Ut canerent data multa olim sunt Vatibus æra:
Ut taceam, quantum tu mihi, Paule, dabis?
"Heretofore money was given to poets that they might sing: how much
will you give me, Paul, to be silent?"
This collection contains, among other classes, passages from the
Scriptures which have been applied to the court of Rome; to different
nations and persons; and one of "_Sortes Virgilianæ per Pasquillum
collectæ_,"--passages from Virgil frequently happily applied; and those
who are curious in the history of those times will find this portion
interesting. The work itself is not quite so rare as Daniel Heinsius
imagined; the price might now reach from five to ten guineas.[64]
These satirical statues are placed at opposite ends of the town, so that
there is always sufficient time to make Marforio reply to the gibes and
jeers of Pasquin in walking from one to the other. They are an ingenious
substitute for publishing to the world, what no Roman newspaper would
dare to print.