No More Learning

The object is the same in all three; to set before as the real
opinion which all good and worthy men entertained, even in the
days of Pagan blindness, of the manner and spirit in which the
deity is to be approached by prayer and sacrifice, and holds up
to reprobation and ridicule the groveling and low-minded notions
which the vulgar herd, besotted by ignorance and blinded by
self-interest, hold on the subject. While we admire the logical
subtlety with which Plato leads us to a necessary acknowledgment
of the justice of his view, and the thoroughly practical
philosophy by which Juvenal would divert men from indulging in
prayers dictated by mere self-interest, we must allow Persius
the high praise of having compressed the whole subject with a
masterly hand into a few vivid and comprehensive sentences.

The Satire consists of three parts. The first is merely an
introduction to the subject. Taking advantage of the custom
prevalent among the Romans of offering prayers and victims,
and receiving presents and congratulatory addresses from their
friends, on their birthday, Persius sends a poetical present to
his friend Plotius Macrinus, with some hints on the true nature
of prayer. He at the same time compliments him on his superiority
to the mass of mankind, and especially to those of his own rank,
in the view he took of the subject.

In the second part he exposes the vulgar errors and prejudices
respecting prayer and sacrifice, and shows that prayers usually
offered are wrong, 1st, as to their _matter_, and 2dly, as to
their _manner_: that they originate in low and sordid views of
self-interest and avarice, in ignorant superstition, or the
cravings of an inordinate vanity. At the same time he holds
up to scorn the folly of those who offer up costly prayers,
the fulfillment of which they themselves render impossible, by
indulging in vicious and depraved habits, utterly incompatible
with the requests they prefer. Lastly, he explains the origin of
these sordid and worse than useless prayers. They arise from the
impious and mistaken notions formed by men who, vainly imagining
that the Deity is even such a one as themselves, endeavor to
propitiate his favor in the same groveling spirit, and with the
same unworthy offerings with which they would bribe the goodwill
of one weak and depraved as themselves; as though, in Plato's
words, an ἐμπορικὴ τέχνη had been established between themselves
and heaven. The whole concludes with a sublime passage,
describing in language almost approaching the dignity of inspired
wisdom, the state of heart and moral feeling necessary to insure
a favorable answer to prayers preferred at the throne of heaven.

"Mark this day, Macrinus,[1287] with a whiter stone,[1288] which, with
auspicious omen, augments[1289] thy fleeting years. [1290] Pour out
the wine to thy Genius! [1291] Thou at least dost not with mercenary
prayer ask for what thou couldst not intrust to the gods unless taken
aside. But a great proportion of our nobles will make libations
with a silent censer. It is not easy for every one to remove from
the temples his murmur and low whispers, and live with undisguised
prayers. [1292] A sound mind,[1293] a good name, integrity"--for
these he prays aloud, and so that his neighbor may hear. But in his
inmost breast, and beneath his breath, he murmurs thus, "Oh that my
uncle would evaporate! [1294] what a splendid funeral! and oh that by
Hercules'[1295] good favor a jar[1296] of silver would ring beneath
my rake! or, would that I could wipe out[1297] my ward, whose heels
I tread on as next heir! For he is scrofulous, and swollen with
acrid bile. This is the third wife that Nerius is now taking[1298]
home! "--That you may pray for these things with due holiness, you
plunge your head twice or thrice of a morning[1299] in Tiber's
eddies,[1300] and purge away the defilements of night in the running
stream.

Come now! answer me! It is but a little trifle that I wish to know!
What think you of Jupiter? [1301] Would you care to prefer him to some
man! To whom? Well, say to Staius. [1302] Are you at a loss indeed?
Which were the better judge, or better suited to the charge of orphan
children! Come then, say to Staius that wherewith you would attempt to
influence the ear of Jupiter. "O Jupiter! "[1303] he would exclaim, "O
good Jupiter! " But would not Jove himself call out, "O Jove! "

Thinkest thou he has forgiven thee,[1304] because, when he thunders,
the holm-oak[1305] is rather riven with his sacred bolt than thou
and all thy house? [1306] Or because thou dost not, at the bidding of
the entrails of the sheep,[1307] and Ergenna, lie in the sacred grove
a dread bidental to be shunned of all, that therefore he gives thee
his insensate beard to pluck? [1308] Or what is the bribe by which
thou wouldst win over the ears of the gods? With lungs, and greasy
chitterlings? See[1309] some grandam or superstitious[1310] aunt
takes the infant from his cradle, and skilled in warding off the evil
eye,[1311] effascinates his brow and driveling lips with middle[1312]
finger and with lustral spittle, first. Then dandles[1313] him in her
arms, and with suppliant prayer transports him either to the broad
lands of Licinus[1314] or the palaces of Crassus. [1315] "Him may some
king and queen covet as a son-in-law! May maidens long to ravish him!
Whatever he treads on may it turn to roses! " But I do not trust prayers
to a nurse. [1316] Refuse her these requests, great Jove, even though
she make them clothed in white! [1317]

You ask vigor for your sinews,[1318] and a frame that will insure old
age. Well, so be it. But rich dishes and fat sausages prevent the gods
from assenting to these prayers, and baffle Jove himself.

You are eager to amass a fortune, by sacrificing a bull; and court
Mercury's favor by his entrails. "Grant that my household gods may make
me lucky! Grant me cattle, and increase to my flocks! " How can that be,
poor wretch, while so many cauls of thy heifers melt in the flames?
Yet still he strives to gain his point by means of entrails and rich
cakes. [1319] "Now my land, and now my sheepfold teems. Now, surely
now, it will be granted! " Until, baffled and hopeless, his sestertius
at the very bottom of his money-chest sighs in vain.

Were I to offer you[1320] goblets of silver and presents embossed with
rich gold,[1321] you would perspire with delight, and your heart,
palpitating with joy in your left breast,[1322] would force even the
tear-drops from your eyes. And hence it is the idea enters[1323]
your mind of covering the sacred faces of the gods with triumphal
gold. [1324] For among the Brazen brothers,[1325] let those be chief,
and let their beards be of gold, who send dreams purged from gross
humors. Gold hath expelled the vases of Numa[1326] and Saturnian[1327]
brass, and the vestal urns and the pottery of Tuscany.

Oh! souls bowed down to earth! and void of aught celestial! Of what
avail is it to introduce into the temples of the gods these our modes
of feeling, and estimate what is acceptable to them by referring to our
own accursed flesh. [1328] This it is that has dissolved Cassia[1329]
in the oil it pollutes. This has dyed the fleece of Calabria[1330]
with the vitiated purple. To scrape the pearl from its shell, and from
the crude ore to smelt out the veins of the glowing mass; this carnal
nature bids. She sins in truth. She sins. Still from her vice gains
some emolument.

* * * * *

Say ye, ye priests! of what avail is gold in sacrifice? As much,
forsooth, as the dolls which the maiden bestows on Venus! Why do we not
offer that to the gods which the blear-eyed progeny of great Messala
can not give even from his high-heaped charger. Justice to god and man
enshrined[1331] within the heart; the inner chambers[1332] of the soul
free from pollution; the breast imbued[1333] with generous honor. Give
me these to present at the temples, and I will make my successful
offering[1334] with a little meal. [1335]

FOOTNOTES:

[1287] _Macrine. _ Nothing is known of this friend of Persius, but from
the old Scholiast, who tells us that his name was Plotius Macrinus;
that he was a man of great learning, and of a fatherly regard for
Persius, and that he had studied in the house of Servilius. Britannicus
calls him Minutius Macrinus, and says he was of equestrian rank, and a
native of Brixia, now "Brescia. "

[1288] _Meliore lapillo. _ The Thracians were said to put a _white_
stone into a box to mark every happy day they spent, and a _black_
stone for every unhappy day, and to reckon up at the end of their
lives how many happy days they had passed. Plin. , H. N. , vii. , 40.
So Mart. , ix. , Ep. 53, "Natales, Ovidi, tuos Apriles Ut nostras amo
Martias Kalendas; Felix utraque lux diesque nobis Signandi melioribus
lapillis. " Hor. , i. , Od. xxxvi. , 10, "Cressâ ne careat pulchra dies
notâ. " Plin. , Ep. vi. , 11, "O Diem lætum notandum mihi candidissimo
calculo. " Cat. , lxviii. , 148, "Quem lapide illa diem candidiore notet. "

[1289] _Apponit. _ A technical word in calculating; as in Greek,
τιθέναι, and προστιθέναι. So "Appone lucro. " Hor. , i. , Od. ix. , 14.

[1290] _Annos. _ For the respect paid by the Romans to their birthdays,
see Juv. , xi. , 83; xii. , 1; Pers. , vi. , 19; and Censorinus, de Die
Natali, pass.

[1291] _Genio. _ Genius, "a genendo. " The deity who presides over each
man from his birth, as some held, being coeval with the man himself.
The birthday was sacred to him; the offerings consisted of wine,
flowers, and incense. "Manum a sanguine abstinebant: ne die quâ ipsi
lucem accepissent, aliis demerent. " Censor, a Varrone. Cf. Serv. ad
Virg. , Geor. , i. , 302. Hor. , ii. , Ep. ii. , 187, "Scit Genius natale
comes qui temperat astrum, naturæ deus humanæ, mortalis in unumquodque
caput;" and ii. , Ep. i. , 143, "Sylvanum lacte piabant, Floribus et vino
Genium memorem brevis ævi. " Cf. Orell. , in loc. On other days, they
offered bloody victims also to the Genius. "Cras Genium mero Curabis et
porco bimestri. " Hor. , iii. , Od. xvii. , 14.

[1292] _Aperto voto. _ "To offer no prayer that you would fear to
divulge," according to the maxim of Pythagoras, μετὰ φωνῆς εὔχεο,
and that of Seneca, "Sic vive cum hominibus tanquam deus videat: sic
loquere cum deo tanquam homines audiant. "

[1293] _Mens bona. _ Juv. , x. , 356, "Orandum est ut sit mens sana in
corpore sano. "

[1294] _Ebullit. _ "Boil away. "

[1295] _Hercule. _ Hercules was considered the guardian of hidden
treasure, and as Mercury presided over open gains and profits by
merchandise, so Hercules was supposed to be the giver of all sudden and
unexpected good fortune; hence called πλουτοδότης. Cf. Hor. , ii. , Sat.
vi. , 10, "O si urnam argenti fors quæ mihi monstret ut illi Thesauro
invento qui mercenarius agrum illum ipsum mercatus aravit, dives amico
Hercule. "

[1296] _Seria_, "a tall, narrow, long-necked vessel, frequently used
for holding money. "

[1297] _Expungam_, a metaphor from the military roll-calls, from which
the names of all soldiers dead or discharged were expunged.

[1298] _Ducitur. _ Casaubon reads "conditur. " Cf. Mart. , x. , Ep. xliii. ,
"Septima jam Phileros tibi conditur uxor in agro: Plus nulli, Phileros,
quam tibi reddit ager. "

[1299] _Mane. _ Cf. Tibull. , III. , iv. , 9, "At natum in curas hominum
genus omina noctis farre pio placant et saliente sale. " Propert. , III. ,
x. , 13, "Ac primum purâ somnum tibi discute lymphâ. " The ancients
believed that night itself, independently of any extraneous pollution,
occasioned a certain amount of defilement which must be washed away
in pure water at daybreak. Cf. Virg. , Æn. , viii. , 69, "Nox Ænean
somnusque reliquit. Surgit et ætherii spectans orientia Solis Lumina
rite cavis undam de flumine palmis Sustulit. " Cf. Theophrast. , περὶ
δεισιδαιμονιὰς, fin.

[1300] _Tiberino in gurgite. _ Cf. Juv. , vi.
, 522, "Hibernum fractâ
glacie descendet in amnem, ter matutino Tiberi mergetur et ipsis
Vorticibus timidum caput abluet. " Hor. , ii. , Sat. iii. , 290, "Illo mane
die quo tu indicis jejunia nudus in Tiberi stabit. " Virg. , Æn. , ii,
719, "Me attrectare nefas donec me flumine vivo abluero. " Ov. , Fast. ,
iv. , 655, "Bis caput intonsum fontanâ spargitur undâ. " 315, "Ter caput
irrorat, ter tollit in æthera palmas. "

[1301] _De Jove. _ Read, with Casaubon, "Est ne ut præponere cures Hunc
cuiquam? cuinam? "

[1302] _Staio. _ The allusion is probably to Staienus, whom Cicero often
mentions as a most corrupt judge. Pro Cluent. , vii. , 24; in Verr. ,
ii. , 32. He is said to have murdered his own wife, his brother, and
his brother's wife. Yet even to such a wretch as this, says Persius,
you would not venture to name the wishes you prefer to Jove. Cf.
Sen. , Ep. x. , "Nunc quanta dementia est hominum! Turpissima vota Diis
insusurrant, si quis admoverit aurem, conticescent; et quod scire
hominem nolunt, deo narrant. "

[1303] _Jupiter. _ Cf. Hor. , i. , Sat. ii. , 17, "Maxime, quis non,
Jupiter! exclamat simul atque audivit. "

[1304] _Ignovisse. _ Cf. Eccles. , viii. , 11, "Because sentence against
an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the
sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. " Tib. , I. , ii. , 8; ix. ,
4. Claudian. ad Hadr. , 38, _seq. _ Juv. , xiii, 10, "Ut sit magna tamen
certè lenta ira deorum est. "

[1305] _Ilex. _ The idea is taken probably from the well-known lines
of Lucretius, vi. , 387, "Quod si Jupiter atque alii fulgentia Divei
Terrifico quatiunt sonitu cœlestia templa, Et jaciunt ignem quo quoique
est quomque voluntas: Quur quibus incautum scelus aversabile quomque
est non faciunt, ictei flammas ut fulguris halent Pectore perfixo
documen mortalibus acre? Et potius nulla sibi turpi conscius in re
volvitur in flammeis innoxius, inque peditur Turbine cœlesti subito
correptus et igni. " Lucian parodies it also, τὶ δήποτε τοὺς ἱεροσύλους
καὶ λῃστὰς ἀφέντες καὶ τοσούτους ὑβριστὰς καὶ βιαίους καὶ ἐπιόρκους,
δρῦν τινὰ πολλάκις κεραυνοῦτε ἢ λίθον ἢ νεὼς ἱστὸν οὐδὲν ἀδικούσης;
Jup. Conf. , ii. , 638.

[1306] _Tuque domusque. _ Probably taken from Homer, εἴπερ γάρ τε καὶ
αὐτίκ' Ὀλύμπιος οὐκ ἐτέλεσσεν, Ἔκ γε καὶ ὀψὲ τελεῖ· σύν τε μεγάλω
ἀπέτισαν, Σὺν σφῇσι κεφαλῇσι γύναιξί τε καὶ τεκέεσσιν.

[1307] _Fibris. _ When any person was struck dead by lightning, the
priest was immediately called in to bury the body: every thing that
had been scorched by it was carefully collected and buried with it.
A two-year old sheep was then sacrificed, and an altar erected over
the place and the ground slightly inclosed round. Lucan. , viii. , 864,
"Inclusum Tusco venerantur cæspite fulmen. " Hor. , A. P. , 471, "An
triste bidental moverit incestus. " Juv. , vi. , 587, "Atque aliquis
senior qui publica fulgura condit. " Ergenna, or Ergennas, is the name
of some Tuscan soothsayer, who gives his directions after inspecting
the entrails; the termination being Tuscan, as Porsenna, Sisenna,
Perpenna, etc. Bidental is applied indifferently to the place,
the sacrifice, and the person. Bidens is properly a sheep fit for
sacrifice, which was so considered when two years old. Hence bidens may
be a corruption of biennis; or from bis and dens, because at the age of
two years the sheep has eight teeth, two of which project far beyond
the rest, and are the criterion of the animal's age.

[1308] _Vellere barbam. _ Alluding to the well-known story of Dionysius
of Syracuse. Cf. Sat. i. , 133.

[1309] _Ecce. _ He now passes on to prayers that result from
superstitious ignorance, or over-fondness, and which, as far as the
_matter_ is concerned, are equally erroneous with the previous class,
though not of the same malicious character. On the fifth day after the
birth of an infant, sacrifices and prayers were offered for the child
to the deities Pilumnus and Picumnus. Purificatory offerings were
made on the eighth day for girls, and on the ninth for boys. The day
therefore was called dies lustricus, and nominalis, because the name
was given. The Greeks called it ὀνομάτων ἑορτή.

[1310] _Metuens Divûm_, i. e. , δεισιδαίμων. "Matetera, quasi Mater
altera. "

[1311] _Urentes. _ Literally, "blasting, withering. " The belief in the
effects of the "evil eye" is as prevalent as ever in Southern Europe.
They were supposed to extend even to cattle. "Nescio quis teneros
oculus mihi fascinat agnos. " Virg. , Ecl. , iii. , 103. To avert this,
they anointed the child with saliva, and suspended amulets of various
kinds from its neck.

[1312] _Infami digito. _ The middle finger was so called because used
to point in scorn and derision. Cf. Juv. , x. , 53, "Mandaret laqueum
mediumque ostenderet unguem. "

[1313] _Manibus quatit. _ So Homer (lib. vi. ) represents Hector as
tossing his child in his arms, and then offering up a prayer for him.

[1314] _Licinus. _ Probably the Licinus mentioned in Juv. , Sat. i. , 109;
xiv. , 306; the barber and freedman of Augustus, an epigram on whom
is quoted by Varro. "Marmoreo Licinus tumulo jacet: at Cato parvo.
Pompeius nullo. Quis putet esse deos? " Casaubon supposes the Licinius
Stolo mentioned by Livy (vii. , 16) to be intended.

[1315] _Crassi. _ Cf. Juv. , x. , 108.

[1316] _Nutrici. _ Seneca has the same sentiment, Ep. ix. , "Etiamnum
optas quæ tibi optavit nutrix, aut pædagogus, aut mater? Nondum
intelligis quantum mali optaverint. "

[1317] _Albata. _ Those who presided over or attended at sacrifices
always dressed in white.

[1318] _Poscis opem nervis. _ Persius now goes on to ridicule those who
by their own folly render the fulfillment of their prayers impossible;
who pray for health, which they destroy by vicious indulgence; for
wealth, which they idly squander on the costly sacrifices they offer
to render their prayers propitious, and the sumptuous banquets which
always followed those sacrifices.

[1319] _Ferto_, a kind of cake or rich pudding, made of flour, wine,
honey, etc.

[1320] _Si tibi. _ He now proceeds to investigate the cause of these
misdirected prayers, and shows that it results from a belief that the
deity is influenced by the same motives, and to be won over by the same
means, as mortal men. Hence the costly nature of the offerings made and
the vessels employed in the service of the temple.

[1321] _Incusa. _ Cf. Sen. , Ep. v. , "Non habemus argentum in quod solidi
auri cœlatura descendit. " An incrustation or enchasing of gold was
impressed upon vessels of silver. This the Greeks called ἐμπαιστικὴ
τέχνη.

[1322] _Lævo. _ This is the usual interpretation. It may mean, "in your
breast, blinded by avarice and covetousness," as Virg. , Æn. , xi. , "Si
mens non læva fuisset. "

[1323] _Subiit. _ Sen. , Ep. 115, "Admirationem nobis parentes auri
argentique fecerunt: et teneris infusa cupiditas altiùs sedit crevitque
nobiscum. Deinde totus populus, in alio discors, in hoc convenit: hoc
suspiciunt, hoc suis optant, hoc diis velut rerum humanarum maximum cum
grati videri velint, consecrant. "

[1324] _Auro ovato. _ It was the custom for generals at a triumph to
offer a certain portion of their manubiæ to Capitoline Jove and other
deities.

[1325] _Fratres ahenos. _ It is said that there were in the temple porch
of the Palatine Apollo figures of the fifty Danaides, and opposite
them equestrian statues of the fifty sons of Ægyptus; and that some of
these statues gave oracles by means of dreams. Others refer these lines
to Castor and Pollux: but the words "præcipui sunto" seem to imply a
greater number. The passage is very obscure. Casaubon adopts the former
interpretation.

[1326] _Numæ. _ Numa directed that all vessels used for sacred purposes
should be of pottery-ware. Cf. ad Juv. , xi. , 116.

[1327] _Saturnia. _ Alluding to the Ærarium in the temple of Saturn.

[1328] _Pulpa_ is properly the soft, pulpy part of the fruit between
the skin and the kernel: then it is applied to the soft and flaccid
flesh of young animals, and hence applied to the flesh of men. It is
used here in exactly the scriptural sense, "the flesh. "

[1329] _Casiam. _ Vid. Plin. , xiii. , 3. Persius seems to have had in
his eye the lines in the second Georgic, "Nec varios inhiant pulchra
testudine postes Illusasque auro vestes, Ephyreiaque æra; Alba neque
Assyrio fucatur lana veneno nec _Casiâ_, liquidi _corrumpitur_ usus
_olivi_. " Both the epic poet and the satirist, as Gifford remarks, use
the language of the old republic. They consider the oil of the country
to be vitiated, instead of improved, by the luxurious admixture of
foreign spices.

[1330] _Calabrum. _ The finest wool came from Tarentum in Calabria. Vid.
Plin. , H. N. , viii. , 48; ix. , 61; Colum. , vii.