41 
 
| LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.' 
 
 I Sf,e,fS±BA.. ' 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
.w 
 
THE 
 
 FI RST BOOK 
 
 SATIRES OF HORA CE 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM RICH'S " ANTIQUITIES ; " 
 A LIFE OF HORACE ; 
 
 AND ARTICLES ON THE ROMAN HOUSE, AMPHITHEATRE, 
 THEATRE, AND CIRCUS. 
 
 / 
 
 By R. M. MILLINGTON, M.A. 
 
 LONDON : 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, READER, & DYER, 
 
 PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 1870. 
 
^ 
 
 
 S> 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 J. AND W. RIDER, PRINTERS, 
 
 BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The special object of this translation is to offer to the general 
 public an accurate and readable version of the wit and wisdom 
 contained in this portion of the works of Horace, combined 
 with such explanatory notes as make all the allusions tolerably 
 clear to a non-classical reader. For the woodcuts, taken from 
 Rich's "Antiquities," no apology seems needed. 
 
 The metre chosen is the same as Goldsmith uses in " The 
 Haunch of Venison " and " The Retaliation," and appears 
 well adapted for the playful lightness and conversational 
 freedom of Horace's satiric writing. The English heroic, 
 although it suits Pope's satire well enough, seems to have a 
 conscious stiffness about it that, unless treated by a perfect 
 master in the art, is liable to give a somewhat clumsy im- 
 portance to what Horace himself terms " sermoni propiora " 
 (Sat. IV., 42, Bk. I.), "sermoiies repentes pei' hianinn" (Ep. L, 250, 
 Bk. II.), " satiris musaque pedestri" (Sat. VI., 17, Bk. II.); or 
 else an undignified dropping of the serious style which so 
 well suits the heroic in translating such a satirist as Juvenal, 
 without attaining to the ease and lightness of the Horatian 
 hexameter. 
 
 From the above expressions, as applied to his own satiric 
 writing, and the roughness of many of his lines, it is obvious 
 
IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 that Horace did not deem strictness of metre of paramount 
 importance. 
 
 The best index of the difficulty of translating this part of 
 Horace's works is the infrequency of the attempt, and it 
 seems much to be regretted that a genius combining the 
 verve and caustic point of a Thackeray with the fluent versi- 
 fication of a Byron has not arisen to do justice to the old 
 Roman bard. 
 
 Orelli's text and notes have been consulted throughout. 
 It may be as well to say a few words on the distinctive 
 features of the satire and philosophy of Horace, as it is very 
 possible that many, who are not acquainted with this part 
 of his works, may conclude that the one is merely a denuncia- 
 tion against men's vices and defects, and that the other is 
 either vague and dreamy, or Utopian and impossible. 
 
 The chief characteristic of Horatian satire is, that instead of 
 
 lashing vice and human weakness with the uncompromising 
 
 severity and indignant sarcasm of a Juvenal, it rather, with a 
 
 pleasant vein of irony and playful personality, gently reproves 
 
 md remonstrates than summarily condemns. And while 
 
 entirely allowing that it was quite desirable that there should 
 
 irise a Juvenal to brand with infamy such reigns of terror and 
 
 excess as that of Domitian, the author unhesitatingly claims for 
 
 Horace immunity from the charge of sympathizing with vice. 
 
 f f the real end and purpose of satire be to check, not merely to 
 
 aveigh against vice, Horace's method of handling the subject 
 
 -eems the best calculated to attain that end. And that he 
 
 leliberately chose that method, not from a secret leaning 
 
 :o the vices and follies he satirized, but with the true instinct 
 
 of a master of his art, and from the teaching of his own philo- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sophy, those who attentively read this portion of his works 
 can have no reasonable doubt. Men are not so likely to 
 listen to or profit by the fierce strictures of a satirist who 
 in his writings apparently exhibits not only the utmost disdain 
 and abhorrence of vice, but seems to arrogate to himself 
 exemption from most of the weaknesses poor humanity has 
 ever been subject to. The feeling created in the minds of the 
 satirized is much more likely to be one of antagonism, or even 
 more likely of indifference, on the ground that such a satirist 
 really cannot fully understand human nature. 
 
 Horace, on the contrary, knew human nature thoroughly; 
 and the consummate address with which, while holding vice up 
 to ridicule, he carefully avoids giving any impression that he is 
 himself exempt from it, combined with the genial kindliness of 
 a nature that satire cannot conceal, must have at once given 
 him the advantage of being fully intelligible to his readers as a 
 satirist, and, from his relations with Maecenas his patron, and 
 through him with the Emperor Augustus, must have secured 
 for his writings the attention of most of the influential men of 
 his day. No one had more real friends than Horace, no poet 
 was more really liked by the powerful, although the aristocracy 
 of Rome were as exclusive and haughty as the old Bourbons 
 themselves. The bearing, at once liberal and independent, and 
 yet modest and unassuming, that he ever preserved, in spite 
 of the suddenness of his rise and the consequent difficulty 
 of the rule he had to play in a city where adroit flattery 
 was far more acceptable than real and unpretending merit, 
 deserves the warmest commendation. Shall we assign .as 
 reasons for this popularity (as a satirist) that he tacitly approved 
 of, at all events, the milder vices, and that, with the spirit of a 
 
VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 courtier, he merely modified his tone to suit the times, or that 
 he recognised the absurdity of attempting to preach to an 
 audience in a language which, if they heard, they would 
 not understand ; and which, if they understood, they would 
 probably pretend not to hear? Let those who read him 
 judge. The author is quite content to believe as much good 
 as possible of a writer who, beyond dispute, was not only 
 a great satirist, but who was a genial companion, a thorough 
 gentleman, a firm friend, and singularly free from prejudice. 
 
 With regard to his philosophy it is enough to say that, while 
 carefully and critically culling the good from the various 
 systems that then engrossed men's minds and attention, he 
 never absolutely adhered to the tenets of any one, but seems 
 to have had firmer faith in the wisdom to be derived from that 
 maxim, "the golden mean," which more or less tinctures his 
 writing. 
 
LIFE OF HORACE. 
 
 In December of the year 65 B.C., in the consulship of Lucius 
 Aurelius Cotta and Lucius Manlius Torquatus, was born the 
 great Roman poet and satirist of the Augustan age, Quintus 
 Horatius Flaccus. His birthplace was a small town then 
 called Venusia or Venusium, and now Venosa, situated in 
 Apulia, and only separated from Lucania by a chain of moun- 
 tains about one mile to the south of the town, which formed 
 the natural boundary between the two countries. His father, 
 whose condition was that of a freedman, while exercising the 
 humble calling of collector of the salt fish revenues, had 
 acquired means enough to purchase a small farm near Venusia, 
 on the banks of the river Aufidus, now called the Ofanto. 
 The first ten or eleven years of the poet's life were passed in 
 this small town, when the father, dissatisfied with the advan- 
 tages afforded by the tenth-rate academy of Flavius at Venusia, 
 and probably even then perceiving some indications of the 
 genius his son afterwards manifested, removed to Rome, and 
 placed him under the care of a celebrated schoolmaster named 
 Orbilius Pupillus of Beneventum, now Eenevento ; under 
 whose tuition he became acquainted with the more ancient 
 poets of Rome, such as Livius, Ennius, and Lucilius, whose 
 satiric writing Horace has himself told us that he imitated. 
 He next learned the Greek language, and read some of the 
 literature of Greece; and so, while the father was plying his 
 humble calling of broker's clerk, or tax-gatherer, the son was 
 
Vlll 
 
 LIFE OF HORACE. 
 
 receiving instruction and advantages suited even to the sons of 
 the oldest aristocracy of Rome. The poet himself pays a grace- 
 ful tribute of acknowledgment to this self-denial on the part of 
 the father, and to his careful training, in the Sixth Satire of the 
 First Book, where, alluding to the former, he says, — 
 
 " But if my character be sullied by more venial defects, and 
 those but few, and be good in the main; if none shall fairly 
 charge me with the fault of avarice, or meanness, or bad com- 
 pany; if I be pure and guiltless; if, to praise .myself, I live 
 dear to my friends, — my father was the cause of this ; for he, 
 though poor, sent me to Rome to learn accomplishments 
 which any gentleman of property, or any member of the House, 
 might get his children taught." 
 
 And to the latter, — 
 
 " In rine, he kept me chastely free from all immoral deeds ; 
 nor that alone, but e'en from slander's slur, and purity like this 
 is youthful virtue's brightest crown." 
 
 When about twenty or one-and-twenty years of age, Horace 
 went to Athens to complete his education ; and here, while 
 learning philosophic truth " 'mid Academus' groves," he found, 
 for his fellow-students, the son of Cicero, Varus, and Messalla. 
 Meantime the crash of civil war had burst in Rome : the 
 Dictator Caesar had fallen by the assassins dagger: — Antony was 
 bending all his energies to raise from the embers of his power 
 a tyranny more to be dreaded, while Brutus and Cassius were 
 at Athens endeavouring to enrol under their banner the young 
 Romans who were there quietly pursuing their studies, as yet 
 uninfluenced by the tide of anarchy and the fierce rivalry of 
 faction. Horace joined the republican army, and finished an 
 uneventful campaign of nearly two years in Macedonia by 
 serving as a general officer at the battle of Philippi, now 
 Filibah, against Mark Antony and Octavianus, as Augustus 
 then was called, in which Brutus and Cassius were totally 
 
LIFE OF HORACE. IX 
 
 defeated; and the poet fled from the battle-field, and repaired 
 to Rome, after saving his life (but not his small property at 
 Venusia, which was confiscated), intending to maintain himself 
 by his pen. His father was now dead, and it was no bright 
 opening for the young Venusian to appear as a political rene- 
 gade, without fame and without patronage, in a town like 
 Rome, where the courtier and the informer too often found 
 the way to honour and distinction easier than the man of genius 
 or merit. However, as he says himself, " my poverty compelled 
 me to write verses," and although it was satire that he wrote 
 (for from his satires alone he gained his early and most lasting 
 fame), we find him soon attracting the notice of Virgil and 
 Varius, and, through their recommendation, securing the 
 patronage of Caius Cilnius Maecenas, the intimate friend and 
 chief counsellor, together with Agrippa, of the Emperor 
 Augustus. He was now twenty-seven years of age ; had won 
 for himself a name among the most celebrated literary men of 
 the day, such as Virgih Ovid, and Tibullus ; enjoyed the friend- 
 ship of the Emperor, of Maecenas, and of such men as Marcus 
 Vipsanius Agrippa, Caius Asinius Pollio, and Quintus ^Elius 
 Lamia. 
 
 He was now secured from want, and received, as marks of 
 his patron's favour and esteem, a romantic villa at Tibur, now 
 Tivoli, on the banks of the Anio, now the Teverone, and a 
 retired farm in the eastern extremity of the country of the Sa- 
 bines, in one or other of which he spent a great part of his time, 
 and ever preferred the simple country life to the pomp and 
 bustle of Rome. And there is no need to suppose that this 
 love of retirement was due to anything but the teaching of his 
 own philosophy, for he had offers of positions of emolument; 
 and, indeed, the Emperor Augustus, when the weight of su- 
 preme rule began to be felt and his health to suffer, desired 
 that Horace would accept the office of private secretary, and 
 
LIFE OF HORACE. 
 
 this Augustus more especially wished so that the poet might 
 conduct the correspondence between himself and his private 
 friends, — an office for which Horace must have been singu- 
 larly qualified. The poet, however, declined the offer; and 
 still enjoyed the imperial friendship. Maecenas gave a signal 
 proof of the affection with which he regarded him, for in 
 his last communication to the Emperor he said, " Remember 
 Horatius Flaccus even as you remember me." We learn 
 from his own writings that Horace was fond of warmth and 
 sunny weather ; that his hair was grey early in life ; that he 
 was short and corpulent, and suffered from weak digestion 
 and sore eyes, — a bodily defect very common among the 
 Romans. His manner of living was abstemious, and he was 
 moderate and temperate in his pleasures; and his convivial 
 hours were ever marked by social wit and philosophical wisdom. 
 He died in November of the year 8 B.C., or the early part of 
 December, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, having survived 
 his patron by a few weeks only, was buried near him on the 
 Esquiline hill, and left his property to the Emperor. 
 
 The dates and order of his publications are as follow :■ — 
 
 I. The First Book of the Satires, B.C. 35. 
 II. The Second Book of the Satires, between 35 and 
 30 B.C. 
 
 III. The Epodes, b.c 29 or 30. 
 
 IV. The First Three Books of the Odes, between 30 and 
 
 24 B.C. 
 V. The First Book of the Epistles, between 24 and 20 B.C. 
 VI. The Carmen Seculare, 17 B.C. 
 VII. The Fourth Book of the Odes, between 17 and 13 b.c 
 VIII. The Second Book of the Epistles, after the Carmen 
 Seculare, but the year is uncertain. 
 IX. Art of Poetry, — quite uncertain. 
 
 The reader will find his philosophy alluded to in the follow- 
 ing parts of the Satires and Epistles : — 
 

 LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 HORACE. xi 
 
 Satires. 
 
 Bk. I., Satire 
 
 I. 
 
 
 j> 
 
 Bk. II., Satire 
 
 2. 
 
 First paragraph. 
 
 ?> 
 
 „ Satire 
 
 4- 
 
 Apology for Epicurus. 
 
 55 
 
 „ Satire 
 
 6. 
 
 
 55 
 
 „ Satire 
 
 7- 
 
 By the mouth of Davus, in 
 the last long paragraph. 
 
 Epistles. 
 
 Bk. L, Epistle 
 
 i. 
 
 In the first part. 
 
 55 
 
 „ Epistle 
 
 4- 
 
 In the latter part. 
 
 » 
 
 „ Epistle 
 
 6. 
 
 In the first part. 
 
 55 
 
 „ Epistle 
 
 18. 
 
 In the latter part. 
 
 55 
 
 „ Epistle 
 
 20. 
 
 In the latter part. 
 
 55 
 
 Bk. II., Epistle 
 
 2. 
 
 In the latter part. 
 
 VIRGIL'S 1 
 
 ECLOGUES, with Notes, translated into Rhythmic Prose 
 
 
 for the Student. 
 
 Price 2s. 6d. 
 
 The Same into English Verse, with 
 
 a Life, and Notes for General 
 
 Readers. Elegantly bound, 
 
 price 5s. (Preparing.) 
 
DOMUS, 
 
 OR ROMAN PRIVATE HOUSE. 
 
 The Roman houses were generally built upon the same plan, 
 differing from one another only in the size, number, and 
 arrangement of the apartments they contained, or the extent 
 and character of the ground on which they stood. They were 
 divided into two principal members, as shown by the ground 
 plan annexed. The several apartments mentioned made the 
 nucleus of the house on its ground plan, and are always found 
 
 IT 
 
 J L 
 
 jl: 
 
 c : 
 
 ft 
 
 B 
 
 it 
 
 ttMimi 
 
 Ground plan of private house. 
 
 in every Roman house of any size. The relative situations 
 were always fixed, and they were constructed according to a 
 received model, as shown in the above plan, a a a represents 
 the prothyrum or entrance passage from the street (for which 
 see illustration on next page representing the prothynim), and 
 at its further end the ostium, a door half closed, which was used 
 
DOMUS. 
 
 to shut off the atrium (see woodcut to Atrium) from the entrance 
 passage. The pavement was generally mosaic, and the usual 
 word of salutation {salve) was inlaid in coloured stone at the 
 entrance (see illustration to Pavimentum). Janua was the 
 street door, as distinguished from the ostium, as shown by the 
 annexed illustration. 
 
 b b b, in the ground plan, refer to the atrium, or principal 
 apartment in a Roman house, with its appropriate dependences 
 
 Prothyj'um, or entrance passage 
 from the street. 
 
 Janua , front or street door. 
 
 all round it, as shown by the illustrations on page xiv, and also 
 by the one termed cavcedium (cavum tedium), which shows the 
 atrium from the outside. 
 
 c c c, in the ground plan, refers to the pcristylium, with i'ts 
 appurtenances beyond. The parts of the house belonging to 
 the peristylium were connected by an intermediate room called 
 
XIV 
 
 DOMUS. 
 
 the tablinum, or one or two corridors termed fauces, and occa- 
 sionally by both. 
 
 The letters d d d, in the ground plan, refer to the tablinum, 
 as shown by the illustration on page xv. The part immediately 
 in front of the drawing is the floor of the atrium, with a portion 
 
 Atrium Tuscanicum, or principal 
 apartment, in the Tuscan style. 
 
 Atrium Tetrastylum, or principal 
 apartment, supported by four columns. 
 
 of its impluvium (see woodcut for Impluvium) ; the dark open 
 recess occupying the left half of the middle ground is the 
 tablinum, with the colonnade of the peristylium showing 
 through, and the small door at the right of it is the faux, or 
 corridor, which also opens upon the peristylium at its further 
 extremity. The apartment is entirely open at both ends, so as 
 
 Cavcedium (cavum czdium), or outside view of the atrium, 
 
 to permit a continuous view through both divisions of the 
 house ; but those ends were closed when desired by moveable 
 screens or partitions of wood called tab alee which is evident, 
 from there being a separate passage at the side to afford com- 
 munication between the atrium and peristylium, which would 
 
DOMUS. 
 
 XV 
 
 not be required if the tablinum permitted a thoroughfare 
 always through it. The name tablinum is probably derived 
 from these tabula, or screens. 
 
 Peristylium, or second and inner divi- Tablinum, one of the principal pri- 
 
 sion of a Roman house, generally vate apartments in a Roman house, 
 
 the domestic apartments occupied adjoining the atrium and fauces •, 
 
 by the proprietor and family. or corridors. 
 
 Coinpluviitm, a large square opening in the centre, of the 
 roof which covered the four sides of the atrium, and towards 
 which three sides converged for the purpose of carrying down 
 the rain into a reservoir (impluviuni) . 
 
 Latrina, showing the washing-places, w.c, &c, and offices near 
 kitchen, in a private house. 
 
XVI 
 
 DOMUS. 
 
 Latrina (lavatri/ia), the wash-places and offices contiguous 
 to the kitchens. The two small arches on the right form the 
 kitchen stove. Four steps lead down to the room, and have 
 a hand rail by their side to aid the ascent or descent, the 
 mark of which is shown on the wall. The recess to the left is 
 the latrina, originally closed by a wooden door, which has left 
 the marks of its hinges and bolt on the edge of the door-frame ; 
 and the mouth of the pipe through which the place was supplied 
 with water is observable in the right-hand comer. 
 
 Ara, or altar, placed close by the impluvium of a private 
 house, on which the family sacrifice was made. The ai'a is on 
 the margin of the reservoir, or impluvium, in the right-hand 
 woodcut on page xv, which shows both. 
 
 Alee were large recesses in Roman houses of any pretensions 
 to magnificence, generally one on each side of the atrium, 
 furnished with seats, and closed in front with curtains, intended 
 
 CellcE, or dormitories Tor slaves of the house. 
 
 for the master of the house to receive his visitors in and to 
 enjoy the conversation of his acquaintance. The entrance to 
 the alee is formed by the two large doorways with the curtains 
 drawn aside at the further angle of the chamber on the right 
 and left. (See illustration on p. xiv.) 
 
 Cryptce, enclosed cloisters or galleries generally built round 
 the inner courtyards of Roman villas and farmhouses, for the 
 purpose of storing grain, fruits, and all produce that required 
 both air and immunity from damp. 
 
 Cellce were dormitories for household slaves, as the annexed 
 
DOMUS. 
 
 XV11 
 
 illustration represents. They were often found in Roman 
 villas, and the fronts were originally bricked in with only an 
 entrance door. 
 
 Chalcidicum. — This was a large, low, deep porch, covered 
 with its own roof, supported on pilasters, and appended to the 
 entrance front of a building, and forming a grand entrance to 
 the whole edifice. It was added to private as well as public 
 buildings, not merely as an ornament, but also to give shelter 
 to persons waiting outside to be admitted, or to transact public 
 business in. 
 
 Chalcidicum, or large entrance porch to a private or 
 public building. 
 
 Fenestra. — The illustration on p. xviii represents three ancient 
 windows of different designs : the one on the left hand being 
 from a Greek bas-relief in the British Museum ; that on the 
 right from the Vatican Virgil, and the centre one from a 
 marble sarcophagus of a later period found in the Vatican 
 cemetery. 
 
 In later times the walls of dwelling-houses and rooms were 
 sometimes decorated with imaginary views of country scenery, 
 
 B 
 
XV111 
 
 DOMUS. 
 
 ports, and temples, termed topia, as shown by the annexed 
 illustration. 
 
 Pavimentum.< — A flooring composed of small pieces of brick, 
 tile, stone, and shells, set in a bed of cement, and consolidated 
 by beating with a rammer {favicula\ which gave rise to the 
 name : afterwards applied to any kind of artificial flooring, even 
 of the most elaborate workmanship, like those shown by the 
 illustrations on next page. 
 
 l^tev^J 
 
 Fenestra, or windows 
 
 Topia, or landscape paintings. 
 
 Pavimentum sectile. — This was a flooring composed of pieces 
 of different coloured marbles, cut (secta) into sets of regular 
 form or size, so that when joined together the whole constituted 
 an ornamental design or pattern, as exhibited by the annexed 
 specimen. The objects at the top show the different forms of 
 the pieces with which it is composed : the triangular ones, a 
 and b, consist of serpentine and palombino respectively; the hex- 
 agonal, c, of pavonazzetto ; and the square, d, of red porphyry. 
 
 Pavimentu?n tesselatum, or tesseris struct um. — This is a 
 flooring belonging to the class of sectilia, and also of an orna- 
 mental character, composed of coloured marbles. The pieces 
 composing it were cut into regular dies without the admixture 
 of other forms, as in the annexed example, showing part of a 
 pavement in the Thermae of Caracalla at Rome. Square dies 
 (tesse//ce, tesserce) were likewise employed in making other kinds 
 
DOMUS. 
 
 XIX 
 
 of mosaic pavements, as in the following specimen ; but in 
 that case they were of smaller dimensions and less precise in 
 their angles. 
 
 Pavimentum vermiculatu??i. — A mosaic flooring or pavement 
 representing natural objects, both animate and inanimate, in 
 
 Pavimentum sectile, or flooring composed of pieces of 
 different coloured marble. 
 
 their real forms and colours, as in a picture. It was composed 
 with small pieces of different coloured marbles, inlaid in a bed 
 of very strong cement, the colours and arrangement of the 
 
 Pi 1 1 
 
 . : . , . ... 
 
 \] rrn ' i • i ™ 
 
 kj~r 
 
 i i I M i i i i i 
 
 i i 1 1 i i 
 
 pi; 
 
 I--'! . J 1 1 M ! ! " 
 
 i i.-.-j ».:.'! \, '!' 
 
 n 
 
 i H I.I i 
 
 
 
 en 
 
 1 1 1 
 
 i 
 
 i i 
 
 J ~T 
 
 n in - 
 
 U>- 
 
 VI 1 
 
 i 
 
 i i 
 
 i 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 m 
 
 _J ; ; ... 
 
 
 i | 
 
 1 ' 
 
 
 
 Jki 
 
 i l 
 
 1 1 
 
 i 1 
 
 i 
 
 n r 
 
 
 i ,, 
 
 ■j_ 
 
 i \ 
 
 
 .1 
 
 i : ~ri 
 
 jklkiL 
 
 _ 1 
 
 i,i 
 
 I 
 
 j 
 
 f,, ; ; i 
 
 II" !w 1 
 
 45 
 
 : 
 
 jr 
 
 i i , 
 
 ( ; i 
 
 §4_! 
 
 i 
 
 -M 
 
 -44- 
 
 44- 
 
 Hh 
 
 Pavimentum tesselatum> flooring with pieces of marble 
 cut in regular dies. 
 
 pieces being selected and disposed so as to imitate the object 
 designed with a good deal of pictorial effect. The dies were 
 not exactly square, nor laid in parallel lines; but they fol- 
 lowed the sweep and undulations in the contours and colours 
 of the objects reproduced, which, when viewed at a little dis- 
 
XX 
 
 DOMUS. 
 
 tance, presented a resemblance to the wreathing and twisting 
 of a cluster of worms (vermes), and thus suggested the name. 
 
 Pavimentum scalpturatum. — An ornamental flooring or pave- 
 ment on which the design is produced by engraving (scalpturd), 
 and perhaps inlaying, but, as the name implies, by a different 
 process or in a different manner from the kinds already de- 
 
 Pavimentum vermiculatum, a mosaic 
 flooring representing natural ob- 
 jects, animate or inanimate. 
 
 Pavimentum scalptiiratu??i, orna- 
 mental flooring on which the 
 design is engraved or inlaid, 
 but by a different process from 
 any of the others. 
 
 scribed. Though this kind of pavement was simple at first, this 
 style of decorative art was sometimes carried to great perfec- 
 
 ts^! 
 
 %* 
 
 i 
 
 i i 
 
 
 Alexandrinum opus, mosaic flooring for rooms. 
 
 tion, and in such a way that the effect of a finished cartoon was 
 produced on the pavement by inserting pieces of grey marble 
 
DOMUS. XXI 
 
 for the half-tints into white ; then hatching across both with 
 the chisel, and filling in the incisions with black mastic for the 
 shade, so that the whole looks like a finished chalk drawing. 
 The illustration is a fac-simile of one of the groups designed by 
 the artist Beccafiume. 
 
 Alexandrinum opus. — A particular kind of mosaic work, 
 especially used for the flooring of rooms, and belonging to the 
 class of pavements termed sectilia; the distinctive character of 
 which consisted in this, that the frets or patterns forming the 
 designs were composed of the conjunction of only two colours 
 — red and black, for instance — on a white ground, as in the 
 example, which represents a portion of a pavement in a house 
 at Pompeii. 
 
AMPHITHEATRUM. 
 
 i. Amphitheatrum, a building constructed for the exhibi- 
 tion of gladiatorial combats, and sometimes used for other 
 spectacles. The illustration shows the exterior view. 
 
 Exterior view of amphitheatrum still standing at Pola in Istria, showing 
 the oval wall divided into stories of arcades, decorated with columns and 
 pilasters. 
 
 2. The next illustration shows the interior view of the 
 amphitheatre at Pompeii ; but as the drawing is on a very 
 reduced scale, and indistinct through the dilapidations of the 
 building, it should be compared with the woodcut, No. 3, that 
 follows this, in which full particulars are given. 
 ^-^-^ 
 
 Interior view of amphitheatre, forming an elliptical cup {caved), set round 
 with seats, containing arena, and other parts enumerated in the next 
 woodcut 
 
AMPHITHEATRUM. 
 
 XX111 
 
 3. This woodcut shows a restored section and elevation of a 
 portion of the amphitheatre at Pola. The company entered 
 through the arches on the ground-floor at the left-hand side 
 of the engraving, a is the podium, which is approached 
 by a short staircase springing from the third or inner cor- 
 ridor in the centre of the woodcut. It is raised above 
 the arena by a blank wall, surmounted by a balustrade, 
 under which is seen one of the doorways through which the 
 
 
 !!I 
 
 j_ 
 
 Restored section and elevation of amphitheatre at Pola, with 
 detailed account of the parts. 
 
 wild beasts or combatants emerged upon the arena. The 
 staircase, which commences immediately from the ground 
 entrance, leads directly to the first mcenianum (1), or flight, 
 into several of which flights the gradus or circles of seats occu- 
 pied by the public were divided, when the building was lofty, 
 by broad landing-places (prcecinetiones) and raised walls (baltei), 
 and vertically into compartments in the form of an inverted 
 triangle (cunei) by a number of staircases {scalce) which com- 
 municated with the avenues of ingress and egress (vomitoria) 
 within the shell of the building. The spectator entered the 
 
XXIV 
 
 AMPHITHEATRUM. 
 
 rnamianum i, referred to above, through the doorways (yomi- 
 toria) b, and descended the flights of stairs which divide the 
 rows of seats between them into a wedge-shaped compartment 
 (ciineus), until he came to the particular row where his seat was 
 reserved. The high blank wall into which the entrance (b) 
 opens is the balteus, and its object was to separate the various 
 mceniana and prevent the classes who were only entitled to a 
 seat in the upper mamiana from descending into the lower 
 ones. A branch staircase diverging to the left leads up to the 
 corridor formed by the arcades of the outer wall, from whence 
 it turns to the right and conducts to the second mmiianutn (2), 
 which is entered and distributed in the same way as the lower 
 one, and separated from the one above by another balteus (c). 
 Other staircases, though they cannot be shown on one section, 
 conduct in like manner to the third mcenianum (3), and to the 
 covered gallery for the women above (d). The three solid 
 arches in the centre of the engraving, constructed in the main 
 brickwork of the building, form a succession of corridors 
 encircling the whole edifice, from which the different staircases 
 spring, while at the same time they support the seats of the 
 cavea and the flights of stairs by which the company entered 
 or left the amphitheatre. 
 
 Manianum, showing ranges of seats with compartments {cunci), 
 from the theatre at Pompeii. 
 
 4. This illustration gives a separate view of mceniana, or 
 entire ranges of seats rising in concentric circles between one 
 
AMPHITHEATRUM. 
 
 XXV 
 
 landing-place (prcEcinctio) and another, but divided perpen- 
 dicularly into a number of compartments {cunei) by the flights 
 of steps (scalce) which the spectators descended or ascended to 
 and from their places. The engraving shows a portion of two 
 mczniana containing three cunei. Each mcznianum comprised 
 an entire circuit. 
 
THEATRUM. 
 
 (Or chest ra^ Pidpitutn, Proscenium.) 
 
 The Roman theatre was originally a temporary wooden 
 scaffolding, erected for the occasion, and when no longer 
 needed, pulled down. It was afterwards constructed of 
 brick or stone, with considerable architectural beauty and 
 magnificence of decoration. It was usually built upon a 
 level space within the town, and consisted externally of a 
 /semicircular elevation at one end, comprising one or more 
 stories of arcades, through which the spectators entered and 
 
 Circular end of the theatre of Marcellus. 
 
 passed by staircases constructed within them to a number 
 of semicircular tiers of seats in the interior of the building, 
 which were enclosed by the external wall described, and 
 exhibited by the illustration showing the circular end of 
 
THEATRUM. 
 
 XXV11 
 
 the theatre of Marcel lus as it now exists in partial ruins at 
 Rome. Two stories only remain — the lower one, of the Doric 
 order, partly embedded in the soil : over this the Ionic is more 
 perfect. But there was originally a third story, of the Corinthian 
 order, which has entirely disappeared. Ihe circular line of 
 the plan is distinctly apparent in the drawing, as well as the 
 columns which decorated each story and the stonework of the 
 arches between them, which formed so many open arcades, 
 now filled up by the wall and windows of modern houses, into 
 
 Ground plan of Pompey's theatre at Rome. 
 
 which the edifice has been transformed. The opposite ex- 
 tremity of the building, which contained the stage, apartments 
 for the use of the actors, and conveniences for storing property, 
 was flat, forming as it were a chord or base to the semicircle, 
 and was decorated externally by a portico (porticas), (see article 
 on Amphitheatrum^ the exterior view,) sometimes of consider- 
 able extent, containing numerous colonnades, open or covered 
 walks, and corridors, and forming a favourite resort for the 
 idle and fashionable loungers of the city. A portion of these 
 appurtenances, sufficient to give an accurate notion of the 
 entire structure, is exhibited by the lowest part of the annexed 
 illustration, which represents the ground plan of Pompey's 
 
XXV111 
 
 THEATRUM. 
 
 theatre at Rome, showing the portico at the bottom marked in 
 black lines, then the walls of the scene and stage, and beyond 
 them the circular seats for the spectators, which were enclosed 
 externally by a wall similar to that exhibited in the first illus- 
 tration. The interior was open to the sky, having no roof, and 
 consisted of the following essential parts, distributed in the 
 manner shown by the annexed engraving representing the 
 
 t> o 
 
 © o 
 
 Ground plan of theatre at Herculaneum. 
 
 ground plan of the theatre at Herculaneum, which is con- 
 structed upon the Roman model. The body of the house 
 (cavea), where the spectators sat, consists of a number of semi- 
 circular rows of seats formed by deep steps (gradus) rising 
 in concentric lines one above the other, which were sub- 
 divided horizontally into tiers (tnamiana\ (see Amphithea- 
 trum for the terms,) comprising several rows each by broad 
 
THEATRUM. 
 
 XXIX 
 
 landing-places (prcecinctiones, a a, a a), and vertically into 
 cuneiform compartments (cunei, b b b b b) by a number of 
 staircases (scales, a a a a a), down which the spectators de- 
 scended to the row where their respective places were situated, 
 upon entering the house through the open doorways (vomitoria, 
 
 Orchestra of Greek or Roman theatre. 
 
 b b b b b) at the head of each staircase, which were reached by 
 means of passages and covered lobbies constructed in the 
 shell of the building, precisely in the same manner as explained 
 and illustrated by the text and woodcut to restored section of 
 amphitheatrum. At the bottom of the cavea was the orchestra 
 (c), an exact half-circle, and answering in use and locality to 
 
 \f)M :l-jjM^y.l' [iJil/g 
 
 sfik^ 
 
 Proscenium, stage of theatre, bounded by the permanent wall of 
 sceiia at the back and orchestra in front. 
 
 our///, for it contained the seats appropriated to the magis- 
 trates and persons of distinction, and was not used like the 
 Greek orchestra for a chorus and musicians. A little in 
 
XXX THEATRUM. 
 
 advance of this was a low wall (pulpilum or proscenii pulpitum, 
 c), forming the front of the stage (proscenium, d d) towards 
 the spectators, and separating it from the orchestra. At the 
 back of the stage there was a lofty wall of brick or masonry 
 (scena, e e e), which formed the permanent scene of the theatre, 
 with three grand entrances for the chief actors ; and behind 
 this the apartments for the actors and property (postscenium, 
 e e), or what we call the part " behind the scenes." (See 
 illustration to proscenium for postscenium, boundary wall of 
 which is shown in a half-tint at the back.) The two divisions 
 in advance of the stage on each side of it, like our stage boxes 
 (ff\ are supposed to have been reserved as places of honour 
 for the chief magistrates of Herculaneum, for they have each 
 a private entrance from the portico at the back of the house 
 by a separate staircase (g g), but they do not appear to have 
 been usual in every theatre. 
 
CIRCUS. 
 
 The annexed illustration shows a ground plan of a Roman 
 racecourse called Circus. It was laid out in an oblong form, 
 terminating in a semicircle at one extremity, and enclosed at 
 the opposite end by a pile of buildings called the town (pppi- 
 duni), under which the stalls (carceres) for the horses and 
 chariots were distributed, marked a a in the engraving. 
 b represents a long low wall called spina, built lengthwise down 
 the course, so as to divide it like a barrier into two distinct 
 parts, and at each of its ends was placed a goal (meta), round 
 which the chariots turned ; the one nearest to the stables (c) 
 being termed meta prima, the farther one (d) meta secunda. 
 d represents the goal at the bottom. The stalls (a a) are 
 arranged in the segment of a circle, of which the centre falls 
 
 ^■u 
 
 Ground plan of circus or Roman racecourse. 
 
 exactly in the middle point (e) between the first meta and the 
 side of the building at which the race commenced, e repre- 
 sents a chalked rope (alba linea) fastened across from two 
 small marble pillars (hermulee), and loosened away from one side 
 as soon as all the horses were brought up fairly abreast of it, 
 and the signal for the start had been given. The out-building 
 F is the Emperor's box (pulvinar). and the one on the opposite 
 side (g) is supposed to have been intended for the magistrate 
 
XXX11 
 
 CIRCUS. 
 
 called editor spectacnlorum, at whose charge the games were 
 exhibited. In the centre of the end occupied by the stalls 
 was a grand entrance (h), called porta pompce, through which 
 the Circensian procession entered the ground before the races 
 commenced. Another one was constructed at the circular 
 extremity (i), called porta triumphalis, through which the 
 victors left the ground in a sort of triumph. A third is situated 
 on the right side (k), called porta libitinensis, through which 
 
 ' y * , '**r*l?W*» ' 
 
 Ancient racecourse at Constantinople. 
 
 the killed or wounded drivers were conveyed away ; and two 
 others (l l) were left close by the carceres through which the 
 chariots were driven into the ground. 
 
 The external and internal elevation of a circus was much 
 like that of an amphitheatre (see Amphitheatrum), though 
 the annexed engraving will afford a fair idea, as, though a 
 ruin, it shows distinctly the arcades and outer shell of the 
 building; some fragments of the rows of seats for the spec- 
 tators ; the spina, with its obelisks and columns nearly perfect ; 
 the meta prima on the right hand of it ; the oppidum and 
 carceres arranged on a curved line, as in the first example ; 
 and one of the gates through which the chariots entered the 
 ground, like those marked l l on the ground-plan. 
 
SATIRE I. 
 
 Against misers, envy, and inconsistency: addressed to his patron. The 
 miser forms the principal character. The Augustan age exhibited a 
 strange mixture of frivolity and crime. 
 
 Horace. — Prithee tell me, Maecenas, why men cannot live 
 Content with that life chance or fix'd choice may give ; 
 Why extol they so loudly the opposite lot, 
 Forgetting the blessings of that they have got ? 
 " How blest are ye merchants !" the x soldier oft cries 
 When the rigour of service his shatter'd frame tries ; 
 While the 2 trader, when fierce winds his vessel assail, 
 Says, " Warfare is better than braving the gale." 
 And why not ? they but fight in a moment to gain 
 A glad victory or a swift freedom from pain. 
 But the man who's well versed in the study of law, 
 As his client at cockcrow knocks loud at his door, 
 Murmurs, "Ah, happy husbandmen !" Then, there's a third, 
 Who declares " life in town is to be much preferr'd," 
 When he's dragg'd from his country-seat and quiet home 
 To go bail for a friend who is living at Rome. 
 
 But examples of this sort so often we find, 
 That to quote all no 3 prater would e'er be inclined. 
 
 1 The soldier at the commencement of his service would expect to get 
 rich by plunder and a share in conquered lands ; but having grown old 
 and failed to gain anything but a worn-out frame, he thinks the trader has 
 become rich very easily compared with others. * 
 
 2 A trader, for instance, who imported corn and other merchandise from 
 Egypt anc l Asia Minor. 
 
 3 Fabius, a Roman knight, who wrote some treatises on philosophy. 
 
 C 
 
IO SATIRE I. 
 
 So, lest any time you should needlessly spend, 
 
 Observe in what manner I'll make all this end. 
 
 If a god were to say, " Well, I grant your demands — 
 
 Let the soldier turn merchant, the lawyer till lands : 
 
 Come, be quick ; change your places, at once pass away. 
 
 Ha ! how now ?— what the meaning of this your delay ? " 
 
 Not a man would accept the alternative fate, 
 
 Though no doubt he'd be happy in such change of state. 
 
 Now why should not Jupiter get in a rage, 
 
 And vow, " They shall no more my attention engage " ? 
 
 But the truth of this let me with gravity test, 
 
 That I seem not to treat it as if 'twere a jest : 
 
 Though I cannot see why one mayn't in playful mood 
 
 Tell the truth, if.it be to do somebody good; 
 
 As oft children will get up the alphabet well, 
 
 For the 1 cakes tutors give them, and so learn to spell. 
 
 All who work then the heavy earth with their hard plough :* — 
 
 Those exorbitant landlords one ever sees now : 
 
 * Improved plough {aratrum) . * Wheel plough (currus). 
 
 Both the soldier and merchant, who, reckless of harm, 
 Swiftly sail o'er each sea through the storm or the calm, 
 Say they bear all their hardship, that when old theyve grown, 
 They may take their ease safely, and spend what they own; 
 
 1 Quintilian recommends the use of letters in ivory, or anything pleasant 
 to the taste and touch in which children take delight. A Greek philosopher 
 recommended tutors to give their pupils pastry, honey, flowers, or brilliant 
 stones, to excite a wish to learn, or reward attention to learning. 
 
SATIRE I. II 
 
 Dreading poverty nothing — just like (as they say) 
 
 The small diligent ant, that knows how to make hay 
 
 While the sun shines, and ever increases its store, 
 
 Providing for winter ere summer is o'er. 
 
 Yet this ant, sings the bard, when Aquarius' rain 
 
 Brings the gloomy year round to its end once again, 
 
 Never stirs from its hole ; but then frugally lives 
 
 On the means former toil now so happily gives. 
 
 Yet you, nothing daunted by * winter's keen frost, 
 
 Or by summer's fierce heat, though you be tempest-tost, 
 
 Rush through flames and past swords, nay, all hindrance defy, 
 
 To say, " None of my class are now richer than I." 
 
 And pray tell me how can it be the slightest pleasure 
 
 To so fearfully, stealthily bury your treasure ? 
 
 The Miser. — It would soon be all gone if I once *gan to 
 spend. 
 
 Horace. — Yes, but still, in this hoarding, where is the good 
 end, 
 If in spite of your money you lack what you want ? 
 Though you've 2 three thousand quarters of corn, still you can't 
 Eat a bit more than I can, — just as> if you bore, 
 3 As a slave, heavy-laden the bread bag, — no more 
 Than the cup-bearer, steward, or clerk, for your share 
 Would you get, although they had had nothing to bear. 
 What to him who's content with what nature alone 
 W r ants, if sixty or six hundred 4 acres he own? 
 
 1 A parody of some epic poet's line ; the 1 6th of January is referred to, 
 when stormy and cold weather prevailed. 
 
 2 Literally, 100,000 pecks. 
 
 3 Horace imagines a master and his slaves on a journey, some of whom 
 would be laden with the cooking ntensils > and one would carry the bread; 
 while others, such as the reading slaves or secretary, would carry nothing. 
 
 4 The Roman "jugera" were rather more than half-acres. The word 
 " aret " means ploughs by means of his servants, i, e., owns. 
 
12 
 
 SATIRE I. 
 
 The Miser. — Oh ! I really can't tell ; but I feel keener 
 
 pleasure 
 In thus taking a little from so large a treasure. 
 
 Horace. — Yet, if you let us take from our small stores the 
 
 same, 
 Why so praise your large barns and our lesser bins blame ? 
 'Tis as though you but wanted a * glass * or a caskf 
 Full of water ; and yet, should this fancied boon ask — 
 " Let me rather the same much more easily draw 
 From yon river, than from this small spring that before 
 
 Pants (Roman bread). * Cup (cyathus). f Jar (urna). 
 
 Me runs." Hence it is often 2 swift waters have drown'd, 
 Borne away bank and all, those who cannot set bound 
 To their wishes; — while others, who care to obtain 
 What life fairly demands, and no more seek to gain, 
 Neither drink from a stream that is turbid with mud, 
 Nor are whelm'd in the fierce waves of Aufidus' flood. 
 But remember, cries some one, there is a large class 
 Who, through wrong wish for glory, say this :— " Since we pass 
 In the great world's opinion for what we possess, 
 There's no sum that's enough for full meed of success." 
 What with these would you do ? 
 
 1 The Roman "urna" held about three gallons, and the cyathus Jj 
 of a pint. 
 
 3 The river Aufidus, now Ofanto, in Apulia, was remarkable for the swift- 
 ness of its current. 
 
SATIRE I. 
 
 1 3 
 
 Bid them keep wretched still, 
 Since they act so absurdly of their own free will : 
 Ay, as wretched a life as the rich miser led 
 Once at Athens, who thus was accustom'd ('tis said) 
 The opinions by vulgar minds held to despise — 
 " When the coins in my strong-box # have feasted my eyes, 
 In my heart and at home I say, ' This is true bliss ! ' 
 And so what do I care if the public do hiss ? " 
 As an epic bard sings : this is Tantalus yearning 
 To drink of the stream from his lips ever turning. 
 1 Nay, you need not laugh thus, if the name you but alter 
 The old myth will show clearly that you're the defaulter. 
 
 ■ o o o qoc. 
 
 ^I 
 
 * Strong box or chest 
 {a rcci . 
 
 Arcera, a close-covered cart boarded all 
 over so as to resemble a large chest 
 (area), for the transport of invalids, 
 before litters came in. 
 
 Over money-bags gloating you lose all your sleep, 
 And sacrilege deem it to touch that large heap 
 From all sources derived, or but feel such delight 
 In it as a good picture may give to the sight. 
 Don't you know money's use ? It is this, — to obtain 
 Bread and meat, all that nature can't lack without pain. 
 What? In dreading thieves' villany, joy can you feel ? 
 Or in fearing lest slaves should run off, or should steal 
 
 1 Horace was going to add, "and you are like Tantalus," but was inter- 
 rupted by the miser with a derisive laugh at his quoting so stale a story as 
 that, worn threadbare by the philosophers of the day. 
 
14 
 
 SATIRE I. 
 
 All your stores ? For if so, I pray Heaven that this, 
 Though it be your chief blessing, may ne'er be my bliss. 
 Then again, if your frame should be seized with a chill, 
 Or be tortured with pain, if in bed* you lie ill, 
 Have you then any friend who will kindly sit by 
 You, get poultices, beg the physician to try 
 All he knows to restore you and give you relief, 
 And so save a dear child or fond wife from deep grief? 
 No, indeed : since your son, nay, not even your wife, 
 Cares the least for your health, or, I dare say, your life : 
 While your neighbours, acquaintances, ay, to a man, 
 Feel as bitter a hatred to you as they can. 
 And what wonder for money alone when you live, 
 That a love you don't merit, there are none to give ? 
 
 
 * General sofa or study couch, or for * Bed to sleep in (ciibicularis 
 
 dining or sleeping (lectulus). lectus), unfinished. 
 
 If you think those relations which nature gives, ever 
 
 Will be fast friends and love you, although you should never 
 
 Spend a penny on them — your idea would be idle 
 
 As a man's who endeavour'd with bit and with bridle 
 
 To teach wretched asses to go like the horse 
 
 That we often see trotting on Rome's training-course. 
 
 And, in fine, to this hunting for money fix bounds; 
 
 Now you've more than you had, there can't be the same 
 
 grounds 
 To fear poverty ; so from your toil now refrain, 
 For you've gain' d all that wealth you once but long'd to gain, 
 
SATIRE I. 15 
 
 Lest you act like Ummidius — (don't look so bored !) 
 'Tis a very brief story : — He measured his hoard, 
 For he ne'er could have counted it, yet was so mean, 
 That dress'd better than slaves are he never was seen. 
 Nay, right down to the day of his death he would dread 
 Loss of life through a want of a bare loaf of bread. 
 But a freedwoman, braver than Tyndarus' l daughter, 
 By an axe-cleaving* blow the poor wretch dared to slaughter. 
 The Miser. — Pray, then, what from all this the advice that 
 you give ? 
 Like the 2 profligate, glutton, or rake shall I live ? 
 
 * The axe inserted in the bundle of rods 
 (fasces), carried by the Roman lictors, 
 * Axe (securis). with which criminals were beheaded 
 
 after being beaten with the rods. 
 
 Horace. — Now you're wildly contrasting two opposite cases : 
 I don't tell you to imitate scamps and scapegraces 
 When I say, " Be no miser; " 3 and black is not white, 
 Nor can darkness be ever consider'd the light. 
 But I now will go back to my Satire's first query: — 
 And I mean, don't the miser himself become weary 
 Of his fate, and ofttimes praise " the opposite lot," 
 Discontentedly longing for what he has not ? 
 
 1 Clytemnestra, who killed her husband Agamemnon on his return from 
 Troy, and was afterwards killed herself by her son Orestes, who was then 
 driven mad by the Furies. 
 
 2 Maenius was a great profligate ; Cassius Nomentanus spent £56,000 in 
 gluttony and debauchery. 
 
 3 Tanais, a freedman, was a spado, and the father-in-law of Visellius, 
 who was herjiiosus. 
 
i6 
 
 SATIRE I. 
 
 If his neighbour's cow's udder more milk than his shows, 
 Pale with envy still thinner and thinner he grows ; 
 And instead of contrasting with poorer men's state — 
 Though so many be poorer — his own better fate, 
 Struggles ever now this man, now that, to outpace, 
 And so ever a richer he finds in the race. 
 As in Virgil's first Georgic — " when bounds the hoof 'd horse 
 From the starting-point,* bearing the car o'er the course " — 
 
 * Stalls in the circus, where the chariots were stationed before the 
 commencement of a race, and to which they returned after its 
 conclusion (carceres). 
 
 Then the jockeys press close on the horses that lead, 
 And despise the pass'd rider and his beaten steed. 
 
 Coachman, charioteer, or driver of a racing-car in the 
 Circus at the public games (Circettscs). 
 
 So it is that but seldom we find e'en a man 
 To say, " I have lived happily, and now I can, 
 
SATIRE I. 
 
 17 
 
 Quite content with the time fate has chosen to give, 
 As a sated guest ceases to eat, — cease to live. 
 But enough: — lest from bookcase* of some x blear-eyed prater 
 You should think that I've robb'd these philosophers' 
 " data." 
 
 * Circular box or case for books, papers, &c. [sainhim). 
 
 1 Crispinus. Horace was himself slightly blear-eyed, but forgot his own 
 small defect in satirizing the glaring one of Crispinus. Crispinus was a 
 garrulous Stoic philosopher. To rob his shelves of books would mean to 
 imitate his garrulity. 
 
 Doric columns supporting the Parthenon. 
 
SATIRE II. 
 
 Against all kinds of excess and inconsistency. 
 
 So the Syrian, flute-playing* 1 Sisters, forsooth, 
 Ragamuffins, quacks, ballet-girls, toadies — in truth, 
 
 Tibicina playing the tibia dextra, that one of a pair of pipes that 
 was held in the right hand when playing. 
 
 Blind beggar receiving alms Strolling juggler or mountebank 
 
 (mendicus). (circulator) . 
 
 All such folk are dejected and deeply distrest, 
 
 For their patron the 2 singer has gone to his rest. 
 
 1 The term " collegia " is used ironically like our word " fraternity." 
 
 2 Marcus Tigellius Hermogenes was a singer and music-master, — a friend 
 of Julius Caesar. 
 
SATIRE II. 
 
 19 
 
 And no doubt he was lavishly kind. But another 
 
 Would not give to a destitute friend or a brother 
 
 A mere trifle to keep off dread hunger and cold. 
 
 Then, again, if a third you should ask — who once roll'd 
 
 In the wealth by his father or grandfather won, 
 
 Why he has nearly through it all wickedly run, 
 
 Ever buying rich dainties, he answers, " I can 
 
 Never brook to be thought a mean, spiritless man." 
 
 So the prodigal praise him, the miserly blame. 
 
 There's a J banker in Rome (never mind what his name), 
 
 Rich in land, rich in money at interest placed, 
 
 Who fears men should think him a wretch quite disgraced. 
 
 ( s?b 
 
 2 Togafusa (ample toga), used in the time 
 of Augustus. (See page 28.) 
 
 Toga picta, or embroidered 
 3 robe. 
 
 He wrings from his principal sixty per cent, 
 At the time, too, when first to the borrower lent. 
 And the sooner men show folly's earliest germs, 
 So the harsher for them the stern usurer's terms. 
 
 Fufidius was some banker and usurer of whom nothing further is known. 
 
 2 See note on page 28. 
 
 3 Worn by the consul as president of the public games, and holding up 
 a handkerchief as a signal for the games to begin. 
 
SATIRE II. 
 
 He hunts up the bonds of all those who are still 
 x In their teens, and still ruled by a father's rough will. 
 Who would not, the instant he hears this, exclaim, 
 " O ye gods ! can ye countenance such crying shame ? " 
 " But," says some one, " he surely expends on himself 
 A sum that's commensurate with his great pelf?" 
 Nay : you'd scarcely believe how unkind he will be 
 To himself; for indeed he's as wretched as he 
 Was, whom Terence in 2 one of his comedies draws 
 As grief- stricken through driving his son to the wars. 
 If you say,, " What on earth in all this is his end ?" 
 My reply will be such : " To convey I intend 
 That fools trying to shun one fault certainly seem 
 To run thoughtlessly into the other extreme." 
 
 Statue of Aristides, with 
 a loose cloak {pallium) 
 over his tunic. 
 
 Ordinary tunic. 
 
 A Roman with 3 toga 
 outside his tunic. 
 
 1 The Lsetorian law forbade any one younger than twenty-five years of 
 age from concluding a money transaction by post-obits. 
 
 2 " The Self- Tormentor" was a comedy of Terence, in which the cruelty 
 of the father Menedemus drove the son Clinia into Asia to be a soldier, so 
 that the father was wretched in consequence. 
 
 3 The toga virilis was assumed about the age of 16^ years, and was com- 
 monly made of white wool, without ornament. 
 
SATIRE II. 
 
 21 
 
 There's an exquisite, who with dress sweeping the street 
 Struts along, though another one sometimes may meet, 
 Who believes it good taste to be scarce dress'd at all : 
 While the 1U elegant's" bonbons the sense of smell pall, 
 Some as l dirty as goats in our city are seen ; 
 'Tis a terrible pity : there's no happy mean. 
 There are some men who never would have aught to do 
 With a girl, if the fringe of her long robe # from view 
 
 * Inslita, a sort of flounce attached to the stola of a Roman matron, 
 or the number of thick folding plaits in the annexed figure. 
 
 Did not hide e'en her ankle, while others alone 
 
 Look at those who in houses of ill-fame are known. 
 
 As a young noble once came away from some slum, 
 
 Said the 2 Censor in splendid words, " Hither should come 
 
 Rome's youth, if foul lust have so fever'd their blood, 
 
 For to choose the less evil may sometimes be good." 
 
 But to this 3 Cupiennius, who would admire 
 
 The matron in white robes, says, " I'd ne'er desire 
 
 1 Ruhllus and Gargonius, two men belonging to the middle class, are 
 quoted as instances of the extremes of effeminacy and coarseness. The 
 lozenges or bonbons were chewed to make the breath fragrant. 
 
 2 Cato major, called the Censor. 
 
 3 Cupiennius was a great rake, and friend of Augustus. 
 
2 2 SATIRE II. 
 
 Approval like that." ' But 'tis really worth while 
 
 For all you who don't wish that good fortune should smile 
 
 On adulterers, to ascertain how distrest 
 
 They are ever, and by what a cruel unrest 
 
 The slight pleasure is marr'd, and how seldom they gain 
 
 It ; and then — at what risk and what terrible pain. 
 
 One jump'd from the top of a house in his fright, 
 
 While another was beaten to death : — in his flight 
 
 A third fell among thieves, while a fourth stay'd the knife 
 
 By smart ransom : a fifth mutilation for life 
 
 Had to suffer, — " 'Twas justice and right " the town vow'd. 
 
 But 2 Galba said, " No, for a fine is allow'd 
 
 By the law the first time." Yet 'tis safer by far 
 
 To have dealings with those who of lower rank are, 
 
 And I mean the freedwomen, for whom quite as mad 
 
 Is 3 Salustius as the adulterer. Had 
 
 But Salustius will to be gen'rous and good 
 
 To his destitute friends, as his property would 
 
 Well allow and sound reason suggest, he might give 
 
 Quite enough to the freedwomen, and yet might live 
 
 Free from loss and disgrace. But his conscience with such 
 
 Words he soothes, and hugs fast the delusion : " I touch 
 
 Not the wife of my neighbour." A few years ago 
 
 4 Marsaeus, 5 Origo who loved, as all know, 
 
 Who his land and his personal property too 
 
 Gave away to an actress, said, " Nothing to do 
 
 This is a parody of Ennius's lines, — 
 
 " Audire est operas pretium procedere recte — 
 Qui rem Romanam Latiumque augescere voltis." 
 
 2 Galba was a clever lawyer, of not very strict morals himself. 
 
 3 Salustius was a nephew of the sister of the historian Sallust. 
 
 4 Nothing further is known of Marsoeus. 
 
 5 Origo, Arbuscula, and Lycoris, were celebrated hetcerce of the day. 
 
SATIRE II. 23 
 
 With another man's wife have I had." Perhaps not ; 
 Yet from actresses and courtesans you have got 
 A bad name, and that is a more serious ill 
 Than a loss of your property. Or, prithee, will 
 It suffice to avoid some particular class, 
 While the real cause of mischief unnoticed you pass? 
 To lose one's fair fame, spend a fine property, 
 Are surely great ills wheresoever they be. 
 
 1 What matters it whether a crime that's the same 
 
 Be committed with slave-girl or proud married dame ? 
 
 2 In Fausta's case, Villius, call'd son-in-law 
 
 Of the dictator Sulla, poor wretch, who but saw 
 In the name fancied glory, sad penalty paid, 
 Maul'd by fist, pierced by sword, in a plann'd ambuscade, 
 And shut out of the house 3 while a more favour'd lover 
 Was inside. If his passion itself could discover 
 These terrible evils, and thus were to say, — 
 " What now do you want ? Do I ever, I pray, 
 When excited, for some high-born woman inquire, 
 Nearly hid in long robes, with a consul for sire ? " 
 Prithee, tell me, what answer the man would then make ? 
 This,—" I err for the rank, not the lady's own sake." 
 Yet how different from this sad folly of yours 
 The advice Nature gives, so rich in her own stores 
 Did you cease to confuse good with ill : — had you sense 
 Like a wise thrifty steward these stores to dispense ! 
 
 1 Married women wore the long gown and wide over-dress, fastened by 
 two brooches : the female slaves and ordinary women wore the toga, or 
 plain long dress. See illustration, p. 20. 
 
 2 Sextus Villius Annalis had become so intimate with Fausta, the 
 daughter of Sulla, that he was ironically called Sulla's son-in-law. 
 
 3 Longarenus, a more favoured lover of Fausta's, is supposed to have set 
 some highwaymen upon Villius. 
 
24 
 
 SATIRE II, 
 
 Don't it matter if you should go wiong through the force 
 Of circumstance or your own fault? So this course 
 Give up, lest you should rue it; more toil you'll derive 
 And more woe than the pleasure success can e'er give. 
 Nor, indeed, will the person of matrons be found 
 Straighter-built or more delicate, though, girt around 
 With the pearl and the emerald, it should e'en be 
 As dainty as any * vain dandy we see. 
 Nay, sometimes the freedwoman's person is better : 
 No adventitious aid sets her off; you may get a 
 
 ilk 
 
 ^^rvr^^h 
 
 Lectica (palanquin). 
 
 True idea of her beauty ; she does not, her graces 
 Vaunting openly, hide each small blemish's traces. 
 Observe how the rich man buys horses : conceal'd 
 In a cloth he examines them, lest, if reveal'd 
 A good shape in the main, though on faulty hoofs set, 
 And weak legs should the purchaser's eagerness whet, 
 When the shapely flanks and arching neck meet his sight, 
 With the neatly turn'd head. And the rich man does right. 
 
 1 Cerinthus was either some vain exquisite, who was very fond of jewel- 
 lery, or an elegant celebrated by Tibullus ; but probably the former. 
 
SATIRE II. 
 
 25 
 
 Don't, then, look on the beauties of women with eyes 
 Keen as 1 Lynceus could boast, while their deformities 
 Still more blind than Hypsaea you view. " What an arm ! 
 What a leg ! " you in rapture exclaim. Yet what charm 
 Is there in a lean back, a splay foot, a big nose ? 
 The matron's long robe nothing but her face shows, 
 If she be not a 2 Catia. But should you try 
 To view beauties forbidden with curious eye, 
 
 Coa veslis, robe of the finest texture and almost transparent, 
 worn by females addicted to pleasure. 
 
 Beauties fenc'd round with dress — for these dresses excite 
 The mad wish — many things will then hinder clear sight 
 Of her figure and form ; — her attendants, the chair 
 That she rides in, her toadies, slaves dressing her hair, 
 The long gown that flows down to her ankles, the 3 shawl, 
 And much else that will scarce let you see her at all. 
 
 1 Lynceus was a Messenian, and one of the Argonauts, brother of Idas 
 and son of Aphareus, famed for the sharpness of his sight. He fell, 
 together with his brother, in a combat with Castor and Pollux, who had 
 seduced his sisters. 
 
 2 Catia was remarkable for her fine figure and want of modesty. 
 
 3 " Altera." This is a nominative absolute for " quod ad alteram attinet." 
 For " stola," see illustration on p. 79. 
 
 D 
 
26 
 
 SATIRE II. 
 
 In the freedwoman's case there is nothing to hinder 
 Your view : dress'd in ballet-girls' gauzes you'll find her, — 
 By a glance you can measure her form, and discover 
 If a misshapen leg or splay foot is veil'd over. 
 For you surely don't wish that a trick should be play'd 
 On you, and that my price I should get ere I've laid 
 Out my wares for inspection. Thus, taken to task, 
 The offender to these lines attention may ask : 
 Says l Callimachus, " Often the hunter # the hare 
 
 * Venatio (hunting of wild beasts.) 
 
 Will course through the deep snow, and yet never will care 
 E'en to touch it when kill'd, or with arrow pierc'd 
 
 through." 
 And, as apposite, add, " It is this that we do : 
 For what all can obtain with such ease we pass by, 
 And to reach what eludes the pursuer we try." 
 Do you dream that the tide of fierce passion — that grief, 
 Or life's cares from such paltry lines e'er find relief? 
 Is it not better far^nature's bounds to search out, 
 To the passions — to learn what we can do without, 
 
 1 A distinguished Greek poet and grammarian of Cyrene. 
 
SATIRE II. 
 
 27 
 
 What we must needs possess : in a word, to discover 
 
 True gold amid that which is but gilded over. 
 
 You seek not gold cups when your throat's parch'd with heat \ 
 
 Nor when l hungry spurn all but most delicate meat. 
 
 So in love : be like me, choose an easier flame ; 
 
 When her handmaid is willing, don't wait for the dame. 
 
 2 Philodemus declares, she who cries, " Wait a bit," 
 
 " Give me more," " If my husband go out " — is but fit 
 
 Contest between a bear and a 
 rhinoceros. 
 
 Diana (venatrix) the huntress. 
 
 For effeminate priests, and that he ever chooses 
 
 Those who want no rich present, nor offer excuses. 
 
 3 Let her figure be straight, bright and sunny each feature, 
 
 Let her have the good taste not to spoil the charms nature 
 
 Bestow'd, by a strut, or by painting her face : 
 
 If a flame such as this I should ever embrace, 
 
 In my eyes one of Rome's 4 noblest dames she appears ; 
 
 And while with her, I am not distracted by fears 
 
 1 Both the peacock and turbot were esteemed the greatest delicacies. 
 
 2 Philodemus was a man who professed to follow Epicurus without 
 understanding the true principles of the philosophy. 
 
 3 These lines to the end do not belong to Philodemus, but to Horace 
 himself. 
 
 4 Ilia and Egeria were the names of Roman ladies. 
 
28 SATIRE II. 
 
 Lest the husband come suddenly back from the town, 
 
 The dog bark, the street door with a crash tumble down, 
 
 The house echo and shake with the rumpus, the maid 
 
 Cry, " Ah me ! for my x legs will be broke I'm afraid ; " 
 
 By law, in 2 adultery taken, the wife 
 
 Lose a part of her dowry, and I — lose my life. 
 
 Sans shoes and sans stockings, with clothes all undone, 
 
 To save purse, person, name, straight away one must run. 
 
 To be caught is most fearful, and that I can show, 
 
 For e'en simpleton 3 Stoics the truth full well know. 
 
 1 Faithless slaves were sometimes thus cruelly punished. 
 
 2 The woman, if caught in adultery, would legally lose part of her dowry 
 
 3 See note on p. 9. 
 
 Note to Toga fusa, p. 19. 
 The outer circumference of this dress when spread out upon the ground 
 formed a complete circle, in the manner of an Italian or Spanish cloak. It 
 was first put on the left shoulder, so that a third of its length covered the 
 left side, and fell down between the feet, as shown by the part marked 1, 
 which applies to both the front and back views in the annexed examples. 
 The rest was passed behind the back and under the right arm ; then turned 
 down or doubled together at about the middle of its breadth, carried across 
 the front of the body, and thrown over the left shoulder, so that it hung 
 down to the heels, as shown by the back view in the illustration. The part 
 thus folded down makes a double sinus, or semicircular fold; one formed 
 by the outer edge of the drapery folded over, falling to the level of the 
 knees, as in this example (2), though sometimes it fell lower, so as to set a 
 little above the under edge of the drapery (ima toga, 3) ; the other pro- 
 duced by the double part of the fold (4), and proceeding as above mentioned 
 from under the right arm to the top of the left shoulder, presenting the 
 appearance of a shoulder-belt (balteus). Lastly, to prevent the end of that 
 side which was first put over the left shoulder from trailing or impeding the 
 wearer's movements, in consequence of the great length of the entire piece 
 of drapery, a part of it was drawn up from underneath this belt, or upper 
 sinus (4), and turned over it in a small round fold {umbo, 5), which thus 
 kept it at a proper level. 
 
SATIRE III. 
 
 Against those who see their neighbours' vices far more clearly than they 
 do their own; and also against the Stoic philosopher's theory that all 
 crimes are equal. 
 
 'Tis a fault with all singers, that when ask'd to sing 
 In a 1 party of friends, they can then never bring 
 Their own minds to comply ; while if they when inclin'd 
 Be not ask'd, but small wish to desist can they find. 
 This defect had Tigellius, he 2 who would do 
 For a price almost anything, 3 so famous too : 
 For Augustus himself — though he might have, of course, 
 Made him sing had he chosen to use any force — 
 Could ne'er bring him to breathe e'en a note or a sound 
 If he said, " Come, Tigellius, surely you're bound, 
 By the kindness my father and I have both shown 
 You, to give me a song " — though if only his own 
 
 1 In the earlier times the principal food of the Romans was a sort of 
 gruel or pulse. The greatest luxury, however, prevailed in the Augustan 
 age, and men lived to eat rather than ate to live. The meals were taken as 
 follows : I. Breakfast from 9 to 10 a.m., consisting of bread, condiment, 
 dried grapes, olives, cheese, milk, and eggs, and was called "jentaculum." 
 2. The second breakfast, or lunch, called "prandium," was taken at mid- 
 day, of sometimes hot, sometimes cold dishes. 3. The principal meal, called 
 " ccena," corresponding to our modern dinner, taken from 3 p.m. to late in 
 the evening, consisted of, first, various dishes to excite hunger, with easily 
 digested vegetables ; second, of two, three, or even more removes of every- 
 thing in season ; third, pastry, dessert, and fancy dishes. Fish were espe- 
 cially prized by the Romans, especially turbot and mullet. 
 
 2 " Sardi venales" was a proverbial expression. A Sardinian would do 
 nearly anything for money. 
 
 3 Ille, so famous, is ironical. 
 
3° 
 
 SATIRE III. 
 
 Will induc'd him, some drinking song then he'd keep singing, 
 
 From the soup or the fish till dessert servants bring in, 
 
 In the deepest of basses one moment, the next in 
 
 Quite the shrillest of tenors — 'twas really most vexing, 
 
 To observe the man's want of consistency : racing 
 
 Anon like a fugitive soldier, then pacing, 
 
 As in solemn processions to Juno, the maiden 
 
 Slowly walks, hands uprais'd, with her head basket-laden. # 
 
 He would oft keep two hundred slaves, oft only ten, 
 
 Now would boast of acquaintance with Rome's greatest men ; 
 
 Table representing the companions f Three-legged table * Cancphoia 
 of Ulysses at dinner in the island (mensa tripes). (Athenian maiden 
 
 of Circe {mensa escaria). in the procession 
 
 to Juno). 
 
 And would talk but of princes, and all that is great, 
 
 Then exclaim, " Oh ! let mine be a lowlier fate ! 
 
 A plain table, t a shell too the clean salt to hold, 
 
 And a dress which, though coarse, can still keep off the cold. 
 
 But suppose you should give to this man, who set bounds 
 
 To his wishes so moderate, x ten thousand pounds : 
 
 i The full phrase in the original would be " decies centena millia HS., 
 or sester riorum, i. e., ten times a hundred thousand sesterces, or twopences. 
 The principal Roman coins in use were the "as," about a penny in value ; 
 the "denarius," about eightpence ; the coin sestertius, or minimus, about 
 twopence ; and the sum sestertium, which equalled 1,000 of the sestertii. 
 
SATIRE III. 
 
 31 
 
 In a day or two after he'd not have a penny. 
 
 Then, again, he would lie awake sometimes through many 
 
 A night till sunrise, and snore on to sunset. 
 
 In a word, a more changeable man ne'er liv'd yet. 
 
 Now if some one should say to me, " How about you ? 
 
 Pray are you free from faults ? " I should answer, " I do 
 
 Not mean that, for no doubt I have others, but they 
 
 Are less flagrant than yours, I may venture to say." 
 
 Yet a profligate once was backbiting a miser, 
 
 And a man cried, " Can't you see your own faults ? O, fie, sir ! 
 
 You are trying to cheat us as though quite a stranger." 
 
 He replied, — " Of my blaming myself there's no danger." 
 
 In this instance, what foolish, excessive self-love 
 
 Can we see for the satire to sternly reprove. 
 
 Two genii shoemaking. 
 
 "Women's shoes 
 {calceoli). 
 
 Cahens repandus 
 (Shoe with long 
 pointed toe bent 
 backwards) . 
 
 But how is't, when your own faults you scarcely discover, 
 Like a man whose sore eyes with the salve are dress'd over. 
 That a friend's little feelings as keenly you spy, 
 As the snake * Epidaurus breeds or eagle's eye? 
 Though in turn, on the other side, they, just the same, 
 Closely look for defects that in you they may blame. 
 
 1 Epidaurus, now " Pidauro," was a city in Argolis, especially celebrated 
 for its snakes. 
 
32 
 
 SATIRE III. 
 
 1 Though some man be hot-temper'd, or in careless haste 
 
 Offend modern gentlemen's critical taste ; 
 
 Or perhaps can be laugh'd at because his hair's cut 
 
 In a clownish style, or the coat on his back put, 
 
 Trails down slovenly, or if too loose a shoe can 
 
 Scarcely cling to his heel — still he is a good man : 
 
 Ay, as good as his neighbour, and one of your friends ; 
 
 Indeed, his abilities make full amends 
 
 For his roughness and little regard to the fashion. 
 
 In fine, test yourself .-—see that youWe no bad passion 
 
 Which in your heart at some time by nature, or e'en 
 
 By your own evil habits engender' d has been; 
 
 For weeds, as you know, grow apace in the farm 
 
 When not till'd, and need burning to stay further harm. 
 
 Shoe or boot [calceus). 
 
 Roman senator's shoe 
 {calceus patricius) . 
 
 Cothurnus 
 
 (ornamented 
 
 buskin). 
 
 But to notice examples of this kind I next 
 
 Hasten : what I mean is, that the ugly defects 
 
 In their mistresses' persons no lover can see ; 
 
 Nay, joys in their presence sometimes, it may be. 
 
 And I would that in friendship we made just the same 
 
 Error, and that some decent, respectable name 
 
 For the foible a generous justice would find. 
 
 For as fathers their children's defects do not mind. 
 
 1 Horace probably means himself. 
 
SATIRE III. 
 
 33 
 
 So a friend for slight faults we're not right in disdaining. 
 For example : a father, instead of complaining 
 That his child has a " squint," says it's a pretty cast. 
 While those who have offspring as small as thou wast — 
 Thou dwarf Sisyphus, child of an unlucky mother — 
 Call them, " dear little chickens," or " Varus ;" another, 
 With his feet turning inward, or in lisping tones, 
 Dub a T " Scaulus " — a brat with ill-form'd ankle-bones. 
 If a man then amongst us too niggardly lives, 
 Be it said that attention to prudence he gives ; 
 
 * Pigmy or dwarf [nanus). 
 
 If another is "gauche" and by boasting offends, 
 
 Let him seem an agreeable wit to his friends. 
 
 If you say, " But his bearing is really quite rude ; 
 
 For unwelcome truths he will often obtrude 
 
 On one's notice :" I answer, consider it candour, — 
 
 A deep love of truth, that will ne'er let him pander 
 
 To error. Or does he soon get in a passion ? — 
 
 Suppose it an ardent and spirited fashion 
 
 Of acting; for this, as I think, will oft end 
 
 Both in gaining, and keeping when gain'd, a true friend. 
 
 1 Varus and Scaurus were the names of noble Romans. He would pro- 
 bably lisp it thus, " Scaulus." 
 
34 SATIRE III. 
 
 But, alas ! what is virtue we change into vice, 
 
 And to sully unblemish'd perfections rejoice. 
 
 If a man in our class who is honest we know, 
 
 We say, he is spiritless, dull, dense, or slow. 
 
 If a second should cautiously shun the deep snare, 
 
 And of danger malignant know how to beware ; 
 
 Since he lives in a world where fierce envy is rife, 
 
 And false charges have often cost many a life : 
 
 We do not then, "How shrewd!" or "How careful!" 
 
 exclaim, 
 But " the shuffler " — the " cunning rogue," him we surname. 
 Or again, if another be gauche and free spoken 
 (As to you oft, dear Patron, 1 my thoughts I betoken), 
 And should, when one's reading or wrapt in deep thought, 
 Interrupt with some trifle or silly report, 
 We cry, " Why, the fellow completely ignores, 
 Like a blockhead, society's commonest laws." 
 Ah ! how rashly we sanction a rule so unfair, 
 That will tell against us too ! — for certainly there 
 Is not one in the world who from all faults is free, 
 And he's best who's weigh' d down by as few as may be. 
 A dear friend, as is fair, my bad points with my good 
 Will contrast, if he care for my friendship \ and should 
 The defects be outweigh'd, to the good he'll incline, 
 Then his faults shall be weigh'd in the same scale as mine. 
 If you wish by a friend that your tumour be thought 
 Not so ugly, you surely will bear with his wart. 
 For bare justice demands that all those who excuse 
 Their mistakes, the same licence should never refuse. 
 And, in fine, since nor passion nor e'en all the rest 
 Of the vices that cling to poor foolish man's breast 
 
 1 Libenter — freely; because he knew that Maecenas would not mistake 
 frankness, even if gauche, for deliberate annoyance. 
 
SATIRE III. 35 
 
 Can be rooted out, why does not reason apply 
 
 Both the standard and estimate suitable, why 
 
 As the several cases of error deserve, 
 
 Not with merited punishment virtue preserve ? — 
 
 Should you crucify slaves bade to clear off a dish, 
 
 Who had feasted on soup nearly cold, or on fish 
 
 When half-eaten, you would by all sensible men 
 
 Be thought madder than 1 Labeo was (you know when). 
 
 Yet much graver the crime, ay, and far more insane, 
 
 When your friend has done wrong, though so slight, that again 
 
 To e ; en mention it would be both cross-grain' d and sour — 
 
 To hate and avoid him, as debtors the hour 
 
 Of settling, poor wretches ! for on the first day 
 
 Of the month, if they cannot the interest pay, 
 
 Or the principal, fish'd up by hook or by crook, 
 
 They must needs, while the usurer reads from a book 
 
 His own autobiography, horrible stuff! 
 
 Keep their necks on the stretch to attend well enough:— 
 
 As a captive, resignd to his terrible fate, 
 
 Must stretch out his neck the death-blow to await : 
 
 2 Or again, if my friend have forgotten good taste 
 
 In his cups, and thrown down from its stand in his haste, 
 
 3 A plate often of yore which * Evander was pleas'd 
 To use daily ; or, hungry, if he shall have seiz'd 
 
 1 Labeo punished a slave very severely for a trifling fault. 
 
 2 Horace shows how repugnant to human nature the theory of the Stoics 
 is, by quoting the opposite opinion held by Epicurus and his followers, 
 from whose tenets he himself culled much to make up his own moderate 
 eclectic system. 
 
 3 Horace laughs at the excessive reverence then displayed for antiquity. 
 
 4 Evander was a son of Carmenta, or Carmentis, a goddess afterwards, 
 who uttered oracles on the Capitoline hill. He was born at Pallanteufri 
 in Arcadia ; emigrated to Italy sixty years before the Trojan war, and there 
 founded the city Pallanteum. 
 
7,6 SATIRE III. 
 
 Before me on a fowl that's in front of me serv'd,* 
 
 To be lov'd less for this should I think he deserv'd ? 
 
 Nay : what could I do when he steals, or betrays 
 
 Sacred trusts, — in a word, does not do what he says? 
 
 Now the Stoics, who think crimes are all about equal, 
 
 In a quandary get in their theory's sequel. 
 
 Common sense, morals, interest, that is so nearly 
 
 The fountain of justice, oppose this quite clearly. 
 
 Erst when savage men crawl'd o'er the earth scarcely brought 
 
 Into shape, — brutes, unsightly and speechless, they fought 
 
 For their acorns and caves with the nail and the fist ; 
 
 Then with clubs, and in time they learnt how to resist 
 
 One another with weapons experience fram'd, 
 
 Till at last they found words, and by that means they nam'd 
 
 * Dish with fowl and hsh in \catinus or catinum). 
 Their cries and their feelings : they then gave up wars, 
 Began to build towns, and to lay down fit laws 
 To check thieves, highway robbers, adulterers. Rife was 
 Lust before Helen's time, and the fell cause of strife was. 
 But those races died off, and their deeds were unsung, 
 For as, brute-like, they ever to lawless love clung 
 So uncertainly, as in the herd the bull will, — 
 In such wise the stronger his fellows would kill. 
 And so, if you the world's early history read, 
 You must own that men practis'd what's right through a dread 
 Of what's wrong. No man's nature unaided divides 
 The unjust from the just, though it often decides 
 What is good and what's bad for itself; — what brings weal 
 And what woe ; — nor, supposing by night a man steal 
 Sacred vessels from temples, will Stoics e'er show 
 That he does no worse wrong than a man who may mow 
 
SATIRE III. 
 
 37 
 
 Down young cabbages growing in some neighbour's garden. 
 Let there be a fix'd rule to or punish or pardon 
 Each offence, lest, when slaves only need a mild whipping. 
 You chase them with scourge, iron-pointed, flesh-ripping * 
 
 * Flagrum (whip for punishing slaves). 
 
 And I fear not, — because of yourself you declare 
 That each case is alike, and vow that if you were 
 But allow'd to be ruler supreme, you'd suppress 
 With one penalty crime, whether greater or less, 
 
 Figure with a scourge {flagellum). Whip with leather thong for 
 
 lighter punishment (scutica). 
 Such as theft, highway robbery, — lest you should beat 
 With too light a rod men for worse punishment meet. 
 By your theory, only the Stoics are ever 
 
 Rich, good cobblers, good-looking, and kings : so then never 
 Wish to gain what you have ? 
 
 The Stoic. — Ah ! you have not been told 
 
 What 1 Chrysippus our founder asserted of old. 
 
 1 Although Zeno was the real founder of the Stoic system, Chrysippus 
 was often called so. 
 
38 
 
 SATIRE III. 
 
 He said this : " Ne'er a Greek * nor a Latin f shoe will 
 The 'wise man' make, and yet he a cobbler is still." 
 
 Horace. — Tell me how. 
 
 Stoic. — " Why, just as, though Tigellius sing" 
 
 Not a note, of musicians and singers the king 
 
 # Crepidas, worn by both sexes. t Sandal (solea), 
 
 worn by both sexes. 
 He is still ; or as l Varus a cobbler can be, 
 Though he sold all the tools of his trade, and though he 
 Shut up shop and so shrewdly the law can expound. 
 So I say that philosophers ever are found 
 The best workmen, whatever the business may be ; 
 And that so they are kings you may easily see. 
 
 Tepidarium (chamber in set of 
 baths with moderate heat). 
 
 h^t- 
 
 Plan of baths [Balinece or 
 Baluec?) at 2 Pompeii. 
 
 Horace. — Yet the street boys, O mightiest of mighty kings, 
 Will your royal beard wantonly pluck, and in rings 
 
 1 Alfenius Varus was a cobbler at Cremona, who gave up cobbling, 
 came to Rome, and obtained eminence as a barrister and consul. 
 
 2 a, Latrina w.c. ; b, an open court surrounded on three sides by a colon- 
 
SATIRE III. 
 
 39 
 
 Will crowd round you ; and if by your staff they're not cow'd, 
 You will burst a blood vessel with shouting so loud ; 
 In fine, while your Majesty your proud way wends 
 To the baths for a farthing, though no one attends 
 
 ■■ sue 
 
 ATiO 
 
 ;'■ \'r 
 
 /—; "-■'', 
 
 
 | o J 
 
 M 
 
 imkl 
 
 (Cl 
 
 P>1 
 
 ft ..-j/ BU »E 
 
 
 Mm 
 
 '~rmm 
 
 i ' ! 
 
 m fe|§| 
 
 g_ 
 
 <U_: I ^-^r^^j^ X— 
 
 1 
 I p ° 1 
 
 
 Bath {Balineum or Balneum), showing the furnace with flues {Hypocaustum) ; 
 sweating-room heated by flues in the walls of the chamber {Concamerata 
 Sudaiio); the warm water bath [Balneum); room at moderate heat ( Tepi- 
 dariitm) ; room for bracing the body by cool temperature after using the 
 Laconiciun, a semicircular alcove heated by the furnace {Hypocaustum} ; 
 Frigidarium; and the oiling- room, to which the bather retired to be 
 rubbed and anointed {Elceothesiuni). 
 
 You, except 'tis Crispinus the dotard, if my 
 
 Dear friends pardon whatever the errors that I, 
 
 Not a Stoic, 1 may chance to have done, while I bear 
 
 As I should in my turn most contentedly their 
 
 Little weaknesses, I, a mere subject, shall live 
 
 Tasting happiness such as your kingdom can't give. 
 
 nade ; c c, stone seats on one side of the court for the slaves to sit on while 
 waiting for their masters ; d, superintendent's room ; e 9 Latrina No. 2 ; 
 ff, stone seats on each side of room for bathers to dress and undress upon ; 
 B, Frigidarium ; g, room for the garde-robe ; c, Tepidarium ; D, Cal- 
 darium; /, furnace ; m, copper for hot water {Caldarium) ; n, copper for 
 warm water {Tepidarium); o, cold water cistern; /, room for slaves to 
 attend to furnace ; a, passage ; r, yard for firewood, &c. 
 
 1 Not a Stoic, and therefore of course stultus, quite ignorant of philosophy. 
 
SATIRE IV. 
 
 Against his detractors. 
 
 Aristophanes, Eupolis, ay, and t each bard, 
 
 Who wrote comedy anciently, used to hit hard 
 
 In their writings all characters that might seem fit 
 
 To be drawn to the life by the satirist's wit, — 
 
 As adulterers, villains, thieves, cut-throats — in short, 
 
 All who were for some vice then notorious thought. 
 
 Now 2 Lucilius, witty and quick too to see 
 
 A defect, though a metrist too rough to please me, 
 
 Copies closely these writers, from them his style draws, 
 
 Changing merely the metre and rhythmical laws. 
 
 And in this he was faulty ; with playful ease he'd 
 
 As a feat to his slave to be copied down, read 
 
 His lines off at the rate of two hundred an hour. 
 
 As he roll'd incoherently on, for the pow'r 
 
 Of removing some parts one could wish. Then verbose in 
 
 His language he was, and shirk'd toil in composing ; 
 
 That is, in composing as real poets should, 
 
 For think aught of mere quantity I never could. 
 
 See, the prater Crispinus now dares me to try 
 
 My skill with his, and 3 for the smallest sum I 
 
 Like to stake. Cries he : Take now your tablets in hand, 
 
 And then I will take mine ; nay, at once, I demand 
 
 1 Other comic writers, such as Pherecrates and Epicharmus. 
 
 2 See heading to Satire X. 
 
 3 The words of Crispinus, " For the smallest sum I like to stake," imlpy 
 that he felt so sure of victory, that he would stake much more than his 
 adversary if necessary. 
 
SATIRE IV. 
 
 41 
 
 That a place, time, and umpires be given us two, 
 Then I'll see if I cannot write much more than you. 
 While, like wind fetter'd fast in the bellows of leather, 
 That whistles and struggles to burst from its tether, 
 While the masses of metal grow soft in the fire, — 
 Sounds the speech that you choose to adopt and admire. 
 Why, e'en garrulous Fannius thinks he is blest, 
 Just because his friends offer unask'd a book-chest * 
 And a biistf of himself, while there is not a man 
 Who will look at the verses I write, who ne'er can 
 Bring myself to risk spouting without a selection : 
 For as most merit blame, some have no predilection 
 For my style. And just pick from the general class 
 Of men whom you may please, you will find him, alas ! 
 
 * Book boxes {capsce). f Family portrait {imago majorum). 
 
 By ambition or avarice sadly distrest. 
 Take another : some lawless love fevers his breast. 
 A third brilliant engraving in silver delights : 
 In a fourth a bronze statue deep wonder excites : 
 While a fifth o'er each sea from the east to the west 
 Will go trading : nay, through all disasters, in quest 
 Of his gain headlong hurry, like dust whirl'd by wind, 
 Dreading lest he should lose aught, or else fail to find 
 Still more wealth than he has. All such men ever fear 
 1 Verses, and hate the satirist : " Pray don't go near 
 Him," say they ; " he's as dangerous as a mad cow is. 
 If he can by his satire make men laugh just how his 
 
 1 Men assumed that every one who wrote at all wrote satires, 
 given to tossing had hay bound round their horns. 
 
 E 
 
 Oxen 
 
42 
 
 SATIRE IV. 
 
 Spite wishes, the fellow will surely spare no man, 
 
 Though a friend, but be glad that each child and old woman, 
 
 As they come from the bakehouse # or l tanks in the city, 
 
 Should learn the stuff that in some poetic fit he 
 
 May have scrawl'd on his tablets." But listen awhile 
 
 Till I've said a few words in defence. And first I'll 
 
 Take my name from the list of those whom I call "poets," 
 
 For one certainly should never say this — " I know it's 
 
 Quite enough to give lines their six feet," or suppose 
 
 Those true bards who, like me, write what's much more like prose, 
 
 * Baker's shop, with mills for grinding flour on the left hand, 
 and oven at the bottom (Junius). 
 
 Give that man the proud honour of this noble name 
 
 Who has genius, language that never is tame, 
 
 Whose thoughts seem inspir'd. — Indeed. some have debated, 
 
 Whether comedy should as a poem be rated. 
 
 For the language and subjects which comedy uses 
 
 Lack both spirit and force, though it certainly chooses 
 
 A fix'd metre, and differs in that point alone 
 
 From plain prose. 2 "But," says some one, " 'tis very well known 
 
 1 Marcus Agrippa made 700 public water-basins in Rome. 
 
 3 Horace here supposes some opponent to say this, and refutes him. 
 The argument is this : — We have instances every day of fathers angry with 
 their sons, as Terence describes, so that is not sufficient by itself to make 
 
SATIRE IV. 43 
 
 How in Terence the father will angrily rave 
 
 When his son a rich wife with her dowry won't have, 
 
 Madly doting on some illegitimate flame ; 
 
 And when drunk goes x a-revelling, oh the deep shame ! 
 
 With his flambeaux* lit when the sun scarce has gone down." 
 
 True : but think you that dissolute youths of our town 
 
 Would hear gentler reproaches than those, if their sires 
 
 Were alive ? 
 
 No, indeed. 
 
 Then no doubt it requires 
 Something more for real poetry than to write merely 
 A full line in mere words that are destitute clearly 
 Both of polish and style ; when, if you take away 
 
 * Torch (fax). 
 
 The restrictions of metre, then any one may 
 
 Rave exactly as fathers in Terence's play. 
 
 If you took the fix'd pauses and rhythmical law 
 
 From the lines I now write, or from those that before 
 
 Me Lucilius wrote, and the first word should set 
 
 Last in order, and make the last first, you'd not yet 
 
 Find the poet's true elements, though disarrang'd, 
 
 As you would if you this verse of 2 Ennius chang'd — 
 
 " When fell Discord War's iron-bound gates and posts brake." 
 
 But enough of this now, some time hence I will make 
 
 It my end to find whether a satire can be 
 
 A true poem : but now 'tis sufficient for me 
 
 comedy poetry. The allusion is to Demea, in the " Adelphi" of Terence, 
 and to Chremes, in the " Self-Tormentor" of the same poet. 
 
 1 Such revels were accompanied by processions, torches, and music. 
 
 2 The father of Roman epic poetry. 
 
44 SATIRE IV. 
 
 To discuss the injustice or justice of hatred 
 
 Now evinc'd to the satiric writing of late read. . 
 
 Fierce informers with pleading quite hoarse strut about, 
 
 Such as Sulcius and Caprius, ne'er without 
 
 Accusations in writing, of dread a great source 
 
 To the highwaymen ; though all who keep to the course 
 
 That is right, can despise them. Though you like those two 
 
 Fierce informers be, I'm not like highwaymen. You 
 
 Need feel no dread of me. Let no r bookseller's stall,* 
 
 No, nor publisher's notice on 2 pillar or wall, 
 
 Show a book that I write for the rabble's hot fingers 
 
 To rub dirtily, or for some ignorant singers 
 
 Like Tigellius, to desecrate with their touch ; 
 
 Nor do I read aloud what I've written to such 
 
 H°PrPlM M°B' 
 
 * Six shop-fronts at Pompeii (tabema). 
 
 Men, or even to any but friends when induc'd 
 
 By their urgent request, nor indeed am I us'd 
 
 To do this where you will or before whom you please : 
 
 Although e'en in the market-place ofttimes one sees, 
 
 1 Roman books were generally written on the fine bark of the Egyptian 
 papyrus, which had been brought to a great state of perfection by bleach- 
 ing. Parchment was also used, and the sheets were folded and sewed some- 
 thing like our modern books. The ink was composed of lamp-black and 
 gum. For pens they used reeds, cut like our pens. They generally wrote 
 only on one side of the page. ' The back of the book was dyed with saffron 
 to protect it from worms. When the book was filled with writing, a stick 
 or reed was fastened to the last leaf, and the whole coiled round it. A 
 small stick was then passed through, with ivory knobs projecting, to serve 
 as an axis. 
 
 2 The titles of books for sale were suspended on the doors of the book- 
 sellers' shops, or, as the shops were frequently under a portico, on the 
 column in front of them. 
 
SATIRE IV. 
 
 45 
 
 And ofttimes at the bath men who openly spout 
 
 What they write ; and the place cover'd in, without doubt 
 
 Suits the voice very nicely : and this is great joy 
 
 To those vain fools who never their judgment employ 
 
 To decide if it be without reason or right, 
 
 Or at untoward times. " But," say they, "your delight 
 
 Is to injure men's fame, and with malice prepense 
 
 You do this most persistently." I reply. Whence 
 
 Did you get this reproach against me ? To be plain, 
 
 Did a man of my set first consent to thus stain 
 
 My good name ? For a man who disparages friends 
 
 In their absence, or when they're accus'd, never lends 
 
 His assistance, who aims the repute to obtain 
 
 Of a wit, or to raise a loud laugh, — who can feign 
 
 Figures reclining at table. At the Roman repasts men and women 
 
 reclined together : not so at the 
 Greek, as shown by the illustration, 
 where the woman sits. 
 
 Tales about what he never has seen, who a trust 
 Will betray, is malignant indeed : let all just 
 Men and honest, as every Roman should be, 
 Be well guarded against all such scoundrels as he. 
 
4 6 
 
 SATIRE IV. 
 
 One may often on each x dining couch see four guests : 
 
 One of whom, be it good or bad taste, will make jests 
 
 On the company all but the host, and him too 
 
 When excited by wine and the god Bacchus, who 
 
 Brings the truth out, and lets one the heart's secrets know. 
 
 And yet you, of " malignant and bad men " the foe, 
 
 Think that he is polite — but free-spoken, — a wit. 
 
 Why suppose it then, malice and spite when I hit 
 
 In my satires some exquisite 2 dandy, who smells 
 
 Most absurdly of " bonbons " — or one who repels 
 
 * Triclia, or summer-house for 
 dining in genial weather. 
 
 * Triclinium (Mining couches). 
 
 All who meet him, because he's so dirty? Should e'er 
 In a party, allusion be made when you're there 
 
 1 The triclinium was composed of three couches, called lectus imus, 
 medius, summus, on each of which never more than four sat in good 
 society. 
 
 3 See page 21, note I. 
 
 8 Figures on the left are still reclining at dinner ; on the light are taking 
 a siesta ; those at the further end are taking their wine. 
 
SATIRE IV. 47 
 
 To the theft of * Petillius you, in your way, 
 
 Would defend him no doubt, and most likely would say 
 
 " Why I've din'd with Petillius often, — indeed 
 
 We've been friends since our earliest boyhood, and he'd 
 
 Very often do favours for me when requested ; 
 
 And I'm glad that he can live at Rome unmolested, 
 
 Though I certainly feel some surprise at the way 
 
 He escap'd with a verdict (you know on what day)." 
 
 This is really the poison black hatred will breed ; — 
 
 Utter malice : — and that both my works shall be freed, 
 
 And my heart from gross faults of this kind I declare, 
 
 As I do promise aught that I truthfully may 
 
 Of myself. So suppose, as may be, that I say 
 
 Aught too freely — too cutting a sarcasm use, 
 
 Why, grant me the licence, and kindly excuse ; 
 
 For my dear father taught me this by his own training, 
 
 When he show'd me the easiest way of refraining 
 
 From each vice by oft quoting all persons that were 
 
 Then notorious. So, if with thrift and due care 
 
 He advis'd me to live and contented enjoy 
 
 What he had amass'd for me, he'd say, " My dear boy, 
 
 Don't you notice how badly young Albius lives, 
 
 And how destitute Barrus is ? Each of them gives 
 
 Signal proof that he's foolish who recklessly wastes 
 
 What a father has earn'd." Then, to check deprav'd tastes 
 
 And illicit indulgence in love, he'd observe, 
 
 " Don't you be like Scetanus." Again, to preserve 
 
 Me quite safe from adultery and loss of fame, 
 
 When I might love more lawfully, he would exclaim, 
 
 " I don't envy Trebonius in the act caught ! 
 
 From philosophers' reasons you'll learn why one ought 
 
 1 Petillius stole a crown from the Capitol, but was acquitted because he 
 was a friend of the Emperor Augustus. 
 
48 
 
 SATIRE IV. 
 
 To shun this or choose that, but content I shall rest 
 
 If I keep good old customs the ancients thought best ; 
 
 And as long as a guardian you need, if I'm able 
 
 To guard safely your life and your name : when more stable 
 
 Your mind grows, and stronger your limbs age has made, 
 
 You will float in the wide sea of life without aid." 
 
 By his words he thus train'd me when I was a boy, 
 
 And when bidding me some course of action employ, 
 
 He would quote some grand x juryman as an example, 
 
 And remark, " For thus acting here's precedent ample." 
 
 Or again, if he e'er had to say, " Do not do 
 
 This or that," — he would question me thus : — " What ? can you 
 
 Still have doubts whether it be disgraceful or no, 
 
 And against your true interest, when So-and-so 
 
 l* 
 
 cvs 
 
 A 
 
 o'ctaviae et h 
 
 :dis iovis 
 
 pre ars~srs~B a &~w 
 
 F ' 
 
 
 
 -1 U B 
 
 H.Z 
 
 : : 
 
 I 
 
 
 b a 
 
 \ 
 
 '. AE 
 
 UIS IVNONI 5 
 
 
 q a 
 
 / 
 
 / 
 
 -1 J B 
 
 1 JL.il 
 
 D. - 
 
 b a 
 
 <^- 
 
 o o a o g 
 AEDIS 
 
 -i p =rcvlis mvVaj" 
 
 ?'''■ 
 
 :: : 
 
 
 _ . 
 
 
 Ground plan of the Portico of Octavia, with temples of Jupiter and 
 Juno within its precincts. See illustration on next page. 
 
 Is the talk of the town for his wicked excesses?" 
 When a funeral takes place next door, it depresses 
 With terror sick gluttons, and makes them through fear 
 Less indulgent, because they think death is so near. 
 
 1 The judices selecti were 360 men chosen by the Aurelian law from 
 among the senators, knights, and tribunes, to try criminal cases. 
 
SATIRE IV. 
 
 49 
 
 So another's disgrace will deter the young mind 
 
 Oft from vice : so it is that myself I now find 
 
 Free from vices that bring men to ruin and want ; 
 
 Though my trifling, excusable foibles I can't 
 
 Yet remove : though from these, what my candid friends say, 
 
 Length of life and reflection will take much away. 
 
 And I always examine my heart when I walk 
 
 In the cloister,* or thus in my study I talk 
 
 * Peristylium, or colonnade round a courtyard in the interior 
 of a house. 
 
 To myself : " This is best ; — doing this I shall live 
 
 Better, and my dear friends their affection will give. — 
 
 On the contrary, there some one made a mistake, — 
 
 And I wonder if I shall unconsciously make 
 
 Such an error as that?" Thus I muse, and at leisure 
 
 Jot my thoughts down on manuscript for my own pleasure. 
 
 And that's one of the faults that deserve, as I've said, 
 
 Some excuse ; and if you won't excuse it, to aid 
 
 Me in crowds will flock round the " Bard's Great Brotherhood " 
 
 (For we outnumber you very easily) : — should 
 
 You resist, and like 1 clamorous Jews, we will get 
 
 You to pardon my fault, — ay, join our noisy set. 
 
 1 The Jews were very numerous at Rome, and very turbulent in their 
 endeavours to secure proselytes. 
 
SATIRE V. 
 
 THE JOURNEY FROM ROME TO BRINDISI. 
 
 In this Satire Horace imitates Lucilius, who made a journey from Rome 
 to Capua, and then to Sicily. The time taken in travelling was fifteen 
 days, and the distance travelled about 390 miles. M^cenas, Virgil, 
 Plotius, and Varius accompanied the poet, but not on the first part 
 of the way. Although a State mission, it rather resembled an excur- 
 sion. It refers to the Treaty of Tarentum, made between Octavianus 
 and Antony. 
 
 Upon leaving great Rome, I first found food and rest 
 In x La Riccia's little hotel. Far the best 
 
 Linter (boat used for rowing in 
 marshy places). 
 
 Alticinctus (figure with tunic drawn 
 high up through the girdle for 
 quick travelling). 
 
 Of the Greek rhetoricians then living, by name 
 Yclept Heliodorus, went too. We next came 
 
 1 First day's journey from Rome to Aricia, now La Riccia, a town in 
 Latium, — 16 miles. The Reman mile was 142 yards less than ours. 
 
SATIRE V. 51 
 
 To the town 1 Borgo Lungo, where bargemen abound, 
 
 And where scarcely an honest innkeeper is found. 
 
 To arrive there from Rome we took idly two days, 
 
 (Quick travellers take one). And this 2 Appian way's 
 
 3 Not so bad if one only don't hurry on. 4 Here 
 
 I resolv'd not to touch any food, through a fear 
 
 Of the water, for 5 worse no one ever could get. 
 
 So impatient I wait, till their dinners all ate 
 
 Who like me meant to go by the barge. But, as sings 
 
 The bard Ennius, " Night now its sable pall flings 
 
 O'er the earth, and the sky 'gins to stud with each star," — 
 
 When the slaves and the bargemen a mutual war 
 
 Of reviling strike up. Cries a slave, u Drive ashore ! " 
 
 " Where I am," — says the bargeman ; " hold hard, for no 
 
 more 
 Will I take : — why, by hundreds you're crowding them on 1 " — 
 Ere the fare is collected, an hour is quite gone, 
 Or the mule to the towing-rope yok'd. Then, all sleep 
 We're denied ; for the marsh frogs or plaguy gnats keep 
 Up their croaking or stinging, — while, drunk with flat wine, 
 On the bank the mule-driver will roar out a line, 
 Or a clown on the barge hum an answering lay, 
 Both in praise of their mistresses now fai away. 
 
 1 Second day, from La Riccia to Forum Appii, now Borgo Lungo, near 
 Treponti,— 20 miles : 36 from Rome. 
 
 2 The Appian road, by which they came, led from Rome to Capua, and 
 was continued from thence by Trajan to Brindisi. 
 
 3 I. e., one feels the fatigue less than those who tra\el fast. 
 
 4 Journey by night and up to 10 o'clock a.m. next day, down a canal 
 17 miles long, to the temple of the goddess Feionia. Traces of the 
 canal still remain, and of a tower near Terracina, called now Torre otto 
 Faccia. 
 
 5 Even now the water is so bad at Borgo Lungo, that travellers will not 
 stay longer than they can help. 
 
52 
 
 SATIRE V. 
 
 But at last the clown wearied drops into a doze, 
 
 And the mule-driver, too, on the shore idle grows, 
 
 Ties his mule to a stone, lets it go out to graze, 
 
 And then snores fast asleep on his back. * The first rays 
 
 Of the morning were breaking, when now we began 
 
 To observe we had stopp'd ; till a hot-headed man 
 
 Sprang out on to the bank, and with stout willow club 
 
 Both the mule and its driver 'gan soundly to drub. 
 
 Ere the clock had struck ten, scarce a passenger lands. 
 
 In thy fount, great Feronia, lave we our hands 
 
 And our faces, 2 and then after lunch up the hill 
 
 For three miles further on travel 3 slowly, until 
 
 We come under thy walls, Terracina, rear'd high 
 
 Upon cliffs that gleam white from a distance. Here my 
 
 Patron and dear 4 Cocceius we hop'd we should meet : — 
 
 Both ambassadors sent of grave matters to treat : — 
 
 Who had both reconcil'd friends' estrangements before. 
 
 Here too black salve I rubb'd on my eyes that were sore. 
 
 But meantime came my patron, and with him Cocceius, 
 
 And Mark Antony's dearest friend, polish'd Fonteius. 
 
 6 We pass'd gladly through Fondi, and well we laugh' d there 
 
 At the honours assum'd by that soi-disant mayor • — 
 
 i Originally the Romans guessed at the time by the sun. Afterwards 
 they divided the day into 12 hours, reckoning from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and 
 up to Cicero's time divided the night into four watches of three hours each. 
 They afterwards used water-clocks, constructed on a similar principle to 
 our sand-glasses. 
 
 2 Third day, from io o'clock a.m. Distance from Feronia to Terracina, 
 3 miles : 20 miles from Borgo Lungo, 56 from Rome. Feronia was an 
 ancient Italian goddess, confounded afterwards with Juno. 
 
 3 Slowly because of the ascent to " Terracina." 
 
 4 Cocceius Nerva, the great-grandfather of Nerva, afterwards Emperor, 
 helped to reconcile Antony and Augustus. 
 
 5 Fourth day, from Fundi, now Fondi, a Latin town, 13 miles from 
 
SATIRE V. 
 
 53 
 
 Though he was but in truth a mad clerk, and * purblind, 
 Still the pan* of hot incense he strutted behind, 
 Clad in purple-edg'd f white robe and senator's vest. 
 In that 2 bankrupts' town, " Formiae," stopp'd we to rest, 
 Where a bed 3 Varro found us and Capito food. 
 4 On the morrow we all were in far better mood ; 
 
 * Chafing-dish for incense f Figure clad in robe, with angustus 
 
 (batilltim). clavus, 2l 5 narrow stripe, the badge 
 
 of the equestrian order. 
 
 For we met, at Bagnoli, dear Virgil again. 
 Plotius too, and Varius, and franker men 
 
 Terracina, 69 from Rome, on to Formiae, now Mola di Gaeta, — 12 miles 
 from Fondi, 81 from Rome. 
 
 1 Of course "Luscus" is really a cognomen ; but there maybe a jest 
 meant in its application here. Even Maecenas was content with the 
 angusticlave, a less richly adorned dress, which made the bustling pom- 
 posity of Aufidius more ridiculous. 
 
 2 An \ ironical allusion to Mamurra and his descendants. He was a 
 Roman knight, engineer to Julius Caesar in Gaul, and afterwards satirized 
 by Catullus for his luxury, and called " decoctor Formianus." 
 
 3 Lucius Licinius Terentius Varro Murena. Maecenas married his sister. 
 
 4 Fifth day, through Sinuessa, now Bagnoli, a town in Latium, 18 miles 
 from Mola di Gaeta, 99 from Rome, on to the little villa near the^Cam- 
 panus pons, now " Ponte Ceppani," — 3 miles from Bagnoli, 102 from Rome. 
 
 6 The latus clavus was a similar stripe, only broader. 
 
54 SATIRE V. 
 
 Or more honest than they are the world has ne'er seen, 
 Or to whom than myself any dearer have been. 
 Oh, what joy and what greetings between us there were ! 
 I could never while sane aught to dear friends compare. 
 Near the Ceppani bridge o'er the Savo we halt, 
 Where * state officers found us hay, fuel, and salt ; 
 
 * Pack-saddle and panniers (clitellas). 
 
 And a bed in their cot. 2 Then, at 3 Capua's town 
 In due season the mules lay their pack-saddles * down. 
 Maecenas to " rounders" f goes. Virgil and I 
 Go to sleep : for the game never suits either my 
 
 t Trigon. See Note i, p. 72. 
 
 Weakly eyes or his feeble digestion. We ow'd 
 Shelter next to Cocceius' well-furnished abode, 
 
 1 " Parochus " — an officer whose duty was to find indispensable neces- 
 saries to government officers when travelling. 
 
 2 Sixth day, from Capua, 22 miles from " Ponte Ceppani," 124 from 
 Rome, to Cocceius's villa, near the Inns of Caudinm, or Caudine Forks ; 
 near what is now called Monte Sarchio, — 21 miles from Capua, and 145 
 from Rome. 
 
 3 The village called " Santa Maria di Capoa " now stands on the old 
 site of Capua, three miles from the present city. 
 
SATIRE V. 55 
 
 Standing near the notorious Caudine defile. 
 
 Now, ye Muses, I pray ye to sing in brief style 
 Of the brawl between Messius, nicknam'd " the 2 Cock," 
 And 3 Sarmentus, slave, clerk and buffoon : from what stock 
 These champions sprang I would have ye describe. 
 
 " The illustrious Cock" from the Oscans' 4 fam'd tribe 
 
 Claim'd his birth. The Buffoon was a slave even then, 
 
 For his mistress still liv'd : thus descended these men 
 
 Met in fight. The Buffoon thus commences the strife : 
 
 " You're uncommonly like a wild horse, 'pon my life." 
 
 We laugh, and the Cock 5 with alacrity said, 
 
 " Well, I take this your challenge," and then toss'd his 
 
 head. 
 Here the Buffoon rejoins, " Oh ! if but from your brow 
 That once horny excrescence had not been cut, how 
 Truly terrible you'd be! since when sadly marr'd 
 Is your face, you thus threaten." For fearfully scarr'd 
 On the brow the left side of his face was, where grew 
 Bristles thickly. Sarmentus next, when not a few 
 
 1 Account of the quarrel between Sarmentus and Messius, down to line 
 71. A parody of Homer's "Iliad," bk. ii., line 484. 
 
 2 The term " cicirrhus" is the same as the German "gackhahn." 
 
 3 Sarmentus was formerly the slave of Marcus Favonius, who was out- 
 lawed, and after the confiscation of his property, the slave Sarmentus fell 
 to the lot of Maecenas. Rich nobles used to take buffoons with them on a 
 journey. 
 
 4 Ironical. The Oscans, a Campanian tribe, were notorious for their 
 vices. 
 
 5 The word "ipse" may imply that Messius wanted no aid from the 
 spectators to induce him to accept the challenge, or that it so suited his own 
 fancy, that he took it cheerfully. 
 
56 
 
 SATIRE V. 
 
 Jokes he now had made, both on his frightful V disease 
 And his face, cried, " My good fellow, do, if you please, 
 
 Buskin {cothurnus). 
 
 f One genius frightening another with 
 a Zaiva or mask. 
 
 Dance, as formerly danc'd 2 Galatea's rough lover ; 
 No buskin * or mask f with that face so scarr'd over 
 
 Tragic actor with cork -soled buskin several inches thick 
 to give an imposing appearance. 
 
 Can you need." To all this the " Cock" smartly replied, 
 By much fluent abuse, and such questions as, " I'd' 
 
 1 Elephantiasis; a disease the Campanians suffered from. 
 
 2 Sarmentus requests him to give them such a dance as the Cyclops 
 Polyphemus, in the Roman pantomimes, was represented as dancing in his 
 awkward and ridiculous wooing of the nymph Galatea. 
 
SATIRE V. 57 
 
 Like to know if you have, as you vow'd you would do, 
 
 1 Consecrated your chains to the household gods, who 
 Have not yet earn'd their gift, for a clerk though you be, 
 Still your mistress can claim you as her property ? — 
 Why on earth did you e'er run away, when for you 
 
 2 Quarter-rations, you lean manikin, might well do ? " 
 Such amusement the pleasure of dining enhanc'd. 
 
 3 Thence straight on to Benevento we advanc'd; 
 Where the host, as officiously zealous he turn'd 
 
 On the spit some lean thrushes got nearly well burn'd. 
 
 For as Ennius sings, " From the grate Vulcan roll'd, 
 
 And over the kitchen floor crumbling and old, 
 
 Stray'd and hasted to play round the housetop." Then 
 
 could 
 One have seen the guests greedily seizing the food, 
 And the slaves panic-stricken, through fear of their catching 
 A sound beating, the dinner confusedly snatching, 
 While to put out the flames we tried all that we knew. 
 
 4 Next the hills of my own country rose into view : 
 Hills the 5 easterly wind sweeps with withering blast; 
 Hills we never had struggled up, had we not pass'd 
 
 6 The night at the inn of Trivico close by, 
 
 Though 'tis plagued so by smoke that it makes a man cry ; 
 
 i A parody of the custom of youthful nobles at Rome, who offered their 
 " bullae" ornaments to the household gods at the age of sixteen and a half 
 years. 
 
 2 Strong, able slaves used to eat four pounds of meal a day. 
 
 3 Seventh day, from Cocceius's villa to Beneventum, now Benevento, — 
 12 miles from the Inns of Caudium, and 157 from Rome. 
 
 4 Eighth day, from Benevento to Trivicum, now Trivico, — distance not 
 mentioned. It was a town on the borders of Campania. 
 
 5 The Altino was an easterly wind. 
 
 6 Ninth day, from Benevento to a villa near Trivico. 
 
 F 
 
58 
 
 SATIRE V. 
 
 Where the fires are all fed by damp boughs and green leaves. 
 
 Here I foolishly wait for a flame who deceives 
 
 Me, and late in the evening I dropp'd off to sleep, 
 
 And then dreamt of the fair who her word fail'd to keep. 
 
 1 From this place, then, some jaunting-cars * quickly convey 
 
 Us for twenty- four miles further, meaning to stay 
 
 At a small town the name of which scarcely will scan 
 
 In hexameters, but which one easily can 
 
 Indicate by describing its features. They sell 
 
 Water, cheap as it is ; though their bread loaves excel 
 
 * Rkeda, a large roomy carriage for the transport of a large party. 
 
 Those of all other towns, so that travellers who know 
 How to manage, lay in a fresh stock ere they go. 
 
 2 For the bread of the next place, Canosa, by grit 
 
 3 Is quite spoil'd, and, besides that, it is not a bit 
 
 1 Tenth day, from the villa near Trivico to Equus Tuticus, now Castel 
 Franco, a town in Samnium, — 22 miles from Benevento, 177 from 
 Rome. 
 
 2 Eleventh day, from Castel Franco to Canusium, now Canosa, — 84 
 miles from Benevento, 261 from Rome. 
 
 3 The order is thus, with ellipses :— Qui locus (Canusium) non (una) urna 
 aquae ilitior (quam oppidulum) a forti Diomede est conditus olim. 
 
SATIRE V. 59 
 
 Better off than the other for water, and this 
 The town formerly founded by Diomede is. 
 But here Varius sadly to friends says Good-bye, 
 And full many a tear drops from sorrowful eye. 
 
 1 Then to Ruvo we came, wearied out ; just like men 
 Who have travell'd a tedious journey, and when 
 Rain has made the roads softer than they ought to be. 
 
 2 The next day was finer, the roads worse till we 
 
 Had reached Bari, that fisherman's haunt. — 3 The desire 
 Of Fasano, built 'neath all the fountain nymphs' ire, 
 To convince us that 4 frankincense, though no flames aid 
 It, in some temple's entrance to melt can be made, 
 Stirr'd our laughter and ridicule. 5 Those Jews who dwell 
 O'er the Tiber may think so, not I : for full well 
 6 Epicurus has taught me that gods free from cares 
 Pass their time, and from heaven no anger of theirs 
 Nature's wondrous phenomena down to earth sends. 
 My dull tale and long journey 7 Brindisi here ends. 
 
 1 Twelfth day, from Canosa to Rubi, now Ruvo, — 24 miles from 
 Canosa, 285 from Rome. 
 
 2 Thirteenth, day, from Ruvo to Barium, now Bari, — 22 miles from 
 Ruvo, 307 from Rome. 
 
 3 Fourteenth day, from Bari to Gnatia, now Fasano, — 37 miles from 
 Ruvo, 345 from Rome. 
 
 4 Pliny, in his Natural History, says that a certain stone was shown at 
 Gnatia, which had the power of setting fire to wood. 
 
 5 " Credat Judaeus Apella. " These words are equivalent to saying, Let 
 any superstitious Jew who lived across the Tiber believe it. The Jews lived 
 in great numbers there. Apella was a common name for freedmen. 
 
 6 The doctrine of Epicurus held that the gods never troubled themselves 
 at all about mankind, and that therefore portentous occurrences could not 
 arise, as the superstitious especially, and others to some extent, thought, 
 from the anger of heaven. 
 
 7 Fifteenth day, from Fasano to Brindisi, — 44 miles from Fasano^ 393 
 from Rome. 
 
SATIRE VI. 
 
 HORACE wrote this Satire to defend his reputation from the jealous invec- 
 tives of men who asserted that he had stolen into favour by a lucky 
 accident, as in times such as those preceding the reign of Augustus, 
 when nobles' families were ruined through political changes, of course 
 many were raised to great distinctions for political motives instead of 
 any real merit of their own. The Satire is also especially interesting, 
 as telling us something of the satirist's private habits and life. 
 
 You, dear Patron, do not, as most other men, sneer 
 
 At all those of low origin, like me, a mere 
 
 Freedman's son, just because not e'en one single man 
 
 1 Sprung from Lydian settlers in Tuscany, can 
 
 Boast a nobler descent than yourself; nor because 
 
 You have ancestors who once conducted great wars, 
 
 On the father's and mother's side too. 2 And, indeed, 
 
 When you say that, provided the father be freed, 
 
 The descent is of very small consequence ; then, 
 
 You're undoubtedly right in supposing that men 
 
 Oftentimes, before 3 Servius Tullius' sway 
 
 And ignoble reign, though from low origin they 
 
 Might have sprung, have both liv'd like the honest and true, 
 
 And been rais'd to the highest state offices too. 
 
 1 The Lydians formerly settled in Etruria under the guidance of Tyrrhe- 
 nus, a son of king Atys, who was also the father of Lydus. The Tuscans 
 were more addicted to using metronymics than patronymics. 
 
 2 Slaves were not admitted to the rights of citizens. 
 
 3 Horace, being the son of a freedman, escaped the bar. The mother of 
 Servius Tullius was a slave. 
 
SATIRE VI. 6 1 
 
 1 You're aware, too (to quote quite an opposite case), 
 That Laevinus, whose ancestor Tarquin's proud race 
 Help'd to drive from the throne, no advantage could claim 
 From his birth, for the bar sinister to his name 
 
 Fix'd that people whose custom you very well know, 
 
 Who so foolishly ofttimes high office bestow 
 
 Upon unworthy men, are the slaves of repute 
 
 Most absurdly ; who stare with amaze blank and mute 
 
 At inscriptions on statues, or public men's tombs, 
 
 Or wax pictures of statesmen hung round entrance-rooms. 
 
 2 How ought I then to act, and how those like me, who 
 Nor think with the vulgar, nor do as they do ? 
 
 Pray, shall we too for high office canvass ? Not so, 
 For the people perhaps would prefer to bestow 
 Their distinctions e'en on a Laevinus, than trust 
 Them to parvenu 3 Decius. I might be thrust 
 From the House by the 4 censor's distinguishing hand, 
 For no freedman a seat in the House can command. 
 And 'twould only be what I deserv'd : for I then 
 Should aim higher than nature intended such men. 
 
 1 " Probe nosti," or some such words, are understood from the words 
 ' 'persuades hoc tibi vere." Publius Valerius Laevinus, descended from 
 Valerius Publicola the colleague of Brutus instead of Collatinus, was so dis- 
 solute that he never got higher than the rank of quaestor. The argument 
 is that Laevinus the noble must indeed be worthless, if the people, who 
 generally feel an ignorant excess of reverence for high birth and title, found 
 such fault with him. 
 
 a " Nos " implies I and those of similar sentiments. 
 
 8 Decius Mus, of plebeian origin, is quoted to represent a class. 
 
 4 The duty of a censor was to regulate the public morals and rate the 
 citizens. Horace, of course, was no senator, but he is supposing that he 
 was in a similar position to any high government officer. The allusion is 
 to Appius Claudius Pulcher, censor, a.U.C 702, who ejected many from 
 the senate because of their low origin. 
 
62 
 
 SATIRE VI. 
 
 But the epic bard sings, " In bright chariot * Fame, 
 
 Enslav'd draws the lowly and noble the same." 
 
 1 And what good to you, 2 Tillius, to wear again 
 
 The rich senator's dress lost in Julius' reign? 
 
 To be rais'd to a general's rank ? You are more 
 
 Envied now than when holding no office before. 
 
 And, indeed, soon as e'er each mad senator round 
 
 3 His leg by the four black leather shoe-strings has bound 
 
 * Two-wheeled chariot (currus). Triumphal chariot. 
 
 On the shoe, whether purple or white, and then, drest 
 In the tunic, his broad stripe let flow o'er his breast, 
 He directly will hear such remarks made as these : 
 " Tell me who that man is there, and tell me who he's 
 The son of." Just as all who, deluded, desire 
 To be thought handsome, go where they will, still inspire 
 
 1 "Quo" is the old form for " cui," and there is an ellipsis of " com- 
 modo est." 
 
 2 Tillius is quoted as an instance of the universal and absurd desire for 
 glory then evinced at Rome : he was degraded from the senate as a fol- 
 lower of Pompey, and restored after Caesar's death. 
 
 . 3 Four strings or strips of black soft leather fastened the senator's shoes, 
 which were either white or purple, round the leg. They had also a crescent 
 of ivory round the ankle. 
 
SATIRE VI. 63 
 
 All the ladies with curious wish to discover 
 All about such a dashing and general lover ; 
 As, for instance, what features, what figure, what face, 
 Teeth or hair he may have ? — so, a similar case 
 Would it be, should a man this intention declare : — 
 1 " Of the nation, — of Rome I engage to take care ; 
 Nay, the empire, my country, and temples I'll guard," — 
 Why, he'd make all the world with attention regard 
 His descent, and inquire if possibly he 
 2 Should disgrac'd by a mother's obscurity be. 
 " What ? dare you " — cry the people, — 3 " base son of a churl, 
 Roman citizens down the Tarpeian rock hurl ?" 
 4 " You forget," he replies, " that my colleague's degree 
 Is still worse ; 5 for what my father was, now is he." 
 But the people rejoin, "Just for this do you deem 
 That to us one of Rome's greatest 6 nobles you seem ? 
 And besides this, your colleague can make enough noise 
 By his shouts as to drown both the horns * and hautboys, 
 Though there met in the market-place two hundred wains * 
 And three funerals' pomp. This our fancy enchains." 
 But some more of myself now, — the son of the freedman 
 I will say, whom all carp at as, — son of the freedman. 
 * See cut on next page. 
 
 1 Malice might find something similar in members' liberal promises before 
 election. 
 
 2 As, for instance, Atia, the mother of Octavianus. 
 
 * Syrus, Dama, Dionysius, were the usual names of slaves. 
 
 4 " Gradu post me sedet uno," sits one row behind me. This refers to 
 the fourteen rows set apart for the Equestrian Order ; and the best of 
 these reserved seats were assigned to the highest in birth and rank. 
 
 5 I. e., he is a freedman, but I am the son of a freedman, and conse- 
 quently one degree his superior. 
 
 6 Paullus and Messalla were great nobles. The funerals at Rome were 
 attended by trumpeters and cornet -players. 
 
6 4 
 
 SATIRE VI. 
 
 And they carp at me now, since so often at your 
 
 House, dear Patron, I'm seen ; though they did so before, 
 
 1 Because once a brigade I led on to the fight. 
 
 And a case very different that, for one might 
 
 With some justice begrudge me distinctions like those, 
 
 Though one could not the friendship your favour bestows ; 
 
 But should think of the cautious discernment you use, 
 
 And that so men of worth, not place-hunters, you choose. 
 
 I can't say I your friendship by accident gain'd, 
 
 For it was by no chance I your notice attain'd. 
 
 Large trumpet. 
 
 Cornicen 
 (trumpeter). 
 
 Plostrum (waggon). 
 
 For dear Virgil, then Varius told you what claim 
 
 To your favour I had, long ago. When I came 
 
 First before you, and few words in tones low and broken 
 
 (For my diffidence check'd further speech) I had spoken, 
 
 No proud birth could I mention, broad acres, or rare 
 
 2 Stud of horses ; for then I could only declare 
 
 1 Horace refers to the battle of Philippi : see Life. There were six 
 military tribunes, who commanded by turns, to each Roman legion, which, 
 like our regiment, varied in the number of soldiers it contained. 
 
 * Saturium was a town near Tarentum, and famed for its breed of 
 horses. 
 
SATIRE VI. 
 
 65 
 
 That I was but the son of a freedman, bereft 
 Through Philippi of means that his father had left. 
 A few words you replied as you're wont: then I went 
 From your house. 1 More than half a year after you sent 
 Once again for me, and bade me then take a place 
 With your friends. This I prize, that by no noble race, 
 But an unspotted life and pure heart I pleas'd you, 
 Who distinguish the base from the 2 honest and true. 
 If a few trifling foibles a character mar 
 That's correct in the main — as when blemishes are 
 
 Interior of school (ludus) at Herculaneum for boys and girls. 
 
 Here and there to be found with great personal 
 
 beauty ; — 
 If, to praise myself, I, free from guilt, do my duty, 
 Live belov'd by my friends, while with truth not a man 
 A mean, miserly act, or bad company, can 
 Urge against me : all this to my father I owe, 
 3 Who, though but a poor farmer, did not let me go 
 
 1 This time Maecenas purposely suffeied to elapse that he might 
 thoroughly test the merits of the ex-general officer. 
 
 2 " Honestum " and " turpi" are masculine, not neuter substantives, 
 and agree with " homine " understood. 
 
 3 See the Life. 
 
66 SATIRE VI. 
 
 1 To the school of the village, though thither the great 
 Sons of still greater captains would go with the 2 slate,* 
 And the satchel hung on their left arms, and the fee 
 For instruction in ciphering or A B C, 
 To deposit according to custom whene'er 
 Came the 13th or 15th of each month prepare — 
 But had spirit sufficient to take me from home, 
 That thus education I might get at Rome 
 
 * Roman youth with his bulla or globular ornament round his neck, 
 his tablet on his knees, and book box on the ground beside him. 
 
 3 In such subjects as members of parliament ought, 
 Or rich gentry to see that their children are taught. 
 All who notic'd the slaves who attended me dress'd 
 As in great cities gentlemen are, would have guess'd 
 
 1 Flavius was the village schoolmaster. The mention of centurions is 
 ironical, although a centurion would be a great man in the village of 
 Venusia. 
 
 2 "^Era" means the small sums paid for tuition; " octonis " is used 
 because the Ides fell on the eighth day after the Nones. Another inter- 
 pretation, and a likely one, is this: on the 13th or 15th of every month 
 (the Ides fell on the 15th in March, May, July, and October), they deposited 
 according to custom small sums in the master's keeping for instruction in 
 arithmetic or the alphabet. 
 
 3 Such as rhetoric, poetry, and philosophy. 
 
SATIRE VI. 67 
 
 That the means to defray such expenses, from some 
 
 Fine ancestral estate or great fortune must come. 
 
 As from one lecture-room to the other I wended 
 
 My way, my dear ' father (no slave) me attended ; 
 
 A guardian nought e'er could corrupt : but why waste 
 
 Further words ? 'Tis enough that he kept his son 2 chaste, — 
 
 Chastely free not alone from the deed but the stain 
 
 Of foul slander : no virtue in youth can attain 
 
 Brighter lustre than chastity gives ! And no blame 
 
 Did he fear e'er would light upon him if the same 
 
 Business he before plied, the tax-gatherer's, or 
 
 Auctioneer's, I should ever have ventur'd on, nor 
 
 Should I e'er have complain' d : and for this reason he 
 
 Greater praise and more gratitude merits from me. 
 
 I shall never regret, while my senses remain, 
 
 Such a father as this, and so I should disdain 
 
 To say, as many do, " It is no fault of mine 
 
 That I lack well-born parents' illustrious line.'' 
 
 No, my words and my thoughts differ widely from those 
 
 Foolish men's : nay, if nature should let us, suppose 
 
 From the fortieth year of our lives live again, 
 
 And permit us to each choose such fathers as fain 
 
 Our caprice would select ; still contentedly I 
 
 3 Would keep mine, and no praetor or consul ally 
 
 With me : mad in the people's idea, although sane 
 
 As you think, very likely, because I refus'd 
 
 1 Instead of the usual slave called " pcedagogus," who attended children 
 to and from school, and even during their play hours, and who taught them 
 French. So our custom of having a bonne for our children. 
 
 1 Which was indeed rare in a city like Rome. 
 
 5 The consul and praetor were called curule magistrates, and were ^enti- 
 tled to the honour of the fasces — bundles of rods with an axe in the middle 
 — and the ivory curule chair. 
 
68 
 
 SATIRE VI. 
 
 To bear tedious rank to which ne'er I was us'd. 
 
 For the moment one rises to such lofty grade, 
 
 Ampler means must be found, and more > compliments paid ; 
 
 Or, if into the country excursions one made, 
 
 Lest — " he went with no retinue " — e'er should be said. 
 
 One would have to take one or two more on the way, 
 
 For more grooms, and more hacks, and more 2 carriages pay. 
 
 While I now to 3 Tarentum can ride if I care, 
 
 By a humble mule carried, whose loins have to bear 
 
 The portmanteau and shoulders the rider, till gall'd 
 
 With the weight, — and yet, Tillius, none e'er have call'd 
 
 Cattle market (Forum Boarium). Vegetable market (Forum Olitorium). 
 
 4 Me as mean as yourself, for to Tibur whene'er 
 You go, only five slaves attend you, the lord mayor, 
 
 5 Bearing pots and pans too, and a basket of wine. 
 So, illustrious member, far better than thine 
 
 Is my lot, in this and many ways, for I go 
 
 By myself for a walk where I please, get to know 
 
 i An allusion to the complimentary morning visits paid by " clientes " — 
 dependants, on their patrons. 
 
 2 " Petorrita :" a Gallic word derived from "peduar," " quatuor," 
 four, and " rit," " rota," a wheel. 
 
 3 Tarentum, now Taranto, a town in Lower Italy. 
 
 4 Tibur, now Tivoli, was an ancient town of Latium on both sides of the 
 river Arno. 
 
 6 Signs of great parsimony for a man in such a high station. 
 
SATIRE VI. 
 
 6 9 
 
 What's the price of potatoes and wheat ; or at eve 
 
 Through the markets* and l Circus walk,f where quacks deceive 
 
 LliicJltn: 
 
 IflS" 
 
 ] 
 
 biTE^ 
 
 
 # Large open area, on a more magnificent scale than the one on p. 67, 
 for public meetings in the open air and for the transaction of judicial 
 and commercial business, surrounded by the principal public buildings, 
 state offices, and places of worship. 2 
 
 f See cut on next page. 
 
 1 The Circus Maximus was built by Tarquinius Priscus between the 
 Palatine and Aventine hills, and could contain 100,000 spectators. It was 
 surrounded by galleries three stories high, and a canal. Most of the public 
 games and entertainments were held there. It was a favourite resort of 
 vagabonds, cut-purses, and astrologers. 
 
 2 A, the principal entrance ; B, Corinthian temple to Jupiter ; C, another 
 
70 
 
 SATIRE VI. 
 
 And where mountebanks show off their tricks. I stand by, 
 While the wizards or prophets to tell fortunes try. 
 Then I go away home my plain dinner to get, 
 And before me the leek, pulse, or pancake is set. 
 
 Ancient racecourse at Constantinople, with superstructure 
 of a circus and car ceres. 
 
 Three slaves wait : on a table of common delf made, 
 Two wine-glasses and ladle in order are laid, 
 
 ft=e§ 
 
 * Jug to pour out 
 liquid drop by- 
 drop (guttus). 
 
 f Bowls with and without handles 
 for drinking and pouring liba- 
 tions (pateras). 
 
 Deeper bowl 
 (patina) for 
 stews, ra- 
 gouts, &c. 
 
 A cheap salt-cellar by them, a cruet,* and bowl f 
 Of Campanian earthenware, make up the whole. 
 
 entrance and public prison ; D, public granary; E, Corinthian temple to 
 Venus ; F, Town-hall and Exchange ; G, H, I, three similar public build- 
 ings, probably two council chambers and the public treasury ; K, remains 
 of square building, use not known, behind which are sites of three private 
 houses ; L, plot of ground surrounded by colonnade and cloister, and 
 decorated in front, where it passes the Forum, by a spacious porch ; M, 
 small temple to Quirinus or Mercury ; N, meeting-hall for the college of 
 twenty-five priests called Augustales ; O, Pantheon or banqueting hall of 
 the Augustales. 
 
SATIRE VI. 
 
 71 
 
 In due time I retire to my bed,— enjoy rest, 
 Undisturb'd by the thought that, as soon as I'm dress'd 
 On the morrow to visit the courts I must hie, 
 Where the ugly stone x statue of Marsyas, by 
 
 Abacus (side-board for setting out 
 the plate, drinking-vessels, &c, 
 in the triclinium or dining-room). 
 
 Courtyard before a house, temple, 
 set of baths, or any edifice (vesti- 
 bulum. ) 
 
 The rais'd hand plainly shows that he really can't brook 
 The grim usurer Novius' hideous look. 
 I remain in my study until it strikes ten : 
 After that I go out for a stroll, or else when 
 I have read something which I approve on reflection 
 Or thought if what's written needs any correction, 
 I anoint me with oil, although certainly not 
 With the stuff that some dirty old miser has got 
 By depriving the lamps * of their own. When the rays 
 Of the sun have reminded me by their fierce blaze 
 * See cuts on next page. 
 
 1 There was a statue of Marsyas in front of the Rostra where pleaders 
 used to meet, and bail be given ; and usurers also carried on their business 
 here. Marsyas was a statue of the satyr of that name, and the jest is, that 
 though Marsyas (as a satyr) was ugly enough, yet he deprecated the 
 usurious chicanery of the younger Novius by holding up a hand with a 
 gesture of disgust, and so Novius must have been hideous. 
 
72 
 
 SATIRE VI. 
 
 they 
 
 Now weary to go to the bath : — then away 
 
 From the Plain of Mars and from those * " rounders " 
 
 play 
 I keep far. After lunching in quite a plain way, 
 Just enough to keep hunger off till close of day, 
 
 * Terra-cotta or bronze lamp Similar lamp to the other, with 
 
 (hicerna), with one wick. two wicks and fittings for 
 
 hanging up. 
 
 I enjoy rest at home. Such the life that men lead, 
 
 Who from wretched place-hunting's dull thraldom are. freed : 
 
 Thus, think I, shall I live more delightfully than 
 
 If some relative had been, — a 2 petty statesman. 
 
 1 Among the various kinds of play the trigon (fiila trigonalis) was the 
 most popular. Three players were required, who stood in a triangle. 
 Expert players threw and caught the ball with the left hand. The game 
 was a very boisterous one. See illustration on page 54 for trigon. 
 
 2 The quaestorship formed a sort of avenue to the higher offices of state, 
 and no one was eligible for it until he was twenty-five years old. The quaestors 
 were state treasurers, and as delegates of the people conducted certain 
 criminal trials. They were also paymasters in the army, and managed the 
 commissariat department, and were sometimes deputy-governors of 
 provinces. 
 
SATIRE VII. 
 
 Describing a noisy piece of litigation between the outlaw Rupilius Rex, 
 and a banker and general agent called Persius, who was descended 
 from an Asiatic father and Roman mother, and lived at Clazomenae, 
 a city in Ionia. 
 
 In the surgeries whither oft * blear-eyed men go, 
 
 And the barbers' shop, doubtless, all very well know 
 
 How that half-Roman Persius amply repaid 
 
 Both the malice and spite of Rupilius, said 
 
 To be outlaw'd and christen'd "the King." Very rich, 
 
 At Clazomenae Persius lent money, which 
 
 Brought a troublesome suit with " the King ;" stubborn too 
 
 Was this Persius, and in deep hatred one who 
 
 Could surpass e'en " the King : " — bold, hot-temper'd, and 
 
 proud, 
 And so bitter in speech that 2 he distanc'd in loud 
 Abuse all our most noted buffoons. But to say 
 Something more of " the King " I propose. Well, when they 
 Could not make any compromise, and without doubt, 
 Men between whom a bitter strife has fallen out, 
 
 1 It was a very common thing to suffer from blear or sore eyes ; and 
 those who did would go to the apothecaries' or barbers' shops, which were 
 the usual places for gossip. 
 
 2 "Equis prsecurreret albis "= " longe superaret." White steeds were 
 proverbially the fastest. The Sisennae and the Barri ; — these are appel- 
 latives which must be taken to mean, "like a Sisenna,"' or "like a Barrus," 
 both of whom were noted buffoons remarkable for their fluent abuse. 
 
 G 
 
74 SATIRE VII. 
 
 Will, just as they're more brave, so more hotly contend : 
 
 Nay, so deadly the feud, that death only could end 
 
 It between brave x Achilles and Priam's son Hector, 
 
 Just because each possess'd valour free from defect ; — or 
 
 If cowards should quarrel, or if between men 
 
 Most unequally match'd strife arise, 'twill be then, 
 
 As, when Lycian Glaucus with 2 Diomede fought, 
 
 The less spirited combatant drew back, and bought 
 
 Off his life by presenting a ransom : — So then, 
 
 As I said, since they could not agree, these two men— 
 
 This Rupilius and Persius, such a pair — 
 
 So well match'd, that no gladiators ever were 
 
 Pitted better against one another: — both fought 
 
 Out their suit at Clazomense in 3 Brutus' court, 
 
 (Fertile Asia was under that Governor's sway :) 
 
 As a soldier to battle-field hurries, so they 
 
 Fiercely rush into court, both strange figures indeed. 
 
 And first Persius starts up his own case to plead. 
 
 Loudly laughs the assembly, while Brutus he lauds, — 
 
 Lauds the jury his retinue, — Brutus rewards 
 
 With the term " Sun of Asia ;" bestows next the name 
 
 " Stars of health" on the jury, but cried, " 2 hat King came 
 
 Like the dog-star that parches the crops, farmers hate." 
 
 And in fine his abuse roll'd in torrents as great 
 
 1 Horace mentions these great Homeric heroes to make the contrast 
 more ridiculous between them and the brawlers. 
 
 2 See Iliad, vi. , 234 sq. 
 
 3 Brutus was praetor when he took part in the assassination of Julius 
 Caesar. Asia was what was called a proconsular province, i. e., its 
 governor was to be a man of consular rank. This rule was not accurately- 
 kept in the confusion consequent on the death of Julius Caesar, and the 
 Senate, considering that their hopes were centred in Brutus, strengthened 
 his hands as much as they could by appointments, among which was the 
 province of Asia. 
 
SATIRE VII. 75 
 
 As when stormy floods rise, where but seldom a tree 
 
 On the steep banks by woodmen fell'd can a man see. 
 
 But as Persius with fluent readiness pours 
 
 Forth his rancour, ] Praeneste's son hurls back his stores 
 
 Of rich 2 slang, from the vineyard's * fierce clamour produc'd :- 
 
 A rough vine-dresser he, never beaten, who us'd 
 
 * Long covered walk in vineyard with vines arranged on a trellis. 
 
 Oft to force to submit any passer-by who 
 Should have cried to him loudly, " Holloa ! 3 the cuckoo 
 Has long come, and your work is not done, I can see." 
 But here Persius, with a 4 Greek's quick repartee, 
 Smarting sore with the pain of the Latin wit's stings. 
 Cries, 5 " O Brutus ! you are wont to rid us of kings ; 
 So, by heaven, I beg you take off this King too. 
 Ton my life 'tis a task that belongs well to you." 
 
 1 The "king" was a native of Prseneste, now Palestrina, a town in 
 Latium, famed for the beauty of its roses, its nuts, and still more for its 
 temple of Fortune and the oracle connected with it. 
 
 2 The slang of the vineyard corresponded to our " Billingsgate. " 
 
 3 Husbandmen pruned their vines and did other work in spring before 
 the cuckoo came, and to cry " cuckoo " was a reproach to idle men who 
 had neglected their work until the cuckoo had come. 
 
 4 The Greeks were much more polished and witty than the Romans ; to 
 suppose "Graecus" a mere repetition of the idea conveyed by the word 
 "hybrida" would be pointless. 
 
 5 This Marcus Brutus was supposed to be descended from L. Junius 
 Brutus, who expelled Tarquin. 
 
SATIRE VIII. 
 
 A rustic deity, once worshipped by the people of Lampsacus, and by the 
 Romans after as a god of gardens, complains that the Esquiline hill 
 was infested by the magic rites of sorceresses, and scares them away. 
 
 The main object of the Satire is to show that the better educated classes 
 did not in any degree adopt the popular belief in sorcery. 
 
 The God speaks. — I was once but a block, a mere log of 
 figwood, 
 When the workman who carv'd me, in doubt if he should 
 Make a footstool * or god of me, like him of yore 
 
 * Bedside step or stool (scamnum). * Higher footstool with double 
 
 step for the feet (scabdlum 
 or suppedaneum). 
 
 The good people of Lampsacus used to adore, 
 
 Seat with step below for the feet to rest on (scamnum or subsdlium). 
 
SATIRE VIII. 
 
 77 
 
 Chose at last that I should be the garden-god ; hence 
 
 I became the god, look'd on with deep reverence 
 
 By all robbers and birds : for a stake painted red, 
 
 Or the hook in my hand checks thieves, while on my head 
 
 * Coffin with raised sill for Range of tombs on each side of the way 
 
 the head and hole to outside gates of Pompeii, 
 
 pour aromatic balsams 
 through (area). 
 
 The reed stuck up, when shaken by wind, scares away 
 All the mischievous birds, nor e'er suffers that they 
 In the pleasure-grounds planted just lately should rest, 
 Though before slaves would often in some dirty chest 
 
 EX-SEN&T. CONSVtf' 
 
 ,VT tR«rEsmNos-eT-v£ic^ vt - 
 TERMINOsOVCST*^ 
 
 Section of tombstone 
 with moveable lid 
 and cavity for re- 
 ceiving the ashes. 
 
 Rectangular tombstone 
 (cippus) on the Via 
 Appia. 
 
 Cippus (short round 
 pillar to mark boun- 
 daries between ad- 
 jacent states). 
 
 For a coffin,* their fellow-slaves' dead bodies lay 
 From their huts thrown, for dead-carts to hither convey. 
 
7 8 
 
 SATIRE VIII. 
 
 Here the dregs of the people were buried, and soon 
 
 1 Would have been Rome's worst rakes or Gripe-all the 
 
 buffoon : — 
 Then this column,* you see, stood to mark out the space : — 
 (There were three hundred thousand square feet in the 
 
 place) — 
 On it was too that caution in law which declares, 
 
 2 That a property never must pass to the heirs. 
 On the Esquiline hill one may now very well 
 
 Take a house, and there free from all pestilence dwell ; 
 
 Or may walk on a neat sunny terrace — although 
 
 One would mournfully gaze but a few days ago 
 
 On men's whitening bones that disfigur'd the ground. 
 
 Yet the thief and the fox that go prowling around 
 
 The place do not cause me such distress or alarms 
 
 As these fhags, who, by drugs and by sorcery's charms, 
 
 f Saga (witch, sorceress, fortune-teller). 
 
 So entangle men's minds, for I find that I can't 
 
 Or destroy them or stop them from culling some plant 
 
 * See cut on previous page. 
 
 1 Pantolabus and Nomentanus, who were then alive. 
 
 2 That is, it was given in perpetuity to the public. 
 
SATIRE VIII. 
 
 79 
 
 That is baleful, or picking up dry bones as soon 
 As appears the chaste orb of the wandering moon. 
 
 * Figure fastening ih.^ palla or cloak 
 with brooch on the right shoulder, 
 
 Mulier palla succincta (figure 
 with cloak girt up or 
 short). 
 
 already fastened on the left 
 
 shoulder. 
 I myself saw x Canidia with her feet bare, 
 And her sable cloak * girt up, with wild streaming hair, 
 
 Figure with palla over the stola 
 or usual female robe. 
 
 Another form of palla , decorated 
 with broad scarf. 
 
 Stalk on shrieking with 2 Sagana's sister the elder, 
 And so pale as to strike me with dread who beheld her. 
 
 1 Canidia was a very celebrated sorceress, mentioned also in the Epodes 
 of Horace. 
 
 3 Sagana had a younger sister. 
 
8o 
 
 SATIRE VIII. 
 
 Then they scratch' d up the earth with their nails, and then 
 
 tore 
 Bit by bit with their teeth a black lamb, and its gore 
 Pour'd into the hole they had dug, with intent 
 Thence to summon the shades, — ghosts to answer them meant. 
 
 1 There were also two images, one made of wool, 
 One of wax : and the greater, of wool, was to rule, 
 And to punish the less, which in suppliant wise 
 
 2 Stood, as stands a slave ere by the torture he dies : 
 Then the image of wool invok'd Hecate's aid, 
 While the waxen to vengeful 3 Tisiphone pray'd. 
 
 Then you might see hell hounds stray about, ay, and snakes 
 Crawl along, while the sight e'en the moon herself makes 
 
 Tutulus (head-dress formed by 
 piling up the hair and tying 
 it with a purple riband). 
 
 Female head-dress, or sort of 
 wig {t -alien drum). 
 
 Blush and hide her behind the huge graves. If I tell 
 Not the truth, may all insults that ever befell 
 Any god befall me ! Though why should I tell each 
 Thing they did ? — How alternately with wail or screech 
 The ghosts answer'd inquiries that Sagana made ; — 
 How by stealth in the earth then a wolf's beard they laid, 
 
 1 Canidia was the woollen image, the false lover the waxen one. 
 
 2 Slaves were burnt, tortured, and crucified. 
 
 3 Tisiphone was the Fury that avenged blood especially. Alecto and 
 Megsera were the two others. 
 
SATIRE VIII. 8 1 
 
 With a spotted snake's tooth ; — how then fiercer the flame 
 
 Darted forth from the image of wax ; how, no tame, 
 
 Willing witness, I look'd on these hags' magic rite ? — 
 
 'Tis enough to declare that I scar'd them outright. 
 
 Off to Rome they both started, and then with great fun 
 
 And loud laugh you might see the false teeth of the one 
 
 Dropping out of her mouth, and the tall fete of hair 
 
 Of the other come tumbling about her, while their 
 
 Magic plants and l charm'd lovers' knots on their arms bound, 
 
 Tumbled down in their fright and lay scatter'd around. 
 
 1 Threads of different colours to chain the affections with. See Hor. ib. 
 line 39. Pediatius was a Roman knight so effeminate that his name was 
 changed to Pediatia, as Caligula, instead of Caius, was called "Caia." 
 Julius was an intimate acquaintance of his. Voranus, the thief, was a 
 freedman of Quintus Lutatius Catullus. 
 
SATIRE IX. 
 
 Against would-be poets and critics, who annoyed Horace, and tried to 
 thrust themselves into favour with Maecenas. 
 
 On the 1 Sacred Road lately it chanc'd that I went 
 
 For a walk, and according to custom, intent 
 
 On some trifle, abstractedly mus'd on the same, 
 
 When a man whom I certainly did know by name, 
 
 Ran up quickly, and 2 seizing my hand, exclaim'd, " How 
 
 Do you do, my dear sir ? " 3 " Thank you kindly, just now 
 
 Pretty well," said I ; then, as he follow'd close by, 
 
 Ere he spoke — with the usual leave-taking— "can I 
 
 Do aught for you?" I bade him good morning; but he 
 
 Cried, " I too am an author, you surely know nie." 
 
 " Oh, indeed ! " said I, " now I shall think all the more 
 
 Of you." Then trying hard to get rid of this bore, 
 
 I one moment walk'd faster, another would stand 
 
 Still, or to my page whisper some secret command, 
 
 When the sweat of despair from my brow trickled down. 
 
 As he kept prating on of the streets or the town, 
 
 Mutter'd I, Lucky were you, 4 Bolanus, to have 
 
 That hot temper ! Here, as I persistently gave 
 
 1 The Sacred Road was a favourite walk at Rome. 
 
 2 The verb "arripio" implies that the "bore" seized instead of took 
 Horace by the hand. 
 
 3 The phrase "cupio omnia quae vis" was a mere frigid form of 
 courtesy. 
 
 4 Bolanus was a mad, passionate fellow, who soon told those he did not 
 like what he thought of them, and so rid himself of them. Bolanus was 
 a surname of the Vettii, from Bola, a town of the ^Equi, a warlike people 
 of ancient Italy. 
 
SATIRE IX. 83 
 
 Him no answer, he cried, " I've long seen how you would 
 
 Like to get safe away from me, but it's no good ; 
 
 I shall stay by you, and shall, wherever you're bound, 
 
 Follow closely." I answer — " No use can be found 
 
 In my taking you out of your way : —I would call 
 
 On some man (I feel sure you don't know him at all) 
 
 111 in bed, on yon side of the Tiber, quite near 
 
 The park Julius Caesar bequeathed to us." Here 
 
 He rejoin'd, " Oh, I'm active, and have nought to do, 
 
 And so even that distance I'll travel with you." 
 
 Then, like donkeys that stubbornly let down their ears, 
 
 When too heavy the burden they carry appears, 
 
 Just so wretchedly I then dropp'd mine. Again he 
 
 Thus began : — " If I rate myself fairly, you'll be 
 
 As attach'd to myself as to Viscus your friend, 
 
 Or to Varius ; for, prithee, who can pretend 
 
 To write lines more in number or quicker than I ? 
 
 Whose dancing or gestures more graceful ? — and my 
 
 Singing really quite jealous might make a Sims Reeves." 
 
 As to get a word in here a good chance he leaves, 
 
 I say, " Have you relations still living, — a mother, 
 
 Who your welfare desires?" " Neither one nor the other," 
 
 Replies he : "I have laid them to rest." Lucky they ! 
 
 1 Mutter I to myself : now I'm left that you may — 
 
 Lay me also to rest. 2 Come, then, kill me ! for o'er 
 
 My head surely impends the sad fate which of yore, 
 
 After shaking the lots fortune-tellers' urns hold, 
 
 The Sabellian soothsaying beldame foretold 
 
 To me when but a boy : — for thus sang she, " This boy 
 
 No poison, no enemy's sword shall destroy, 
 
 1 It is clear that Horace says this to himself, as the "bore " makes no 
 reply to it. 
 
 2 This and the three following lines are mock-heroic. 
 
84 
 
 SATIRE IX. 
 
 No consumption, no pleurisy, no crippling gout, 
 
 But a prater shall some time him slowly wear out : — 
 
 So the moment that he has come to man's estate, 
 
 If he mean to be wise, let him shun all who prate." 
 
 We had reach'd 1 Vesta's fane, which was close to the court, 
 
 And 'twas now nine o'clock, and at that time he ought 
 
 To have answer' d the plaintiff's call, for all who fail, 
 
 Lose the money they have to deposit as bail. 
 
 Janua (street or entrance door to house 
 at Pompeii). 
 
 Bas-relief of triumphal arch 
 of Marcus Aurelius, per- 
 forming sacrifice in front 
 of the Capitoline temple. 
 
 So he said, " My dear sir, I beseech you, do stay 
 Here awhile." " Ton my life," I replied, " I can't play 
 Special pleader ; the law, too, I don't comprehend. 
 And besides that, as soon as may be, I intend 
 
 1 Between the Capitol and the palace, and near the court of Libo. 
 
SATIRE IX. 85 
 
 To arrive, you know whither." " Now just let me see 
 What to do — give up you or my case ?" said he. " Me, 
 I entreat you, my dear sir, give me up," I cried. 
 But beginning to lead on again, he replied, 
 "No, I won't !" and so I had to follow of course, 
 As 'tis hard to contend with superior force. 
 Then begins he again : "Pray, how now do you stand 
 With your patron ? Access to him few can command : 
 And besides, he is shrewdly discerning : — in fact, 
 In a station so high none have shown greater tact. 
 What a splendid supporter you'd have, one who could 
 To your first play good second, if only you would 
 Recommend myself to him ; nay, 'pon my life, you 
 Would supplant ev'ry man." " But," I answered, " we do 
 Not live there in the manner you seem to suppose : 
 For no house is more free from, no family knows 
 Less the drawbacks you mention : it never does me 
 Any harm if a man have more wealth, or should be 
 Better read than myself; for we each of us there 
 Occupy the place suited to each." " I declare," 
 Said he, " this that you tell me's most strange — 'tis, in- 
 deed, 
 Scarcely credible." When I assur'd him that he'd 
 Find it true, he replied, " You inflame my desire 
 To be intimate with him." Said I, " You require 
 Nothing but just the wish, for your merit is such, 
 That you'll take him by storm, and it does not take much 
 To secure hib favour — indeed, this is why 
 At the first he is scarcely accessible." " I 
 Shall not fail in my duty," said he ; " for I will 
 Bribe his slaves : — if some day though I call, he should still 
 Not admit me, I will not accept the rebuff, 
 But will watch for fit times ; and if that's not enough, 
 
86 
 
 SATIRE IX. 
 
 In some crowded street-crossing* I'll certainly meet him, 
 Or will join in l escorting him out and so greet him. 
 Man gets nothing in life without toil." As he thus 
 Trifled, quite unexpectedly 2 Fuscus met us, 
 
 ^Illustration of trivium, or three streets Bivium, a road or street branching 
 converging to a point, in the second into two forks, 
 
 distance. 
 
 A dear friend of mine — one, too, who knew the man well. 
 So we stopp'd, and to me he cried, "Whence you come tell 
 Me, and whither you go ?" and then answers the query 
 When 'twas put by myself in the same manner. Here I, 
 
 * Quadrivium (place where four streets cross). 
 
 Both to pull and to pinch arms which seemed to have in 
 Them no feeling, and nodding or winking, begin 
 To make signs that he should free me ; but with arch smile 
 And wit quite out of place he feign'd not to see : — bile 
 
 1 To the Forum, for instance, " deducere " is used of conducting a 
 person from his house, and " reducere" for conducting him back again. 
 
 2 Fuscus Aristius, a clever grammarian. 
 
SATIRE IX. 87 
 
 Then begins to inflame my 1 heart, and I exclaim, 
 
 " You did certainly more than once some business name 
 
 That you wish'd to talk privately over with me." 
 
 " To be sure ; I remember quite well," answer'd he : 
 
 " But I'll tell you at some better time than just now, 
 
 2 For to-day 's a most solemn Jews' festival — how 
 
 Would you like to deride the Jews' most sacred rite ?" 
 
 " I've no scruples." " But I have !" said he ; " I've not quite 
 
 The same strength of mind you have. I think as most men 
 
 Do on these points. Excuse me, and I'll tell you when 
 
 It's more suitable." Here mutter' ol I, " Can it be 
 
 3 That this day should have dawn'd so disastrous to me?" 
 
 So the rogue ran away, leaving me, as it were, 
 
 'Neath the knife of the priest to be slain. But by mere 
 
 Chance the plaintiff then met him, and with a loud shout — 
 
 " Whither bound to, you villain ?" to him he cried out. 
 
 But to me he said, " Here, do you witness th' arrest !" 
 
 4 1 went through the form at his 5 welcome request. 
 
 Into court he then hauls him, on both sides there follow 
 
 Noisy crowds, and thus sav'd me, — my patron 6 Apollo. 
 
 1 A holiday or feast held by the Jews, perhaps on the 30th day of the 
 month. 
 
 2 The word in the text rather means " liver." The ancients considered 
 the liver the seat of the passions more than we do. 
 
 3 " Surrexe " = surrexisse : so, consumpse for consumpsisse, invasse for 
 invasisse, produxe for produxisse. 
 
 4 The form was for the witness to turn the tip of his ear to be touched 
 by the summoner. 
 
 5 "Vero," though literally only "indeed," has more meaning here, 
 such as "gladly," " as you might expect," "of course." 
 
 6 Apollo was ever regarded as the guardian and defender of poets. 
 
SATIRE X. 
 
 This Satire is a defence of opinions expressed in the fourth Satire, which 
 opinions had been unjustly found fault with by some antiquaries, who 
 over-estimated the merit of Lucilius, the " father of Roman 
 Satire," whom Horace imitated. It also shows with great taste 
 and wit how unable men are to form a right judgment, who praise an 
 ancient poet to excess merely from an aversion to a contemporary. 
 
 The first eight lines are not found in most MSS., and although they bear 
 the stamp of antiquity to a certain extent, were probably written by 
 some grammarian or commentator. 
 
 Why, Lucilius, * Cato himself, who defends 
 
 You so stoutly, — that critic who rough verse emends, 
 
 Will support me, and prove that defects your lines fill. 
 
 2 And his task he discharges with more gentle skill, 
 
 In proportion as he is a much better man, 
 
 And by far more correct a philologist than 
 
 He, who, best of our knights can distinguish the wrong 
 
 From the right with nice taste : who was often by thong, 
 
 When a boy, well 3 admonish'd, or by wet rope's end, 
 
 That there might be a champion who could defend 
 
 The old bards against these modern sneers. But enough. 
 
 I did say that Lucilius' verses were rough. 
 
 And, indeed, who could e'er so absurdly regard 
 
 Him as not to admit it ? And yet this same bard, 
 
 i A grammarian and poet in the time of Sylla. 
 
 2 " Hoc lenius ille : " " Hoc " — " quo," are for the more usual 
 'quo." There is an ellipsis of "facit." 
 
 3 "Exhortatus " is used passively: no other instance is found. 
 
SATIRE X. 89 
 
 In the same 1 Satire too, is commended by me, 
 
 Because the town's vices he lash'd wittily. 
 
 But although I concede him this merit, I would 
 
 Not allow him all others besides, for I should 
 
 Thus 2 Laberius' farces think perfectly good. 
 
 It is not then sufficient to raise a loud laugh 
 
 From an unwilling audience, though there's a half 
 
 Sort of merit in that : but one ought to be terse, 
 
 And make rhythmical every clause of the verse, 
 
 And be careful that no too verbose an expression 
 
 E'er should weary the reader by needless digression. 
 
 Then one ought to adopt language now grave and stern, 
 
 Representing the orator and bard in turn : 
 
 Now use different words that may aptly befit 
 
 The reserv'd and ironical style of a wit : 
 
 For great truths will more often touch deeper the heart 
 
 When convey'd by the jest — not the orator's art, 
 
 3 And the old comic poets gain'd their reputation 
 
 By this style, and in this they deserve imitation : 
 
 Though to these writers dandy Tigellius pays 
 
 No attention, nor he who so apes his fine ways ; 
 
 Who can sing but 4 Catullus' or Calvus' light lays. 
 
 1 He probably refers to the 4th Satire of this book, in the twelfth line 
 of this translation. 
 
 2 A Roman knight whose writings were not devoid of comic merit, but 
 sometimes too coarse, and written too much for the applause of the lower 
 orders. Caesar offered him a sum of money to act his own farces, which 
 he did, and remarked in his prologue that a request from the powerful was 
 a command. 
 
 3 Eupolis Cratinus and Aristophanes. 
 
 4 Amatory poets. The former was born in the territory of Verona, 
 87 B.C.; the latter was an orator as well as a poet, and the friend- of the 
 former. . 
 
 H 
 
90 SATIRE X. 
 
 But Lucilius, some one may answer, achiev'd 
 
 Great success, when with Latin words he interweav'd 
 
 Greek expressions. Ye ignorant dunces ! how can 
 
 Ye think wonderful or hard to do what a man 
 
 Like the Rhodian freedman x Pitholeon could 
 
 Succeed in ? " Nay, but still," answer they, " it is good 
 
 Some Greek words with the Latin to gracefully blend ; 
 
 2 For soft Chian wine will rough Falernian lend 
 
 A smooth flavour it ne'er had before. True, but do 
 You mean if you wrote light verse, or also, if you 
 Were the advocate in such a desperate cause 
 
 3 As that theft of a crown from the Capitol was ? 
 
 What ! while Rome's greatest pleaders toil'd hard through 
 
 their case 
 In good Latin — 4 as though half an Oscan by race, 
 6 Half a Greek — would you country and tongue disregard, 
 And with foreign expressions your brief interlard ? 
 6 Why, when I, though a Roman, once thought I would write 
 Greek verses, the shade of Quirinus my sight 
 Rose before, when the clock had already struck one ; 
 When, as 7 poets say, visions are true, and " My son" — 
 Said the warning voice — " one would put fish 
 In the ocean with quite as much reason, as wish 
 
 1 A tenth-rate satirist, who, as Suetonius tells us, wrote a lampoon on 
 Julius Caesar. 
 
 2 The word "nota" corresponds to our " brand "or " seal." 
 
 3 See foot-note, page 29. 
 
 * Canusium was an Apulian town ; its inhabitants spoke Greek and 
 Oscan. 
 
 5 The people of Canusium, in Apulia, spoke both Greek and Oscan. 
 
 6 An idea Horace probably conceived when at Athens studying 
 philosophy 
 
 7 " And morning dreams, as poets say, come true." So Ovid, Her., 19, 195. 
 
SATIRE X. 
 
 91 
 
 Greek authors' too crowded ranks still more to swell." 
 
 Let that ranter x Alpinus the death that befell 
 
 Memnon sing : ( if the bard prov'd his death or the sword 
 
 Of Achilles I know not) — or let him record 
 
 The Rhine's muddy source, as he turgidly chooses 
 
 To describe it, while me the light satire amuses, — 
 
 * Proscenium (stage of ancient 
 theatre, including elevated 
 Circular end of the ruins of the theatre platform). 
 
 of Marcellus as it now exists at Rome. 
 
 Never meant to be read in the temple of fame, 
 Or submitted to critics for praise or for blame ; 
 Nor intended to have a great run on the stage.* 
 2 Fundanius, you of all men of your age, 
 
 1 Marcus Furius Bibaculus, of Cremona, was called Alpinus from a line 
 in his description of the waging of the Gallic war by Caesar. He wrote a 
 tragedy called "/Ethiopides,"in which Achilles plays Memnon, a mythical 
 king of ^Ethiopia, who went to aid the Trojans. Bibaculus also wrote a 
 bombastic account of the Rhine in his history of the Gallic war. 
 
 2 A comic writer after Menander's style, of great eminence, and a friend 
 of Maecenas : his works are lost. 
 

 92 SATIRE X. 
 
 In vein tasteful and chatty, your comedies can 
 1 Tell us best where the 4 slave and astute courtesan 
 Trick an old man, like Chremes in Terence ; then kings 1 
 Great exploits in iambic verse 3 Pollio sings ; 
 While the fervour of Varius none have surpass'd, 
 In building the spirited epic ; — and last, 
 Dearest 4 Virgil, the Muse that so joys in the fields 
 And the woods, to thy pen gentle elegance yields. 
 'Twas this satiric verse that when 5 Varro had tried 
 And some others with but small advantage that I'd 
 Gain'd some greater success in than they, though I'm still 
 Far below 6 him who founded the style, nor e'er will 
 I attempt with rash effort to pluck off the crown 
 That encircles his brow with such well-earn'd renown. 
 Still I did say his lines 7 roll'd like some turbid flood, 
 Oft presenting to notice more that critics would 
 Fain carp out than approve ; and do you, I pray, find 
 In great Homer each verse suit your critical mind ? 
 Would Lucilius, with all the taste you assign 
 Him, in Accius' tragedies ne'er change a line ? 
 
 1 Garrire comoediam — canere tragoediam : ducere epica. 
 
 2 Davus was a usual name for a slave. He and Chremes are characters 
 in the Andria of Terence. 
 
 3 Caius Asinius Pollio was a great literary character, friend of Augustus, 
 founder of the first library at Rome, and author of a history of the civil 
 war between Caesar and Pompey. The account, however, is lost. 
 
 4 The Bucolics and Georgics were then published, and he was engaged 
 on the yEneid. 
 
 5 Varro was a satirist, called " Atacinus " from the Atax, now the 
 Aude, a small river in Narbon Gaul. The others are unknown, unless one 
 be Saerius Nicanor, a satirist of Sulla's time, and Titus Quinctius Atta 
 another. 
 
 6 Lucilius. 
 
 7 Literally, that he flowed on muddily, (bearing) presenting to our notice 
 more that ought to be taken away than that which ought to be left. 
 
SATIRE X. 
 
 93 
 
 1 Nay, does he not Ennius' verses deride, 
 As for the grand epic style less dignified 
 
 Than they should be, — and yet of himself all the same, 
 Never speak as a poet who merits less blame ? 
 Then, as I read Lucilius' writings, pray why 
 Should not I, too, see if the rough subject deny, 
 Or his own rugged genius, power to pen 
 
 2 Lines more polish' d, more smooth, more artistic than men 
 
 Funeral pyre (pyra) of unhewn wood piled 
 in square form with bier on the top. 
 
 Rogus, or funeral pile, in a 
 state of combustion. 
 
 Would, who, quite satisfied if they could but conclude 
 An hexameter some way, no matter how rude — 
 Wrote two hundred verses ere breaking their fast, 
 And the same number after the dinner's repast. 
 Such the genius of Tuscan 3 Cassius, gushing 
 Impetuous, like to a mad torrent rushing : 
 
 i The argument is that a poet and critic who cannot perhaps do so well 
 as those he blames, may still use the licence, and still may blame what 
 merits critical censure. 
 
 2 Such rough lines as — 
 
 " At tuba terribili sonitu taratantara dixit ;" or — 
 * ' O Tite, tute Tati, tibi tanta tyranne tulisti 
 Damna." 
 
 3 Cassius was a satirist who wrote so much that his boohs and shelves 
 were sufficient to form his funeral pyre. 
 
94 SATIRE X. 
 
 So prolific his Muse, so they say, that a fire 
 
 His productions and book-chests found for his own pyre.* 
 
 Then suppose, as you urge, and as I ne'er denied, 
 
 That Lucilius has taste and wit — nay, beside, 
 
 That he has greater polish than mostly is seen 
 
 In rough vigorous writing like his, which has been 
 
 Ne'er attempted by Greeks — nay, more polish than all 
 
 1 Older poets possess'd — yet could it but befall 
 
 Him to live in this age, he'd all foreign expressions 
 
 Take away from his verses, cut out all digressions, 
 
 And would, oft in the throes of composing, ere writing 
 
 A line, keep on scratching his head or keep biting 
 
 His nails to the quick. You must often 2 erase, 
 
 If you mean to compose what is worthy of praise 
 
 When a second time read : and don't try to obtain 
 
 The applause of the mob, but contented remain 
 
 With a small and choice audience. Surely you would 
 
 Not absurdly desire that your writings e'er should 
 
 Form heart-lessons in some tenth-rate school ? Well, I 
 
 ne'er 
 Could bear such a disgrace; and if gentlemen their 
 Applause give me, 'tis ample, — as boldly confess'd 
 Rome's 3 actress, when hiss'd, quite ignoring the rest. 
 
 * See cuts on preceding page. 
 
 1 " Poetarum seniorum turba." He refers to Lucius Livius Andronicus, 
 who was the first dramatic and epic poet the Romans had, and who lived 
 in the 3rd century B.C. ; also to Novius, a famous writer of farces, called 
 "Atellane plays," who lived about A.u.c. 660; also to Pacavius, the 
 nephew of Ennius, and a celebrated tragedian ; and to Plautus, the great 
 comic writer of earlier times. 
 
 2 The upper end of the " stilus" was broad, and used for erasing its 
 marks on the waxen tablet; the lower end was sharp, and used for 
 writing. 
 
 3 Arbuscula, a fashionable actress. 
 
SATIRE X. 
 
 95 
 
 Should that poor wretch 1 Pantilius my spleen excite ?- 
 
 If a singer's low 2 toady or dull 3 parasite 
 
 Has revil'd me when absent, should I be distrest ? 
 
 Let 4 my patron, let Virgil, and let all the rest 
 
 Of this more modern school, whether critic or bard, 
 
 Orator or historian, these lines regard 
 
 With approval, and let the two 5 Visci commend 
 
 Them ; and Fuscus Aristius and each dear friend. 
 
 Woman's chair 
 (cathedra).* 
 
 Sella, a low seat without 
 back, in opposition to 
 the chair or cathedra. 
 
 Woman's reclining chair 
 (cathedra supina). 
 
 And, without courting favour, thee, Pollio, — thee, — 
 
 And thy brother, Messalla Corvinus ; and ye 
 
 Too, Calpurnius and Servius, shall have mention : 
 
 For I trust that my works will engage the attention 
 
 Of you all, be their merit whatever it may : — 
 
 Nay, of more, — of whom, though men of letters, I say 
 
 1 A wretched poet called " Cimex," because his satire was as coarse and 
 biting as the insect of that name. 
 
 2 Fannius was a toady of Tigellius. 
 8 Demetrius aped Tigellius. 
 
 4 The best poets and critics of the day, and his friends. 
 
 5 The Visci, two knights of senatorial rank, 
 
 6 Cathedras = ladies seated in cathedra. 
 
g6 SATIRE X. 
 
 Nothing wittingly, though they're my friends ; for I trust 
 That these satiric lines will please all : as they must, 
 If I be not griev'd deeply — but this my command 
 
 To thee, singer, and thy imitator : " Go ! and * " 
 
 Well, no !— quaver love-ditties amid the fine ladies 
 
 And the ballet-girls, whom to teach singing your trade is. 
 
 Slave, — away : to write down these last lines quickly run, 
 In my First Book of Satires now ended and done. 
 
 1 N.B. — There is a "double entendre" in the word "plorare," which 
 implies " to go and be hanged," or " to sing effeminately." 
 
 J. AND W. RIDER, PRINTERS, LONDON. 
 
torks bff 3. gt. Pillhrgtoit, |J.^., 
 
 Published by Messrs. Longmans, Paternoster Eow. 
 
 1. 
 SELECTIONS EOE LATIN PEOSE, with Hints and 
 
 Critical Questions, taken from the Army Examination Papers and 
 other sources, specially arranged to discourage cram, and adapted 
 for Army and Middle- class Students. Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. 
 The Latin Rendering and Solutions of Critical Questions, 5s. 
 
 THE BUCOLICS, oe ECLOGUES OE VIEGIL, with 
 
 Notes based on those in Conington's Edition, a Life of Yirgil, more 
 than 100 "Woodcuts from Rich's u Antiquities," and an Illustrated 
 Article on the Ancient Musical Instruments, translated into 
 English Heroic Verse. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, illuminated, gilt 
 edges, 5s. 
 
 in. 
 THE EOUETH GEOEGIC OE VIEGIL, with Notes, 
 a Life of Yirgil, Illustrations from Rich's " Antiquities," and an 
 Illustrated Article on the Gladiators, containing an account of the 
 Roman Treatment of Bees, the Story of Aristseus and his Bees, and 
 the Episode of Orpheus and Eurydice, translated into English 
 Heroic Yerse. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, illuminated, gilt edges. 
 New Edition, entirely re-written. 4s. 6d. 
 
 THE STOEY OE AEIST.ETJS AND HIS BEES, with 
 
 Notes, in English Heroics. A Cheaper Edition, price 3s. Fcap. 
 8vo., cloth boards. 
 
 v. 
 THE BUCOLICS, translated into Ehythmic Prose, with 
 
 Notes for the Student. Fcap. 8vo., cloth boards, 2s. 6d. 
 
 VI. 
 
 THE SATIEES OE HOEACE, to be followed shortly by 
 the EPISTLES, translated into Rhythmic Prose, for the Student, 
 with English Notes from Orelli's Edition, a life of Horace, and 
 Illustrated Articles from Rich's "Antiquities." Cloth boards, 
 crown 8vo., 4s. 
 
 VII. 
 
 BOOK I. OE THE SATIEES OE HOEACE, to be 
 
 followed by Book II. and the EPISTLES, with Notes, a Life, 
 Illustrated Articles on the Roman House, Theatre, Amphitheatre, 
 &c, and numerous Woodcuts from Rich's "Antiquities," trans- 
 lated into the same metre as Goldsmith's " Haunch of Venison. " 
 Illuminated cloth boards, fine paper, crown 8vo., 4s. 
 
 Circulars can be had containing Specimen Pages and Reviews of the 
 above Works, on application to Messrs. Longmans, 39, Paternoster Mow. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 003 278 719 8