| | | |
| | | |Probably the lines in Satire iii.
| | | |Probably the lines in Satire iii.
Satires
Plin.
iv.
Ep.
11.
Cf.
A.
D.
83.
) This happened
| | | |after the death of Julia. Sat. ii. 32.
| | | |
|218| 98| 846|Sarmatian war. (Sat. ii. 1. ) Death of Agricola.
| | | |
| | | |Massa and Carus (i. 35, 36) referred by some to this
| | | |date.
| | | |
| | | |Influence of Paris. Sat. vi. 87, "Ludos Paridemque
| | | |reliquit. " Sat. vii. 87, "Paridi nisi vendat Agaven;"
| | | |and 90, _seq. _
| | | |
| | | |Palfurius Sura, Armillatus, Pegasus, Vibius Crispus
| | | |Placentinus, Acilius Glabrio, Fabricius Veiento,
| | | |Catullus Messalinus, Curtius Montanus, and Crispinus
| | | |flourish. Sat. iv. 50-150; vi. 82; i. 26; xi. 34.
| | | |
| | 94| 847|Lateranus consul. viii. 146, _seq. _, "Prætor majorum
| | | |cineres atque ossa volucri Carpento rapitur pinguis
| | | |_Damasippus_, et ipse, Ipse rotam stringit multo
| | | |sufflamine consul;" where some read "Lateranus;" others
| | | |say Lateranus is intended by Damasippus.
| | | |
| | | |This is probably the date of the event recorded in Sat.
| | | |iv. , "Illa tempora sævitiæ claras quibus abstulit Urbi
| | | |Illustresque animas impune et vindice nullo," l. 151.
| | | |Cf. Tac. Agric. 44, who says that after the death of
| | | |Agricola (A. D. 93) "Domitianus non jam per intervalla
| | | |ac spiramenta temporum sed continuo et velut uno ictu
| | | |Rempublicam exhausit," _et seq. _
| | | |
| | 95| 848|Death of Clemens, the consul.
| | | |
| | | |«Persecution of Christians. St. John at Patmos. »
| | | |
| | | |Flavia Domitilla exiled to _Pontia_. «Cf. xiii. 246,
| | | |"Aut maris Ægæi rupem, scopulosque frequentes Exulibus
| | | |magnis. "»
| | | |
| | | |The fourth book of the Sylvæ of Statius written.
| | | |
| | | |In the third book written A. D. 94, he mentions the
| | | |close of the Thebais. Cf. Sat. vii. 82, "Curritur ad
| | | |vocem jucundam et carmen amicæ Thebaidos, lætam fecit
| | | |quum Statius Urbem Promisitque diem. "
| | | |
| | | |The Thebaid had employed twelve years.
| | | |
| | 96| 849|Domitian killed in September, in his 45th year. Sat.
| | | |iv. 153, "Sed periit postquam cerdonibus esse timendus
| | | |Cœperat, hoc nocuit Lamiarum cæde madenti. "
| | | |
| | | |Nerva succeeds.
| | | |
|219| 97| 850|Nerva adopts Trajan. «Tacitus "Consul Suffectus. "»
| | | |
| | 98| 851|Death of Nerva, Jan. 25th, in his 63d year.
| | | |
| | | |Trajan (then at Cologne) succeeds.
| | | |
| | | |«Plutarch flourishes. Pliny, Præf. Ærarii Saturni. »
| | | |
| | 99| 852|Trajan enters Rome.
| | | |
| | | |«Martial, 10th book, 2d edition. Silius Italicus still
| | | |living. »
| | | |
| | 100| 853|Consulship of M. Cornelius Fronto with Trajan. Sat. i.
| | | |12, "Frontonis platani, convulsaque marmora clamant
| | | |Semper et assiduo ruptæ lectore columnæ. "
| | | |
| | | |Pliny and Tacitus impeach Marius Priscus, proconsul of
| | | |Africa. Fronto Catius defends him. Cf. Plin. ii. Epist.
| | | |xi. The case was tried before Trajan in person. Cf.
| | | |Sat. i. 47, "Et hic damnatus inani Judicio; quid enim
| | | |salvis infamia nummis? Exul ab octavâ Marius bibit, et
| | | |fruitur Diis iratis. " And viii. 120, "Quum tenues nuper
| | | |Marius discinxerit Afros. "
| | | |
| | | |Pliny's Panegyric, in his consulship.
| | | |
| | | |Death of S. John.
| | | |
| | | |«Martial returns to Bilbilis. Twelfth book of Epigrams. »
| | | |
|220| 101| 854|First Dacian war. "Trajanus primus aut solus etiam
| | | |vires Romanas trans _Istrum_ propagavit," Victor, p.
| | | |319; perhaps alluded to, Sat. viii. 169, "Syriæque
| | | |tuendis Amnibus et Rheno atque _Istro_. "
| | | |
| | | |Isæus flourishes. "Magna Isæum fama præcesserat: major
| | | |inventus est. Summa est facultas, copia, ubertas. "
| | | |Plin. ii. Epist. 3. Cf. Sat. iii. 73 (with the
| | | |Scholiasts), "Sermo promptus et Isæo torrentior. "
| | | |
| | 103| 856|Victories in Dacia. Peace granted to Decebalus.
| | | |
| | | |Trajan triumphs, and takes the name of "Dacicus. " (Cf.
| | | |110. ) «Pliny arrives at Bithynia. »
| | | |
| | 104| 857|Second Dacian war. Trajan takes the command.
| | | |
| | | |Hadrian serves. "Primæ legioni Minerviæ præpositus. "
| | | |Spartian. Hadr. 3.
| | | |
| | | |«Martial sends his 12th book to Rome. Vid. Ep. 18.
| | | |Pliny's letter about the Christians. »
| | | |
|221| 105| 858|Stone bridge over the Danube, by which Trajan conquers
| | | |the Dacians.
| | | |
| | 106| 859|Death of Decebalus. Dacia becomes a Roman province.
| | | |
| | | |Conquest of Arabia Petræa. 2d triumph of Trajan.
| | | |
| | 107| 860|Trajan's public works. Vid. Dio, lxviii. 15, τά τε
| | | |ἕλη τὰ Πόντινα ὡδοποίησε λίθῳ. κ. τ. λ. Cf. iii. 307,
| | | |"Armato quoties tutæ custode tenentur Et _Pomptina_
| | | |palus et Gallinaria pinus. "
| | | |
| | 110| 863|This road is finished. «Plutarch's Lives. »
| | | |
| | | |The _coins_ of Trajan of this year bear the words,
| | | |"GERMANICUS, DACICUS. " vi. 205, "_Dacicus_, et scripto
| | | |radiat _Germanicus_ auro. "
| | | |
| | 112| 865|Hadrian Archon at Athens.
| | | |
|223| 113| 866|The column of Trajan erected (cf. Dio, lxviii. 16), to
| | | |which some think there is an allusion in the line, x.
| | | |136, "Summo tristis captivus in arcu. "
| | | |
| | 114| 867|Trajan's expedition to the East, against the Armenians
| | | |and Parthians. He proceeds in the autumn through Athens
| | | |and Seleucia to Antioch.
| | | |
| | 115| 868|Earthquake at Antioch, in January or February, in which
| | | |the consul, M. Vergilianus Pedo, perished. Dio, lxviii.
| | | |24, 25.
| | | |
| | | |In the spring Trajan marches to Armenia. Sat. vi. 411,
| | | |"Nutare urbes, subsidere terram. "
| | | |
| | | |«Martyrdom of S. Ignatius. »
| | | |
| | 116| 869|Trajan enters Ctesiphon, and takes the title of
| | | |"Parthicus. " Sat. vi. 407, "Instantem regi Armenio
| | | |Parthoque. "
| | | |
|224| 117| 870|Trajan reaches Selinus in Cilicia, and dies in August,
| | | |in his 63d year.
| | | |
| | | |Hadrian, at Antioch, succeeds, in consequence of a
| | | |fictitious adoption managed by Plotina. Cf. Gibbon,
| | | |vol. i. p. 130. To this there is supposed to be
| | | |an allusion in Sat. i. 40, "Optima summi Nunc via
| | | |processus vetulæ vesica beatæ. "
| | | |
| | 118| 871|Hadrian comes to Rome.
| | | |
| | | |This is sixty years after the consulship of Fonteius.
| | | |Cf. A. D. 59. The thirteenth Satire was therefore
| | | |probably written this year. l. 17, "Stupet hæc qui jam
| | | |post terga reliquit Sexaginta annos, Fonteio consule
| | | |natus. " The common story is, that Calvinus, to whom
| | | |this Satire is addressed, was _three years_ Juvenal's
| | | |senior.
| | | |
| | | |Probably the lines in Satire iii. , from 60-113, are
| | | |an interpolation at a period subsequent to the first
| | | |composition of the Satire, and refer to this period.
| | | |Hadrian brought with him from _Antioch_ to Rome many
| | | |foreigners of all professions. Cf. iii. 62, "Jampridem
| | | |Syrus in Tiberim defluxit _Orontes_. " Among these
| | | |he particularly favored Epictetus of Hierapolis in
| | | |Phrygia, Favorinus of Arelate in Gaul, and Dionysius
| | | |of Miletus. To one of these Juvenal may refer in
| | | |Sat. iii. 75, "Quemvis hominem secum attulit ad nos
| | | |Grammaticus, Rhetor, Geometres, Pictor, Aliptes, Augur,
| | | |Schœnobates, Medicus, Magus, omnia novit, Ad summum
| | | |non Maurus erat nec Sarmata nec Thrax," _et seq. _
| | | |Cf. Spartian. Hadrian, c. 5, and especially c. 16,
| | | |where he says, "In summâ familiaritate Epictetum et
| | | |Heliodorum, philosophos, et _grammaticos, Rhetores_,
| | | |musicos, _Geometras, pictores_, astrologos habuit:
| | | |præ cæteris eminente Favorino," where the order is
| | | |rather remarkable. Dionysius of Miletus, moreover,
| | | |was a disciple of Isæus (cf. A. D. 101), l. 73,
| | | |"Ingenium velox audacia perdita, sermo Promptus et Isæo
| | | |torrentior. "
| | | |
| | | |Hadrian, after a four months' consulship, proceeded to
| | | |Campania, and thence to Gaul, Germany, and Britain:
| | | |Juvenal therefore might safely publish this in the
| | | |emperor's absence.
| | | |
| | 119| 872|Hadrian consul with Junius Rusticus.
| | | |
| | | |This is most probably the Junius mentioned Sat. xv.
| | | |27, "Nuper Consule Junio gesta. " Cf. Salmas. , Plin.
| | | |Exercit. p. 320.
| | | |
| | 120| 873|Hadrian's progress through the provinces.
| | | |
| | | |He builds the wall in Britain: "Compositis in Britanniâ
| | | |rebus, transgressus in Galliam. " Spartian. c. 10. This
| | | |may be alluded to, Sat. ii. 160, 161. Cf. Sat. xv. 111.
| | | |
| | | |«Plutarch, æt. 74. »
| | | |
|225| 121| 874|Birth of M. Aurelius.
| | | |
| | 122| 875|Hadrian at Athens.
| | | |
| | | |Artemidorus Capito, the physician, in great repute with
| | | |Hadrian. It is not impossible that he may be alluded to
| | | |under the name of "Heliodorus. " Cf. Sat. vi. 373.
| | | |
| | 124| 877|The eleventh Satire may perhaps be assigned to about
| | | |this date. It was written when Juvenal was advanced in
| | | |years. l. 203, "Nostra bibat vernum contracta cuticula
| | | |solem. "
| | | |
| | | |The excitement about the games in the circus (cf.
| | | |Gibbon, chap. xl. ) was as great as in the days of
| | | |Domitian; and the "green" appears at this time to have
| | | |been a victorious color. Compare Sat. xi. 195, "Totam
| | | |hodie Romam circus capit, et fragor aurem Percutit,
| | | |eventum _viridis_ quo colligo _panni_;" with the
| | | |inscription in Gruter, quoted in Clinton (in ann. ),
| | | |"Primum agitavit in factione _prasinâ_. " «Cf. Mart.
| | | |xiv. Ep. cxxxi. , written long after Domitian's time. »
| | | |
| | 126| 879|Birth of Pertinax.
| | | |
| | | |«Dionysius of Halicarnassus flourishes. »
| | | |
| | 128| 881|Hadrian takes the title of "Pater Patriæ. "
| | | |
|227| 129| 882|Julius Fronto mentioned, as commanding the "Classis
| | | |Prætoria Misenensis. " Cf. A. D. 100.
| | | |
| | 130| 883|In the autumn of this year Hadrian is in Egypt.
| | | |«Compare the Greek inscription quoted by Clinton from
| | | |Eckhel with Sat. xv. 5. »
| | | |
| | | |While on the Nile he lost his favorite Antinous, and
| | | |built a city to his memory, which he called after him.
| | | |It is very probable that the lines, Sat. i. 60, _seq. _,
| | | |referring primarily to Nero and Sporus, may have a
| | | |secondary allusion to Hadrian and Antinous.
| | | |
| | | |«Appian flourished. Galen born. »
| | | |
| | 138| 891|Death of Hadrian in his 63d year.
| | | |
L. E.
APPENDIX, ON THE DATE OF JUVENAL'S SATIRES.
The first Satire appears, from internal evidence, to have been written
subsequently to at least the larger portion of the other Satires. But
in this, as probably in many others, lines were interpolated here and
there, at a period long after the original composition of the main body
of the Satire; the cycle of events reproducing such a combination of
circumstances, that the Satirist could make his shafts come home with
two-fold pungency. For instance, the lines 60 _et seq. _, which probably
were in the first edition of the Satire directed against Nero and his
favorite Sporus, would tell with equal effect against Hadrian and
Antinous.
It is impossible, therefore, from any one given passage, to assign a
date to any of the Satires of Juvenal. All that can be done, is to
point out the allusion probably intended in the particular passages,
and by that means fix a date prior to which we may reasonably conclude
that portion could not have been written.
In those Satires whose subject is less complicated and extensive, a
nearer approximation may be obtained to the date of the composition; as
e. g. in the case of the second and eleventh Satires, and we may add
the thirteenth and fifteenth.
But in the first Satire, the allusions extend over so wide a period,
that unless we may suppose, as in the case just cited, that other
persons are intended under the names known to history, to whom his
readers would apply immediately the covert sarcasm, we can hardly
imagine that they could _all_ at any one given time serve to give point
to the shaft of the Satirist. Thus Crispinus, mentioned l. 27, was made
a senator by Nero, and lived probably under Domitian also. The barber
alluded to in l. 25 (if, as the commentators suppose, Cinnamus is the
person), must have lost all his wealth, and been reduced to poverty,
somewhere about A. D. 93, the date of Martial's seventh book of Epigrams
(who mentions the fact, and advises him to recur to his old trade, Ep.
VII. lxiv. ). Massa and Carus (l. 35, 36) are mentioned by Martial as
apparently flourishing when he wrote his twelfth book, which was sent
to Rome A. D. 104. Again, line 49 seems to refer to the condemnation of
Marius as a recent event; but this took place in A. D. 100. And in that
same year M. Cornelius Fronto was consul with Trajan; and may have been
the proprietor of the plane-groves, mentioned l. 12. But then, again,
we hear of Julius Fronto in A. D. 129, and Hadrian's conduct toward
Antinous in that and the following year, might well have given occasion
to the 60th and following lines; and if we are right in applying line
40 to Plotina's manœuvring to secure the succession to Hadrian, it will
furnish an additional argument for supposing these passages to have
been added some time after. We may therefore offer the conjecture, that
the first Satire was written shortly after the year A. D. 100, as a
preface or introduction to the book, and that a few additions were made
to it, even so late as thirty years subsequently.
The second Satire was, in all probability, the first written. The
allusion in the first line to the Sarmatæ, may perhaps be connected
with the Sarmatian war, which took place A. D. 93, and in which
Domitian engaged in person. And this date will correspond with the
other references in the Satire by which an approximation to the time
of its composition may be obtained. In A. D. 84 Domitian received the
censorship for life (l. 121), at the same time that he was carrying on
an incestuous intercourse with his own niece Julia. This connection
was continued for some years. Shortly after the death of Julia, the
Vestal virgin Cornelia was buried alive, A. D. 91. These are alluded
to as _recent_ events (l. 29, "nuper"). Agricola, too, the conqueror
of Britain, died A. D. 93 (cf. l. 160), whose campaigns are spoken of
as recent occurrences, "modo captas Orcadas. " The mention of Gracchus
also connects this with the eighth Satire, part of which at least was
probably written soon after the consulship of Lateranus in A. D. 94. We
may therefore conjecture that the Satire was composed between the years
A. D. 93 and 95.
The third Satire may perhaps have been written in the reign of
Domitian, and may refer to the general departure of men of worth from
Rome, when Domitian expelled the philosophers, A. D. 90. Umbritius,
who predicted the murder of Galba, A. D. 69, might have been alive at
that time; and, from his political views, would have been a friend of
Juvenal, who was a bitter enemy of Otho. The nightly deeds of violence
perpetrated by Nero would have been still fresh in men's memories (l.
278, _seq. _; cf. Pers. , Sat. , iv. , 49); as would the judicial murder of
Barea Soranus, and the arrogance of Fabricius Veiento (l. 116, 185).
Still there are other parts of the Satire that seem to bear evidence of
a later date. The name of Isæus would hardly have been so familiar in
Rome till ten years after this date, l. 74. It was not till A. D. 107
that Trajan undertook the draining of the Pontine marshes; to which
there is most probably an allusion in l. 32 and 307; to which nothing
of importance had been done since the days of Augustus. The great
influx of foreigners into Rome, in the train of Hadrian, at a still
later date, A. D. 118, probably gave rise to the spirited episode from
l. 58-125. (See Chronology. ) We may therefore consider it probable that
the main body of the Satire was written toward the close of the reign
of Domitian, and received additions in the commencement of the reign of
Hadrian.
The fourth Satire in all probability describes a real event; and would
have possessed but little interest after any great lapse of time,
subsequent to the fact described. We may therefore fairly assign it
to the early part of Nerva's reign, very shortly after the death of
Domitian, which is mentioned at the close of the Satire.
The fifth Satire contains nothing by which we can determine the date.
From Juvenal's hatred of Domitian, we may suppose that l. 36 was
suggested by the condemnation of Senecio, who was put to death for
writing a panegyric on Helvidius Priscus, A. D. 90. If the Aurelia
(l. 98) be the lady mentioned by Pliny (Epist. , ii. , 20), this would
strengthen the conjecture, as Pliny's second book of Epistles was
probably written very shortly before that date.
There is little doubt that considerable portions of the sixth Satire
were written in the reign of Trajan. 1. The lines 407-411 describe
exactly the events which took place at Antioch, in A. D. 115, when
Trajan was entering on his Armenian and Parthian campaigns. 2. The
coins of Trajan of the year A.
| | | |after the death of Julia. Sat. ii. 32.
| | | |
|218| 98| 846|Sarmatian war. (Sat. ii. 1. ) Death of Agricola.
| | | |
| | | |Massa and Carus (i. 35, 36) referred by some to this
| | | |date.
| | | |
| | | |Influence of Paris. Sat. vi. 87, "Ludos Paridemque
| | | |reliquit. " Sat. vii. 87, "Paridi nisi vendat Agaven;"
| | | |and 90, _seq. _
| | | |
| | | |Palfurius Sura, Armillatus, Pegasus, Vibius Crispus
| | | |Placentinus, Acilius Glabrio, Fabricius Veiento,
| | | |Catullus Messalinus, Curtius Montanus, and Crispinus
| | | |flourish. Sat. iv. 50-150; vi. 82; i. 26; xi. 34.
| | | |
| | 94| 847|Lateranus consul. viii. 146, _seq. _, "Prætor majorum
| | | |cineres atque ossa volucri Carpento rapitur pinguis
| | | |_Damasippus_, et ipse, Ipse rotam stringit multo
| | | |sufflamine consul;" where some read "Lateranus;" others
| | | |say Lateranus is intended by Damasippus.
| | | |
| | | |This is probably the date of the event recorded in Sat.
| | | |iv. , "Illa tempora sævitiæ claras quibus abstulit Urbi
| | | |Illustresque animas impune et vindice nullo," l. 151.
| | | |Cf. Tac. Agric. 44, who says that after the death of
| | | |Agricola (A. D. 93) "Domitianus non jam per intervalla
| | | |ac spiramenta temporum sed continuo et velut uno ictu
| | | |Rempublicam exhausit," _et seq. _
| | | |
| | 95| 848|Death of Clemens, the consul.
| | | |
| | | |«Persecution of Christians. St. John at Patmos. »
| | | |
| | | |Flavia Domitilla exiled to _Pontia_. «Cf. xiii. 246,
| | | |"Aut maris Ægæi rupem, scopulosque frequentes Exulibus
| | | |magnis. "»
| | | |
| | | |The fourth book of the Sylvæ of Statius written.
| | | |
| | | |In the third book written A. D. 94, he mentions the
| | | |close of the Thebais. Cf. Sat. vii. 82, "Curritur ad
| | | |vocem jucundam et carmen amicæ Thebaidos, lætam fecit
| | | |quum Statius Urbem Promisitque diem. "
| | | |
| | | |The Thebaid had employed twelve years.
| | | |
| | 96| 849|Domitian killed in September, in his 45th year. Sat.
| | | |iv. 153, "Sed periit postquam cerdonibus esse timendus
| | | |Cœperat, hoc nocuit Lamiarum cæde madenti. "
| | | |
| | | |Nerva succeeds.
| | | |
|219| 97| 850|Nerva adopts Trajan. «Tacitus "Consul Suffectus. "»
| | | |
| | 98| 851|Death of Nerva, Jan. 25th, in his 63d year.
| | | |
| | | |Trajan (then at Cologne) succeeds.
| | | |
| | | |«Plutarch flourishes. Pliny, Præf. Ærarii Saturni. »
| | | |
| | 99| 852|Trajan enters Rome.
| | | |
| | | |«Martial, 10th book, 2d edition. Silius Italicus still
| | | |living. »
| | | |
| | 100| 853|Consulship of M. Cornelius Fronto with Trajan. Sat. i.
| | | |12, "Frontonis platani, convulsaque marmora clamant
| | | |Semper et assiduo ruptæ lectore columnæ. "
| | | |
| | | |Pliny and Tacitus impeach Marius Priscus, proconsul of
| | | |Africa. Fronto Catius defends him. Cf. Plin. ii. Epist.
| | | |xi. The case was tried before Trajan in person. Cf.
| | | |Sat. i. 47, "Et hic damnatus inani Judicio; quid enim
| | | |salvis infamia nummis? Exul ab octavâ Marius bibit, et
| | | |fruitur Diis iratis. " And viii. 120, "Quum tenues nuper
| | | |Marius discinxerit Afros. "
| | | |
| | | |Pliny's Panegyric, in his consulship.
| | | |
| | | |Death of S. John.
| | | |
| | | |«Martial returns to Bilbilis. Twelfth book of Epigrams. »
| | | |
|220| 101| 854|First Dacian war. "Trajanus primus aut solus etiam
| | | |vires Romanas trans _Istrum_ propagavit," Victor, p.
| | | |319; perhaps alluded to, Sat. viii. 169, "Syriæque
| | | |tuendis Amnibus et Rheno atque _Istro_. "
| | | |
| | | |Isæus flourishes. "Magna Isæum fama præcesserat: major
| | | |inventus est. Summa est facultas, copia, ubertas. "
| | | |Plin. ii. Epist. 3. Cf. Sat. iii. 73 (with the
| | | |Scholiasts), "Sermo promptus et Isæo torrentior. "
| | | |
| | 103| 856|Victories in Dacia. Peace granted to Decebalus.
| | | |
| | | |Trajan triumphs, and takes the name of "Dacicus. " (Cf.
| | | |110. ) «Pliny arrives at Bithynia. »
| | | |
| | 104| 857|Second Dacian war. Trajan takes the command.
| | | |
| | | |Hadrian serves. "Primæ legioni Minerviæ præpositus. "
| | | |Spartian. Hadr. 3.
| | | |
| | | |«Martial sends his 12th book to Rome. Vid. Ep. 18.
| | | |Pliny's letter about the Christians. »
| | | |
|221| 105| 858|Stone bridge over the Danube, by which Trajan conquers
| | | |the Dacians.
| | | |
| | 106| 859|Death of Decebalus. Dacia becomes a Roman province.
| | | |
| | | |Conquest of Arabia Petræa. 2d triumph of Trajan.
| | | |
| | 107| 860|Trajan's public works. Vid. Dio, lxviii. 15, τά τε
| | | |ἕλη τὰ Πόντινα ὡδοποίησε λίθῳ. κ. τ. λ. Cf. iii. 307,
| | | |"Armato quoties tutæ custode tenentur Et _Pomptina_
| | | |palus et Gallinaria pinus. "
| | | |
| | 110| 863|This road is finished. «Plutarch's Lives. »
| | | |
| | | |The _coins_ of Trajan of this year bear the words,
| | | |"GERMANICUS, DACICUS. " vi. 205, "_Dacicus_, et scripto
| | | |radiat _Germanicus_ auro. "
| | | |
| | 112| 865|Hadrian Archon at Athens.
| | | |
|223| 113| 866|The column of Trajan erected (cf. Dio, lxviii. 16), to
| | | |which some think there is an allusion in the line, x.
| | | |136, "Summo tristis captivus in arcu. "
| | | |
| | 114| 867|Trajan's expedition to the East, against the Armenians
| | | |and Parthians. He proceeds in the autumn through Athens
| | | |and Seleucia to Antioch.
| | | |
| | 115| 868|Earthquake at Antioch, in January or February, in which
| | | |the consul, M. Vergilianus Pedo, perished. Dio, lxviii.
| | | |24, 25.
| | | |
| | | |In the spring Trajan marches to Armenia. Sat. vi. 411,
| | | |"Nutare urbes, subsidere terram. "
| | | |
| | | |«Martyrdom of S. Ignatius. »
| | | |
| | 116| 869|Trajan enters Ctesiphon, and takes the title of
| | | |"Parthicus. " Sat. vi. 407, "Instantem regi Armenio
| | | |Parthoque. "
| | | |
|224| 117| 870|Trajan reaches Selinus in Cilicia, and dies in August,
| | | |in his 63d year.
| | | |
| | | |Hadrian, at Antioch, succeeds, in consequence of a
| | | |fictitious adoption managed by Plotina. Cf. Gibbon,
| | | |vol. i. p. 130. To this there is supposed to be
| | | |an allusion in Sat. i. 40, "Optima summi Nunc via
| | | |processus vetulæ vesica beatæ. "
| | | |
| | 118| 871|Hadrian comes to Rome.
| | | |
| | | |This is sixty years after the consulship of Fonteius.
| | | |Cf. A. D. 59. The thirteenth Satire was therefore
| | | |probably written this year. l. 17, "Stupet hæc qui jam
| | | |post terga reliquit Sexaginta annos, Fonteio consule
| | | |natus. " The common story is, that Calvinus, to whom
| | | |this Satire is addressed, was _three years_ Juvenal's
| | | |senior.
| | | |
| | | |Probably the lines in Satire iii. , from 60-113, are
| | | |an interpolation at a period subsequent to the first
| | | |composition of the Satire, and refer to this period.
| | | |Hadrian brought with him from _Antioch_ to Rome many
| | | |foreigners of all professions. Cf. iii. 62, "Jampridem
| | | |Syrus in Tiberim defluxit _Orontes_. " Among these
| | | |he particularly favored Epictetus of Hierapolis in
| | | |Phrygia, Favorinus of Arelate in Gaul, and Dionysius
| | | |of Miletus. To one of these Juvenal may refer in
| | | |Sat. iii. 75, "Quemvis hominem secum attulit ad nos
| | | |Grammaticus, Rhetor, Geometres, Pictor, Aliptes, Augur,
| | | |Schœnobates, Medicus, Magus, omnia novit, Ad summum
| | | |non Maurus erat nec Sarmata nec Thrax," _et seq. _
| | | |Cf. Spartian. Hadrian, c. 5, and especially c. 16,
| | | |where he says, "In summâ familiaritate Epictetum et
| | | |Heliodorum, philosophos, et _grammaticos, Rhetores_,
| | | |musicos, _Geometras, pictores_, astrologos habuit:
| | | |præ cæteris eminente Favorino," where the order is
| | | |rather remarkable. Dionysius of Miletus, moreover,
| | | |was a disciple of Isæus (cf. A. D. 101), l. 73,
| | | |"Ingenium velox audacia perdita, sermo Promptus et Isæo
| | | |torrentior. "
| | | |
| | | |Hadrian, after a four months' consulship, proceeded to
| | | |Campania, and thence to Gaul, Germany, and Britain:
| | | |Juvenal therefore might safely publish this in the
| | | |emperor's absence.
| | | |
| | 119| 872|Hadrian consul with Junius Rusticus.
| | | |
| | | |This is most probably the Junius mentioned Sat. xv.
| | | |27, "Nuper Consule Junio gesta. " Cf. Salmas. , Plin.
| | | |Exercit. p. 320.
| | | |
| | 120| 873|Hadrian's progress through the provinces.
| | | |
| | | |He builds the wall in Britain: "Compositis in Britanniâ
| | | |rebus, transgressus in Galliam. " Spartian. c. 10. This
| | | |may be alluded to, Sat. ii. 160, 161. Cf. Sat. xv. 111.
| | | |
| | | |«Plutarch, æt. 74. »
| | | |
|225| 121| 874|Birth of M. Aurelius.
| | | |
| | 122| 875|Hadrian at Athens.
| | | |
| | | |Artemidorus Capito, the physician, in great repute with
| | | |Hadrian. It is not impossible that he may be alluded to
| | | |under the name of "Heliodorus. " Cf. Sat. vi. 373.
| | | |
| | 124| 877|The eleventh Satire may perhaps be assigned to about
| | | |this date. It was written when Juvenal was advanced in
| | | |years. l. 203, "Nostra bibat vernum contracta cuticula
| | | |solem. "
| | | |
| | | |The excitement about the games in the circus (cf.
| | | |Gibbon, chap. xl. ) was as great as in the days of
| | | |Domitian; and the "green" appears at this time to have
| | | |been a victorious color. Compare Sat. xi. 195, "Totam
| | | |hodie Romam circus capit, et fragor aurem Percutit,
| | | |eventum _viridis_ quo colligo _panni_;" with the
| | | |inscription in Gruter, quoted in Clinton (in ann. ),
| | | |"Primum agitavit in factione _prasinâ_. " «Cf. Mart.
| | | |xiv. Ep. cxxxi. , written long after Domitian's time. »
| | | |
| | 126| 879|Birth of Pertinax.
| | | |
| | | |«Dionysius of Halicarnassus flourishes. »
| | | |
| | 128| 881|Hadrian takes the title of "Pater Patriæ. "
| | | |
|227| 129| 882|Julius Fronto mentioned, as commanding the "Classis
| | | |Prætoria Misenensis. " Cf. A. D. 100.
| | | |
| | 130| 883|In the autumn of this year Hadrian is in Egypt.
| | | |«Compare the Greek inscription quoted by Clinton from
| | | |Eckhel with Sat. xv. 5. »
| | | |
| | | |While on the Nile he lost his favorite Antinous, and
| | | |built a city to his memory, which he called after him.
| | | |It is very probable that the lines, Sat. i. 60, _seq. _,
| | | |referring primarily to Nero and Sporus, may have a
| | | |secondary allusion to Hadrian and Antinous.
| | | |
| | | |«Appian flourished. Galen born. »
| | | |
| | 138| 891|Death of Hadrian in his 63d year.
| | | |
L. E.
APPENDIX, ON THE DATE OF JUVENAL'S SATIRES.
The first Satire appears, from internal evidence, to have been written
subsequently to at least the larger portion of the other Satires. But
in this, as probably in many others, lines were interpolated here and
there, at a period long after the original composition of the main body
of the Satire; the cycle of events reproducing such a combination of
circumstances, that the Satirist could make his shafts come home with
two-fold pungency. For instance, the lines 60 _et seq. _, which probably
were in the first edition of the Satire directed against Nero and his
favorite Sporus, would tell with equal effect against Hadrian and
Antinous.
It is impossible, therefore, from any one given passage, to assign a
date to any of the Satires of Juvenal. All that can be done, is to
point out the allusion probably intended in the particular passages,
and by that means fix a date prior to which we may reasonably conclude
that portion could not have been written.
In those Satires whose subject is less complicated and extensive, a
nearer approximation may be obtained to the date of the composition; as
e. g. in the case of the second and eleventh Satires, and we may add
the thirteenth and fifteenth.
But in the first Satire, the allusions extend over so wide a period,
that unless we may suppose, as in the case just cited, that other
persons are intended under the names known to history, to whom his
readers would apply immediately the covert sarcasm, we can hardly
imagine that they could _all_ at any one given time serve to give point
to the shaft of the Satirist. Thus Crispinus, mentioned l. 27, was made
a senator by Nero, and lived probably under Domitian also. The barber
alluded to in l. 25 (if, as the commentators suppose, Cinnamus is the
person), must have lost all his wealth, and been reduced to poverty,
somewhere about A. D. 93, the date of Martial's seventh book of Epigrams
(who mentions the fact, and advises him to recur to his old trade, Ep.
VII. lxiv. ). Massa and Carus (l. 35, 36) are mentioned by Martial as
apparently flourishing when he wrote his twelfth book, which was sent
to Rome A. D. 104. Again, line 49 seems to refer to the condemnation of
Marius as a recent event; but this took place in A. D. 100. And in that
same year M. Cornelius Fronto was consul with Trajan; and may have been
the proprietor of the plane-groves, mentioned l. 12. But then, again,
we hear of Julius Fronto in A. D. 129, and Hadrian's conduct toward
Antinous in that and the following year, might well have given occasion
to the 60th and following lines; and if we are right in applying line
40 to Plotina's manœuvring to secure the succession to Hadrian, it will
furnish an additional argument for supposing these passages to have
been added some time after. We may therefore offer the conjecture, that
the first Satire was written shortly after the year A. D. 100, as a
preface or introduction to the book, and that a few additions were made
to it, even so late as thirty years subsequently.
The second Satire was, in all probability, the first written. The
allusion in the first line to the Sarmatæ, may perhaps be connected
with the Sarmatian war, which took place A. D. 93, and in which
Domitian engaged in person. And this date will correspond with the
other references in the Satire by which an approximation to the time
of its composition may be obtained. In A. D. 84 Domitian received the
censorship for life (l. 121), at the same time that he was carrying on
an incestuous intercourse with his own niece Julia. This connection
was continued for some years. Shortly after the death of Julia, the
Vestal virgin Cornelia was buried alive, A. D. 91. These are alluded
to as _recent_ events (l. 29, "nuper"). Agricola, too, the conqueror
of Britain, died A. D. 93 (cf. l. 160), whose campaigns are spoken of
as recent occurrences, "modo captas Orcadas. " The mention of Gracchus
also connects this with the eighth Satire, part of which at least was
probably written soon after the consulship of Lateranus in A. D. 94. We
may therefore conjecture that the Satire was composed between the years
A. D. 93 and 95.
The third Satire may perhaps have been written in the reign of
Domitian, and may refer to the general departure of men of worth from
Rome, when Domitian expelled the philosophers, A. D. 90. Umbritius,
who predicted the murder of Galba, A. D. 69, might have been alive at
that time; and, from his political views, would have been a friend of
Juvenal, who was a bitter enemy of Otho. The nightly deeds of violence
perpetrated by Nero would have been still fresh in men's memories (l.
278, _seq. _; cf. Pers. , Sat. , iv. , 49); as would the judicial murder of
Barea Soranus, and the arrogance of Fabricius Veiento (l. 116, 185).
Still there are other parts of the Satire that seem to bear evidence of
a later date. The name of Isæus would hardly have been so familiar in
Rome till ten years after this date, l. 74. It was not till A. D. 107
that Trajan undertook the draining of the Pontine marshes; to which
there is most probably an allusion in l. 32 and 307; to which nothing
of importance had been done since the days of Augustus. The great
influx of foreigners into Rome, in the train of Hadrian, at a still
later date, A. D. 118, probably gave rise to the spirited episode from
l. 58-125. (See Chronology. ) We may therefore consider it probable that
the main body of the Satire was written toward the close of the reign
of Domitian, and received additions in the commencement of the reign of
Hadrian.
The fourth Satire in all probability describes a real event; and would
have possessed but little interest after any great lapse of time,
subsequent to the fact described. We may therefore fairly assign it
to the early part of Nerva's reign, very shortly after the death of
Domitian, which is mentioned at the close of the Satire.
The fifth Satire contains nothing by which we can determine the date.
From Juvenal's hatred of Domitian, we may suppose that l. 36 was
suggested by the condemnation of Senecio, who was put to death for
writing a panegyric on Helvidius Priscus, A. D. 90. If the Aurelia
(l. 98) be the lady mentioned by Pliny (Epist. , ii. , 20), this would
strengthen the conjecture, as Pliny's second book of Epistles was
probably written very shortly before that date.
There is little doubt that considerable portions of the sixth Satire
were written in the reign of Trajan. 1. The lines 407-411 describe
exactly the events which took place at Antioch, in A. D. 115, when
Trajan was entering on his Armenian and Parthian campaigns. 2. The
coins of Trajan of the year A.
