this
thriftless
trade no more pursue.
Satires
, 73.
[1213] _Balba de nare. _ Balbutire is properly a defect of the _tongue_,
not of the nose.
[1214] _Eliquare_ is properly used of the melting down of metals. It is
here put for effeminate affectation of speech.
[1215] _Phyllidas. _ Not alluding probably to the Heroics of Ovid on
these two subjects, but to some wretched trash of his own day.
[1216] _Assensere. _ From Ov. , Met. , ix. , 259, "Assensere Dei. " So xiv. ,
592.
[1217] _Cinis. _ Cf. Ov. , Trist. , III. , iii. , 76. Amor. , III. , ix. , 67,
"Ossa quieta precor tuta requiescite in urnâ, Et sit humus cineri non
onerosa tuo. " Propert. , I. , xvii. , 24, "Ut mihi non ullo pondere terra
foret. " Juv. , vii. , 207, "Dii Majorum umbris tenuem et sine pondere
terram Spirantesque crocos et in urnâ. perpetuum ver. "
[1218] _Levior cippus. _ Virg. , Ecl. , x. , 33, "Oh mihi tum quam molliter
ossa quiescant. " Alluding to the usual inscription on the sepulchral
cippi, "Sit tibi terra levis. " It is strange, says D'Achaintre, that
the Romans should wish the earth to press lightly on the bones of their
friends, whom they honored with ponderous grave-stones and pillars;
while they prayed that "earth would lie heavy" on their enemies, to
whom they accorded no such honors.
[1219] _Nascentur violæ. _ Cf. Hamlet, Act v. , sc. 1, "And from her fair
and unpolluted flesh shall violets spring. "
[1220] _Uncis naribus. _ Hor. , i. , Sat. vi. , 5, "Ut plerique solent naso
suspendis adunco Ignotos. " ii. , Sat. viii. , 64, "Balatro suspendens
omnia naso. " Mart. , i. , Ep. iv. , 6, "Nasum Rhinocerotis habent. " The
Greek μυκτηρίζειν.
[1221] _Os populi_, as the Greeks say, τὸ διὰ τοῦ στόματος εἶναι: and
Ennius, "Volito vivus' per ora virûm. "
[1222] _Cedro. _ From the antiseptic properties of this wood, it was
used for presses for books, which were also dressed with the oil
expressed from the tree. Plin. , H. N. , xiii. , 5; xvi. , 88. Cf. Hor. , A.
P. , 331, "Speramus carmina fingi posse linenda cedro et levi servanda
cupresso. " Mart. , v. , Ep. vi. , 14, "Quæ cedro decorata purpurâque
nigris pagina crevit umbilicis. " Dioscorides calls the cedar τῶν νεκρῶν
ζωήν. i. , 89.
[1223] _Scombros. _ Hor. , ii. , Ep. i. , 266, "Cum scriptore meo capsâ
porrectus apertâ deferar in vicum vendentem thus et odores et piper
et quidquid chartis amicitur ineptis. " Mart. , vi. , Ep. lx. , 7, "Quam
multi tineas pascunt blattasque diserti, Et redimunt soli carmina docta
coci," i. e. , verses so bad as to be only fit for wrapping up cheap
fish and spices.
[1224] _Fas est. _ D'Achaintre's reading and interpretation is adopted,
instead of the old and meaningless _feci_.
[1225] _Exit. _ A metaphor from the potter's wheel. Hor. , A. P. , 21,
"Amphora cœpit institui currente rotâ cur urceus _exit_? "
[1226] _Rara avis. _ "An event as rare as the appearance of the Phœnix. "
Cf. Juv. , Sat. vi. , 165, "Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima
cygno. " vii. , 202, "Corvo quoque rarior albo. " Hor. , ii. , Sat. ii. , 26.
[1227] _Euge! Belle! _ The exclamations of one praising the recitations.
"Though a Stoic, and therefore holding that virtue is its own reward, I
am not so stony-hearted as to shrink from all praise. Yet I deny that
this idle, worthless praise can form the legitimate end and object of a
wise man's aim. "
[1228] _Ilias Acci. _ Cf. ad v. , 4. The effusion not of true genius,
but of the besotting influence of drugs. "The poet," as Casaubon says,
"has not reached the inspiring heights of Hippocrene, but muddled
himself with the hellebore that grows on the way thither. " The ancients
were not unacquainted with the use of this artificial stimulant to
genius. Cf. Plin. , xxv. , 5, "Quondam terribile, postea tam promiscuum,
ut plerique studiorum gratia ad providenda acrius quæ commentabantur
sumpsitaverint. "
[1229] _Crudi_; i. e. , "over their banquets. " «Literally "undigested,"
as Juv. , Sat. i. , 143, "Crudum pavonem in balnea portas. " Hor. , i. , Ep.
vi. , 6, "Crudi tumidique lavemur. "» ii. , Ep. i. , 109, "Pueri patresque
severi fronde comas vincti cœnant et carmina dictant. " Cf. Pers. , iii. ,
98.
[1230] _Citreis. _ Cf. ad Juv. , xi. , 95.
[1231] _Sumen. _ Juv. , xi. , 81; xii. , 73. Lucil. , v. , fr. 5. "You
purchase their applause by the good dinners you give them. " Cf. Hor. ,
i. , Epist. xix. , 37, "Non ego ventosæ plebis suffragia venor Impensis
cœnarum et tritæ munere vestis. "
[1232] _Horridulum. _ Juv. , i. , Sat. 93, "Horrenti tunicam non reddere
servo. " Ov. , A. Am. , ii. , 213.
[1233] _Verum amo. _ Plaut. , Mostill. , I. , iii. , 24, "Ego verum amo:
verum volo mihi dici: mendacem odi. " Hor. , A. P. , 424, "Mirabor si
sciet internoscere mendacem verumque beatus amicum. Tu seu donaris
seu quid donare voles cui, nolito ad versus tibi factos ducere plenum
lætitiæ; clamabit enim pulchre! bene! recte! "
[1234] _Nugaris. _
"Dotard!
this thriftless trade no more pursue.
Your lines are bald, and dropsical like you! " Gifford.
[1235] _Ciconia: manus: lingua. _ These are three methods employed even
to the present day in Italy of ridiculing a person behind his back.
Placing the fingers so as to imitate a stork pecking; moving the hands
up and down by the side of the temples like an ass's ears flapping; and
thrusting the tongue out of the mouth or into the side of the cheek.
[1236] _Patricius sanguis. _ Hor. , A. P. , 291, "Vos O Pompilius sanguis! "
[1237] _Jus est. _ "Ye, whose position places you above the necessity of
writing verses for gain, by refraining from writing your paltry trash,
avoid the ridicule that you are unconsciously exciting. "
[1238] _Occurrite. _ So iii. , 64, "Venienti occurrite morbo. "
[1239] _Sannæ. _ Juv. , vi. , 306, "Quâ sorbeat aera sannâ. "
[1240] _Junctura. _ A metaphor from statuaries or furniture-makers,
who passed the nail over the marble or polished wood, to detect any
flaw or unevenness. So Lucilius compares the artificial arrangement of
words to the putting together a tesselated pavement. Frag. incert. 4,
"Quam lepide lexeis compostæ? ut tesserulæ omnes Arte pavimento atque
emblemate vermiculato. " Cf. Hor. , A. P. , 292, "Carmen reprehendite quod
non multa dies et multa litura coercuit atque perfectum decies non
castigavit ad unguem. " i. , Sat. v. , 32," Ad unguem factus homo. " ii. ,
Sat. vii. , 87. Appul. , Fl. , 23, "Lapis ad unguem coæquatus. " Sidon.
Apoll. , ix. , Ep. 7, "Veluti cum crystallinas crustas aut onychitinas
non impacto digitus ungue perlabitur: quippe si nihil eum rimosis
obicibus exceptum tenax fractura remoretur. " This operation the Greeks
expressed by ἐξονυχίζειν. Polycletus used to say, χαλεπώτατον εἶναι τὸ
ἔργον ὅταν ἐν ὄνυχι ὁ πηλὸς γίγνηται. "The most difficult part of the
work is when the nail comes to be applied to the clay. "
[1241] _Oculo uno. _ From carpenters or masons, who shut one eye to
draw a straight line. θατέρῳ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἄμεινον πρὸς τοὺς κανόνας
ἀπευθύνοντας τὰ ξύλα. Luc. , Icarom. , ii.
[1242] _Poetæ. _ Probably another hit at Nero.
[1243] _Heroas. _ Those who till lately have confined themselves to
trifling effusions in Greek, now aspire to the dignity of Tragic poets.
[1244] _Corbes, etc. _ The usual common-places of poets singing in
praise of a country life. The Palilia was a festival in honor of the
goddess Pales, celebrated on the 21st of April, the anniversary of the
foundation of Rome. During this festival the rustics lighted fires of
hay and stubble, over which they leaped by way of purifying themselves.
Cf. Varro, L. L. , v. , 3, "Palilia tam privata quam publica sunt apud
rusticos: ut congestis cum fæno stipulis, ignem magnum transsiliant,
his Palilibus se expiari credentes. " Prop. iv. , El. i. , 19, "Annuaque
accenso celebrare Palilia fæna. "
[1245] _Quintius. _ Cincinnatus. Cf. Liv. , iii. , 26.
[1246] _Accius_ is here called Brisæus, an epithet of Bacchus, because
he wrote a tragedy on the same subject as the Bacchæ of Euripides.
[1247] _Venosus_ is probably applied to the hard knotted veins that
stand out on the faces and brows of old men. The allusion, therefore,
is to the taste of the Romans of Persius' days, for the rugged,
uncouth, and antiquated writing of their earlier poets. Nearly the
same idea is expressed by the word _verrucosa_, "full of warts, hard,
knotty, horny. " Cicero mentions this play: "Quis Ennii Medeam, et
Pacuvii Antiopam contemnat et rejiciat," de Fin. , i. , 2. The remainder
of the line is a quotation from Pacuvius. The word _ærumna_ was
obsolete when Quintilian wrote.
[1248] _Sartago. _ Juv. , x. , 64. Properly "a frying-pan," then used for
the miscellaneous ingredients put into it; or, as others think, for
the sputtering noise made in frying, to which Persius compared these
"sesquipedalia verba. " Casaubon quotes a fragment of the comic poet
Eubulus, speaking of the same thing, Λοπὰς παφλάζει βαρβάρῳ λαλήματι,
Πηδῶσι δ' ἰχθῦς ἐν μέσοισι τηγάνοις. "The dish splutters, with
barbarous prattle, and the fish leap in the middle of the frying-pan. "
The word is said to be of Syriac origin.
[1249] _Dedecus. _ The disgrace of corrupting the purity and simplicity
of the Latin language, by the mixture of this jargon of obsolete words
and phrases.
[1250] _Trossulus_ was a name applied to the Roman knights, from the
fact of their having taken the town of Trossulum in Etruria without the
assistance of the infantry. It was afterward used as a term of reproach
to effeminate and dissolute persons. The _Subsellia_ are the benches on
which these persons sit to hear the recitations. _Exultat_ expresses
the rapturous applause of the hearers. Hor. , A. P. , 430, "Tundet pede
terram. "
[1251] _Nilne pudet? _ He now attacks those who, even while pleading in
defense of a friend whose life is at stake, would aim at the applause
won by pretty conceits and nicely-balanced sentences. Niebuhr, Lect. ,
vol. iii. , p. 191, _seq. _
[1252] _Decenter_ is a more lukewarm expression of approbation than
euge or belle, pulchre or benè.
[1253] _Pedius_ Blæsus was accused of sacrilege and peculation by the
Cyrenians: he undertook his own defense, and the result was, he was
found guilty and expelled from the senate. Tac. , Ann. , xiv. , 18.
[1254] _Bellum hoc_ is the indignant repetition by Persius of the words
of applause.
[1255] _Ceves. _ "Does the descendant of the vigorous and warlike
Romulus stoop to winning favor by such fawning as this? " _Cevere_ is
said of a dog. Shakspeare, K. Henry VIII. , act v. , sc. 2, "You play the
spaniel, and think with wagging of your tongue to win me. "
[1256] _Pictum. _ Cf. ad Juv. , xiv. , 301, "Mersâ rate naufragus assem
dum rogat et pictâ se tempestate tuetur. "
[1257] _Verum. _ His tale must not smack of previous preparation, but
must bear evidence of being genuine, natural, and spontaneous. So Hor. ,
A. P. , 102, "Si vis me flere dolendum est primum ipsi tibi: tunc tua me
infortunia lædent. "
[1258] _Atyn. _ These are probably quotations from Nero, as Dio says
(lxi. , 21), ἐκιθαρώδησεν Ἀττῖνα. The critics are divided as to the
defects in these lines; whether Persius intends to ridicule their
bombastic affectation, or the unartificial and unnecessary introduction
of the Dispondæus, and the rhyming of the terminations, like the
Leonine or monkish verses.
[1259] _Arma virum. _ The first words are put for the whole Æneid. The
critic objects, "Are not Virgil's lines inflated and frothy equally
with those you ridicule. " Persius answers in the objector's metaphor,
"They resemble a noble old tree with well-seasoned bark, not the crude
and sapless pith I have just quoted. "
[1260] _Laxa cervice. _ Alluding to the affected position of the head on
one side, of those who recited these effeminate strains.
[1261] _Mimalloneis. _ The four lines following are said to be Nero's,
taken from a poem called Bacchæ: the subject of which was the same as
the play of Euripides of that name, and many of the ideas evidently
borrowed from it. Its affected and turgid style is very clear from
this fragment. The epithets are all far-fetched, and the images
preposterous. The Bacchantes were called Mimallones from Mimas, a
mountain in Ionia. Bassareus was an epithet of Bacchus, from the
fox's skin in which he was represented: and the feminine form is here
applied to Agave: by the _vitulus_, Pentheus is intended: the Mænad
guides the car of Bacchus, drawn by spotted lynxes, not with reins, but
with clusters of ivy. "Could such verses be tolerated," Persius asks
indignantly, "did one spark of the homely, manly, vigorous spirit of
our sires still thrill in our veins? Verses which show no evidence of
anxious thought and careful labor, but flow as lightly from the lips as
the spittle that drivels from them. "
[1262] _Pluteum. _ Cf. Hor. , ii. , Sat. iii. , 7, "Culpantur frustra
calami, immeritusque laborat Iratis natus paries Diis atque poëtis. "
i. , Sat. x. , 70, "Et in versu faciendo sæpe caput scaberet vivos et
roderet ungues. "
[1263] _Majorum. _ Hor. , ii. , Sat. i. , 60, "O puer ut sis Vitalis metuo,
et majorum ne quis amicus frigore te feriat. "
[1264] _Canina litera. _ All the commentators are agreed that this
is the letter R, because the "burr" of the tongue in pronouncing it
resembles the snarl of a dog (cf. Lucil. , lib. i. , fr. 22, "Irritata
canis quod homo quam planius dicat"), but to _whom_ the growl refers is
a great question. It may be the surly answer of the great man's porter
who has orders not to admit you, or the growl of the dog chained at his
master's gate, who shares his master's antipathy to you; or again it
may be taken, as by Gifford,
"This currish humor you extend too far,
While every word growls with that hateful gnarr.
Lubinus explains it, "Great men are always irritable; and therefore in
their houses this sound is often heard. "
[1265] _Per me. _ "I will take your advice then: but let me know whose
verses I am to spare: just as sacred places have inscriptions warning
us to avoid all defilement of them. "
[1266] _Secuit Lucilius. _ So Juv. , i. , 165, "Ense velut stricto quoties
Lucilius ardens infremuit. "
[1267] _Lupe. _ Lucilius in his first book introduces the gods sitting
in council and deliberating what punishment shall be inflicted on the
perjured and impious Lupus. This Lupus is generally considered to be P.
Rutilius Lupus, consul A. U. C. 664. But Orellius shows that it is more
probably L. Corn. Lentulus Lupus, consul in A.
[1213] _Balba de nare. _ Balbutire is properly a defect of the _tongue_,
not of the nose.
[1214] _Eliquare_ is properly used of the melting down of metals. It is
here put for effeminate affectation of speech.
[1215] _Phyllidas. _ Not alluding probably to the Heroics of Ovid on
these two subjects, but to some wretched trash of his own day.
[1216] _Assensere. _ From Ov. , Met. , ix. , 259, "Assensere Dei. " So xiv. ,
592.
[1217] _Cinis. _ Cf. Ov. , Trist. , III. , iii. , 76. Amor. , III. , ix. , 67,
"Ossa quieta precor tuta requiescite in urnâ, Et sit humus cineri non
onerosa tuo. " Propert. , I. , xvii. , 24, "Ut mihi non ullo pondere terra
foret. " Juv. , vii. , 207, "Dii Majorum umbris tenuem et sine pondere
terram Spirantesque crocos et in urnâ. perpetuum ver. "
[1218] _Levior cippus. _ Virg. , Ecl. , x. , 33, "Oh mihi tum quam molliter
ossa quiescant. " Alluding to the usual inscription on the sepulchral
cippi, "Sit tibi terra levis. " It is strange, says D'Achaintre, that
the Romans should wish the earth to press lightly on the bones of their
friends, whom they honored with ponderous grave-stones and pillars;
while they prayed that "earth would lie heavy" on their enemies, to
whom they accorded no such honors.
[1219] _Nascentur violæ. _ Cf. Hamlet, Act v. , sc. 1, "And from her fair
and unpolluted flesh shall violets spring. "
[1220] _Uncis naribus. _ Hor. , i. , Sat. vi. , 5, "Ut plerique solent naso
suspendis adunco Ignotos. " ii. , Sat. viii. , 64, "Balatro suspendens
omnia naso. " Mart. , i. , Ep. iv. , 6, "Nasum Rhinocerotis habent. " The
Greek μυκτηρίζειν.
[1221] _Os populi_, as the Greeks say, τὸ διὰ τοῦ στόματος εἶναι: and
Ennius, "Volito vivus' per ora virûm. "
[1222] _Cedro. _ From the antiseptic properties of this wood, it was
used for presses for books, which were also dressed with the oil
expressed from the tree. Plin. , H. N. , xiii. , 5; xvi. , 88. Cf. Hor. , A.
P. , 331, "Speramus carmina fingi posse linenda cedro et levi servanda
cupresso. " Mart. , v. , Ep. vi. , 14, "Quæ cedro decorata purpurâque
nigris pagina crevit umbilicis. " Dioscorides calls the cedar τῶν νεκρῶν
ζωήν. i. , 89.
[1223] _Scombros. _ Hor. , ii. , Ep. i. , 266, "Cum scriptore meo capsâ
porrectus apertâ deferar in vicum vendentem thus et odores et piper
et quidquid chartis amicitur ineptis. " Mart. , vi. , Ep. lx. , 7, "Quam
multi tineas pascunt blattasque diserti, Et redimunt soli carmina docta
coci," i. e. , verses so bad as to be only fit for wrapping up cheap
fish and spices.
[1224] _Fas est. _ D'Achaintre's reading and interpretation is adopted,
instead of the old and meaningless _feci_.
[1225] _Exit. _ A metaphor from the potter's wheel. Hor. , A. P. , 21,
"Amphora cœpit institui currente rotâ cur urceus _exit_? "
[1226] _Rara avis. _ "An event as rare as the appearance of the Phœnix. "
Cf. Juv. , Sat. vi. , 165, "Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima
cygno. " vii. , 202, "Corvo quoque rarior albo. " Hor. , ii. , Sat. ii. , 26.
[1227] _Euge! Belle! _ The exclamations of one praising the recitations.
"Though a Stoic, and therefore holding that virtue is its own reward, I
am not so stony-hearted as to shrink from all praise. Yet I deny that
this idle, worthless praise can form the legitimate end and object of a
wise man's aim. "
[1228] _Ilias Acci. _ Cf. ad v. , 4. The effusion not of true genius,
but of the besotting influence of drugs. "The poet," as Casaubon says,
"has not reached the inspiring heights of Hippocrene, but muddled
himself with the hellebore that grows on the way thither. " The ancients
were not unacquainted with the use of this artificial stimulant to
genius. Cf. Plin. , xxv. , 5, "Quondam terribile, postea tam promiscuum,
ut plerique studiorum gratia ad providenda acrius quæ commentabantur
sumpsitaverint. "
[1229] _Crudi_; i. e. , "over their banquets. " «Literally "undigested,"
as Juv. , Sat. i. , 143, "Crudum pavonem in balnea portas. " Hor. , i. , Ep.
vi. , 6, "Crudi tumidique lavemur. "» ii. , Ep. i. , 109, "Pueri patresque
severi fronde comas vincti cœnant et carmina dictant. " Cf. Pers. , iii. ,
98.
[1230] _Citreis. _ Cf. ad Juv. , xi. , 95.
[1231] _Sumen. _ Juv. , xi. , 81; xii. , 73. Lucil. , v. , fr. 5. "You
purchase their applause by the good dinners you give them. " Cf. Hor. ,
i. , Epist. xix. , 37, "Non ego ventosæ plebis suffragia venor Impensis
cœnarum et tritæ munere vestis. "
[1232] _Horridulum. _ Juv. , i. , Sat. 93, "Horrenti tunicam non reddere
servo. " Ov. , A. Am. , ii. , 213.
[1233] _Verum amo. _ Plaut. , Mostill. , I. , iii. , 24, "Ego verum amo:
verum volo mihi dici: mendacem odi. " Hor. , A. P. , 424, "Mirabor si
sciet internoscere mendacem verumque beatus amicum. Tu seu donaris
seu quid donare voles cui, nolito ad versus tibi factos ducere plenum
lætitiæ; clamabit enim pulchre! bene! recte! "
[1234] _Nugaris. _
"Dotard!
this thriftless trade no more pursue.
Your lines are bald, and dropsical like you! " Gifford.
[1235] _Ciconia: manus: lingua. _ These are three methods employed even
to the present day in Italy of ridiculing a person behind his back.
Placing the fingers so as to imitate a stork pecking; moving the hands
up and down by the side of the temples like an ass's ears flapping; and
thrusting the tongue out of the mouth or into the side of the cheek.
[1236] _Patricius sanguis. _ Hor. , A. P. , 291, "Vos O Pompilius sanguis! "
[1237] _Jus est. _ "Ye, whose position places you above the necessity of
writing verses for gain, by refraining from writing your paltry trash,
avoid the ridicule that you are unconsciously exciting. "
[1238] _Occurrite. _ So iii. , 64, "Venienti occurrite morbo. "
[1239] _Sannæ. _ Juv. , vi. , 306, "Quâ sorbeat aera sannâ. "
[1240] _Junctura. _ A metaphor from statuaries or furniture-makers,
who passed the nail over the marble or polished wood, to detect any
flaw or unevenness. So Lucilius compares the artificial arrangement of
words to the putting together a tesselated pavement. Frag. incert. 4,
"Quam lepide lexeis compostæ? ut tesserulæ omnes Arte pavimento atque
emblemate vermiculato. " Cf. Hor. , A. P. , 292, "Carmen reprehendite quod
non multa dies et multa litura coercuit atque perfectum decies non
castigavit ad unguem. " i. , Sat. v. , 32," Ad unguem factus homo. " ii. ,
Sat. vii. , 87. Appul. , Fl. , 23, "Lapis ad unguem coæquatus. " Sidon.
Apoll. , ix. , Ep. 7, "Veluti cum crystallinas crustas aut onychitinas
non impacto digitus ungue perlabitur: quippe si nihil eum rimosis
obicibus exceptum tenax fractura remoretur. " This operation the Greeks
expressed by ἐξονυχίζειν. Polycletus used to say, χαλεπώτατον εἶναι τὸ
ἔργον ὅταν ἐν ὄνυχι ὁ πηλὸς γίγνηται. "The most difficult part of the
work is when the nail comes to be applied to the clay. "
[1241] _Oculo uno. _ From carpenters or masons, who shut one eye to
draw a straight line. θατέρῳ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἄμεινον πρὸς τοὺς κανόνας
ἀπευθύνοντας τὰ ξύλα. Luc. , Icarom. , ii.
[1242] _Poetæ. _ Probably another hit at Nero.
[1243] _Heroas. _ Those who till lately have confined themselves to
trifling effusions in Greek, now aspire to the dignity of Tragic poets.
[1244] _Corbes, etc. _ The usual common-places of poets singing in
praise of a country life. The Palilia was a festival in honor of the
goddess Pales, celebrated on the 21st of April, the anniversary of the
foundation of Rome. During this festival the rustics lighted fires of
hay and stubble, over which they leaped by way of purifying themselves.
Cf. Varro, L. L. , v. , 3, "Palilia tam privata quam publica sunt apud
rusticos: ut congestis cum fæno stipulis, ignem magnum transsiliant,
his Palilibus se expiari credentes. " Prop. iv. , El. i. , 19, "Annuaque
accenso celebrare Palilia fæna. "
[1245] _Quintius. _ Cincinnatus. Cf. Liv. , iii. , 26.
[1246] _Accius_ is here called Brisæus, an epithet of Bacchus, because
he wrote a tragedy on the same subject as the Bacchæ of Euripides.
[1247] _Venosus_ is probably applied to the hard knotted veins that
stand out on the faces and brows of old men. The allusion, therefore,
is to the taste of the Romans of Persius' days, for the rugged,
uncouth, and antiquated writing of their earlier poets. Nearly the
same idea is expressed by the word _verrucosa_, "full of warts, hard,
knotty, horny. " Cicero mentions this play: "Quis Ennii Medeam, et
Pacuvii Antiopam contemnat et rejiciat," de Fin. , i. , 2. The remainder
of the line is a quotation from Pacuvius. The word _ærumna_ was
obsolete when Quintilian wrote.
[1248] _Sartago. _ Juv. , x. , 64. Properly "a frying-pan," then used for
the miscellaneous ingredients put into it; or, as others think, for
the sputtering noise made in frying, to which Persius compared these
"sesquipedalia verba. " Casaubon quotes a fragment of the comic poet
Eubulus, speaking of the same thing, Λοπὰς παφλάζει βαρβάρῳ λαλήματι,
Πηδῶσι δ' ἰχθῦς ἐν μέσοισι τηγάνοις. "The dish splutters, with
barbarous prattle, and the fish leap in the middle of the frying-pan. "
The word is said to be of Syriac origin.
[1249] _Dedecus. _ The disgrace of corrupting the purity and simplicity
of the Latin language, by the mixture of this jargon of obsolete words
and phrases.
[1250] _Trossulus_ was a name applied to the Roman knights, from the
fact of their having taken the town of Trossulum in Etruria without the
assistance of the infantry. It was afterward used as a term of reproach
to effeminate and dissolute persons. The _Subsellia_ are the benches on
which these persons sit to hear the recitations. _Exultat_ expresses
the rapturous applause of the hearers. Hor. , A. P. , 430, "Tundet pede
terram. "
[1251] _Nilne pudet? _ He now attacks those who, even while pleading in
defense of a friend whose life is at stake, would aim at the applause
won by pretty conceits and nicely-balanced sentences. Niebuhr, Lect. ,
vol. iii. , p. 191, _seq. _
[1252] _Decenter_ is a more lukewarm expression of approbation than
euge or belle, pulchre or benè.
[1253] _Pedius_ Blæsus was accused of sacrilege and peculation by the
Cyrenians: he undertook his own defense, and the result was, he was
found guilty and expelled from the senate. Tac. , Ann. , xiv. , 18.
[1254] _Bellum hoc_ is the indignant repetition by Persius of the words
of applause.
[1255] _Ceves. _ "Does the descendant of the vigorous and warlike
Romulus stoop to winning favor by such fawning as this? " _Cevere_ is
said of a dog. Shakspeare, K. Henry VIII. , act v. , sc. 2, "You play the
spaniel, and think with wagging of your tongue to win me. "
[1256] _Pictum. _ Cf. ad Juv. , xiv. , 301, "Mersâ rate naufragus assem
dum rogat et pictâ se tempestate tuetur. "
[1257] _Verum. _ His tale must not smack of previous preparation, but
must bear evidence of being genuine, natural, and spontaneous. So Hor. ,
A. P. , 102, "Si vis me flere dolendum est primum ipsi tibi: tunc tua me
infortunia lædent. "
[1258] _Atyn. _ These are probably quotations from Nero, as Dio says
(lxi. , 21), ἐκιθαρώδησεν Ἀττῖνα. The critics are divided as to the
defects in these lines; whether Persius intends to ridicule their
bombastic affectation, or the unartificial and unnecessary introduction
of the Dispondæus, and the rhyming of the terminations, like the
Leonine or monkish verses.
[1259] _Arma virum. _ The first words are put for the whole Æneid. The
critic objects, "Are not Virgil's lines inflated and frothy equally
with those you ridicule. " Persius answers in the objector's metaphor,
"They resemble a noble old tree with well-seasoned bark, not the crude
and sapless pith I have just quoted. "
[1260] _Laxa cervice. _ Alluding to the affected position of the head on
one side, of those who recited these effeminate strains.
[1261] _Mimalloneis. _ The four lines following are said to be Nero's,
taken from a poem called Bacchæ: the subject of which was the same as
the play of Euripides of that name, and many of the ideas evidently
borrowed from it. Its affected and turgid style is very clear from
this fragment. The epithets are all far-fetched, and the images
preposterous. The Bacchantes were called Mimallones from Mimas, a
mountain in Ionia. Bassareus was an epithet of Bacchus, from the
fox's skin in which he was represented: and the feminine form is here
applied to Agave: by the _vitulus_, Pentheus is intended: the Mænad
guides the car of Bacchus, drawn by spotted lynxes, not with reins, but
with clusters of ivy. "Could such verses be tolerated," Persius asks
indignantly, "did one spark of the homely, manly, vigorous spirit of
our sires still thrill in our veins? Verses which show no evidence of
anxious thought and careful labor, but flow as lightly from the lips as
the spittle that drivels from them. "
[1262] _Pluteum. _ Cf. Hor. , ii. , Sat. iii. , 7, "Culpantur frustra
calami, immeritusque laborat Iratis natus paries Diis atque poëtis. "
i. , Sat. x. , 70, "Et in versu faciendo sæpe caput scaberet vivos et
roderet ungues. "
[1263] _Majorum. _ Hor. , ii. , Sat. i. , 60, "O puer ut sis Vitalis metuo,
et majorum ne quis amicus frigore te feriat. "
[1264] _Canina litera. _ All the commentators are agreed that this
is the letter R, because the "burr" of the tongue in pronouncing it
resembles the snarl of a dog (cf. Lucil. , lib. i. , fr. 22, "Irritata
canis quod homo quam planius dicat"), but to _whom_ the growl refers is
a great question. It may be the surly answer of the great man's porter
who has orders not to admit you, or the growl of the dog chained at his
master's gate, who shares his master's antipathy to you; or again it
may be taken, as by Gifford,
"This currish humor you extend too far,
While every word growls with that hateful gnarr.
Lubinus explains it, "Great men are always irritable; and therefore in
their houses this sound is often heard. "
[1265] _Per me. _ "I will take your advice then: but let me know whose
verses I am to spare: just as sacred places have inscriptions warning
us to avoid all defilement of them. "
[1266] _Secuit Lucilius. _ So Juv. , i. , 165, "Ense velut stricto quoties
Lucilius ardens infremuit. "
[1267] _Lupe. _ Lucilius in his first book introduces the gods sitting
in council and deliberating what punishment shall be inflicted on the
perjured and impious Lupus. This Lupus is generally considered to be P.
Rutilius Lupus, consul A. U. C. 664. But Orellius shows that it is more
probably L. Corn. Lentulus Lupus, consul in A.
