SATIRE I. Tired of listening to poetic recitations, Juvenal resolves to retaliate in kind, and waste ink and paper with the rest of the world (1-18). The corruption of the times leaves him no choice: if he is to write at all, he cannot but write satire (19—80). Never did such open rampant vice provoke censure (81—150). If it be too hazardous to assail the living, he will try how far he may safely expose the crimes of the dead (150—171). This Satire must have been published after A.D. 100, the 3d year of Trajan; for in that year Marius Priscus (see v. 47, sq.) was condemned. SEMPER ego auditor tantum? Nunquamne reponam [1-6. Must I always patiently listen to epics, comedies, elegies, and tragedies? Shall I never have my revenge?] 1. "I myself, too, that I might not be alone noiseless in so noisy a time, nor, like a mute in a comedy, go silently about with mouth agape, resolved to stir myself like the rest." Lucian, Quom. histor. conscr. 4. repon.] Often, as here, to render evil for evil: (so rep. dolorem, Sen. de Ira, i. 3 § 2: injuriam, ibid. ii. 28 § 3: scelus, id. Thyest. 1054: contumeliam, Quintil. Decl. 345. p. 729 Burm.: dicta paterna, Pers. vi. 66: Cur autem laudarim, peto a te, ut id a me neve in hoc reo neve in aliis requiras: ne tibi ego idem reponam, quum veneris, Cic. Ep. fam. i. 9. c. 6) properly to repay (cf. ne videar, quorum recitationibus adfui, non auditor fuisse, sed creditor, Plin. Ep. i. 13 fin.: Mart. i. 64). 2. Thes.] Epic poems bearing this title are mentioned by Aristot. Poet. 8 § 2, by Diog. Laert. ii. 59, and Plut. Thes. 28. (Welcker, Epische Cyclus, v. i. p. 321, 2.) For the form, cf. Æneis, Heracleis. tot.] It was too long to be finished in one or two recitations. rauc.] Mart. vi. 41. B Impune ergo mihi recitaverit ille togatas, 3. rec.] Inf. iii. 9 n.: for the tense, Madv. Opusc. alt. p. 87 compares Virg. Æn. iv. 591, ix. 785; 'Shall it go for nothing that I have listened?' tog.] "Togatæ are Latin comedies, such as Afranius composed." Schol. : cf. Hor. Epist. ii. 1. 57, Quintil. x. 1 §§ 99, 100. "At first comedies were called togatæ.... The togata tabernaria differs from the comedy, inasmuch as in comedy Greek fashions are introduced, and Greek persons, as Laches and Sostrata; but in the other, Latin. Togatæ tabernariæ were exhibited chiefly by two poets, Afranius and G. Quintus. For Terence and Cæcilius wrote comedies." Diomed. iii. p. 436. Togatæ are distinguished from comœdiæ also by Seneca (Quam multa poetæ dicunt, quæ a philosophis aut dicta sunt, aut dicenda! Non attingam tragicos, aut togatas nostras; habent enim hæ quoque aliquid severitatis, et sunt inter comoedias et tragoedias mediæ, Epist. 8 § 7), and by Fronto (vel graves ex orationibus veterum sententias arriperetis, . . . . vel comes ex comœdiis, vel urbanas ex togatis, Epist. ad Marc. Cæs. i. 3. p. 25 Nieb.); they are opposed to tragedies by Horace (A. P. 285, sq.), and by Manilius (Aut magnos heroas aget, scenisque togatas, v. 482). .... 4. eleg.] Siqua elegidia crudi Dictarunt proceres, Pers. i. 51. cf. 34, Plin. Ep. v. 17 § 2, vi. 15. ingens] Lengthy. Mart. iii. 50, V 78. 25, Sen. Ep. 95 § 2. 5, 6. Tel. Or.] Tragedies of the day by unknown authors. Telephus, the Mysian king, to whom "Vulneris auxilium Pelias hasta tulit" (Ov. Rem. Am. 48), was the hero of tragedies by Ennius and Accius among the Romans; by Eschylus, Sophocles, Euripides (this play is spoken of by Aristophanes, v. fragm. Eurip. Tel. ed Dind.), Agathon, Cleophon, Moschion, and Iophon: cf. Hor. A. P. 96. Orestes gave name to the extant tragedy of Euripides, and to others by the younger Euripides, by the younger Carcinus, and by Theodectes (Welcker, Griech. Trag. v. iii. pp. 1485, 1489): scenis agitatus Orestes. Virg. Æn. iv. 471. plena] Priscian cites this as an example of margo fem.; the Lexicons give other examples from Licin. Macer, Rabir., and Vitruv. Summi, &c.] "Written even on the back of the parchment, the border at the end of the roll being already full." The back of the roll was generally coloured; rolls written on both sides were called opisthographi;-commentarios CLX mihi reliquit, opisthographos quidem, et minutissime scriptos: qua ratione multiplicatur hic numerus, Plin. Ep. iii, 5 § 17: Inversa pueris arande charta, Mart. iv. 87. 11: cf. id. viii. 62: Jam venitur ad margines umbilicorum, jam tempus est, ut Satiricus ait, Orestem nostrum vel super terga finiri, Sidon. Apoll. Ep. viii. Scriptus et in tergo necdum finitus Orestes? 16: epistolæ tergum madidis sordi- 6. Scriptus] Scripta would have been as correct: v. Suet. Vit. Ter. 2 (Eunuchus bis die acta est). [7-14. The legends of the Argonauts and Centaurs are dinned in our ears at every turn.] 7. Quum jam tibi Asia, sicut unicuique sua domus, nota esse debeat, Cic. ad Qu. Fr. i. 1. c. 16: cf. teneo melius ista quam meum nomen, Mart. iv. 37. 7: inf. vii. 232. "Each of them would sooner forget his father's name, than be ignorant of the adventures of Orestes and Pylades." Lucian, Toxar. 6. luc. Mart.] "among the Colchi, where was the golden fleece." Schol.: "Hellanicus says that the fleece was deposited in the temple of Zeus; others, that it hung on a tree in the grove of Ares: ... Great is the fame of the grove of Ares among the Colchi." Schol. Paris. in Apollon. Rhod. ii. 404. See Val. Flacc. v. 229, 250 sq., 629, 641. Descriptions of forest scenery were often inserted in the poems of the time; see-ponere lucum Artifices, Pers. i. 70: and Hor. A. P. 16. 8. Eol. rup.] The Æoliæ insulæ, seven islands north of Sicily, called also Liparenses (now Lipari), from Lipara, the chief of them; and, from their volcanic formation, Vulcaniæ. he most southern, Hiera or Ther 10 missa, was regarded as an abode of Vulcan (Vulcani insula, now Vulcano); Strongyle, the modern Stromboli, as that of Eolus. "Agathocles, in his Commentaries, speaking of the forges of Vulcan, says that over against Sicily are two islands, Hiera and Strongyle, which discharge fire day and night. . . . The one is called Eolus's island; the other, in which it is said that rivers of fire break forth, Vulcan's." Schol. Apollon. Rhod. iv. 761: cf. id. iii. 42, Val. Flacc. i. 579 sq. Insula Sicanium juxta latus Æoliamque Erigitur Liparen, fumantibus ardua saxis, Quam subter specus et Cyclopum exesa caminis Antra Ætnæa tonant, validique incudibus ictus Auditi referunt gemitum, striduntque cavernis Stricturæ Chalybum, et fornacibus ignis anhelat; Vulcani domus et Vulcania nomine tellus, Virg. Æn. viii. 416 Liparæa taberna, infr. xiii. 45. Probably the allusion is still to the Argonautica; cf. ¿beîv εἰς ἀκτὸς ὅθι τ ̓ ἄκμονες Ηφαίστοιο χάλκειοι στιβαρῇσιν ἀράσσονται τυπίδεσσιν, εἰπὲ δὲ κοιμῆσαι φύσας πυρὸς εἰσόκεν ̓Αργὼ τάς γε παρεξελάσῃσιν, ἄταρ καὶ ἐς Αἴολον ἐλθεῖν, Apollon. Rhod. iv. 761. (On the Eoliæ insulæ, v. Heyne, Excurs. i. ad Virg. En. i. Æolii... saxi, Lucan. v. 609.) 9. qu. ag.] Quid Seres, quid Thraces agant, vi. 403. 10. Eacus, Minos and Rhadaman Pelliculæ, quantas jaculetur Monychus ornos, thus were the judges of the dead. al.] Jason, so alius again, x. 257. 11. Monychus, formed by syncope from μονώνυχος; in the affray with the Lapitha this Centaur-insani dejectam viribus Austri Forte trabem nactus validum conjecit in hostem, Exemplumque fuit, Ov. Met. xii. 510 sq. v. Lucan. vi. 385, Val. Flacc. i. 145. 12. Fronto.] A rich patron, who lent a porch for recitation, inf. vii. 40 n. ; qui compositos metro Tibulli In Stellæ recitat domo libellos, Mart. iv. 6. 4, 5. Domum suam recitantibus præbet, says Pliny of Titinius Capito (Ep. 8. 12 § 2), infr. iii. 9 n. This may have been the Fronto Catius, so highly commended as an orator by Plin. Ep. ii. 11 § 3; iv. 9 § 15; vi. 13 § 3: from Front. Ep. ad M. Cæsar. ii. 4 § 3 (Horatius Flaccus memorabilis poeta, mihique propter Mæcenatem et Mæcenatianos hortos meos non alienus), cl. Schol. h. 1. (in Horatiana domo, in qua poetæ recitabant), it appears that our Fronto was connected with the tutor of M. Aurelius. plat.] On the rage of the Roman nobles for the cultivation of this tree, see Hor. Od. ii. 15. 4 (platanusque cœlebs Evincet ulmos): Mart. ii. 19. 2, 58. 3, Propert. ii. 32. 11 sq. Hortensius the orator used to pour wine upon the plane-trees 15 in his Tusculan villa. Macrob. ii. 9. marm.] They lined the walls of the building. 13. lectore] Ubi cessat voluntas, neque is, cujus causa aliquid fit, personam agentis tenet, ablativum ponunt sine præpositione, Hand, Tursell. v. i. p. 25: curatus inæquali tonsore capillos, Hor. Ep. i. 1. 94: Ov. Met. i. 747 (Nunc dea linigera colitur celeberrima turba): id. Heroid. v. 75, xii. 161, infr. iii. 86, vi. 29. rupta] vii. 86 (fregit subsellia versu): cantu querulæ rumpent arbusta cicada, Virg. G. iii. 328: каτερρήγνυτο πᾶς ὁ τόπος ὑπὸ τοῦ κρότου καὶ τῆς κραυγῆς, Polyb. xv. 32 § 9. 14. " and look what The best wits choose, the worst dare write of that." Holyday. Scribimus indocti doctique poemata passim, Hor. Ep. ii. 1. 117. [15-18. Therefore (ergo), since all alike pretend to the gift of poetry, why should I alone be silent? Why should not I frequent the schools, and blot paper with my scribblings, as others do?] cf. Auson. Præf. Syagr. v. 15 (Nos ad Grammaticæ studium convertimus, et mox Rhetorices etiam quod satis attigimus). 15. fer.] For the practice of corporal punishment in schools, see Auson. Id. iv. 25 sq. Plaut. Bacch. iii. 3. 30 Hor. Ep. ii. 1. 70 (plago Consilium dedimus Sullæ, privatus ut altum sus Orbilius): Mart. x. 62. 10, xiv. 80 scholaribus rudimentis tumidas ferulis gestaveram palmas, Fulgent. Mythol. lib. i. p. 608 Stav. : Nec manibus mites ferulas, Colum. x. 21. Against it, see Quintil. i. 3 § 14 sq. (Cædi vero discentes, quanquam et receptum sit et Chrysippus non improbet, minime velim). subd.] "have flinched from." Dobree. Audire grammaticum, ferulæ manum subtrahere, et inter parvulos Αθηνογέρων artem loquendi discere, Hieronym. cont. Rufin. i § 17, vol. ii. col. 473 Vallars.: ergo frustra tanto tempore studuimus, et sæpe manum ferulæ subduximus, Id. Ep. ad Pammach. 57 § 12: Cf. Ep. 50, ad Domnion. § 2, Macrob. Sat. iii. 10. 16. On the unpractical character of the rhetorical theses, see vii. 161, x. 167, Pers. iii. 45, Tac. Dial. 35. Ciceroni dabimus consilium, ut Antonium roget, vel Philippicas.... exurat, Quint. iii. 8 § 46: C. Cæsari suadentes regnum, affirmabimus, &c. ib. § 47: Deliberat Alexander an Oceanum naviget, Sen. Suasor. 1. The declamations were either, 1. Suasoriæ, such as this, generally on political subjects; these, as not requiring technical knowledge, were first practised: or, 2. Controversiæ, in which some legal point was handled. priv.] I have urged Sulla to resign his dictatorial power, that so he might again sleep undisturbed. altum] So Baluv éкoμhens, Lucian. Dial. Mor. 2 § 3. 18. perit.] If I do not waste it, some other poet will. So Pliny"Are you not inconsistent with yourself, when you say that you are incessantly occupied, and yet beg for a copy of my writings, which can scarce induce even men of leisure to spend on them any portion of the time which they would otherwise throw away (perituri temporis, Ep. vii. 2 §1)?” [19-21. Juvenal having thus resolved to write poetry, is determined to choose the particular form of satire by the prevalent vices of the time.] 19. decur.] Ov. Fast. ii. 360. 20. Aur. al.] Lucilius, born at Suessa Aurunca (now Sessa), a town of the Aurunci, in Latium, between Minturnæ and Teanum, east of the Via Appia; it was enclosed by the ager Vescinus on the western descent of Mons Massicus. The Aurunci, when driven from their city (B.C. 337), occupied Suessa, Liv. viii. 15; it became a Roman colony, B.C. 313, Liv. ix. 289, Vell. i. 14 § 4: Cicero calls it a municipium, Phil. xiii § 18. On the father (inventor, Hor. S. i. 10. 48) of Roman satire, see Auson, |