No More Learning

Suet. , Jul. , x. Pliny the Younger was once præfectus ærarii
Saturni.

[565] _Gemmata. _ Cf. v. , 39, 41. --_Setinum_, v. , 34.

"Fear the gemm'd goblet, and suspicious hold
The ruby juice that glows in cups of gold. " Badham.

[566] _De Sapientibus. _ Democritus of Abdera, and Heracleitus of
Ephesus.

[567] _Ridebat. _ Cf. Hor. , ii. , Ep. i. , 194, "Si foret in terris
_rideret_ Democritus. " δεῖσθαι μοι δοκεῖ Ἡρακλείτου ἤ Δημοκρίτου, τοῦ
μὲν γελασομένου τὴν ἄνοιαν αὐτῶν, τοῦ δὲ τὴν ἄγνοιαν ὀδυρομένου. Luc. ,
βι. πρ. , 13, τὸν γελῶντα, τὸν Ἀβδηρόθεν καὶ τὸν κλαίοντα τὸν ἐξ Ἐφέσου.

[568]

"The marvel this, since all the world can sneer,
What fountains fed the ever-needed tear. " Badham.

[569] _Trabeæ. _ Cf. ad viii. , 259.

[570] _Prætor. _ Juvenal has mixed up together the procession of the
prætor to open the Circensian games, and a triumphal procession. The
latter proceeded through the principal streets _to_ the Capitol. The
former, _from_ the Capitol to the _centre_ of the circus. The triumphal
car was in the shape of a turret, gilded, and drawn by four white
horses: it often occurs on coins. The tunica palmata, worn by generals
in their triumph, was kept in the temple of Jupiter. The toga picta was
purple, and so heavily embroidered that it may well be compared to a
brocaded curtain. Tyre was anciently called Sarra, which may be traced
in its modern name Sur.

"His robe a ponderous curtain of brocade,
Inwrought and stiff by Tyrian needles' aid. " Badham.

[571] _Orbem. _ Probably an allusion to Atlas.

[572] _Sufficit. _

"And would have crush'd it with the massy freight,
But that a sweating slave sustain'd the weight. " Dryden.

Probably the crown was _not_ worn, but merely _held_ by the slave at
his side.

"The menial destined in his car to ride,
And cool the swelling consul's feverish pride. " Hodgson.

[573] _Crasso. _ "Bœotum in _crasso_ jurares _ære_ natum. " Hor. , ii. ,
Ep. i. , 244. Bœotia was called the land of hogs, which so much annoyed
Pindar. Vid. Ol. , vi. , 152. Abdera seems to have had as bad a name. Cf.
Mart. , x. , Ep. xxv. , 3, "Abderitanæ pectora plebis habes. "

[574] _Medium unguem. _ Hence called "Infamis digitus. " Pers. , ii. , 33.
Cf. Mart. , ii. , Ep. xxviii. , 2, "digitum porrigito medium. " VI. , Ep.
lxx. , 5, "Ostendit digitum impudicum. "

[575] _Incerare. _ They used to fasten their vows, written on wax
tablets, to the knees or thighs of the gods. When their wishes were
granted, these were replaced by the offerings they had vowed. Cf. Hom. ,
Il. , p. , 514, θεῶν ἐν γούνασι κεῖται.

[576] _Mergit. _ Cf. Sil. , viii. , 285; or mergit may be used _actively_,
as xiii. , 8. Lucr. , v. , 1006. Virg. , Æn. , vi. , 512.

[577] _Statuæ. _ Cf. ad viii. , 18. Tac. , Ann. , vi. , 2. Plin. , Pan. , 52,
"Juvabat illidere solo superbissimos vultus, instare ferro, _sævire
securibus_, ut si singulos ictus sanguis dolorque sequeretur"--"instar
ultionis videretur cernere imagines abjectas excoctasque flammis. "

[578] _Immeritis. _

"The driven axe destroys the conquering car,
And unoffending steeds the ruin share. " Hodgson.

[579] _Adoratum. _ Cf. Tac. , Ann. , iii. , 72; iv. , 2, "Coli per theatra
et fora effigies ejus sineret. " Vid. Suet. , Tib. , lv. , 48, "Solæ nullam
Sejani imaginem inter signa coluissent. " 65, "Sejani imagines aureas
coli passim videret. "

[580] _Sartago. _

"And from the stride of those colossal legs
You buy the useful pan that fries your eggs. " Badham.

Dryden reads "matellæ. "

[581] _Pone domi lauros. _ Cf. ad ix. , 85.

[582] _Sequitur Fortunam. _

"When the king's _trump_, the mob are for the king. " Dryden.

[583] _Nurscia_, Nyrtia, Nortia, or Nurtia, the Etruscan goddess of
Fortune, nearly identical with Atropos, and cognate with Minerva. The
old Schol. says, "Fortuna apud Nyrtiam colitur _unde fuit Sejanus_. "
But Tacitus tells us (Ann. , iv. , l; vi. , 8) that Sejanus was a native
of Volsinii, now Bolsena. Outside the Florence gate of Bolsena stands
the ruin of a temple still called Tempio di Norzia. Cf. Liv. , vii. , 3;
Tertull. , Apoll. , 24, ad Nat. , ii. , 8; Müller's Etrusker, IV. , vii. , 6;
Dennis's Etruria, i. , p. 258, 509.

[584] _Fornacula. _ "A fire so fierce for one was scarcely made. "
Gifford.

[585] _Brutidius. _ Tacitus speaks thus of him: "Brutidium artibus
honestis copiosum et, si rectum iter pergeret, ad clarissima quæque
iturum festinatio exstimulabat, dum æquales, dein superiores, postremo
suasmet ipse spes anteire parat. " Ann. , iii. , 66. He had been one of
the accusers of Silanus, and was involved in Sejanus' fall. "Magna est
fornacula" is well borne out by Tacitus' account. "Cunctos qui carcere
attinebantur, accusati societatis cum Sejano, necari jubet. _Jacuit
immensa strages_; omnis sexus omnis ætas: inlustres ignobiles--corpora
adsectabantur dum in Tiberim traherentur. " Ann. , vi. , 19.

[586] _Victus. _ Fierce as Ajax, when worsted in the contest for the
arms of Achilles.

[587] _Exercitibus præponere. _ Vid. Tac. , Ann. , iv. , 2, "Centuriones ac
Tribunos ipse deligere: neque senatorio ambitu abstinebat clientes suos
honoribus aut provinciis ornando, facili Tiberio atque ita prono ut
socium laborum celebraret. "

[588] _Tutor. _

"Arraign
Thy feeble sovereign in a guardian's strain,
Who sits amid his foul Chaldæan herd
In that august domain to Rome preferr'd. " Badham.

[589] _Sedentis. _ Cf. Suet. , Tib. , 43; Tac. , Ann. , vi. , 1. Grangæus
supposes this word to have reference to the Sellaria there described.
It probably only refers to his luxury and indolence. Tiberius was with
Augustus when he visited Capreæ shortly before his death: "remisissimo
ad otium et ad omnem comitatem animo.
Vicinam Capreis insulam
ἀπραγοπόλιν appellabat à desidiâ secedentium illuc e comitatu suo. " Cf.
c. 40. Tac. , Ann. , iv. , 67.

[590] _Augusta. _ The old reading was angustâ. The alteration of a
single letter converts a forceless expletive into an epithet full of
picturesque and historic truth.

[591] _Egregios equites. _ The flower of the Roman army, the prætorian
troops, of which Sejanus was præfect.

[592] _Vasa minora. _

"To pound false weights and scanty measures break. " Dryden.

[593] _Ulubris. _ Cf. Hor. , i. , Ep. xi. , 30, "Est Ulubris, animus si non
tibi deficit æquus. " Another joke at the expense of the plebeian ædiles
(cf. iii. , 162), who had the charge of inspecting weights and measures,
markets and provisions, roads, theatres, etc. These functionaries still
exist (as Gifford says), "as ragged and consequential" as ever, in the
Italian villages, retaining their old name of Podestà.

"Deal out the law, and curb with high decree
The tricks of trade at empty Ulubræ. " Hodgson.

[594] _Altior. _ The idea is probably borrowed from Menander, ἐπαίρεται
γὰρ μεῖζον, ἵνα μεῖζον πέσῃ. So hence Horace, ii. , Od. x. , 10, "Celsæ
graviore casu decidunt turres. " So Claudian in Rufin. , i. , 22,
"Tolluntur in altum ut lapsu graviore ruant;" and Shakspeare, "Raised
up on high to be hurl'd down below. "

[595] _Ruinæ. _ So Milton.

"With hideous _ruin_ and combustion down. " C. Badham.

[596] _Crassos. _ M. Licinius Crassus and his son Publius; both killed
in the Parthian war.

[597] _Pompeios. _ Cn. Pompeius Magnus, and his two sons, Cnæus and
Sextus.

[598] _Domitos. _

"The stubborn pride of Roman nobles broke,
And bent their haughty necks beneath his yoke. " Dryd.

[599] _Colit. _ Ov. , Fast. , iii. , 816, "Qui benè placârit Pallada doctus
erit. "

[600] _Vernula. _ This slave was called Capsarius. Suet. , Ner. , 36. Cf.
ad vi. , 451.

[601] _Quinquatribus. _ Cf. Hor. , ii. , Ep. ii. , 197, "Puer ut festis
quinquatribus olim. " This festival originally lasted only _one_ day;
and was celebrated xiv. Kal. April. It was so called "quia _post diem
quintum_ Idus Martias ageretur. " So "post diem sextum" was called
Sexatrus; and "post diem septimum," Septimatrus. Varro, L. L. , v. ,
3. It was afterward _extended_ to five days; hence the "vulgus"
supposed that to have been the origin of the name; and so Ovid takes
it, "Nominaque a junctis quinque diebus habet," Fast. , iii. , 809; who
says it was kept in honor of Minerva's natal day, "Causa quod est
illâ nata Minerva die," l. 812. (Others say, because on that day her
temple on Mount Aventine was consecrated. ) Domitian kept the festival
in great state at his Alban villa. Suet. , Domit. , iv. Cicero has a
punning allusion to it. Vid. Fam. , xii. , 25. These five days were the
schoolmasters' holidays; and on the first they received their pay, or
entrance fee, διδακτρὰ, hence called Minerval; though Horace seems to
imply they were paid every month, "Octonis referentes Idibus æra. " I. ,
Sat. vi. , 75. The lesser Quinquatrus were on the Ides of June. Ov. ,
Fast. , vi. , 651, "Quinquatrus jubeor narrare minores," called also
Quinquatrus Minusculæ.

[602] _Rostra. _ Popilius Lenas, who cut off Cicero's head and hands,
carried them to Antony, who rewarded him with a civic crown and a large
sum of money, and ordered the head to be fixed between the hands to the
Rostra. (For the _name_, vid. Liv. , viii. , 14. )

[603] _Antonî gladios. _ Quoting Cicero's own words, "Contempsi Catilinæ
gladios, non pertimescam tuos. " Phil. , ii. , 46.

"For me, the sorriest rhymes I'd rather claim,
Than bear the brunt of that Philippic's fame,
The second! the divine! " Badham.

[604] _Torrentem. _ So i. , 9, "Torrens dicendi copia;" iii. , 74, "Isæo
torrentior. " At the approach of Antipater, Demosthenes fled from
Athens, and took refuge in the temple of Poseidon at Calaureia, near
Argolis; and fearing to fall into the hands of Archias, took poison,
which he carried about with him in a reed, or, as Pliny says, in a
ring, xxxiii. , 1.

[605] _Forcipibus. _ Cf. Virg. , Æn. , viii. , 453, "Versantque tenaci
forcipe massam. " Juvenal seems to have had the whole passage in his eye.

[606] _Vulcano. _ Demosthenes' father was a μαχαιροποιός: in which
capacity he employed a large number of slaves, ἐργαστήριον ἔχων μέγα
καὶ δούλους τεχνίτας. But as he could not afford to place his son under
the costly Isocrates, he sent him to Isæus.

[607] _Truncis. _ Virg. , Æn. , xi. , 5.

Ingentem quercum decisis undique ramis
Constituit tumulo, fulgentiaque induit arma,
Mezenti ducis _exuvias_, tibi magne _tropæum_
Bellipotens: aptat rorantes sanguine cristas
Telaque _trunca_ viri.

[608] _Aplustre_, the ἄφλαστον of the Greeks was the high peak of the
galley, from which rose the ensign.

[609] _Arcu. _ Cf. Suet. , Domit. , 13, "Janos arcusque cum quadrigis et
insignibus triumphorum per regiones urbis tantos et tot exstruxit, ut
cuidam Græcè inscriptum sit, ἀρκεῖ—. " Some think there is an allusion
here to the column of Trajan, erected in honor of his Dacian victories.
This would bring down the date of this Satire to after A. D. 113.

[610] _Amplectitur. _

"That none confess fair Virtue's genuine power,
Or woo her to their breast without a dower. " Gifford.

[611] _Sepulchris_; from Propertius, III. , ii. , 19, _seq. _ So Ausonius,
"Mors etiam saxis, nominibusque venit. "

"For fate hath foreordain'd its day of doom,
Not to the tenant only, but the tomb. " Badham.

[612] _Expende. _

"How are the mighty changed to dust! how small
The urn that holds what once was Hannibal! " Hodgson.

[613] _Altos_; others read _alios_; referring to the elephants of
_Africa_ as well as _Asia_. "Elephantos fert Africa, ferunt Æthiopes et
Troglodytæ: sed maximos India. " Plin. , viii. , 11.

[614] _Aceto. _ Vid. Liv. , xxi. , 37. Polybius omits the story as
fabulous. There appears, now, no reason to doubt the fact.

[615] Actum. "Nil actum referens si quid superesset agendum. "

"Peace courts his hand, but spreads her charms in vain;
'Think nothing gain'd,' he cries, 'till naught remain;
On Moscow's walls till Gothic standards fly,
And all be mine beneath the Polar sky. '" Johnson.

[616] _Facies. _

"Oh! for some master-hand, the lines to trace! " Gifford.

[617] _Luscum. _ Hannibal lost one eye, while crossing the marshes, in
making his way to Etruria: "quia medendi nec locus nec tempus erat
altero oculo capitur;" he rode, Livy tells us, on his sole surviving
elephant, xxii. , 2.

[618] _Bithyno. _ When accused by the Romans at Carthage, Hannibal
fled to Antiochus, king of Syria, and thence to the court of Prusias,
king of Bithynia, for whom he carried on successfully the war against
Eumenes. But when Flaminius was sent to demand his surrender, he
destroyed himself with poison, which he always carried in a ring.

[619] _Sanguinis. _ Forty-five thousand dead were left on the field of
Cannæ, with the Consul Æmilius Paulus, eighty senators, and very many
others of high rank.

[620] _Declamatio. _ Cf. vii. , 167, "Sexta quâque die miserum dirus
caput Hannibal implet. " So I. 150, and i. , 15.

"Go, climb the rugged Alps, ambitious fool!
To please the boys, and be a theme at school.