"
[1469] _Funemque reduco.
[1469] _Funemque reduco.
Satires
" Quintilian (i.
, 5) says,
"The word is of Spanish or African origin. Though Persius employs it as
a word in common use. " But Casaubon quotes Suidas, Eustathius, and the
Etym. Mag. , to prove it is a pure Greek word; κανθὸς, "the corner of
the eye. " Hence put for the orb of the eye.
[1449] _Velinâ Publius. _ When a slave was made perfectly free he was
enrolled in one of the tribes, in order that he might enjoy the full
privileges of a Roman citizen: one of the chief of these was the
frumentatio, i. e. , the right of receiving a ticket which entitled him
to his share at the distribution of the public corn, which took place
on the nones of each month. This ticket or tally was of wood or lead,
and was transferable. Sometimes a small sum was paid with it. Cf.
Juv. , vii. , 174, "Summula ne pereat quâ vilis tessera venit frumenti. "
The slave generally adopted the prænomen of the person who manumitted
him, and the name of the tribe to which he was admitted was added.
This prænomen was the distinguishing mark of a freeman, and they were
proportionally proud of it. (Hor. , ii. , Sat. v. , 32, "Quinte, puta,
aut Publi--gaudent prænomine molles auriculæ. " Juv. , v. , 127, "Si quid
tentaveris unquam hiscere tanquam habeas tria nomina. ") The tribe
"Velina" was one of the country tribes, in the Sabine district, and
called from the Lake Velinus. It was the last tribe added, with the
Quirina, A. U. C. 512, to make up the thirty-five tribes, by the censors
C. Aurelius Cotta and M. Fabius Buteo. Vid. Liv. , Epit. , xix. Cic. ,
Att. , iv. , 15. The name of the tribe was always added in the ablative
case, as Oppius Veientinâ, Anxius Tomentinâ.
[1450] _Quiritem. _ Cf. Sen. , Nat. , iii. , "Hæc res efficit non è jure
Quiritium liberum, sed è jure Naturæ. " There were three ways of making
a slave free: 1, per Censum; 2, per Vindictam; 3, per Testamentum.
The second is alluded to here. The master took the slave before the
prætor or consul and said, "Hunc hominem liberum esse volo jure
Quiritium. " Then the prætor, laying the rod (Vindicta) on the slave's
head, pronounced him free; whereupon his owner or the lictor turned him
round, gave him a blow on the cheek (alapa), and let him go, with the
words, "Liber esto atque ito quo voles. " (Plaut. , Men. , V. , vii. , 40. )
[1451] _Dama_ was a common name for slaves (Hor. , ii. , Sat. vii. , 54,
"Prodis ex judice Dama turpis;" and v. , 18, "Utne tegam spurco Damæ
latus"), principally for Syrians. It is said to be a corruption of
Demetrius or Demodorus. So Manes, from Menodorus, was a common name of
Phrygian slaves.
[1452] _Agaso. _ Properly, "a slave who looks after beasts of burden"
(_qui agit asinos_, Schell. ), then put as a mark of contempt for any
drudge. Hor. , ii. , Sat. viii. , 73, "Si patinam pede lapsus frangat
agaso. "
[1453] _Tressis. _ Literally, "three asses. " So Sexis, Septussis, etc.
[1454] _Pilea. _ Cf. ad iii. , 106, "Hesterni capite induto subiere
Quirites. "
[1455] _Bruto. _ From the _three_ Bruti, who were looked upon by the
vulgar as the champions of liberty. Lucius Junius Brutus, who expelled
the Tarquins; Marcus, who murdered Cæsar; and Decimus, who opposed
Antony.
[1456] _Aurem lotus. _ Cf. ad l. 63.
[1457] _Vindicta. _ Cf. Ov. , A. A. , iii. , 615, "Modo quam Vindicta
redemit. "
[1458] _Masurius_, or Massurius Sabinus, a famous lawyer in the
reign of Tiberius, admitted by him when at an advanced age into the
Equestrian order. He is frequently mentioned by Aulus Gellius (Noctes
xiv. ). He wrote three books on Civil Law, five on the Edictum Prætoris
Urbani, besides Commentaries and other works, quoted in the Digests.
[1459] _Sambucam. _ "You might as well put a delicate instrument of
music in the hands of a coarse clown, and expect him to make it
'discourse eloquent music,' as look for a nice discernment of the finer
shades of moral duty in one wholly ignorant of the first principles of
philosophy. " Sambuca is from the Chaldaic Sabbecà. It was a kind of
triangular harp with four strings, and according to the Greeks, was
called from one Sambuces, who first used it. Others say the Sibyl was
the first performer on it. Ibycus of Regium was its reputed inventor,
as Anacreon of the Barbiton: but from its mention in the book of Daniel
(iii. , 5), it was probably of earlier date. A female performer on it
was called Sambucistria. An instrument of war, consisting of a platform
or drawbridge supported by ropes, to let down from a tower on the walls
of a besieged town, was called, from the similarity of shape, by the
same name. Cf. Athen. , iv. , 175; xiv. , 633, 7. (Suidas, in voce, seems
to derive it from ἴαμβος, quasi ἰαμβύκη, because Iambic verses were
sung to it. )
[1460] _Caloni. _ The slaves attached to the army were so called, from
κᾶλα "logs," either because they carried clubs, or because they were
the hewers of wood and drawers of water for the soldiers. From their
being always in the camp they acquired some military knowledge, and
hence we find them occasionally used in great emergencies. They are
sometimes confounded with Lixæ; but the latter were _not_ slaves. The
name is then applied to any coarse and common drudge. Cf. Hor. , i. ,
Ep. xiv. , 41, "Invidet usum Lignorum tibi calo. " Cf. i. , Sat. ii. ,
44; vi. , 103. Tac. , Hist. , i. , 49. --_Alto_ refers to the old Greek
proverb, ἄνοος ὁ μακρὸς, "Every tall man is a fool;" which Aristotle
(in Physiogn. ) confirms.
[1461] _Examen. _ See note on Sat. i. , 6.
[1462] _Natura medendi. _ Horace has the same idea, ii. , Ep. i. , 114,
"Navem agere ignarus navis timet; abrotonum ægro non audet nisi qui
didicit dare; quod medicorum est promittunt medici. "
[1463] _Peronatus. _ Cf. Juv. , xiv. , 186.
[1464] _Melicerta_ was the son of Ino, who leaped with him into the
sea, to save him from her husband Athamas. Neptune, at the request
of Venus, changed them into sea-deities, giving to Ino the name of
Leucothea, and to Palæmon that of Melicerta, or, according to others,
Portunus (à portu, as Neptunus, à nando). Vid. Ov. , Met. , iv. , 523,
_seq. _ Fast. , vi. , 545. Milton's Lycidas,
"By Leucothea's golden bands,
And her son that rules the sands. "
[1465] _Frontem. _ See note on Sat. i. , 12. Hor. , ii. , Ep. i. , 80,
"Clament periisse pudorem cuncti. "
[1466] _In luto fixum. _ From Hor. , i. , Ep. xvi. , 63, "Quî melior servo
qui liberior sit avarus. _In triviis fixum_ cum se demittat ob assem. "
The boys at Rome used to fix an as tied to a piece of string in the
mud, which they jerked away, with jeers and cries of "Etiam! " as soon
as any sordid fellow attempted to pick it up. Mercury being the god of
luck (see note on ii. , 44; Hor. , ii. , Sat. iii. , 25), Persius uses the
term "Mercurial saliva" for the miser's mouth watering at the sight of
the prize (vi. , 62). --_Glutto_ expresses the gurgling sound made in the
throat at the swallowing of liquids.
[1467] _Fronte politus. _ Hor. , i. , Ep. xvi. , 45, "Introrsus turpem,
speciosum pelle decorâ. "
[1468] _Vulpem. _ Hor. , A. P. , 437, "Nunquam te fallant animi sub vulpe
latentes. " Lysander's saying is well known, "Where the lion's skin does
not fit, we must don the fox's.
"
[1469] _Funemque reduco. _ Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act ii. sc. 1.
"I would have thee gone,
And yet no farther than a wanton's bird,
Who lets it hop a little from her hand,
Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves,
And with a silk thread plucks it back again. "
[1470] _Digitum exsere. _ The Stoics held that none but a philosopher
could perform even the most trivial act, such as putting out the
finger, correctly; there being no middle point between absolute wisdom
and absolute folly: consequently it was beyond even the power of the
gods to bestow upon a fool the power of acting rightly.
[1471] _Litabis. _ See note on Sat. ii. , 75.
[1472] _Bathylli_, i. e. , "Like the graceful Bathyllus, when acting the
part of the satyr. " Juv. , Sat. vi. , 63. Gifford's note.
[1473] _Tot subdite rebus. _ "None but the philosopher can be free,
because all men else are the slaves of _something_; of avarice, luxury,
love, ambition, or superstition. " Cf. Epict. , Man. , xiv. , 2, ὅστις
οὖν ἐλεύθερος εἶναι βούλεται, μήτε θελέτω τι, μήτε φευγέτω τι τῶν ἐπ'
ἄλλοις· εἰ δὲ μὴ, δουλεύειν ἀνάγκη. So taught the Stoics; and inspired
wisdom reads the same lesson. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey? "
Rom. , vi. , 16.
[1474] _Crispinus. _ This "Verna Canopi," whom Juvenal mentions so often
with bitter hatred and contempt, rose from the lowest position to
eminence under Nero, who found him a ready instrument of his lusts and
cruelties. His connection with Nero commended him to Domitian also. One
of his phases may probably have been the keeping a bath. Juv. , i. , 27;
iv. , 1, 14, etc.
[1475] _Nervos agitat. _ "A slave is no better than a puppet in the
hands of his master, who pulls the strings that set his limbs in
motion. " The allusion is to the ἀγάλματα νευρόσπαστα, "images worked by
strings. " Herod. , ii. , 48. Xen. , Sympos. , iv. Lucian. , de Deâ Syriâ,
xvi.
[1476] _Scutica. _ Vid. ad Juv. , vi. , 480.
[1477] _Saperdam. _ From the Greek σαπέρδης (Aristot. , Fr. 546), a poor
insipid kind of fish caught in the Black Sea, called κορακῖνος until it
was salted. Archestratus in Athenæus (iii. , p. 117) calls it a φαῦλον
ἀκιδνὸν ἕδεσμα.
[1478] _Castoreum. _ Cf. Juv. , xii. , 34.
[1479] _Ebenum. _ Virg. , Georg. , ii. , 115, "Sola India nigrum fert
_ebenum_: solis est _thurea_ virga Sabæis. "
[1480] _Lubrica Coa. _ The grape of Cos was very sweet and luscious:
a large quantity of sea-water was added to the lighter kind, called
Leuco-Coum, which gave it a very purgative quality; which, in fact,
most of the lighter wines of the ancients possessed. Vid. Cels. , i. ,
1. Plin. , H. N. , xiv. , 10. Horace alludes to this property of the Coan
wine, ii. , Sat. iv. , 27, "Si dura morabitur aloes, Mytilus et viles
pellent obstanti aconchæ Et lapathi brevis herba, sed _albo_ non sine
_Coo_. " (May not "_lubrica_ conchylia" in the next line be interpreted
in the same way, instead of its recorded meaning, "slimy? ") Casaubon
explains it by λεαντικός.
[1481] _Camelo. _ "Thirsty from its journey over the desert to
Alexandria from India. " Vid. Plin. , H. N. , xii. , 7, 14, 15. Jahn's
Biblical Antiquities, p. 31.
[1482] _Baro_ is no doubt the true reading, and not _varo_, which some
derive from _varum_, "an unfashioned stake" (of which _vallum_ is the
diminutive), "a log;" and hence applied to a stupid person. Baro is,
as the old Scholiast tells us rightly for once, the Gallic term for a
soldier's slave, his Calo; and, like Calo, became a term of reproach
and contumely. It afterward was used, like homo (whence _homagium_,
"homage"), to mean the king's "man," or vassal; and hence its use in
mediæval days as an heraldic title. Compare the Norman-French terms
Escuyer, Valvasseur.
[1483] _Œnophorum. _ Hor. , i. , Sat. vi. , 109, "Pueri lasanum portantes
œnophorumque. " Pellis is probably a substitute for a leathern
portmanteau or valise.
[1484] _Cannabe. _
"And while a broken plank supports your meat,
And a coil'd cable proves your softest seat,
Suck from squab jugs that pitchy scents exhale,
The seaman's beverage, sour at once and stale. " Gifford.
[1485] _Sessilis obba. _ Sessilis is properly applied to the broad back
of a stout horse, affording a good seat ("tergum sessile," Ov. , Met. ,
xii. , 401), then to any thing resting on a broad base. Obba is a word
of Hebrew root, originally applied to a vase used for making libations
to the dead. It is the ἄμβιξ of the Greeks (cf. Athen. , iv. , 152), a
broad vessel tapering to the mouth, and answers to the "Caraffe" or
"Barile" of the modern Italians.
[1486] _Veientanum. _ The wine-grown at Veii. The Campagna di Roma is
as notorious as ever for the mean quality of its wines. Hor. , ii. ,
Sat. iii. , 143, "Qui Veientanum festis potare diebus Campana solitus
trullâ. " Mart. , i. , Ep. civ. , 9, "Et Veientani bibitur fax crassa
_rubelli_. " ii. , Ep. 53. iii. , Ep. 49.
[1487] _Pice. _ See Hase's Ancient Greeks, chap. i. , p. 16.
[1488] _Indulge genio. _ Cf. ii. , 8, "Funde merum Genio. "
[1489] _Dave. _ This episode is taken from a scene in the Eunuchus of
Menander, from which Terence copied his play, but altered the names.
In Terence, Chærestratus becomes Phædria, Davus Parmeno, and Chrysis
Thais. There is a scene of very similar character in le Dépit Amoureux
of Molière. Horace has also copied it, but not with the graphic effect
of Persius. ii. , Sat. iii. , 260, "Amator exclusus qui distat, agit ubi
secum, eat an non, Quo rediturus erat non arcessitus et hæret Invisis
foribus? ne nunc, cum me vocat ultro Accedam? an potius mediter finire
dolores? " _et seq. _ Lucr. , iv. , 1173, _seq. _
[1490] _Frangam. _ Literally, "make shipwreck of my reputation. "
[1491] _Udas_ is variously interpreted. "Dissipated and luxurious," as
opposed to _siccis_ (Hor. , i. , Od. xviii. , 3; iv. , Od. v. , 38), just
before, in the sense of "sober. " So Mart. , v. , Ep. lxxxiv. , 5, "Udus
aleator. " (Juvenal uses _madidus_ in the same sense. See note on Sat.
xv. , 47. ) For the drunken scenes enacted at these houses, see the last
scene of the Curculio of Plautus. Or it may mean, "wet with the lover's
tears. " Vid. Mart, x. , Ep. lxxviii. , 8. Or simply "reeking with the
wine and unguents poured over them. " Cf. Lucr. , iv. , 1175, "Postesque
superbos _unguit_ amaracina. " Cf. Ov. , Fast.
"The word is of Spanish or African origin. Though Persius employs it as
a word in common use. " But Casaubon quotes Suidas, Eustathius, and the
Etym. Mag. , to prove it is a pure Greek word; κανθὸς, "the corner of
the eye. " Hence put for the orb of the eye.
[1449] _Velinâ Publius. _ When a slave was made perfectly free he was
enrolled in one of the tribes, in order that he might enjoy the full
privileges of a Roman citizen: one of the chief of these was the
frumentatio, i. e. , the right of receiving a ticket which entitled him
to his share at the distribution of the public corn, which took place
on the nones of each month. This ticket or tally was of wood or lead,
and was transferable. Sometimes a small sum was paid with it. Cf.
Juv. , vii. , 174, "Summula ne pereat quâ vilis tessera venit frumenti. "
The slave generally adopted the prænomen of the person who manumitted
him, and the name of the tribe to which he was admitted was added.
This prænomen was the distinguishing mark of a freeman, and they were
proportionally proud of it. (Hor. , ii. , Sat. v. , 32, "Quinte, puta,
aut Publi--gaudent prænomine molles auriculæ. " Juv. , v. , 127, "Si quid
tentaveris unquam hiscere tanquam habeas tria nomina. ") The tribe
"Velina" was one of the country tribes, in the Sabine district, and
called from the Lake Velinus. It was the last tribe added, with the
Quirina, A. U. C. 512, to make up the thirty-five tribes, by the censors
C. Aurelius Cotta and M. Fabius Buteo. Vid. Liv. , Epit. , xix. Cic. ,
Att. , iv. , 15. The name of the tribe was always added in the ablative
case, as Oppius Veientinâ, Anxius Tomentinâ.
[1450] _Quiritem. _ Cf. Sen. , Nat. , iii. , "Hæc res efficit non è jure
Quiritium liberum, sed è jure Naturæ. " There were three ways of making
a slave free: 1, per Censum; 2, per Vindictam; 3, per Testamentum.
The second is alluded to here. The master took the slave before the
prætor or consul and said, "Hunc hominem liberum esse volo jure
Quiritium. " Then the prætor, laying the rod (Vindicta) on the slave's
head, pronounced him free; whereupon his owner or the lictor turned him
round, gave him a blow on the cheek (alapa), and let him go, with the
words, "Liber esto atque ito quo voles. " (Plaut. , Men. , V. , vii. , 40. )
[1451] _Dama_ was a common name for slaves (Hor. , ii. , Sat. vii. , 54,
"Prodis ex judice Dama turpis;" and v. , 18, "Utne tegam spurco Damæ
latus"), principally for Syrians. It is said to be a corruption of
Demetrius or Demodorus. So Manes, from Menodorus, was a common name of
Phrygian slaves.
[1452] _Agaso. _ Properly, "a slave who looks after beasts of burden"
(_qui agit asinos_, Schell. ), then put as a mark of contempt for any
drudge. Hor. , ii. , Sat. viii. , 73, "Si patinam pede lapsus frangat
agaso. "
[1453] _Tressis. _ Literally, "three asses. " So Sexis, Septussis, etc.
[1454] _Pilea. _ Cf. ad iii. , 106, "Hesterni capite induto subiere
Quirites. "
[1455] _Bruto. _ From the _three_ Bruti, who were looked upon by the
vulgar as the champions of liberty. Lucius Junius Brutus, who expelled
the Tarquins; Marcus, who murdered Cæsar; and Decimus, who opposed
Antony.
[1456] _Aurem lotus. _ Cf. ad l. 63.
[1457] _Vindicta. _ Cf. Ov. , A. A. , iii. , 615, "Modo quam Vindicta
redemit. "
[1458] _Masurius_, or Massurius Sabinus, a famous lawyer in the
reign of Tiberius, admitted by him when at an advanced age into the
Equestrian order. He is frequently mentioned by Aulus Gellius (Noctes
xiv. ). He wrote three books on Civil Law, five on the Edictum Prætoris
Urbani, besides Commentaries and other works, quoted in the Digests.
[1459] _Sambucam. _ "You might as well put a delicate instrument of
music in the hands of a coarse clown, and expect him to make it
'discourse eloquent music,' as look for a nice discernment of the finer
shades of moral duty in one wholly ignorant of the first principles of
philosophy. " Sambuca is from the Chaldaic Sabbecà. It was a kind of
triangular harp with four strings, and according to the Greeks, was
called from one Sambuces, who first used it. Others say the Sibyl was
the first performer on it. Ibycus of Regium was its reputed inventor,
as Anacreon of the Barbiton: but from its mention in the book of Daniel
(iii. , 5), it was probably of earlier date. A female performer on it
was called Sambucistria. An instrument of war, consisting of a platform
or drawbridge supported by ropes, to let down from a tower on the walls
of a besieged town, was called, from the similarity of shape, by the
same name. Cf. Athen. , iv. , 175; xiv. , 633, 7. (Suidas, in voce, seems
to derive it from ἴαμβος, quasi ἰαμβύκη, because Iambic verses were
sung to it. )
[1460] _Caloni. _ The slaves attached to the army were so called, from
κᾶλα "logs," either because they carried clubs, or because they were
the hewers of wood and drawers of water for the soldiers. From their
being always in the camp they acquired some military knowledge, and
hence we find them occasionally used in great emergencies. They are
sometimes confounded with Lixæ; but the latter were _not_ slaves. The
name is then applied to any coarse and common drudge. Cf. Hor. , i. ,
Ep. xiv. , 41, "Invidet usum Lignorum tibi calo. " Cf. i. , Sat. ii. ,
44; vi. , 103. Tac. , Hist. , i. , 49. --_Alto_ refers to the old Greek
proverb, ἄνοος ὁ μακρὸς, "Every tall man is a fool;" which Aristotle
(in Physiogn. ) confirms.
[1461] _Examen. _ See note on Sat. i. , 6.
[1462] _Natura medendi. _ Horace has the same idea, ii. , Ep. i. , 114,
"Navem agere ignarus navis timet; abrotonum ægro non audet nisi qui
didicit dare; quod medicorum est promittunt medici. "
[1463] _Peronatus. _ Cf. Juv. , xiv. , 186.
[1464] _Melicerta_ was the son of Ino, who leaped with him into the
sea, to save him from her husband Athamas. Neptune, at the request
of Venus, changed them into sea-deities, giving to Ino the name of
Leucothea, and to Palæmon that of Melicerta, or, according to others,
Portunus (à portu, as Neptunus, à nando). Vid. Ov. , Met. , iv. , 523,
_seq. _ Fast. , vi. , 545. Milton's Lycidas,
"By Leucothea's golden bands,
And her son that rules the sands. "
[1465] _Frontem. _ See note on Sat. i. , 12. Hor. , ii. , Ep. i. , 80,
"Clament periisse pudorem cuncti. "
[1466] _In luto fixum. _ From Hor. , i. , Ep. xvi. , 63, "Quî melior servo
qui liberior sit avarus. _In triviis fixum_ cum se demittat ob assem. "
The boys at Rome used to fix an as tied to a piece of string in the
mud, which they jerked away, with jeers and cries of "Etiam! " as soon
as any sordid fellow attempted to pick it up. Mercury being the god of
luck (see note on ii. , 44; Hor. , ii. , Sat. iii. , 25), Persius uses the
term "Mercurial saliva" for the miser's mouth watering at the sight of
the prize (vi. , 62). --_Glutto_ expresses the gurgling sound made in the
throat at the swallowing of liquids.
[1467] _Fronte politus. _ Hor. , i. , Ep. xvi. , 45, "Introrsus turpem,
speciosum pelle decorâ. "
[1468] _Vulpem. _ Hor. , A. P. , 437, "Nunquam te fallant animi sub vulpe
latentes. " Lysander's saying is well known, "Where the lion's skin does
not fit, we must don the fox's.
"
[1469] _Funemque reduco. _ Shakspeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act ii. sc. 1.
"I would have thee gone,
And yet no farther than a wanton's bird,
Who lets it hop a little from her hand,
Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves,
And with a silk thread plucks it back again. "
[1470] _Digitum exsere. _ The Stoics held that none but a philosopher
could perform even the most trivial act, such as putting out the
finger, correctly; there being no middle point between absolute wisdom
and absolute folly: consequently it was beyond even the power of the
gods to bestow upon a fool the power of acting rightly.
[1471] _Litabis. _ See note on Sat. ii. , 75.
[1472] _Bathylli_, i. e. , "Like the graceful Bathyllus, when acting the
part of the satyr. " Juv. , Sat. vi. , 63. Gifford's note.
[1473] _Tot subdite rebus. _ "None but the philosopher can be free,
because all men else are the slaves of _something_; of avarice, luxury,
love, ambition, or superstition. " Cf. Epict. , Man. , xiv. , 2, ὅστις
οὖν ἐλεύθερος εἶναι βούλεται, μήτε θελέτω τι, μήτε φευγέτω τι τῶν ἐπ'
ἄλλοις· εἰ δὲ μὴ, δουλεύειν ἀνάγκη. So taught the Stoics; and inspired
wisdom reads the same lesson. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey? "
Rom. , vi. , 16.
[1474] _Crispinus. _ This "Verna Canopi," whom Juvenal mentions so often
with bitter hatred and contempt, rose from the lowest position to
eminence under Nero, who found him a ready instrument of his lusts and
cruelties. His connection with Nero commended him to Domitian also. One
of his phases may probably have been the keeping a bath. Juv. , i. , 27;
iv. , 1, 14, etc.
[1475] _Nervos agitat. _ "A slave is no better than a puppet in the
hands of his master, who pulls the strings that set his limbs in
motion. " The allusion is to the ἀγάλματα νευρόσπαστα, "images worked by
strings. " Herod. , ii. , 48. Xen. , Sympos. , iv. Lucian. , de Deâ Syriâ,
xvi.
[1476] _Scutica. _ Vid. ad Juv. , vi. , 480.
[1477] _Saperdam. _ From the Greek σαπέρδης (Aristot. , Fr. 546), a poor
insipid kind of fish caught in the Black Sea, called κορακῖνος until it
was salted. Archestratus in Athenæus (iii. , p. 117) calls it a φαῦλον
ἀκιδνὸν ἕδεσμα.
[1478] _Castoreum. _ Cf. Juv. , xii. , 34.
[1479] _Ebenum. _ Virg. , Georg. , ii. , 115, "Sola India nigrum fert
_ebenum_: solis est _thurea_ virga Sabæis. "
[1480] _Lubrica Coa. _ The grape of Cos was very sweet and luscious:
a large quantity of sea-water was added to the lighter kind, called
Leuco-Coum, which gave it a very purgative quality; which, in fact,
most of the lighter wines of the ancients possessed. Vid. Cels. , i. ,
1. Plin. , H. N. , xiv. , 10. Horace alludes to this property of the Coan
wine, ii. , Sat. iv. , 27, "Si dura morabitur aloes, Mytilus et viles
pellent obstanti aconchæ Et lapathi brevis herba, sed _albo_ non sine
_Coo_. " (May not "_lubrica_ conchylia" in the next line be interpreted
in the same way, instead of its recorded meaning, "slimy? ") Casaubon
explains it by λεαντικός.
[1481] _Camelo. _ "Thirsty from its journey over the desert to
Alexandria from India. " Vid. Plin. , H. N. , xii. , 7, 14, 15. Jahn's
Biblical Antiquities, p. 31.
[1482] _Baro_ is no doubt the true reading, and not _varo_, which some
derive from _varum_, "an unfashioned stake" (of which _vallum_ is the
diminutive), "a log;" and hence applied to a stupid person. Baro is,
as the old Scholiast tells us rightly for once, the Gallic term for a
soldier's slave, his Calo; and, like Calo, became a term of reproach
and contumely. It afterward was used, like homo (whence _homagium_,
"homage"), to mean the king's "man," or vassal; and hence its use in
mediæval days as an heraldic title. Compare the Norman-French terms
Escuyer, Valvasseur.
[1483] _Œnophorum. _ Hor. , i. , Sat. vi. , 109, "Pueri lasanum portantes
œnophorumque. " Pellis is probably a substitute for a leathern
portmanteau or valise.
[1484] _Cannabe. _
"And while a broken plank supports your meat,
And a coil'd cable proves your softest seat,
Suck from squab jugs that pitchy scents exhale,
The seaman's beverage, sour at once and stale. " Gifford.
[1485] _Sessilis obba. _ Sessilis is properly applied to the broad back
of a stout horse, affording a good seat ("tergum sessile," Ov. , Met. ,
xii. , 401), then to any thing resting on a broad base. Obba is a word
of Hebrew root, originally applied to a vase used for making libations
to the dead. It is the ἄμβιξ of the Greeks (cf. Athen. , iv. , 152), a
broad vessel tapering to the mouth, and answers to the "Caraffe" or
"Barile" of the modern Italians.
[1486] _Veientanum. _ The wine-grown at Veii. The Campagna di Roma is
as notorious as ever for the mean quality of its wines. Hor. , ii. ,
Sat. iii. , 143, "Qui Veientanum festis potare diebus Campana solitus
trullâ. " Mart. , i. , Ep. civ. , 9, "Et Veientani bibitur fax crassa
_rubelli_. " ii. , Ep. 53. iii. , Ep. 49.
[1487] _Pice. _ See Hase's Ancient Greeks, chap. i. , p. 16.
[1488] _Indulge genio. _ Cf. ii. , 8, "Funde merum Genio. "
[1489] _Dave. _ This episode is taken from a scene in the Eunuchus of
Menander, from which Terence copied his play, but altered the names.
In Terence, Chærestratus becomes Phædria, Davus Parmeno, and Chrysis
Thais. There is a scene of very similar character in le Dépit Amoureux
of Molière. Horace has also copied it, but not with the graphic effect
of Persius. ii. , Sat. iii. , 260, "Amator exclusus qui distat, agit ubi
secum, eat an non, Quo rediturus erat non arcessitus et hæret Invisis
foribus? ne nunc, cum me vocat ultro Accedam? an potius mediter finire
dolores? " _et seq. _ Lucr. , iv. , 1173, _seq. _
[1490] _Frangam. _ Literally, "make shipwreck of my reputation. "
[1491] _Udas_ is variously interpreted. "Dissipated and luxurious," as
opposed to _siccis_ (Hor. , i. , Od. xviii. , 3; iv. , Od. v. , 38), just
before, in the sense of "sober. " So Mart. , v. , Ep. lxxxiv. , 5, "Udus
aleator. " (Juvenal uses _madidus_ in the same sense. See note on Sat.
xv. , 47. ) For the drunken scenes enacted at these houses, see the last
scene of the Curculio of Plautus. Or it may mean, "wet with the lover's
tears. " Vid. Mart, x. , Ep. lxxviii. , 8. Or simply "reeking with the
wine and unguents poured over them. " Cf. Lucr. , iv. , 1175, "Postesque
superbos _unguit_ amaracina. " Cf. Ov. , Fast.
