Schoenbeck supposes this book to have been written in memory of the
Iberian war; because it not only touches on military affairs, but
contains also some bitter sarcasms on the morals of certain young
men who served in that campaign.
Iberian war; because it not only touches on military affairs, but
contains also some bitter sarcasms on the morals of certain young
men who served in that campaign.
Satires
, 72.
[1731] _Abbitere_ for _abbire_ is Schmidt's reading, who also reads
_siet_ for _sive_, omitting _habet_ at the end of the line.
[1732] The rule contained in this Fragment seems superfluous,
especially after the opinion Lucilius has given in the second. _I_ is
equally long or short with _A_, nor does it appear why the _genitive_
should not be as _essentially_ long as the _dative_ singular. If the
insertion of the E were simply to mark the difference of number, there
might be some apparent reason.
[1733] "This Fragment is simply an illustration of the rule that the
preposition _per_ in composition remains unchanged, unless it stand
before the letter L, when by assimilation it is changed into the
initial letter of the word: so per lacio becomes pellacio; per labor,
pellabor; per luceo, pelluceo. "
[1734] Alluding to the story of Zopyrus, told by Herodotus, lib. iii. ,
154, and by Justin, lib. iii. , 10, _seq. _, who mutilated himself to
gain Babylon for Darius. Cf. lib. xxii. , Fr. 3.
[1735] _Acerosum_, according to Nonius, is applied to coarse bread,
not sufficiently cleared from chaff and husk. Cf. lib. xv. , Fr.
18. _Aceratum_, to clay mixed with stubble and straw, fit for the
brickmaker's use, the paleatum of Columella. V. , vi. , med. Cf. Exod. ,
v. , 16.
[1736] Juvenal borrows and enlarges upon this idea, in describing the
Epicurism of Montanus. Sat. iv. , 139, "Nulli majus fait usus edendi
tempestati meâ. Circæ nata forent an Lucrinum ad saxum, Rutupinove
edita fundo. _Ostrea, callebat primo deprendere morsa_, et _semel
aspecti_ litus dicebat echini. "
[1737] _Rutellum_, the diminutive of Rutrum. "a mattock," was the stick
with which the corn-dealer struck off the heaped-up corn, so as to make
it level with the top of his measure. It was also called Hostorium,
from the old verb Hostire, "to strike. " Compare the old English
"strike," used for a measure.
[1738] _Capis_ (à capiendo, Varro, v. , 121, "quod ausatæ ut prehendi
possent") was a cup with a handle, generally made of earthenware, and
ordinarily used in sacrifices. Vid. Liv. , lib. x. , 7. So also Capedo
and Capula. Cf. Bekker's Gallus, p. 481. The _apex_ is the conical cap
worn by the Salii.
[1739] _Præsul_ was the name applied to the Princeps Saliorum, because
he led the sacred dance, as προορχηστὴρ, ἔξαρχος. Called also Præsultor
and Præsultator. _Amtruo_ (from _am_, ἀμφὶ, circum, and _trua_, "an
implement used for stirring things round while they were being cooked")
is the technical phrase for the dancing of the Salii. The Præsul
danced at the head of the procession, _amtruabat_; the rest followed,
imitating his movements; _redamtruabant_. This procession took place in
the Comitium on the Kalends of March.
[1740] Cf. vii. , Fr. 10.
BOOK X.
ARGUMENT.
The old Scholiast, in his Life of Persius, tells us that "after he
had quitted school, and the instruction of his tutors, he was
so much struck with the tenth book of the Satires of Lucilius,
that he was seized with a vehement desire of writing Satire,
and immediately applied himself to the imitation of this book,
and after first detracting from his own merits, proceeded to
disparage the poetical attempts of others. " Van Heusde supposes
that the book contained a detailed account of the life of
Lucilius; and hence the saying of the Scholiast, that "the whole
life of Lucilius was as distinctly known as if it had been
portrayed in pictures. " (So Horace says, Sat. , II. , i. , 30,
"Quo fit ut omnis Votivâ pateat veluti descripta tabella Vita
senis. ") He conjectures the difference between the subjects of
the ninth and tenth books to have been this: that in the ninth,
Lucilius criticised the ignorance and corrected the mistakes of
the Librarii; i. e. , those who _copied_ the compositions of the
poets, only incidentally, and by the way, touching on the poets
themselves. Whereas the tenth was intended directly as an attack
upon the poets who preceded him. Jahn, in his prolegomena on
Persius, imagines this imitation of the tenth book to have been
carried farther than we are perhaps justified in assuming; he
conjectures that the Hendecasyllabic Prologue of Persius was a
direct imitation of a similar proem, and in the same metre which
formed the commencement of this book. This opinion he fortifies
by two quotations, one from Petronius, Sat. iv. , the other from
Apuleius, de Deo Socr. , p. 364. In this view Gerlach does not
coincide, though he is disposed to admit that Lucilius in all
probability began the book with a disparagement of himself,
and so far furnished an example for Persius to imitate. It
is a question that must remain doubtful, and is of no great
importance. It is, however, also clear that this book contained
criticisms on the verses of Accius and Ennius. (Vid. Schol. ad
Hor. , i. , Sat. x. )
Perhaps the Fragments (incert. 3, 4, and 5) on Albutius and Mucius
may have belonged to this book.
1 . . . as we wrote before, the judgment to be formed is concerning
the honors of the Crassi . . . that is, in each case let us lay
down what I should choose, what not. [1741]
2 Behind stood the nimble skirmisher in his cloak. [1742]
3 . . . although suddenly to bring down from three pair of
stairs. [1743]
4 . . . you also bind mooring-stakes to very strong cables. [1744]
5 . . . might be firmly . . . from waves and adverse winds.
6 . . . and languor overwhelmed, and sluggishness, and the torpor
of quietude.
7 . . . verily, he said I cut up the ox magnificently in the
temple. [1745]
8 . . . would seem importunate, boastful, bad and nefarious.
FOOTNOTES:
[1741] Gerlach's reading and interpretation is followed: "Lucilius
would not wish to have all the honors of that illustrious family heaped
upon him, but make his own selection. " Nonius also explains _sumere_ by
"eligere. " Corpet reads, "Crassi" and "sicut describimus," and supposes
the allusion to be to the eloquence of Crassus, son-in-law of Scævola.
Cf. Cic. , Brut. , 38-44. But no doubt P. Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus
is here meant, who, as we learn from Aulus Gellius (I. , xiii. , 10),
was famous for five things: he was the richest man in Rome, the man of
noblest birth, the most eloquent, the best lawyer, and the Pontifex
Maximus. Lucilius might well be at a loss which of all these he would
choose.
[1742] Cf. lib. vii. , Fr. 7. Schol. ad Juv. , vi. , 400.
[1743] _Quamvis_ may also imply "quamvis fæminam. " Cf. Cæcilium in
Asoto (ap. Nonium, p. 517), "nam ego duabus vigiliis transactis _Duco
desubito_ domum. " _Trinis scalis_, "from the third story," the upper
rooms being the residence of the poorer classes. Cf. Juv. , x. , 18,
"rarus venit in cœnacula miles. " iii. , 201, "altimus ardebit quem
tegula sola tuetur à pluviâ. " vii. , 118. Mart. , i. , Ep. cxviii. , 7, "Et
scalis habito tribus sed altis. " Hor. , i. , Ep. i. , 91. Suet. , Vit. , 7.
[1744] _Tonsilla_, according to Festus, "is a stake with an iron head,
for sticking in the ground and fastening the mooring cable of a boat
to. " Cf. Pacuvium in Medo, "accessi eam et tonsillam pegi læto in
littore. " (Fr. 17, ed. Fr. H. Bothe, Lips. , 1834. ) The MS. reading is
_Consellæ_, "double seats," stretched on ropes, as the beds (grabati).
Lucil. , vi. , Fr. 13; xi. , 13. Nonius explains _aptare_ by "connectere"
and "colligare. "
[1745] Cf. Donat. in Terent. , Andr. , II. , i. , 24.
BOOK XI.
ARGUMENT.
Schoenbeck supposes this book to have been written in memory of the
Iberian war; because it not only touches on military affairs, but
contains also some bitter sarcasms on the morals of certain young
men who served in that campaign. Petermann coincides in the same
opinion. Corpet supposes that the principal object of the book
was an elaborate defense of the character of Scipio Africanus;
especially with regard to the salutary and strict discipline
which he restored to the Roman army during the Numantine war.
Gerlach admits the probability of these conjectures, though he
scarcely thinks that the Fragments which have come down to us
of this book are of sufficient length to enable us to pronounce
definitively on the question. It is quite clear that the mention
of Opimius the father, or of the elder Lucius Cotta, can bear
no relation to the Numantine war, since they both lived before
it began; still it is possible that their names might have
been introduced, to render the morals of their sons still more
conspicuous. How the Fragment (2) respecting the plebeian Caius
Cassius Cephalo was connected with the main subject is not
clear, unless he was introduced for the purpose of incidentally
mentioning the bribery of the unjust judge, Tullius.
The fourth and ninth Fragments may clearly refer to the Numantine
war; as may perhaps the seventh; as we learn from Cicero, that
while Scipio Africanus was before Numantia, he received some
munificent presents, which were sent to him from Asia by King
Attalus, and which he accepted in the presence of his army. (Cic.
pro Dei. , 7. ) This happened probably only a few months before the
death of Attalus; and Lucilius was most likely an eye-witness
of the fact. The thirteenth Fragment also may refer to the same
campaign; though Duentzer supposes it to be an allusion to the
miserable penuriousness of Ælius Tubero. The fifth and sixth
Fragments apparently refer rather to civil than military matters.
1 Quintus Opimius, the famous father of this Jugurthinus, was
both a handsome man and an infamous, both in his early youth;
latterly he conducted himself more uprightly. [1746]
2 This Caius Cassius, a laborer, whom we call Cefalo--a cut-purse
and thief--him, one Tullius, a judge, made his heir; while all
the rest were disinherited. [1747]
3 Lucius Cotta the elder, the father of this Crassus, "the
all-blazing," was a close-fisted fellow in money-matters; very
slow in paying any body--[1748]
4
5 Asellus cast it in the teeth of the great Scipio, that during
his censorship, the lustrum had been unfortunate and
inauspicious. [1749]
6 . . . and now I wished to throw into verse a saying of Granius,
the præco. [1750]
7 . . . a noble meeting; there glittered the drawers, the cloaks,
the twisted chains of the great Datis. [1751]
8 . . . and a road must be made, and a rampart thrown up here, and
that kind of groundwork--[1752]
9 . . . he is a wanderer now these many years; he is now a soldier
in winter quarters, serving with us
10 . . . thence, while still of tender age and a mere boy, comes to
Rome.
11 Nor have I need of him as a lover, nor a mean fellow to bail
me--
12 . . . he is a jibber, a shuffler, a hard-mouthed, obstinate
brute. [1753]
13 When they had taken their seats here, and the skins were
extended in due order. . . . [1754]
14 . . . who in the wash-house and the pool. . . .
FOOTNOTES:
[1746] _Jugurthinus_ is properly the proud title of Marius. (Ov. ,
Pont. , IV. , iii. , 45, "Ille Jugurthino clarus Cimbroque triumpho. ")
It is here applied ironically to Lucius Opimius, who so notoriously
received bribes from Jugurtha, when he went over, as chief of the ten
commissioners, to arrange the division of the kingdom between Jugurtha
and Adherbal, B. C. 117. (Sall. , Bell. Jug. , xvi. ) He had been before
honorably distinguished by the taking of Fregellæ, when in rebellion
against Rome, while he was prætor. The safety of the Roman state had
also been committed to him when consul (B. C. 121) during the riots of
Caius Gracchus, which by his prompt measures he was the main instrument
in quelling. (Hence Cicero styles him "civis præstantissimus. "
Brut. , 34. ) For this he was accused by the democratic party, but was
acquitted; his defense being conducted by the same Papirius Carbo who
had assailed Scipio Africanus after the death of Tiberius Gracchus
("aliâ tum mente Rempublicam capessens. " Cic. , de Or. , ii. , 25). The
partisans of Gracchus, however, afterward crushed him by means of the
Mamilian law, along with many other excellent men. Cic. , Brut. , _u.
s. _ Sall. , Bell. Jug. , 40. He was consul with Q. Fabius Maximus, who
that year overthrew the Allobroges and Arverni. His consulship was
long remembered as having been a splendid year for wine, hence called
Opimianum. Cic. , Brut. , 83. Of his father Quintus, Cicero speaks in
nearly the same terms as Lucilius does here: "Q. Opimius, consularis,
qui adolescentulus malè audisset. " De Orat. , ii. , 68.
[1747] _Cephalo_, like Capito, was probably a nickname from the
size of his head. _Sector_ is used by Plautus exactly in the sense
of the English "cut-purse. " Sector Zonarius, i. e. , Crumeniseca,
βαλαντιοτόμος. Trinum. , IV. , ii. , 20. It is applied by Cicero to a mean
fellow, who buys at auction the confiscated goods of proscribed persons
to retail again. Cic. , Rosc. Am. , 29. Ascon. in Verr. , II. , i. , 20. Cf.
Nonius, _s. v. _ Secare. _Damnare_, i. e. , "exhæredare. " Non.
[1748] παναίθου (cf. Horn. , Il. xiv. , 372) is an epithet applied to a
helmet. Why it was given to this Cotta is not known. Gerlach supposes
him to be the L. Cotta mentioned by Cicero (de Orat. , iii. , 11) as
affecting a coarse and rustic style of speaking, "gaudere videtur
gravitate linguæ, sonoque vocis agresti," and that this name was given
him by way of irony. He would be most justly entitled to the epithet of
Crassus, "the coarse," which was probably given for the same reason.
(Crassus not being the regular cognomen of the Aurelian gens, to which
Cotta belonged, but of the Licinian. ) Valerius Maximus gives a story of
the sordid avarice of the father, which illustrates what Lucilius says,
that when tribune of the Plebs he took advantage of the "sacrosanct"
character of his office to refuse paying his creditors their just
claims, but was compelled to do so by his colleagues. (Pighius assigns
this event to B. C. 155. ) He was afterward accused by P. Corn. Scipio
Africanus minor; but being defended by Q. Metellus Macedonicus,
was acquitted. Cf. Cic. , Brut. , 21, where he gives him the epithet
"veterator. " He was one of the partisans of the Gracchi.
[1749] _Asellus_ is probably the same whom Cicero mentions (de Orat. ,
ii. , 64), about whom Scipio made the pun, which is, of course, as
Cicero says, untranslatable: "Cum Asellus omnes provincias stipendia
merentem se peragrâsse gloriaretur, '_Agas Asellum_,'" etc.
[1750] _Granius_, a præco, though a great favorite with the plebeians,
who used to retail his witticisms with great zest, was on terms of
intimate friendship with Crassus, Catulus, T. Tinca Placentinus, and
other men of high rank, whom he used to criticise with the greatest
severity and freedom, and hold, especially with the latter, contests in
sharp repartee. (Vid. Cic. , Brut. , 43, 46: de Orat. , ii. , 60, 70, where
some of his witticisms are quoted. )
[1751] Gerlach refers this Fragment to the presents sent by Attalus.
"Datis" he takes to mean any common name, but would suggest "ducis. "
[1752] _Rudus_ is applied to a mixture of stones, gravel, and rubble,
cemented together with lime, used by the Romans as a substratum for a
path or pavement. Cat. , R. R. , 18. Plin. , xxxvi. , 25. Cf. Liv. , xli. ,
27, "Vias sternendas silice in Urbe glareâ extra Urbem locaverunt. "
Tibull. , I. , viii. , 59.
[1753] This Fragment is most probably connected with Fr. 3, as both
strigosus and bovinator are applied to beasts who refuse to move; and
hence to persons who use all kinds of artifices to avoid the payment of
their just debts.
[1754] Cf. vi. , 13; x. , 4.
BOOK XII.
ARGUMENT.
The extant Fragments of this book are too few and too varied in
their matter to enable us to form any definite idea of the
general subject. From a passage in Diomedes (lib. iii, p. 483),
which contains the seventh Fragment, Schoenbeck supposes it must
have referred to scenic matters; which conjecture he considers
farther strengthened by the first Fragment. (Cf. Plaut. , Pers. ,
I. , iii, 78. ) But, as Gerlach observes, "Chorage" in this passage
can hardly be understood in its primitive sense, since it is
coupled with the word "Quæstore;" and as the quæstors had nothing
to do with the Ludi Scenici, except when it fell to them to take
the place of the prætors or ædiles, this office could hardly be
reckoned among their positive or regular duties.
1 . . . that this man stands in need of some quæstor and choragus
to furnish gold at the public expense, and from the treasury.
2 . . . a hundred yoke of mules, with one strong pull, could not
drag him.
[1731] _Abbitere_ for _abbire_ is Schmidt's reading, who also reads
_siet_ for _sive_, omitting _habet_ at the end of the line.
[1732] The rule contained in this Fragment seems superfluous,
especially after the opinion Lucilius has given in the second. _I_ is
equally long or short with _A_, nor does it appear why the _genitive_
should not be as _essentially_ long as the _dative_ singular. If the
insertion of the E were simply to mark the difference of number, there
might be some apparent reason.
[1733] "This Fragment is simply an illustration of the rule that the
preposition _per_ in composition remains unchanged, unless it stand
before the letter L, when by assimilation it is changed into the
initial letter of the word: so per lacio becomes pellacio; per labor,
pellabor; per luceo, pelluceo. "
[1734] Alluding to the story of Zopyrus, told by Herodotus, lib. iii. ,
154, and by Justin, lib. iii. , 10, _seq. _, who mutilated himself to
gain Babylon for Darius. Cf. lib. xxii. , Fr. 3.
[1735] _Acerosum_, according to Nonius, is applied to coarse bread,
not sufficiently cleared from chaff and husk. Cf. lib. xv. , Fr.
18. _Aceratum_, to clay mixed with stubble and straw, fit for the
brickmaker's use, the paleatum of Columella. V. , vi. , med. Cf. Exod. ,
v. , 16.
[1736] Juvenal borrows and enlarges upon this idea, in describing the
Epicurism of Montanus. Sat. iv. , 139, "Nulli majus fait usus edendi
tempestati meâ. Circæ nata forent an Lucrinum ad saxum, Rutupinove
edita fundo. _Ostrea, callebat primo deprendere morsa_, et _semel
aspecti_ litus dicebat echini. "
[1737] _Rutellum_, the diminutive of Rutrum. "a mattock," was the stick
with which the corn-dealer struck off the heaped-up corn, so as to make
it level with the top of his measure. It was also called Hostorium,
from the old verb Hostire, "to strike. " Compare the old English
"strike," used for a measure.
[1738] _Capis_ (à capiendo, Varro, v. , 121, "quod ausatæ ut prehendi
possent") was a cup with a handle, generally made of earthenware, and
ordinarily used in sacrifices. Vid. Liv. , lib. x. , 7. So also Capedo
and Capula. Cf. Bekker's Gallus, p. 481. The _apex_ is the conical cap
worn by the Salii.
[1739] _Præsul_ was the name applied to the Princeps Saliorum, because
he led the sacred dance, as προορχηστὴρ, ἔξαρχος. Called also Præsultor
and Præsultator. _Amtruo_ (from _am_, ἀμφὶ, circum, and _trua_, "an
implement used for stirring things round while they were being cooked")
is the technical phrase for the dancing of the Salii. The Præsul
danced at the head of the procession, _amtruabat_; the rest followed,
imitating his movements; _redamtruabant_. This procession took place in
the Comitium on the Kalends of March.
[1740] Cf. vii. , Fr. 10.
BOOK X.
ARGUMENT.
The old Scholiast, in his Life of Persius, tells us that "after he
had quitted school, and the instruction of his tutors, he was
so much struck with the tenth book of the Satires of Lucilius,
that he was seized with a vehement desire of writing Satire,
and immediately applied himself to the imitation of this book,
and after first detracting from his own merits, proceeded to
disparage the poetical attempts of others. " Van Heusde supposes
that the book contained a detailed account of the life of
Lucilius; and hence the saying of the Scholiast, that "the whole
life of Lucilius was as distinctly known as if it had been
portrayed in pictures. " (So Horace says, Sat. , II. , i. , 30,
"Quo fit ut omnis Votivâ pateat veluti descripta tabella Vita
senis. ") He conjectures the difference between the subjects of
the ninth and tenth books to have been this: that in the ninth,
Lucilius criticised the ignorance and corrected the mistakes of
the Librarii; i. e. , those who _copied_ the compositions of the
poets, only incidentally, and by the way, touching on the poets
themselves. Whereas the tenth was intended directly as an attack
upon the poets who preceded him. Jahn, in his prolegomena on
Persius, imagines this imitation of the tenth book to have been
carried farther than we are perhaps justified in assuming; he
conjectures that the Hendecasyllabic Prologue of Persius was a
direct imitation of a similar proem, and in the same metre which
formed the commencement of this book. This opinion he fortifies
by two quotations, one from Petronius, Sat. iv. , the other from
Apuleius, de Deo Socr. , p. 364. In this view Gerlach does not
coincide, though he is disposed to admit that Lucilius in all
probability began the book with a disparagement of himself,
and so far furnished an example for Persius to imitate. It
is a question that must remain doubtful, and is of no great
importance. It is, however, also clear that this book contained
criticisms on the verses of Accius and Ennius. (Vid. Schol. ad
Hor. , i. , Sat. x. )
Perhaps the Fragments (incert. 3, 4, and 5) on Albutius and Mucius
may have belonged to this book.
1 . . . as we wrote before, the judgment to be formed is concerning
the honors of the Crassi . . . that is, in each case let us lay
down what I should choose, what not. [1741]
2 Behind stood the nimble skirmisher in his cloak. [1742]
3 . . . although suddenly to bring down from three pair of
stairs. [1743]
4 . . . you also bind mooring-stakes to very strong cables. [1744]
5 . . . might be firmly . . . from waves and adverse winds.
6 . . . and languor overwhelmed, and sluggishness, and the torpor
of quietude.
7 . . . verily, he said I cut up the ox magnificently in the
temple. [1745]
8 . . . would seem importunate, boastful, bad and nefarious.
FOOTNOTES:
[1741] Gerlach's reading and interpretation is followed: "Lucilius
would not wish to have all the honors of that illustrious family heaped
upon him, but make his own selection. " Nonius also explains _sumere_ by
"eligere. " Corpet reads, "Crassi" and "sicut describimus," and supposes
the allusion to be to the eloquence of Crassus, son-in-law of Scævola.
Cf. Cic. , Brut. , 38-44. But no doubt P. Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus
is here meant, who, as we learn from Aulus Gellius (I. , xiii. , 10),
was famous for five things: he was the richest man in Rome, the man of
noblest birth, the most eloquent, the best lawyer, and the Pontifex
Maximus. Lucilius might well be at a loss which of all these he would
choose.
[1742] Cf. lib. vii. , Fr. 7. Schol. ad Juv. , vi. , 400.
[1743] _Quamvis_ may also imply "quamvis fæminam. " Cf. Cæcilium in
Asoto (ap. Nonium, p. 517), "nam ego duabus vigiliis transactis _Duco
desubito_ domum. " _Trinis scalis_, "from the third story," the upper
rooms being the residence of the poorer classes. Cf. Juv. , x. , 18,
"rarus venit in cœnacula miles. " iii. , 201, "altimus ardebit quem
tegula sola tuetur à pluviâ. " vii. , 118. Mart. , i. , Ep. cxviii. , 7, "Et
scalis habito tribus sed altis. " Hor. , i. , Ep. i. , 91. Suet. , Vit. , 7.
[1744] _Tonsilla_, according to Festus, "is a stake with an iron head,
for sticking in the ground and fastening the mooring cable of a boat
to. " Cf. Pacuvium in Medo, "accessi eam et tonsillam pegi læto in
littore. " (Fr. 17, ed. Fr. H. Bothe, Lips. , 1834. ) The MS. reading is
_Consellæ_, "double seats," stretched on ropes, as the beds (grabati).
Lucil. , vi. , Fr. 13; xi. , 13. Nonius explains _aptare_ by "connectere"
and "colligare. "
[1745] Cf. Donat. in Terent. , Andr. , II. , i. , 24.
BOOK XI.
ARGUMENT.
Schoenbeck supposes this book to have been written in memory of the
Iberian war; because it not only touches on military affairs, but
contains also some bitter sarcasms on the morals of certain young
men who served in that campaign. Petermann coincides in the same
opinion. Corpet supposes that the principal object of the book
was an elaborate defense of the character of Scipio Africanus;
especially with regard to the salutary and strict discipline
which he restored to the Roman army during the Numantine war.
Gerlach admits the probability of these conjectures, though he
scarcely thinks that the Fragments which have come down to us
of this book are of sufficient length to enable us to pronounce
definitively on the question. It is quite clear that the mention
of Opimius the father, or of the elder Lucius Cotta, can bear
no relation to the Numantine war, since they both lived before
it began; still it is possible that their names might have
been introduced, to render the morals of their sons still more
conspicuous. How the Fragment (2) respecting the plebeian Caius
Cassius Cephalo was connected with the main subject is not
clear, unless he was introduced for the purpose of incidentally
mentioning the bribery of the unjust judge, Tullius.
The fourth and ninth Fragments may clearly refer to the Numantine
war; as may perhaps the seventh; as we learn from Cicero, that
while Scipio Africanus was before Numantia, he received some
munificent presents, which were sent to him from Asia by King
Attalus, and which he accepted in the presence of his army. (Cic.
pro Dei. , 7. ) This happened probably only a few months before the
death of Attalus; and Lucilius was most likely an eye-witness
of the fact. The thirteenth Fragment also may refer to the same
campaign; though Duentzer supposes it to be an allusion to the
miserable penuriousness of Ælius Tubero. The fifth and sixth
Fragments apparently refer rather to civil than military matters.
1 Quintus Opimius, the famous father of this Jugurthinus, was
both a handsome man and an infamous, both in his early youth;
latterly he conducted himself more uprightly. [1746]
2 This Caius Cassius, a laborer, whom we call Cefalo--a cut-purse
and thief--him, one Tullius, a judge, made his heir; while all
the rest were disinherited. [1747]
3 Lucius Cotta the elder, the father of this Crassus, "the
all-blazing," was a close-fisted fellow in money-matters; very
slow in paying any body--[1748]
4
5 Asellus cast it in the teeth of the great Scipio, that during
his censorship, the lustrum had been unfortunate and
inauspicious. [1749]
6 . . . and now I wished to throw into verse a saying of Granius,
the præco. [1750]
7 . . . a noble meeting; there glittered the drawers, the cloaks,
the twisted chains of the great Datis. [1751]
8 . . . and a road must be made, and a rampart thrown up here, and
that kind of groundwork--[1752]
9 . . . he is a wanderer now these many years; he is now a soldier
in winter quarters, serving with us
10 . . . thence, while still of tender age and a mere boy, comes to
Rome.
11 Nor have I need of him as a lover, nor a mean fellow to bail
me--
12 . . . he is a jibber, a shuffler, a hard-mouthed, obstinate
brute. [1753]
13 When they had taken their seats here, and the skins were
extended in due order. . . . [1754]
14 . . . who in the wash-house and the pool. . . .
FOOTNOTES:
[1746] _Jugurthinus_ is properly the proud title of Marius. (Ov. ,
Pont. , IV. , iii. , 45, "Ille Jugurthino clarus Cimbroque triumpho. ")
It is here applied ironically to Lucius Opimius, who so notoriously
received bribes from Jugurtha, when he went over, as chief of the ten
commissioners, to arrange the division of the kingdom between Jugurtha
and Adherbal, B. C. 117. (Sall. , Bell. Jug. , xvi. ) He had been before
honorably distinguished by the taking of Fregellæ, when in rebellion
against Rome, while he was prætor. The safety of the Roman state had
also been committed to him when consul (B. C. 121) during the riots of
Caius Gracchus, which by his prompt measures he was the main instrument
in quelling. (Hence Cicero styles him "civis præstantissimus. "
Brut. , 34. ) For this he was accused by the democratic party, but was
acquitted; his defense being conducted by the same Papirius Carbo who
had assailed Scipio Africanus after the death of Tiberius Gracchus
("aliâ tum mente Rempublicam capessens. " Cic. , de Or. , ii. , 25). The
partisans of Gracchus, however, afterward crushed him by means of the
Mamilian law, along with many other excellent men. Cic. , Brut. , _u.
s. _ Sall. , Bell. Jug. , 40. He was consul with Q. Fabius Maximus, who
that year overthrew the Allobroges and Arverni. His consulship was
long remembered as having been a splendid year for wine, hence called
Opimianum. Cic. , Brut. , 83. Of his father Quintus, Cicero speaks in
nearly the same terms as Lucilius does here: "Q. Opimius, consularis,
qui adolescentulus malè audisset. " De Orat. , ii. , 68.
[1747] _Cephalo_, like Capito, was probably a nickname from the
size of his head. _Sector_ is used by Plautus exactly in the sense
of the English "cut-purse. " Sector Zonarius, i. e. , Crumeniseca,
βαλαντιοτόμος. Trinum. , IV. , ii. , 20. It is applied by Cicero to a mean
fellow, who buys at auction the confiscated goods of proscribed persons
to retail again. Cic. , Rosc. Am. , 29. Ascon. in Verr. , II. , i. , 20. Cf.
Nonius, _s. v. _ Secare. _Damnare_, i. e. , "exhæredare. " Non.
[1748] παναίθου (cf. Horn. , Il. xiv. , 372) is an epithet applied to a
helmet. Why it was given to this Cotta is not known. Gerlach supposes
him to be the L. Cotta mentioned by Cicero (de Orat. , iii. , 11) as
affecting a coarse and rustic style of speaking, "gaudere videtur
gravitate linguæ, sonoque vocis agresti," and that this name was given
him by way of irony. He would be most justly entitled to the epithet of
Crassus, "the coarse," which was probably given for the same reason.
(Crassus not being the regular cognomen of the Aurelian gens, to which
Cotta belonged, but of the Licinian. ) Valerius Maximus gives a story of
the sordid avarice of the father, which illustrates what Lucilius says,
that when tribune of the Plebs he took advantage of the "sacrosanct"
character of his office to refuse paying his creditors their just
claims, but was compelled to do so by his colleagues. (Pighius assigns
this event to B. C. 155. ) He was afterward accused by P. Corn. Scipio
Africanus minor; but being defended by Q. Metellus Macedonicus,
was acquitted. Cf. Cic. , Brut. , 21, where he gives him the epithet
"veterator. " He was one of the partisans of the Gracchi.
[1749] _Asellus_ is probably the same whom Cicero mentions (de Orat. ,
ii. , 64), about whom Scipio made the pun, which is, of course, as
Cicero says, untranslatable: "Cum Asellus omnes provincias stipendia
merentem se peragrâsse gloriaretur, '_Agas Asellum_,'" etc.
[1750] _Granius_, a præco, though a great favorite with the plebeians,
who used to retail his witticisms with great zest, was on terms of
intimate friendship with Crassus, Catulus, T. Tinca Placentinus, and
other men of high rank, whom he used to criticise with the greatest
severity and freedom, and hold, especially with the latter, contests in
sharp repartee. (Vid. Cic. , Brut. , 43, 46: de Orat. , ii. , 60, 70, where
some of his witticisms are quoted. )
[1751] Gerlach refers this Fragment to the presents sent by Attalus.
"Datis" he takes to mean any common name, but would suggest "ducis. "
[1752] _Rudus_ is applied to a mixture of stones, gravel, and rubble,
cemented together with lime, used by the Romans as a substratum for a
path or pavement. Cat. , R. R. , 18. Plin. , xxxvi. , 25. Cf. Liv. , xli. ,
27, "Vias sternendas silice in Urbe glareâ extra Urbem locaverunt. "
Tibull. , I. , viii. , 59.
[1753] This Fragment is most probably connected with Fr. 3, as both
strigosus and bovinator are applied to beasts who refuse to move; and
hence to persons who use all kinds of artifices to avoid the payment of
their just debts.
[1754] Cf. vi. , 13; x. , 4.
BOOK XII.
ARGUMENT.
The extant Fragments of this book are too few and too varied in
their matter to enable us to form any definite idea of the
general subject. From a passage in Diomedes (lib. iii, p. 483),
which contains the seventh Fragment, Schoenbeck supposes it must
have referred to scenic matters; which conjecture he considers
farther strengthened by the first Fragment. (Cf. Plaut. , Pers. ,
I. , iii, 78. ) But, as Gerlach observes, "Chorage" in this passage
can hardly be understood in its primitive sense, since it is
coupled with the word "Quæstore;" and as the quæstors had nothing
to do with the Ludi Scenici, except when it fell to them to take
the place of the prætors or ædiles, this office could hardly be
reckoned among their positive or regular duties.
1 . . . that this man stands in need of some quæstor and choragus
to furnish gold at the public expense, and from the treasury.
2 . . . a hundred yoke of mules, with one strong pull, could not
drag him.
