78. praetextatus, while still in the praetexta, or boy's toga. Cicero says of Antonius, Phil. ii. § 44, "praetextatum te decoxisse." 79. indignatio. In the earlier writers like Lucretius and Vergil, the final "o" of these nouns is long; but there was a continuous tendency to shorten final syllables. Thus the 3rd person sing. of verbs was originally long, as we see in Ennius, and in a few passages of Vergil, which ought to be regarded as archaisms. 80. Cluvienus, some scribbler of the time. 81. Ex quo Deucalion. Conf. Sat. xv. 30. 82. montem. Said by Ovid, Met. i. 316, to have been Parnassus; others say Othrys, Aetna, or Athos. sortesque poposcit, "and demanded the oracles." sortes were properly pieces of wood inscribed with verses, which were shuffled and then drawn. Vergil uses the expression "Lyciae sortes," Aen. iv. 346; and Prof. Mayor says that this was peculiarly an Italian mode of divination. 83. caluerunt mollia, grew warm and soft. Conf. Ov. Met. i. 400. This is the proleptic use of the adjective; like lucida tela tergunt, "they wipe their darts bright." 85. quidquid agunt. For this description of the contents of Juvenal's Satires, see note on line 29, supra. 86. discursus, distractions; lit. “hurry and skurry.” farrago, the medley; lit. "a mess of various kinds of corn (far) given to cattle. 88. avaritiae sinus. No doubt Mr. Macleane is right in explaining this as the fold of the toga where the purse hung. Avarice is represented as ever holding open her toga to receive more. 89. hos animos (sc. habuit), displayed such vigour and life. For an account of the various games with dice (tali and tesserae), see Becker's Gallus, pp. 499-501. See also note on Sat. xi. 132. Neque enim, nor, indeed. enim frequently strengthens an assertion, as in enimvero, etenim. In Plautus it is almost always an asseverative particle. Conf. Trin. 1134, and Capt. iii. 4, 60. loculis, dim. of locus; here "purses." The word is used by Horace, Sat. i. vi. 74, of the satchels carried to school by boys. 90. tabulae, the gaming-table. posita deposita, staked. Conf. Verg. Ecl. iii. 31 and 36. Gaming was a very usual amusement after dinner. Augustus, according to Suetonius, was very fond of a game at dice; while Claudius wrote a book on the subject. On arca, conf. xiv. 259. 91. dispensatore, a slave who kept his master's accounts and made payments for him. He was one of the servi ordinarii. The emperor's dispensatores, like his procuratores, were often public officials. Pliny speaks of a slave of Nero being dispensator Armeniaci belli, H. N. vii. 129. His duty would be to provide the means for a real war, as here for a gambling contest. 92. sestertia centum, 100,000 sesterces; sestertium being a sum. For expressing larger sums the usual way was to use the numeral adverb with sestertium, centena milia being supplied. A sestertius, originally = 24 asses (semi-tertius), was at this period equivalent to 4. Four sesterces made a denarius (decem asses). simplex furor, sheer madness. 93. horrenti, etc. Conf. Sat. ix. 68, "Quid dicam scapulis puerorum aquilone Decembri ?” tunicam, the usual dress of slaves and the lower orders. Conf. Horace's expression, "tunicato popello," Ep. i. 7, 65. reddere, to give something which is due, like άodidóval. 94. fercula septem, "seven courses," and this too secreto "without company." Augustus usually had only three, Suet. Aug. 74. ferculum=fericulum, that which is carried or served up. The fercula were the courses of the cena proper, served after the gustatio. : 95. sportula. One of the most regular, and it may be added one of the most irksome, of the duties owed by clients to their patrons was the early morning salutatio. As a return for this and other duties it had in earlier times been customary for the patron to invite them to dinner with him after the day's work was over; while on such special occasions as a birthday or a marriage, a publica cena would be given to all the clients together. This was probably the state of things till Nero's reign, when Suetonius (Ner. 16) tells us--" Adhibitus sumptibus modus publicae cenae ad sportulas redactae." Instead of a regular dinner (recta cena) the client now received some portions of food, which he took away in a basket (sportula). For the sake of convenience this was soon commuted into a small money payment, usually 100 quadrantes, or 25 asses. The same custom was no doubt applied to the privatae as well as the publicae cenae, until sportula lost its original meaning and came to mean the money-dole only, as it does in this passage. Domitian, we learn, also from Suetonius (Dom. 7), not liking the system of money payments, "sportulas publicas sustulit, revocata rectarum cenarum consuetudine. This change, as we know from Martial's Third Book, was unwelcome to the clients, as, instead of the money-dole, however small, they were now insulted with inferior food to that served for the rest of the company. Conf. Juvenal, Sat. v.; Martial, iii. 60, 1-2- "Cum vocor ad cenam, non iam venalis ut ante, The change, however, was of short duration, and the moneydole soon reintroduced. Out of this the client had to provide the necessaries of life, "hinc toga, calceus hinc est, et panis fumusque domi," Sat. i. 119; and though he still hoped for an invitation to dinner, he rarely received one, id. 133. He might, however, apparently earn more than one sportula in the day, though the amount of labour so involved would be very ill requited by another 100 quadrantes. After the salutatio was over, which involved rising before break of day, and then a walk through snow or rain or crowded streets, the patron had to be accompanied on his round of visits, then to the Forum, then to the baths, while at all recitations the unfortunate client was expected to lead the applause, and after all this, as Juvenal says, nusquam minor est iactura clientis." 66 primo limine. They were not allowed even to enter the house. ; 96. turbae togatae. It was literally a crowd, for the patrons vied with one another in gathering large numbers of clients to attend. Not the least of the hardships of the clients was the necessity of appearing always in the hot and heavy toga, which among the rich at Rome was falling more and more into disuse (iii. 171). The necessity of keeping the toga clean and white must have entailed considerable expense. In former times the relation between client and patron had been one of mutual advantage. The client had supported his patron at elections he had contributed towards his expenses when in office; and had been expected generally to render such services, whether complimentary or actual, as his patron might from time to time require. The patronus, on the other hand, had given legal advice, was the guardian of his client's children, and treated him generally as a humble friend. Now all this was changed; the client was ousted by the Greek adventurers, or only retained to crowd the atrium of his patron at the morning salutatio, or to accompany him on his round of business or pleasure; while the only recognition of or return for these services was the paltry centum quadrantes. 97. Ille, the patron. 98. suppositus, personating some one else. falso nomine. There would naturally be a nomenclator by, with a list of those who had a right to the sportula. 100. ipsos Troiugenas. The old noble families traced their descent back to the Trojans. Aeneid rests on this idea. 101. "Da praetori," etc. Of course the whole of Vergil's See Sat. viii. 56, 181; xi. 95. We must suppose that even the rich and noble and men in office did not disdain to receive for their morning calls the one hundred quadrantes, which Friedländer says they no doubt passed on to their own attendants; but Juvenal's words below, line 118, show that they regarded the sportula as a part of their income. See Mart. ii. 18, who says to Maximus, "Mane salutatum venio; tu diceris isse ante salutatum iam sumus ergo pares"; and conf. x. 10, quoted in note on line 117. 102. libertinus. A man was libertinus in relation to the state: libertus in relation to his former master. 104. natus ad Euphraten, perhaps in Syria or Armenia; the Euphrates may be taken somewhat loosely. Conf. Sat. iii. 62. molles in aure fenestrae, "effeminate holes in his ear." The Orientals usually wore earrings. 105. quinque tabernae, all the retail trade at Rome was in the hands of freedmen. 106. quadringenta parant, i.e. sestertia. 400,000 sesterces was the census equester, which entitled its possessor to all the insignia and privileges of that body. The senatorial census was decies sestertium, 1,000,000 sesterces. Conf. Sat. iii. 155. purpura maior, i.e. the latus clavus or broad purple stripe down the breast of the tunic worn by senators and their sons. 108. conductas, hired. See Sat. iii. 31. 5. Corvinus, taken as a type of the nobility, as in Sat. viii. The Corvini were descended from M. Valerius Corvus, about whom Livy tells the story of the raven, Liv. vii. 26. A M. Messala Corvinus was granted by Claudius a pension of 500,000 sesterces, "quibus paupertatem innoxiam sustentaret," Tac. Ann. xiii. 34. 109. Pallante. Pallas was a freedman of the Emperor Claudius, a brother of the Felix mentioned in the Acts. He is said by Tacitus to have possessed 300,000,000 sesterces. Joined in a league with Messalina, he disposed at pleasure of offices, provincial governorships, and civic privileges. The senate voted him the praetoria insignia, and publicly thanked him for deigning to serve the Emperor. See Plin. Ep. vii. 29. Licinus was Licinis. For the plural, see note on line 52. originally a Gallic slave; he then became freedman of Augustus, under whom he was procurator of Gaul, where he became notorious for his extortion and wealth. See Sat. xiv. 306. The freedmen of the imperial household were under many emperors, especially Claudius and Nero, the most influential men at Rome. 110. sacro ne cedat honori, i.e. the tribunate. Conf. the K epithet "sacrosanctus" usually applied to it; and see Pliny, Ep. i. 23, who says of it, "cui loco cedere omnes oporteret." 111. pedibus qui venerat albis. For some purpose, which has not been satisfactorily explained, slaves exposed for sale on the catasta had their feet chalked over, Plin. H. N. xxxv. 199. Conf. Tibull. ii. 2, 59, quem saepe coegit barbara gypsatos ferre catasta pedes." 66 113. Pecunia, derived from pecus, a flock. Because in early times flocks were the main kind of wealth, pecunia came to stand for money in general. Conf. Horace's "regina Pecunia," Ep. i. 6, 36, and "obscaena Pecunia," Juv. Sat. vi. 298. templo, connected with root of réuvw; marked or cut out for purposes of augury. properly a space 115. Pax, etc. Notice how different the Roman religion was from the Greek. The latter was purely concrete, and its deities were taken from the forces and phenomena of nature. The former was abstract, except where it copied from the Greeks, and made divinities out of such abstract ideas and qualities as Virtue, Hope, Faith, etc. Vespasian dedicated a temple to Pax; while Q. Maximus, in the Ligurian War, 238 B.C., had built one to Virtus. L. Postumius dedicated one to Victory in 294 B.C. 116. quaeque salutato, etc. The reference is to the fact that storks had built their nest in the temple of Concord, and used to twitter as worshippers entered the temple (salutato nido). The bird is identified with Concordia, while the temple itself is described as its nest. There can be no doubt that the idea was suggested by Ovid's line, Met. vi. 97, “ipsa sibi plaudat crepitante ciconia rostro." 117. summus honor, i.e. the consul. Conf. Mart. x. 10, 1, cum tu laurigeris annum qui fascibus intras, mane salutator limina mille teras." 118. rationibus, to his income. Conf. vi. 511, "gravis est rationibus. 119. quid facient comites. Conf. Mart. x. 10, "Hic ego quid faciam? quid nobis Paule relinquis? Qui de plebe Numae densaque turba sumus?" calceus, the boot ordinarily worn with the toga. See note on line 96. Conf. Cic. Phil. ii. § 76, where he contrasts his own return to Rome, "cum calceis et toga," with Antony's, who wore the lacerna and Gallic shoes. See also Plin. Ep. vii. 3, quousque calcei nusquam, toga feriata?" The calceus covered the foot entirely, while the soleae were mere sandals. 120. Densissima lectica, litters in crowds; conf. plurima rosa, densa oliva, xiv. 144; multo delatore, iv. 47, etc. |