"
_Laverna_
was the Goddess of Thieves at Rome.
Satires
, iii.
, 7; Brut.
,
86. Plin. , H. N. , vii. , 37. Hor. , ii. , Ep. i. , 240. Athen. , xi, 784, C.
Müller's Archæol. of Art, § 129.
[1796] _Cotys. _ This was as generic a name for the Thracian kings as
Arsaces among the Parthians. Livy mentions a Cotys, son of Seuthes,
king of the Odrysæ, who brought a thousand cavalry to the support of
Perseus against the Romans, and speaks of him in the highest terms
of commendation: lib. xlii. , 29, 51, 67; xliii. , 3. Another Cotys
assisted Pompey, for which handsome presents were sent to him: cf.
Lucan, Phars. , v. , 54. A third Cotys, or Cottus, king of the Bessi, is
mentioned by Cicero as having bribed L. Calpurnius Piso, the proconsul,
with three hundred talents: In Pison. , xxxiv. The first of the three
is probably intended here, as Livy tells us that after the termination
of the Macedonian war (in which Scipio served), Bitis, the son of
Cotys, was restored with other captives unransomed to his father, in
consequence of the hereditary friendship existing between the Roman
people and his ancestors. The sayings of Cotys, therefore, might have
been current at Rome in Lucilius' time. Liv. , xlv. , 42.
[1797] _Mundus_ (quasi _movendus_, quod moveri potest), which seems at
first to have had the meaning in the text, came afterward to be applied
particularly to the necessary appendages of women, unguents, cosmetics,
mirrors, vessels for the bath, etc. ; and hence the word muliebris is
generally added. It differs from _ornatus_, which is applied to rings,
bracelets, earrings, jewels, head-gear, ribbons, etc. (Cf. Liv. ,
xxxiv. , 7. ) Hence the usual formula of wills, "Uxori meæ vestem, mundum
muliebrem, ornamenta omnia, aurum, argentum, do, lego. " _Penus_ is
properly applied to all "household stores laid up for _future_ use;"
hence penitus, penetro, and penates. Cf. Virg. , Æn. , i. , 704, "Cura
penum struere. "
[1798] _Villicus. _ Cf. Hor. , i. , Epist. xiv. The Villicus superintended
the country estate, as the dispensator did the city household. They
were both generally "liberti. " _Fundi_ is translated as a proper name
on the authority of Priscian, III. , i. , 8.
[1799] _Ligurris. _ Cf. Hor. , i. , Sat. iii. , 80, "Servum patinam qui
tollere jussus semesos pisces tepidumque ligurierit jus. " ii. , Sat.
iv. , 78, "Seu puer unctis tractavit calicem manibus dum furta ligurit. "
Juv. , ix. , 5, "Nos colaphum incutimus lambenti crustula servo. "
BOOK XVII.
ARGUMENT.
This book contained, according to Schoenbeck's view, a discussion
on the dogma of the Stoics, "that no one could be said to possess
any thing peculiarly his own. " The poet therefore ridicules the
creations of the older poets, who have dignified their heroines
with every conceivable embellishment, and invested them with the
attractions of every virtue that adorns humanity. He then goes
through the list of all the greatest mythological personages that
occur in the various Epic poets, in order to show the fallacy
of their ideas, and establish his own theory on the subject of
moral virtue. Gerlach, on the other hand, considers that the
subject was merely a disparagement of the boasted virtues of
the female character; by showing that even these creations of
ideal perfection, elaborated by poets of the greatest genius,
and endowed with every excellence both of mind and body, are not
even by them represented as exempt from those passions and vices
which disgrace their unromantic fellow-mortals. In this general
detraction of female purity, not even the chaste Penelope herself
escapes. The 6th Fragment seems to be directed against those
whose verses are composed under the inspiration of sordid gain.
1 Now that far-famed lady with the "beautiful ringlets," "and
beautiful ankles? " Do you think it was forbidden to touch
her. . . ? Or that Alcmena, the bedfellow of Amphytrion, and
others, was knock-kneed or bandy-legged. In fine,
Leda herself; I don't like to mention her: look out yourself,
and choose some dissyllable. Do you think Tyro, the nobly-born,
had any thing particularly disfiguring; a wart . . . a mole, or a
projecting tooth? [1800]
2 All other things he despises; and lays out all at no high
interest . . . but that no one has aught of his own. . . . [1801]
3 His bailiff Aristocrates, a drudge and neat-herd, he corrupted
and reduced to the last extremity. [1802]
4 Do you, when married, say you will never be married, because
you hope Ulysses still survives?
5 If he will not go, seize him, he says; and if he shuffles, lay
hands on him. . . . [1803]
6 . . . if you sell your Muses to Laverna. [1804]
7 . . . the big bones and shoulders of the man appear. [1805]
FOOTNOTES:
[1800] καλλιπλόκαμος is the epithet applied by Homer (Il. , xiv. , 326)
to Demeter, in a passage which seems to have been a favorite one with
Lucilius. Cf. book i. , Fr. 15. _Leda_ is also mentioned in connection
with her. It is applied also to Thetis, Il. , xviii. , 407. καλλίσφυρος
is applied to Danäe in the passage referred to above, and to Ino,
daughter of Cadmus, Odyss. , v. , 333. For _mammis_ Gerlach suggests
"palmis. " _Compernis_ is also applied to one who, from having over-long
feet or heels, knocks his ankles together, ἄκοιτιν. Odyss. , xi. , 266.
Τυρὼ εὐπατέρειαν. Odyss. , xi. , 235. _Verruca_, ἀκροχορδών. _Nævus_
(quasi gnæus, or gnavus, Fest. , because born with a person, hence
sometimes called Nævus Maternus) is put for any disfiguring mark. Cf.
Hor. , i. , Sat. vi. , 67. Shaks. , Cymb. , act ii. , sc. 2.
[1801] _Proprium_, equivalent to _perpetuum_. Nonius.
[1802] _Mediastinum. _ Cf. Hor. , i. , Ep. xiv. , 14, "Tu _mediastinus_
tacitâ prece rura petebas. Nunc urbem et ludos et balnea _villicus_
optas. " Torrentius explains _mediastinus_ by "Servus ad omnia viliora
officia comparatus. " The Schol. Cruq. by "Servus qui stat in medio,
paratus omnium ministeriis. " _Commanducatus. _ Cf. ad iv. , Fr. 12. _Ad
Incita. _ Cf. ad iii. , Fr. 30.
[1803] _Calvitur_, from _calvus_, because the tricky old men, slaves
especially, were always represented on the Roman comic stage (as
the clowns in our pantomimes) with bald heads: hence "to frustrate,
disappoint. " "Calamitas plures annos arvas calvitur. " Pacuv. So Plaut. ,
Cas. , II. , ii. , 3, "Ubi domi sola sum sopor manus calvitur. " Hence
Venus is called Calva, "Quod corda amantium _calviat_," i. e. , fallat,
deludat. Serv. ad Virg. , Æn. , i. , 720.
[1804] The Fragment is very corrupt. The reading of the MSS. is,
"Si messes facis, Musas si vendis Lavernæ. " Dusa suggests "Semissis
facient. " Mercer, "Si versus facies musis. " Gerlach, "Semissis facies
Musas si vendis Lavernæ. " Semissis, a genitive like Teruncii, i. e. ,
"Your verses will be worthless if the only Muse that inspires you
is the love of gain.
" _Laverna_ was the Goddess of Thieves at Rome.
Plaut. , Cornic. , "Mihi Laverna in furtis celebrassis manus. " Hor. ,
i. , Epist. xvi. , 60, "Pulchra Laverna, da mihi fallere, da justo
sanctoque videri," where the old Schol. says she derived her name a
Lavando, because thieves were called Lavatores. Scaliger thinks she is
identical with the Greek goddess πραξιδίκη, which others deny. The word
is also derived from latere, and λαβεῖν. Ausonius applies the term to
a plagiarist: "Hic est ille Theo poeta falsus, Bonorum mala carminum
Laverna. " Ep. iv.
[1805] Cf. Virg. , Æn. , v. , 420, "Et magnos membrorum artus, magna ossa
lacertosque Exuit. "
BOOK XVIII.
ARGUMENT.
From the small portion of this book that has come down to us, it is
but mere idle conjecture to attempt to decide upon its subject.
Petermann says it treated "of fools and misers. " There are some
lines in the first Satire of Horace's first book, which bear
so close a resemblance to some lines in this book that Gerlach
considers it was the model which Horace had before his eyes. The
passages are quoted in the notes.
1 Take twelve hundred bushels of corn, and a thousand casks of
wine. . . . [1806]
2 In short, as a fool never has enough, even though he has
everything. . . .
3 . . . for even in those districts, there will be drunk a cup
tainted with rue and sea-onion. . . . [1807]
4 . . . I enjoy equally with you--[1808]
5 . . . in the transaction of the ridiculous affair itself, he
boasts that he was present.
FOOTNOTES:
[1806] Cf. Hor. , i. , Sat. i. , 45, "Millia frumenti tua triverit area
centum. "
[1807] _Incrustatus. _ Hor. , i. , Sat. iii. , 56, "Sincerum cupimus vas
incrustare. " Where Porphyrion explains the word, "_incrustari_ vas
dicitur cum aliquo vitioso succo illinitur atque inquinatur. " It is
sometimes applied to covering any thing, as a cup, with gold or silver
(cf. Juv. , v. , 88, "Heliadum crustas"), or a wall with roughcast or
plaster. For the _vinum rutatum_, see Pliny, H. N. , xix. , 45. _Scilla_
is probably the sort of onion to which Juvenal refers, Sat. vii. , 120,
"Afrorum Epimenia, bulbi. "
[1808] _Fruniscor_, an old form of fruor. Cf. Hor. , i. , Sat. i. , 47,
"Non tuns hoc capiet venter plus quam mens. "
BOOK XIX.
ARGUMENT.
The same may be said of this book as of the eighteenth. The few
Fragments that remain being insufficient to furnish any data
for a positive opinion as to its subject. From the 2d and 3d
Fragments, Mercer supposes that the same question was discussed
which Cicero refers to in the Offices (lib. ii. , c. 20), "Whether
a worthy man, without wealth, was to be preferred to a very rich
man who had but an indifferent reputation. " The second Fragment
clearly contains a precept respecting the laying up a store which
may be made available in time of distress; which Horace had
perhaps in his eye in book i. , Sat. i. , l. 33, _seq_. It contains
likewise a criticism on a verse of Ennius, as being little more
than empty sound, devoid of true poetic sentiment; which probably
was the basis of Cicero's censure in the Tusculan disputations.
The study of dramatic composition is also discouraged, from the
fact that the most elaborate passages are frequently spoiled by
the want of skill in the Tragic actor. In the 9th Fragment, Dacke
supposes there is an allusion to the Dulorestes of Pacuvius. The
7th Fragment may also probably refer to Ennius, as the principal
word in it is employed by him in the eleventh book of his Annals.
There is probably also a hit at those poets who adopt a style of
diction quite unintelligible to ordinary readers.
1 Wrinkled and shriveled old men are in quest of all the same
things. [1809]
2 So do thou seek for those fruits, which hereafter in ungenial
winter thou mayest enjoy; with this delight thyself at
home. [1810]
3 Will you have the gold, or the man? Why, have the man! What
boots the gold? Wherefore, as we say, I see nothing here which
I should greatly covet. . . . [1811]
4 And infant children make a woman honest. . . .
5 So each one of us is severally affected. . . .
6 Choose that particular day which to you seems best.
7 . . . but do not criticise the lappet[1812]
8 . . . hanging from the side, sprinkling the rocks with clotted
gore and black blood. . . . [1813]
9 The tragic poet who spoils his verses through Orestes about to
grow hoarse. [1814]
10 . . . twenty thousand gravers and pincers[1815]
11 . . . and to pluck out teeth with crooked pincers.
12 . . . desire may be eradicated from a man, but never covetousness
from a fool. [1816]
FOOTNOTES:
[1809] _Passus_ is properly applied to a dried grape; either "quod
solem diutius passa est," or more probably from _pando_.
[1810] Cf. Hor. , i. , Sat. i. , 32, "Sicut parvula nam exemplo est
magni formica laboris ore trahit quodcunque potest atque addit acervo
quem struit, haud ignara et non incanta futuri. Quæ simul inversum
contristat Aquarius annum non usquam prorepit et illis utitur ante
quæsitis sapiens. "
[1811] The passage in Cicero stands thus, "Si res in contentionem
veniet, nimirum Themistocles est auctor adhibendus; qui cum
consuleretur utrum bono viro pauperi, an minùs probato diviti, filiam
collocaret: Ego vero, inquit, malo virum, qui pecuniâ egeat, quam
pecuniam, quæ viro. " De Off. , ii. , 20.
[1812] _Peniculamentum_ is a portion of the dress hanging down like
a tail; perhaps like the "liripipes" of our ancestors. "Pendent
peniculamenta unum ad quodque pedule. " Ennius, Annal. , lib. xi. , ap.
Nonium.
[1813] Cicero (Tusc. Qu. , i. , 44) quotes the passage from the Thyestes
of Ennius: it is part of his imprecation against Atreus, "Ipse summis
saxis fixus asperis evisceratus," etc. Vid. Enn. , Frag. Bothe, p. 66,
11. Gerlach considers them to be the very words of Ennius, inserted in
his Satire by Lucilius. Cicero's criticism is probably borrowed from
Lucilius: it is in no measured terms: "Illa inania; non ipsa saxa magis
sensu omni vacabant quam ille 'latere pendens' cui se hic cruciatum
censet optare: quæ essent dura si sentiret; nulla sine sensu sunt. "
[1814] Cf. Juv. , i. , 2, "_Rauci_ Theseide Codri . . . necdum finitus
Orestes. "
[1815] Gerlach supposes that Lucilius ridicules the folly of those
poets who either write what is unintelligible, or whose effusions
are spoiled by the indifference of the actors who personate their
characters, in the same way as Horace, ii. , Sat. iii. , 106, "Si scalpra
et formas non sutor emat. "
[1816] Nonius explains _cupiditas_ to be a milder form of _cupído_.
BOOK XX.
ARGUMENT.
Gerlach without hesitation pronounces the subject of this book
to have been "the superstition of the lower orders, and the
luxury of the banquets of the wealthy. " There were, even in
the days of Lucilius, many who could see through, and heartily
despise, the ignorant superstition by which their fellow-men were
shackled. Hence the famous saying of Cato, that he wondered how
a soothsayer could look another of the same profession in the
face without laughing. The 3d and 4th Fragments are probably part
of the speech of some notorious epicure, who cordially detests
the simplicity and frugality of ancient days; and the 6th may
contain the fierce expression of his unmeasured indignation at
any attempt to suppress or curtail the lavish munificence and
luxurious self-indulgence of men like himself. The 6th, 7th, and
9th Fragments may also refer to the sumptuous banquets of the day.
1 These bugbears, Lamiæ, which the Fauni and Numas set up--at
these he trembles, and sets all down as true. . . . Just as little
children believe that all the statues of brass are alive and
human beings, just so these men believe all these fables to be
true, and think there is a heart inside these brazen statues.
. . . It is a mere painter's board, nothing is real; all
counterfeit. [1817]
2 . . . in their own season, and at one and the same time . . .
86. Plin. , H. N. , vii. , 37. Hor. , ii. , Ep. i. , 240. Athen. , xi, 784, C.
Müller's Archæol. of Art, § 129.
[1796] _Cotys. _ This was as generic a name for the Thracian kings as
Arsaces among the Parthians. Livy mentions a Cotys, son of Seuthes,
king of the Odrysæ, who brought a thousand cavalry to the support of
Perseus against the Romans, and speaks of him in the highest terms
of commendation: lib. xlii. , 29, 51, 67; xliii. , 3. Another Cotys
assisted Pompey, for which handsome presents were sent to him: cf.
Lucan, Phars. , v. , 54. A third Cotys, or Cottus, king of the Bessi, is
mentioned by Cicero as having bribed L. Calpurnius Piso, the proconsul,
with three hundred talents: In Pison. , xxxiv. The first of the three
is probably intended here, as Livy tells us that after the termination
of the Macedonian war (in which Scipio served), Bitis, the son of
Cotys, was restored with other captives unransomed to his father, in
consequence of the hereditary friendship existing between the Roman
people and his ancestors. The sayings of Cotys, therefore, might have
been current at Rome in Lucilius' time. Liv. , xlv. , 42.
[1797] _Mundus_ (quasi _movendus_, quod moveri potest), which seems at
first to have had the meaning in the text, came afterward to be applied
particularly to the necessary appendages of women, unguents, cosmetics,
mirrors, vessels for the bath, etc. ; and hence the word muliebris is
generally added. It differs from _ornatus_, which is applied to rings,
bracelets, earrings, jewels, head-gear, ribbons, etc. (Cf. Liv. ,
xxxiv. , 7. ) Hence the usual formula of wills, "Uxori meæ vestem, mundum
muliebrem, ornamenta omnia, aurum, argentum, do, lego. " _Penus_ is
properly applied to all "household stores laid up for _future_ use;"
hence penitus, penetro, and penates. Cf. Virg. , Æn. , i. , 704, "Cura
penum struere. "
[1798] _Villicus. _ Cf. Hor. , i. , Epist. xiv. The Villicus superintended
the country estate, as the dispensator did the city household. They
were both generally "liberti. " _Fundi_ is translated as a proper name
on the authority of Priscian, III. , i. , 8.
[1799] _Ligurris. _ Cf. Hor. , i. , Sat. iii. , 80, "Servum patinam qui
tollere jussus semesos pisces tepidumque ligurierit jus. " ii. , Sat.
iv. , 78, "Seu puer unctis tractavit calicem manibus dum furta ligurit. "
Juv. , ix. , 5, "Nos colaphum incutimus lambenti crustula servo. "
BOOK XVII.
ARGUMENT.
This book contained, according to Schoenbeck's view, a discussion
on the dogma of the Stoics, "that no one could be said to possess
any thing peculiarly his own. " The poet therefore ridicules the
creations of the older poets, who have dignified their heroines
with every conceivable embellishment, and invested them with the
attractions of every virtue that adorns humanity. He then goes
through the list of all the greatest mythological personages that
occur in the various Epic poets, in order to show the fallacy
of their ideas, and establish his own theory on the subject of
moral virtue. Gerlach, on the other hand, considers that the
subject was merely a disparagement of the boasted virtues of
the female character; by showing that even these creations of
ideal perfection, elaborated by poets of the greatest genius,
and endowed with every excellence both of mind and body, are not
even by them represented as exempt from those passions and vices
which disgrace their unromantic fellow-mortals. In this general
detraction of female purity, not even the chaste Penelope herself
escapes. The 6th Fragment seems to be directed against those
whose verses are composed under the inspiration of sordid gain.
1 Now that far-famed lady with the "beautiful ringlets," "and
beautiful ankles? " Do you think it was forbidden to touch
her. . . ? Or that Alcmena, the bedfellow of Amphytrion, and
others, was knock-kneed or bandy-legged. In fine,
Leda herself; I don't like to mention her: look out yourself,
and choose some dissyllable. Do you think Tyro, the nobly-born,
had any thing particularly disfiguring; a wart . . . a mole, or a
projecting tooth? [1800]
2 All other things he despises; and lays out all at no high
interest . . . but that no one has aught of his own. . . . [1801]
3 His bailiff Aristocrates, a drudge and neat-herd, he corrupted
and reduced to the last extremity. [1802]
4 Do you, when married, say you will never be married, because
you hope Ulysses still survives?
5 If he will not go, seize him, he says; and if he shuffles, lay
hands on him. . . . [1803]
6 . . . if you sell your Muses to Laverna. [1804]
7 . . . the big bones and shoulders of the man appear. [1805]
FOOTNOTES:
[1800] καλλιπλόκαμος is the epithet applied by Homer (Il. , xiv. , 326)
to Demeter, in a passage which seems to have been a favorite one with
Lucilius. Cf. book i. , Fr. 15. _Leda_ is also mentioned in connection
with her. It is applied also to Thetis, Il. , xviii. , 407. καλλίσφυρος
is applied to Danäe in the passage referred to above, and to Ino,
daughter of Cadmus, Odyss. , v. , 333. For _mammis_ Gerlach suggests
"palmis. " _Compernis_ is also applied to one who, from having over-long
feet or heels, knocks his ankles together, ἄκοιτιν. Odyss. , xi. , 266.
Τυρὼ εὐπατέρειαν. Odyss. , xi. , 235. _Verruca_, ἀκροχορδών. _Nævus_
(quasi gnæus, or gnavus, Fest. , because born with a person, hence
sometimes called Nævus Maternus) is put for any disfiguring mark. Cf.
Hor. , i. , Sat. vi. , 67. Shaks. , Cymb. , act ii. , sc. 2.
[1801] _Proprium_, equivalent to _perpetuum_. Nonius.
[1802] _Mediastinum. _ Cf. Hor. , i. , Ep. xiv. , 14, "Tu _mediastinus_
tacitâ prece rura petebas. Nunc urbem et ludos et balnea _villicus_
optas. " Torrentius explains _mediastinus_ by "Servus ad omnia viliora
officia comparatus. " The Schol. Cruq. by "Servus qui stat in medio,
paratus omnium ministeriis. " _Commanducatus. _ Cf. ad iv. , Fr. 12. _Ad
Incita. _ Cf. ad iii. , Fr. 30.
[1803] _Calvitur_, from _calvus_, because the tricky old men, slaves
especially, were always represented on the Roman comic stage (as
the clowns in our pantomimes) with bald heads: hence "to frustrate,
disappoint. " "Calamitas plures annos arvas calvitur. " Pacuv. So Plaut. ,
Cas. , II. , ii. , 3, "Ubi domi sola sum sopor manus calvitur. " Hence
Venus is called Calva, "Quod corda amantium _calviat_," i. e. , fallat,
deludat. Serv. ad Virg. , Æn. , i. , 720.
[1804] The Fragment is very corrupt. The reading of the MSS. is,
"Si messes facis, Musas si vendis Lavernæ. " Dusa suggests "Semissis
facient. " Mercer, "Si versus facies musis. " Gerlach, "Semissis facies
Musas si vendis Lavernæ. " Semissis, a genitive like Teruncii, i. e. ,
"Your verses will be worthless if the only Muse that inspires you
is the love of gain.
" _Laverna_ was the Goddess of Thieves at Rome.
Plaut. , Cornic. , "Mihi Laverna in furtis celebrassis manus. " Hor. ,
i. , Epist. xvi. , 60, "Pulchra Laverna, da mihi fallere, da justo
sanctoque videri," where the old Schol. says she derived her name a
Lavando, because thieves were called Lavatores. Scaliger thinks she is
identical with the Greek goddess πραξιδίκη, which others deny. The word
is also derived from latere, and λαβεῖν. Ausonius applies the term to
a plagiarist: "Hic est ille Theo poeta falsus, Bonorum mala carminum
Laverna. " Ep. iv.
[1805] Cf. Virg. , Æn. , v. , 420, "Et magnos membrorum artus, magna ossa
lacertosque Exuit. "
BOOK XVIII.
ARGUMENT.
From the small portion of this book that has come down to us, it is
but mere idle conjecture to attempt to decide upon its subject.
Petermann says it treated "of fools and misers. " There are some
lines in the first Satire of Horace's first book, which bear
so close a resemblance to some lines in this book that Gerlach
considers it was the model which Horace had before his eyes. The
passages are quoted in the notes.
1 Take twelve hundred bushels of corn, and a thousand casks of
wine. . . . [1806]
2 In short, as a fool never has enough, even though he has
everything. . . .
3 . . . for even in those districts, there will be drunk a cup
tainted with rue and sea-onion. . . . [1807]
4 . . . I enjoy equally with you--[1808]
5 . . . in the transaction of the ridiculous affair itself, he
boasts that he was present.
FOOTNOTES:
[1806] Cf. Hor. , i. , Sat. i. , 45, "Millia frumenti tua triverit area
centum. "
[1807] _Incrustatus. _ Hor. , i. , Sat. iii. , 56, "Sincerum cupimus vas
incrustare. " Where Porphyrion explains the word, "_incrustari_ vas
dicitur cum aliquo vitioso succo illinitur atque inquinatur. " It is
sometimes applied to covering any thing, as a cup, with gold or silver
(cf. Juv. , v. , 88, "Heliadum crustas"), or a wall with roughcast or
plaster. For the _vinum rutatum_, see Pliny, H. N. , xix. , 45. _Scilla_
is probably the sort of onion to which Juvenal refers, Sat. vii. , 120,
"Afrorum Epimenia, bulbi. "
[1808] _Fruniscor_, an old form of fruor. Cf. Hor. , i. , Sat. i. , 47,
"Non tuns hoc capiet venter plus quam mens. "
BOOK XIX.
ARGUMENT.
The same may be said of this book as of the eighteenth. The few
Fragments that remain being insufficient to furnish any data
for a positive opinion as to its subject. From the 2d and 3d
Fragments, Mercer supposes that the same question was discussed
which Cicero refers to in the Offices (lib. ii. , c. 20), "Whether
a worthy man, without wealth, was to be preferred to a very rich
man who had but an indifferent reputation. " The second Fragment
clearly contains a precept respecting the laying up a store which
may be made available in time of distress; which Horace had
perhaps in his eye in book i. , Sat. i. , l. 33, _seq_. It contains
likewise a criticism on a verse of Ennius, as being little more
than empty sound, devoid of true poetic sentiment; which probably
was the basis of Cicero's censure in the Tusculan disputations.
The study of dramatic composition is also discouraged, from the
fact that the most elaborate passages are frequently spoiled by
the want of skill in the Tragic actor. In the 9th Fragment, Dacke
supposes there is an allusion to the Dulorestes of Pacuvius. The
7th Fragment may also probably refer to Ennius, as the principal
word in it is employed by him in the eleventh book of his Annals.
There is probably also a hit at those poets who adopt a style of
diction quite unintelligible to ordinary readers.
1 Wrinkled and shriveled old men are in quest of all the same
things. [1809]
2 So do thou seek for those fruits, which hereafter in ungenial
winter thou mayest enjoy; with this delight thyself at
home. [1810]
3 Will you have the gold, or the man? Why, have the man! What
boots the gold? Wherefore, as we say, I see nothing here which
I should greatly covet. . . . [1811]
4 And infant children make a woman honest. . . .
5 So each one of us is severally affected. . . .
6 Choose that particular day which to you seems best.
7 . . . but do not criticise the lappet[1812]
8 . . . hanging from the side, sprinkling the rocks with clotted
gore and black blood. . . . [1813]
9 The tragic poet who spoils his verses through Orestes about to
grow hoarse. [1814]
10 . . . twenty thousand gravers and pincers[1815]
11 . . . and to pluck out teeth with crooked pincers.
12 . . . desire may be eradicated from a man, but never covetousness
from a fool. [1816]
FOOTNOTES:
[1809] _Passus_ is properly applied to a dried grape; either "quod
solem diutius passa est," or more probably from _pando_.
[1810] Cf. Hor. , i. , Sat. i. , 32, "Sicut parvula nam exemplo est
magni formica laboris ore trahit quodcunque potest atque addit acervo
quem struit, haud ignara et non incanta futuri. Quæ simul inversum
contristat Aquarius annum non usquam prorepit et illis utitur ante
quæsitis sapiens. "
[1811] The passage in Cicero stands thus, "Si res in contentionem
veniet, nimirum Themistocles est auctor adhibendus; qui cum
consuleretur utrum bono viro pauperi, an minùs probato diviti, filiam
collocaret: Ego vero, inquit, malo virum, qui pecuniâ egeat, quam
pecuniam, quæ viro. " De Off. , ii. , 20.
[1812] _Peniculamentum_ is a portion of the dress hanging down like
a tail; perhaps like the "liripipes" of our ancestors. "Pendent
peniculamenta unum ad quodque pedule. " Ennius, Annal. , lib. xi. , ap.
Nonium.
[1813] Cicero (Tusc. Qu. , i. , 44) quotes the passage from the Thyestes
of Ennius: it is part of his imprecation against Atreus, "Ipse summis
saxis fixus asperis evisceratus," etc. Vid. Enn. , Frag. Bothe, p. 66,
11. Gerlach considers them to be the very words of Ennius, inserted in
his Satire by Lucilius. Cicero's criticism is probably borrowed from
Lucilius: it is in no measured terms: "Illa inania; non ipsa saxa magis
sensu omni vacabant quam ille 'latere pendens' cui se hic cruciatum
censet optare: quæ essent dura si sentiret; nulla sine sensu sunt. "
[1814] Cf. Juv. , i. , 2, "_Rauci_ Theseide Codri . . . necdum finitus
Orestes. "
[1815] Gerlach supposes that Lucilius ridicules the folly of those
poets who either write what is unintelligible, or whose effusions
are spoiled by the indifference of the actors who personate their
characters, in the same way as Horace, ii. , Sat. iii. , 106, "Si scalpra
et formas non sutor emat. "
[1816] Nonius explains _cupiditas_ to be a milder form of _cupído_.
BOOK XX.
ARGUMENT.
Gerlach without hesitation pronounces the subject of this book
to have been "the superstition of the lower orders, and the
luxury of the banquets of the wealthy. " There were, even in
the days of Lucilius, many who could see through, and heartily
despise, the ignorant superstition by which their fellow-men were
shackled. Hence the famous saying of Cato, that he wondered how
a soothsayer could look another of the same profession in the
face without laughing. The 3d and 4th Fragments are probably part
of the speech of some notorious epicure, who cordially detests
the simplicity and frugality of ancient days; and the 6th may
contain the fierce expression of his unmeasured indignation at
any attempt to suppress or curtail the lavish munificence and
luxurious self-indulgence of men like himself. The 6th, 7th, and
9th Fragments may also refer to the sumptuous banquets of the day.
1 These bugbears, Lamiæ, which the Fauni and Numas set up--at
these he trembles, and sets all down as true. . . . Just as little
children believe that all the statues of brass are alive and
human beings, just so these men believe all these fables to be
true, and think there is a heart inside these brazen statues.
. . . It is a mere painter's board, nothing is real; all
counterfeit. [1817]
2 . . . in their own season, and at one and the same time . . .
