious
is the wrong use of the Preposition _ex_ for _ab_. Heinrich combines
confidently _Maeonides Quintus_, 'Homer with a Roman _praenomen_.'
Conington follows doubtingly. --#pavone#: _Memini me fiere #pavum#_,
Enn., Ann., v. 15 (Vahl.). --#Pythagoreo#: 'Since _Pythagoras'_ time
that I was an Irish rat,' Shaksp.
12-17. Here I am in happy unconcern, caring naught for vulgar herd or
threatened flock. I do not pine because my neighbor waxes fat. Let who
will get up in the world; I won't let my hair turn gray for that, nor
stint myself, nor poke my nose into the wax of every jar of wine I open
to see whether somebody has not been tampering with the seal.
12. #securus#: with Gen., Verg., Aen., 1, 350; 10, 326. --#quid
praeparet auster#: Jahn comp. _quid cogitet umidus #auster#_, Verg.,
Georg., 1, 462; and 444: _arboribusque satisque Notus #pecorique#
sinister_.
13. #infelix#: with Dat. Verg., Georg., 2, 239: _tellus_-- _#infelix#
frugibus_, quoted by Conington. --#pecori#: as it were, doubly
dependent. --#securus et#: The trajection of _et_ (1, 23) gives
_securus_ a better position. --#angulus#: as in _O si #angulus# ille |
proximus accedat_, Hor., Sat., 2, 6, 8.
14. #pinguior#: Jahn quotes appositely for the thought, _fertilior seges
est alienis semper in agris_, Ov., A. A., 1, 349. So Juv., 14, 142:
_maiorque videtur | et melior vicina seges_. --#adeo omnes#: The
emphasis of _adeo_ may be given by repetition, _all, ay, all_. The
supposition is an extreme one, hence the Subjunctive _ditescant_. Notice
the harsh elision at this point, which is avoided by smoother writers.
Persius has it fourteen times in all-- eight times in this one Satire--
which may be interpreted as an indication of its incompleteness.
15. #peioribus#: Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 6, 22: _#peioribus# ortus_. The
social sense is the more prominent. --#usque# = _ubi-s-que_, 'no matter
where or when,' hence 'every where,' and, as here, 'always.'
16. #curvus#: 'bent double.' --#minui#: 'lose flesh' (Conington).
--#senio#: before my time. Comp. 1, 26. --#uncto#: synonymous with
'dainty.' Jahn comp. Hor., A. P., 422, and 3, 102; 4, 17.
17. #signum tetigisse#: Only good wines were sealed. The miser not only
seals up his vile stuff, but, in his anxious scrutiny into the state of
the seal, butts his nose against it-- perhaps with the additional idea
of helping the sense of sight with the sense of smell. _Recusem
tetigisse_ = _nolim tetigisse_. Comp. note on 1, 91.
18-24. Others may not agree with me in these views. Even twins born
under the same star may be widely different. One gives himself a treat
only on his birthday, and a poor treat it is. Another devours his
substance before he comes of age. I am for enjoyment, but not for waste;
for enjoyment, but not for a subtle discernment of the pleasures of the
table.
18. #his#: On the Dat., see G., 388, R. 1; A., 51, 2, _g_. _His_ is
Neuter. 'These views of mine.' --#geminos#: Comp. Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 183
seqq. --#horoscope#: 'natal star,' 'star of nativity.' Comp. note on 5,
46. --#varo genio#: 'of diverging temper.' _#Varus#_ is often used of
distorted, bowed legs, and _varo genio_ is only Persius's way of saying
that the dispositions of twins often go apart.
19. #producis#: 'bring forth,' 'give birth to,' 'beget,' Plaut., Rud.,
4, 4, 129; Prop., 5, 1, 89 (Conington). Jahn renders it _in lucem edit
et educat_, which is more in conformity with general usage and with the
notion of control in the star of nativity. --#solis natalibus#: This
picture has been much admired. Every word tells. This high-day comes but
once a year (_solis_), the cabbage is dry (_sine uncto_), he does not
souse it with oil, as Persius does (_ungue, puer, caules_, v. 69), but
moistens it (_tingat_) with fish brine (_muria_), which he has bought--
sly fox that he is (_vafer_)-- in a cup (a cupful at a time, to prevent
waste), while, with his own hand (_ipse_)-- for he trusts no other-- he
dusts (_inrorans_) the platter with the dear, precious pepper, sacred in
his eyes (_sacrum_).
20. #muria#: was a cheap sauce, 'made of the _thynnus_, and less
delicate than _garum_, made of the _scomber_' (Macleane); hence the
point of buying it only as he wanted it-- a small quantity at a time.
--#empta#: Both Conington and Pretor direct us to combine _empta_ with
_muria_. It can not be combined with any thing else, as _calice_ is
rigidly masculine, Neue, _Formenl._, 1, 691.
21. #sacrum#: _Acerbe dictum quia avarus tamquam sacro parcit_ (Jahn).
Jahn compares +hals theios+, but has not overlooked the real point, as
Mr. Pretor intimates. --#inrorans#: Comp. _instillat_ in a similar
description of a miser (Avidienus), in Hor., Sat., 2, 2, 62. --#dente
peragit#: 'gobbles up' (Conington). _Peragere_, 'go through,' 'run
through.'
22. #magnanimus#: Ironical, like Hor., Ep., 1, 15, 27: _rebus maternis
atque paternis | #fortiter# absumptis_. 'High-hearted hero.' --#puer#:
while a mere lad. 'Gifford notices the rapidity of the metre, and
contrasts it with the slowness of v. 20.' It would have been more to the
purpose if he had noticed the mockery of the position, which suspends
the sense. 'He-- his property-- with nothing but his teeth-- his vast
estate-- heroic being-- runs through-- while nothing but a boy.'
23. #rhombos#: It suffices to refer to Juv., Sat., 4. --#ponere#: 1, 53.
For the construction, see Prol., 11.
24. #tenuis--salivas#: 'delicate juices,' 'subtle flavors.' _Saliva_ =
_sapor_, as in Plin., H. N., 22, 1, 22: _sua cuique vino #saliva#_, by a
natural transfer from the consumer to the consumed; or, as Conington
puts it, from effect to cause. See 5, 112. --#sollers nosse#: Prol., 11.
--#turdarum#: 'thrushes,' 'fieldfares,' a well-known delicacy, Hor.,
Sat., 2, 5, 10; Ep., 1, 15, 41. The Scholiast tells us that the feminine
is used for the ordinary masculine, because the Brillat-Savarins of the
period undertook to tell the sex by the taste. The difference between
_turdorum_ and _turdarum_ reminds one of 'calipash' and 'calipee.'
25-33. The true course is to live fully up to your income and trust to
the next crop. 'But suppose an extraordinary demand is made on you.
Suppose a friend is shipwrecked.' What easier than to sell a piece of
land and relieve his wants?
25. #tenus#: here 'fully up to.' Jahn makes _tenus_ an Adverb, compares
Verg., Aen., 1, 737: _summo #tenus# attigit ore_, and explains _messe
propria vive_ as = _consume fructus agrorum tuorum usque ad finem, quoad
suppetunt_. --#propria#: 'Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with
_mine own_?'
26. #emole#: to the last grain. --#occa#: Comp. Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 161:
_cum segetes #occat# tibi mox frumenta daturas_. --#in herba#: 'in the
blade.' Ov., Her., 17, 263: _adhuc tua messis in #herba# est_. Have
something of the farmer's hopeful spirit. Comp. the Gr. proverb: +aei
geôrgos eis neôta plousios+.
27. #ast#: 2, 39. An impersonal objector speaks. --#officium# = +to
kathêkon+, which embraces our charity. The Stoics insisted on
+chrêstotês+, without prejudice to +apatheia+. They wanted
_benevolentia_ without _misericordia_. See Knickenberg, l.c. p. 90. The
poet gets the better of the philosopher in Persius. --#trabe rupta#:
Comp. 1, 89. --#Bruttia saxa#: In the toe of the Italian boot.
28. #prendit#: Casaubon comp. _#prensantemque# uncis manibus capita
aspera montis_, Verg., Aen., 6, 360 (of Palinurus). --#surdaque vota#:
_Surdus_ is 'dull of hearing' and 'dull of sound,' 'deaf,' and, as here,
'unheard,' Comp. +kôphos+, The radical is SVAR, 'heavy;' 'neither his
ear _heavy_ that it can not hear.'
29. #Ionio#: sc. _sinu_, if we may judge by Juv., 6, 92: _lateque
#sonantem# pertulit #Ionium#_. Gr. +Ionios #kolpos#+. Comp. Thuc., 1, 24
with 6, 30. It is used here in a wide sense, as is shown by _Bruttia
saxa_, v. 27. Comp. Serv. ad Aen., 3, 211: _sciendum #Ionium sinum# esse
#immensum# ab Ionia usque ad #Siciliam#_. On the translation and
construction of _Ionio_, see note on Prol., 1. --#ipse#: the master of
the vessel. G., 297, R. 1.
30. #de puppe dii#: Paintings of the gods. Comp. Verg., Aen., 10, 171:
_aurato fulgebat #Apolline puppis#_. The gods may have been Castor and
Pollux, no unlikely 'sign,' Acts, 28, 11. _Ingentes_ implies the size of
the ship and the magnitude of the loss (Jahn). See note on _trabe
vasta_, 5, 141. --#obvia mergis#: Jahn comp. Hor., Epod., 10, 21: _opima
quod si praeda eurvo litore | porrecta #mergos# iuveris_. Any large
sea-bird will answer, such as 'cormorant.'
31. #lacerae#: Conington comp. Ov., Her., 2, 45: _at #laceras# etiam
#puppes# furiosa refeci_. --#et#: +kai+, 'if need be.' --#caespite
vivo#: Comp. Hor., Od., 1, 19, 13; 3, 8, 4; 'live sod,' 'green turf.'
Here landed property is meant, in contrast to the income, represented by
the _messis_.
32. #pictus#: See note on 1, 89. 'With his picture' (Conington).
--#oberret#: 'go up and down the country.' --#tabula caerulea#: 'a
sea-green board,' as might be expected from the subject.
33-41. 'But,' resumes the interlocutor, 'your heir will object to your
curtailing your property, and not show you the proper respect when you
are dead. You can't expect to diminish your property without scath. And,
in fact, you philosophers are very much spoken against on account of the
bad example you set, the bad influence you have exerted on the common
people.' --Well, what of it? Would you care any thing about what was
done to you or said of you after you are dead?
The connection is much disputed.
33. #cenam funeris#: the _epulum funebre_, the 'funeral baked meats' of
Hamlet, not the _silicernium_ proper, not the _exigua #feralis cena#
patella_ of Juv., 5, 85, the scanty meal left at the funeral pile for
the _dis manibus_.
34. #curtaveris#: G., 542; A., 70, 5, _b_. --#urnae#: Do not efface the
personal conception (G., 344, R. 3; A., 51, N.) by translating 'put
into.' The urn receives; hence _dabit_ = 'commit,' 'consign.'
35. #inodora#: Ov., Trist., 3, 3, 69: _atque ea (= ossa) cum foliis et
#amomi# pulvere misce_; Tib., 3, 2, 23 (Jahn). --#seu spirent#: 5, 3.
--#cinnama--casiae#: On the Plural, see G., 195, R. 6; A., 14, 1, _a_.
--#surdum#: 'faint,' a transfer from hearing to smell. On the
construction, see 5, 25.
36. #ceraso#: This passage is our only authority for the fraudulent
admixture. Tr., 'whether the cinnamon have lost the fragrance of its
breath, or cassia be taken in adulteration with cherry-bark.' --#nescire
puratus#: here 'fully resolved,' rather than as in 1, 132.
37. #tune bona incolumis minuas#: In his ed. of 1868 Jahn has followed
Sinner's suggestion, and transposed parts of vv. 37 and 41, so as to
read _Haec cinere ulterior metuas_ here, and _Tune bona incolumis
minuas_ below, as Hermann had done before him, only Hermann puts the
words in the mouth, not of the objector, but of Persius. I am unable to
see how either arrangement helps us out of the difficulties of the
passage. In his ed. of 1843, Jahn makes _tune bona incolumis minuas?_
the language of the heir, who asks angrily, 'Do you expect to diminish
your property without suffering for it?' It is rather the language of
the objector, who had just told Persius that he would miss a good
funeral by curtailing his estate, and who goes on to cite Bestius, as
another opponent of this new-fangled philosophy. Persius dismisses this
tirade by the single question: 'What would all this be to you or me
after we are dead?' This gets rid of Bestius as a new speaker. He is
quoted by the objector. Mr. Pretor translates: 'Do you mean to say,
Persius, that _you_ would thus break up your property, while hearty and
strong, instead of waiting to bequeath it by will on your death-bed?'
--#incolumis#: +chairôn+, _impune_. --#et#: Others besides the heir are
dissatisfied. --#Bestius#: the _corrector Bestius_ of Hor., Ep., 1, 15,
37, who is quoted here by the opponent of Persius, as inveighing against
doctrines that have taught the lower classes to waste their substance on
condiments and spoil their wholesome fare, after the pattern of such
gentlemen as Persius. Comp. _usque recusem-- cenare sine uncto_, v. 16,
and _ungue, puer, caules_, v. 69.
38. #doctores Graios#: Comp. 5, 191. --#Ita fit#: 'That is the way of
it.' --#sapere nostrum#: 1, 9. --#urbi#: with _venit_. _Venire_ with the
Dat., like the Greek +elthein+, on account of the personal interest
involved, 'came' being = 'was brought,' _allatum est_. See Kühner,
_A. G._, 2, 351, and Weissenborn on Liv., 32, 6, 4.
39. #cum pipere et palmis#: notoriously foreign productions. Comp.
_advectus Romam quo pruna et cottona vento_, Juv., 3, 83. _Palmis_ =
'dates.' --#nostrum hoc#: 'this new wisdom of our day.' --#maris
expers#: Hor., Sat., 2, 8, 15: _Chium #maris expers#_. The explanations
are by no means convincing. _Maris expers._ (1) Not mixed with salt
water, which was supposed to be wholesome, as in Horace, l.c. (2)
_insulum_, Heinr., the most simple, 'foolish philosophy,' 'insipid
sapience.' (3) Devoid of manliness (Casaubon). Comp. 1, 103, 104, in
which case _maris_ would be a pun, as there is an evident Horatian
reminiscence. See Introd., xxiii. But the Horatian passage is itself
variously interpreted. (4) The rendering, 'innocent of the sea,' i.e.,
'home-grown,' is in manifest contradiction to the drift of the passage.
40. #fenisecae#: Type of the rustic laborer. Comp. _fossor_, 5, 122.
_Fenisecae_, the plebeian spelling for _faenisecae_, seems more
appropriate here. --#crasso unguine#: They can not get a good article,
but they are determined to imitate their betters, and so they take a
poor one. With _crasso unguine_ comp. 3, 104: _crassis amomis_.
--#vitiarunt pultes#: On _vitiarunt_ comp. 2, 65; _puls_ is the national
porridge, the _farrata olla_ of 4, 31.
41. #cinere ulterior#: 'when you are the other side of the grave' (comp.
5, 152); +peraiterô koneôs+ (Casaubon).
41-60. Persius turns on his heir: 'Glorious news has come of a great
victory. I wish to celebrate it by games-- by largess. Will you forbid
it? If you don't want what is left, let it alone. I can get somebody to
take it-- some beggar, perhaps, related to me through that son of earth,
Adam.'
42. #quisquis eris#: does not so much show 'the indifference of Persius
himself' to his successor as the utter lack of real personality in the
Satire. See note on 1, 44. --#seductior#: Comp. 2, 4. _Paulum_ with
_seductior_. Comp. Petron., 13: _#seduxit# me #paululum# a turba_; and
Plaut., Asin., 5, 2, 75; Ter., Eun., 4, 4, 39. The Accusative with the
Comparative is rare but sure, Dräger, l.c. § 245, _b_; for examples with
_paulum_, Sil., 15, 21; Stat., Theb., 10, 938 (Freund).
43. #o bone#, etc.: The only passage in Persius that deals with the
political life of his time, the only passage that has any historic
force. A keen observer in his narrow sphere, Persius has hit off very
happily the features of this droll triumph of Caligula's. True, he was
only seven years old when it took place; but he lost his father when he
was six, and yet recalls him vividly, and this parade must have made an
abiding impression, whether he saw it or only heard of it. Caligula's
German expedition is recounted in Suet., Calig., 43 seqq.: 'He ordered a
triumph, which was to be unprecedentedly splendid, and cheap in
proportion, as he had a right to the property of his subjects-- changed
his mind, forbade any proposal on the subject under capital penalties,
abused the senate for doing nothing, and finally entered the city in
ovation on his birthday' (Conington). With _o bone_ comp. _heus bone_,
3, 94. --#laurus# = _laureata epistola_, the letter bound with bays, in
which victories were announced.
44. #Germanae pubis#: 'flower of the German army' (Pretor), _pubes_
being = +hêlikia+.
45. #aris | frigidus excutitur cinis#: Of course to make room for new
sacrifices, but _frigidus_ intimates that the ashes had had time to
cool; such occasions were rare. Comp. Apul., Met., 4, 83: _arae viduae
#frigido cinere# foedatae_. _Aris_, Dat. _Excutitur_ denotes haste. 'The
ashes are hustled off.' --#postibus#: 'for the door-posts' (of temples,
palaces, the residence of the _triumphator_, and other buildings). With
the Dative comp. Juv., 6, 51: _necte coronam | #postibus#_.
46. #lutea gausapa#: 'yellow wools.' The coarse fabric known as
_gausapa_ was used to make yellow wigs for the mock German captives. The
light hair of the Germans is a familiar characteristic, and a similar
device is recorded of Domitian by Tacitus, Agr., 39 (Jahn). As the
captives were actually Gauls, Casaubon understands _gausapa_ of the
common Gallic costume.
47. #Caesonia#: the mistress, and, after the birth of a daughter and the
divorce of Lollia, the wife of Caligula, Suet., Cal., 25. --#ingentis
Rhenos#: Jahn understands statues or pictures of the Rhine, to be
carried in procession, referring to the Jordan on the Arch of Titus, and
citing Ov., A. A., 1, 223 seqq., for the Euphrates and Tigris. Conington
adds Verg., Georg., 3, 28, for the Nile, and considers the Plural
_Rhenos_ sarcastic. The more common interpretation regards _Rhenos_ as
_Rhenanos_. Suet., l.c. 47, mentions expressly the fact that Caligula
picked out the tallest men he could find (_procerissimum quemque_) for
the procession.
48. #genioque ducis#: On _genio_, see 2, 3. The genius of the Emperor
was publicly worshipped, Ov., Fast., 5, 145. Caligula punished those who
did not swear by his genius, Suet., Cal., 27. _Ducis_ is sarcastic. 'So
Juv., 4, 145; 7, 21, calls Domitian _dux_, with reference to a similar
exploit, a sham triumph with manufactured slaves' (Conington, after
Jahn). --#centum paria#: Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 85: _ni sic fecissent
#gladiatorum# dare #centum# | damnati populo #paria# atque epulum_. The
number is absurd for any ordinary fortune, and the extravagance of the
threat destroys the dramatic effect on the heir.
49. #induco#: The familiar Present for the Future. _Induco, verbum
harenae_ (Casaubon). --#aude#: We should say, 'I dare you' (Conington).
50. #oleum#: Largesses of oil by Caesar and Nero are recorded by Suet.,
Caes., 38, Nero, 12 (Jahn). --#artocreas#: +artokreas+ = _visceratio_,
'bread-meat' for 'bread-and-meat.' Outside of the numerals, such
copulative compounds (_dvandva_ in Sanskrit) are rare, and chiefly late.
Comp. _suovetaurilia_, +nuchthêmeron+, the famous word of seventy-nine
syllables in Ar., Eccl., 1169, and Mod. Gr. +androgunon+,
'man-and-wife.' Some consider _artocreas_ a kind of meat-pasty.
--#popello#: 4, 15.
51, 52. #dic clare#: It were very much to be wished that he had. The
context seems to require, on the one hand, a motive for the silence of
the heir; on the other, a motive for declining the inheritance. The
interpretation of _non adeo-- iuxta est_ depends on the meaning of
_exossatus_, which is sometimes rendered 'exhausted,' 'impoverished,'
'worn out,' as if 'boneless' and 'marrowless' were the same thing here;
sometimes, and with far more probability, 'cleared of stones.' A poetic
allusion to the 'bones of Mother Earth,' Ov., Met., 1, 393 seqq.
(Schol.), would be out of place, and the common culinary sense of
_exossatus_, 'boned,' is in keeping with the homely character of
Persius's tropes. _Adeo_ is sometimes considered a Verb, in the sense of
_adire hereditatem;_ sometimes an Adverb, and connected now with
_prohibeo_ (from _prohibes_), now with _exossatus_; and, finally, some
give _exossatus-- est_ to the heir, others to Persius. I subjoin the
chief distributions and interpretations:
(1.) _Non adeo_, inquis. Exossatus ager iuxta est. Jahn (1843). (Do you
mean to hinder me? Out with it.) 'Not exactly,' you say. Here is a
worn-out field hard by. If you won't have it, another will.
(2.) 'Non adeo,' inquis? Exossatus ager iuxta est (Conington). You won't
accept the inheritance, you say? Here is a field, now, cleared for
ploughing.
(3.) 'Non adeo,' inquis, 'exossatus ager iuxta est,' Jahn (1868), which
may be rendered, 'I am sure that your land here is not in such very good
order' (that you can afford such extravagance). Good order or not, I can
find some one to take it off my hands, etc.
(4.) Hermann bases his interpretation on the Schol., and understands
_non adeo exossatus ager_ to be a field that is not wholly cleared of
stones, to which the heir points as a cogent argument against his making
a difficulty. He is afraid of a stoning from the people, as above he was
afraid of doing any thing to disoblige the Emperor (_Lect. Pers._, II.,
64).
(5.) Teuffel agrees with Hermann's interpretation of _exossatus_, but
separates _non adeo_, 'Not exactly.' See (1.). 'There is a field hard by
from which the stones have [just] been dug up,' where they are lying in
convenient heaps.
(6.) Heinrich takes _adeo_ to be the Verb, _exossatus_ as
'impoverished,' and _iuxta_ = _paene_.
(7.) _Non adeo_, inquis. _Exossatus ager iuxta est_ is rendered by Mr.
Pretor, 'I can't quite forbid it; but let me suggest to you that your
land is impoverished.'
(8.) König understands the heir to say: 'I will not accept. I have a
well-tilled piece of land of my own hard by.'
I am not ashamed to acknowledge that the only point about which I am
convinced is the impossibility of making _exossatus_ mean
'impoverished.'
53. #amitis#: _Amita_ is the aunt by the father's side. See note on 2,
31. Persius left his property to his mother and sister, and all this
string of suppositions is in keeping with the impersonal character of
his heir. Teuffel notices the utter jumble of legal relations.
--#proneptis patrui#: 'female cousin twice removed.'
54. #sterilis vixit#: 'has lived barren' means 'has died childless,
without issue.'
55. #nihilum#: 'neither chick nor child.' --#Bovillas#: Bovillae lay
between Rome and Aricia, and was the first stage on the Appian road,
hence called 'suburban' by Ov., Fast., 3, 667 (Jahn). Persius had an
estate in the neighborhood.
56. #clivum ad Virbi#: Martial's _clivus Aricinus_ (2, 19, 3; 12, 32,
10), a noted station for beggars. Juv., 4, 17: _dignus #Aricinos# qui
mendicaret ad axes_. Virbius was identified with Hippolytus, and
worshipped as the hero of Aricia. --#Manius#: a typical beggar's name.
There was a proverb: _multi #Mani# Ariciae_, Fest., s.v., with the
explanation, _multos claros viros ibi fuisse_. The 'Arician aristocracy'
must have become a term of contempt by the time of Persius (+palai pot'
êsan alkimoi Milêsioi+).
57. #progenies terrae#: is the indignant remonstrance of the heir,
_progenies terrae_ being = the more familiar _terrae filius_, Cic.,
Att., 1, 13, 4 al.; our 'groundling' can answer only as a play on the
word. --#quartus pater# = _abavus_, 'great-great-grandfather.'
58. #haud prompte, dicam tamen#: +molis men, exerô d' homôs+
(Conington); +molis men, all' oun exerô+ Comp. [Dem.] 58, 26. --#adde
etiam unum# = _atavum_, 'one step further back.'