60. A forcible passage, on which Conington says: ‘The conception here is of life passed in a Boeotian atmosphere of thick fogs and pestilential vapors, which the sun never penetrates— probably with especial reference to the pleasures of sense, of which Persius has just been speaking. So the “vapor, heavy, hueless, formless, cold,” in Tennyson’s “Vision of Sin.”’—crassos dies: sub crasso aere (Jahn).—transisse: Heinr. comp. Tib., 1, 4, 33: vidi iam iuvenem, premeret cum serior aetas, | maerentem stultos praeteriisse dies.—lucem palustrem: ‘boggy’ = ‘foggy light’ is ‘light choked by fog.’ Crassos dies lucemque palustrem must be connected closely—‘gross days in foggy light’—so as to get rid of an awkward Zeugma with transisse.

61. sibi: with ingemuere (Conington).—iam seri: ‘too, too late.’ On iam, see v. 33. On seri, G., 324, R. 6; A., 47, 6.—ingemuere: like the Gr. Aorist. Comp. v. 187 and 3, 101. G., 228, R. 2; A., 58, 5, c. ‘Heave a sigh’ (Conington).—relictam: anteactam (Casaubon). Iam post terga reliquit | sexaginta annos, Juv., 13, 16.

62-65. Contrast of Cornutus’s noble mission. His creed the only creed for life.

62. at: in lively contrast.—nocturnis: Comp. 1, 90.—inpallescere: Comp. 1, 26.

63. purgatas: Purgare is an agricultural term like our ‘clean,’ and the metaphor is kept up. The field is the ear.—inseris: where we should expect seris.

64. fruge Cleanthea: Cleanthes is selected here on account of his strict life and virtuous poverty, in opposition to the luxury and wealth of the Romulidae, as Knickenberg remarks, l.c. p. 9.—petite: Mr. Pretor supposes that this is Cornutus’s invitation to the world. But if Cornutus speaks here, where does Persius come in again?—unless he takes up the cudgels for his master in v. 66.

65. finem = τέλος.—miseris: ‘wretched else.’—viatica: Jahn quotes Diog. Laert., 1, 5, 80: ἐφόδιον ἀπὸ νεότητος εἰς γῆρας ἀναλάμβανε σοφιαν; and 5, 11, 21: κάλλιστον ἐφόδιον τῷ γήρᾳ ἡ παιδεία.—canis: G., 195, R. 1.

66-72. ‘There is time enough for that,’ says an impersonal sinner. ‘To-morrow will do as well.’ ‘“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow.” To-morrow never becomes to-day.’

66. Cras hoc fiet, etc.: ‘I will do this that you ask of me to-morrow.’ ‘You will do to-morrow just what you are doing to-day.’ Jahn comp. Ov., R. A., 104: Cras quoque fiet idem. Hermann arranges: Cras hoc fiet idem. Cras fiet? ‘This will, can be done to-morrow as well as to-day.’ ‘To-morrow, you say?’ Comp. Petron., 82: quod hodie non est, cras erit.

67. nempe diem donas: ‘Well, what of it? Suppose I go on the same way to-morrow; it will only be a day—a great present, forsooth, to be haggling about!’ On nempe, see G., 500, R. 2.—cum venit—consumpsimus: more lively than cum venerit—consumpserimus (G., 229). One clause is involved in the other. G., 236, R. 4. This seems to be better than making venit iterative, and consumpsimus an Aoristic Perf.

69. egerit: ‘unloads,’ ‘carts off.’ Egerere is the opposite of ingerere (v. 6). Comp. Sen., Ep., 47, 2: venter maiore opera omnia egerit quam ingessit. Jahn makes egerit = impulerit, in order to save the figure. Compare truditur dies die, Hor., Od., 2, 18, 15, and Petron., 45: dies diem trudit; and 82: vita truditur. But even this does not save the figure, and the sudden change of metaphor is in Persius’s vein.—paulum erit ultra: ‘To-morrow will always be a little further on,’ is the common rendering, the figure changing at this point.

70. quamvis—vertentem: A later construction. G., 611, R.; M., 443, Obs.—cantum: ‘tire.’

72. cum curras: ‘seeing that you are running.’ Here cum is nearly equivalent to si, as it is thrown by sectabere into the future, and is thus made hypothetical. Comp. G., 591, R. 3, and 584.

73-90. What men need is Liberty—not the freedom of the city, which insures a quota of damaged corn; not the freedom of the freedman, which gives a slave a name to be free, while he is yet a slave; but the liberty wherewith Philosophy sets men free. The freedman demurs to this hard doctrine, but a Stoic adept silences him by his ‘Short Method.’

73. hac, ut, quisque: Hac is the adverb, ut = qua, quisque = quicunque (comp. quandoque = quandocumque, 4, 28), a sad complex of harshnesses, which may be rendered thus: ‘Liberty is what is wanted; not after the prevalent (G., 290, 7) fashion, by which each man that has worked his way up to a Publius in the Veline tribe is owner of a ticket for a ration of musty spelt.’ Other readings, such as hac quam ut quisque (Passow), hac qua quisque (Meister), are mere devices to relieve the grammatical situation, which is doubtless unnatural in the extreme, as hac seems to belong to libertate, and ut quisque is a familiar combination. Conington makes non hac the beginning of an independent sentence, and translates: ‘It is not by this freedom that every fire-new citizen, who gets his name enrolled in a tribe, is privileged to get a pauper’s allowance for his ticket.’—Velina: Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 6, 52: hic multum in Fabia valet, ille Velina. The Veline was one of the last two tribes instituted (Becker, Rom. Alt., 2, 1, 170), and is supposed by some to be one of the four city tribes to which the libertini were restricted. The name of the tribe to which a man belongs is put in the Abl. (as a whence case). So M. Larcius L. f. Pomptina Pudens (Becker, l.c. 198).

74. Publius: Only freemen were entitled to the praenomen. Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 5, 32: Quinte, puta, aut Publi (gaudent praenomine molles | auriculae).—emeruit: literally ‘has served his time’ (of a soldier), ‘has worked his way up to be a Publius’ (supplying esse).—tesserula: the well-known tessera frumentaria, Suet., Aug., 41.

75. Quiritem: Rare in the Singular (Schol.).

76. vertigo: the ‘twirl’ of the familiar process of manumissio per vindictam. ‘The lictor touched the slave with the vindicta, the master turning him round and “dismissing him from his hand” with the words Hunc hominem liberum esse volo’ (Conington).—facit: is causal as well as faciat. G., 627, R.; A., 63.—Dama: Δημᾶς = Δημήτριος; according to others for Δημέας (Mehlhorn, Gr. Gr., 183), a common slave’s name.—non tressis: Jahn comp. non semissis homo, Vatin. ap. Cic., Fam., 5, 10, 1.

77. vappa: ‘dead wine,’ hence ‘mean liquor.’—lippus: the effect of drinking.—in farragine tenui: ‘in the matter of,’ and hence ‘for a poor feed of corn.’

78. verterit—exit = si verterit—exit. G., 257; A., 57, 5. Comp. v. 189. The Perf. is aoristic, ‘give him a whirl.’—momento: literally by the ‘motion,’ ‘by virtue,’ ‘by the act of whirling.’ ‘By dint’ would give an ironical turn.

79. Marcus: as Publius, v. 74. Jahn cites an inscription: M · FVFIVS · M · L · DAMA.—papae: Ironical admiration. ‘Wondrous change! Every body will trust this thief, this liar now!’ Papae (Gr. παπαῖ, βαβαί). ‘Whew!’ ‘Prodigious!’—recusas? Fie on you, if you do! See note on 4, 1.

80. adsigna tabellas: ‘your hand and seal to this document,’ ‘witness this document.’

82. mera: ‘pure and simple’ (ironical).—pillea: See 3, 106.

83. An quisquam—Bruto: These words are generally assigned to Dama, and it is certainly more humorous to make the promoted stable-boy argue in mood and figure than to rake up one of Persius’s dead-alive spectators, as König does, and after him Pretor. Quisquam, because of the negative answer expected. See 1, 112, and G., 304; A., 21, 2, h.

84. ut voluit: The Stoic formula did not differ from the popular definition. Certainly it does not sound recondite to say: libertas est potestas vivendi ut velis, Cic., Parad., 5, 1, 34; or with Arrian, Diss., 4, 1, 1: ἐλεύθερός ἐστιν ὁ ζῶν ὡς βούλεται, but the words must be understood in their Stoic sense.

85. Mendose colligis: φαύλως συλλογίζει. ‘Your syllogism is faulty.’ ‘Marcus, thou reasonest ill.’

86. stoicus hic: ‘our Stoic friend’ (Conington). Persius himself.—aurem—lotus: Comp. v. 63 and 1, 126. Lotus may be reflexive. G., 332, R. 2; A., 53, 3, c, R.—aceto: Vinegar was used in cases of deafness, Cels., 6, 7, 2, 3 (König).

87. accipio—tolle: ‘Persius admits the major, but denies the minor; denies both that the man has a will (volo) and that he is free (licet) to follow it’ (Conington). Mr. Pretor limits the concession to vivere (τὸ ζῆν), and explains: ‘The mere fact that you are a living creature, I admit; the inference contained in licet and ut volo, I altogether deny.’ ‘This dissection of the argument word by word’ may be ‘more in keeping with the character of the Stoic’—the Stoics were great choppers of logic—but it is not in keeping with the style of Persius, who is subtle every where except in his arguments.

88. Vindicta: the festuca, or ‘wand,’ with which the lictor struck the manumittend. See v. 76.—postquam recessi: with a causal tone. See note on 3, 90.—meus: ‘my own man,’ hence ‘my own master’ (G., 299, R.); mei iuris (Schol.).

90. Masuri rubrica: ‘The canon of Masurius.’ ‘Masurius Sabinus, an eminent lawyer, lived in the reigns of Tiberius and Nero, and wrote a work in three books, entitled Ius Civile.’ Rubrica, ‘because the titles and first few words of the laws were commonly picked out with vermilion. Comp. perlege rubras | maiorum leges, Juv., 14, 192’ (Pretor, after Jahn). A low creature like Dama has a soul that is not above the statute-book; lofty spirits, like our Stoic, and believers in the higher law sneer at the canon and its maker. So Marc. Antonin., ap. Front., Ep., 2, 7 (p. 32 Naber), speaks of deliramenta Masuriana. Comp. Quint., 12, 3, 11.—vetavit: for vetuit, reminds us of the slip of another youthful genius, Kirke White, and his ‘rudely blow’d.’ There is no sufficient warrant for the form.

91-131. A Stoic sermon. Text: Do nothing that you will spoil in the doing. You know nothing as you ought to know it, and you can do nothing as you ought to do it. You are ignorant of the first principles of morals; you have no control over your desires, your appetites. You may call yourself free, but you are a slave for all that. For one master without, you have a legion of masters within.

91. Disce: Comp. 3, 66.—naso: the simple Abl. as a whence case. Comp. 1, 83. The nose is the familiar seat of anger. Theocr., 1, 18: καί οἱ ἀεὶ δριμεῖα χολὰ ποτὶ ῥινὶ κάθηται. For Biblical parallels, see Gesenius or Fürst, s.v. אַף . The anger is shown by snorting, or, as here, by snarling.—rugosa: Comp. corruget nares, Hor., Ep., 1, 5, 23.—sanna: 1, 62.

92. dum revello: ‘while I am plucking’ = ‘until I have plucked.’ See note on v. 10.—veteres avias: ‘old grandmothers,’ for ‘inveterate, rooted, grandmotherish notions.’ Comp. patruos sapere, 1, 11, and ὁ λεγόμενος γραῶν ὕθλος, Plat., Theaet., 176B.—de pulmone: The lung is the seat of pride in 3, 27 (comp. suffla, 4, 20). Jahn regards it here as the seat of wrath.

93. erat: ‘as you thought.’ G., 224, R. 3; A., 58, 3, d.—tenuia rerum officia: ‘mastery of the subtle distinctions of duty.’ Tenuia, a trisyllable, as often. G., 717. Rerum, parallel with vitae. See 1, 1.

94. usum rapidae vitae: ‘the right management of the rapid course of life.’ The metaphor is taken either from a river (rapidus amnis, rapidi fluminum lapsus, rapidum flumen, rapidus Tigris, Hor.), which sweeps away the man who does not understand its current, or from a race-course in which there is no stopping, as Conington thinks (3, 67). Others understand rapidae simply as ‘fleeting.’

95. sambucam: The ordinary translation, ‘dulcimer,’ is not strictly correct, though ‘dulcimer’ suggests the exotic refinement of the sambuca, a four-stringed instrument of Eastern origin, synonymous with cultivated luxury.—citius aptaveris: θᾶττον ἂν ἁρμόσειας; written out = citius aptaveris quam praetor det, but it is better not written out. Notice the Perf. Subj. ‘You would sooner succeed in making a dulcimer fit, sooner get a dulcimer to fit [the hand of] a gawky camp-porter.’—caloni: used in its original sense of a soldier’s hewer of wood and drawer of water. Persius, who has no admiration for soldiers themselves, would naturally select a soldier’s drudge as a type of awkwardness and stupidity. So, in effect, Conington.—alto: We combine ‘tall and gawky;’ ‘hulking’ (Conington). Comp. the sneer at the ingentis Titos, 1, 20, and Pulfennius ingens, 5, 190, and the ἀνὴρ τρισκαιδεκάπηχυς of Theocr., 15, 17.

96. stat contra: ‘confronts,’ ‘stops the way.’ Jahn comp. Mart., 1, 53, 12: stat contra, dicitque tibi tua pagina: Fur es, a parallel which no conscientious commentator can quote without qualms. Juv., 3, 290: stat contra starique iubet.—ratio: ‘Right reason’ here is equivalent to natura below, which is itself equivalent to publica lex hominum. See Knickenberg, l.c. p. 20 seqq.—secretam: ‘private.’—garrit: It is hard choosing between gannit and garrit. Martial has garrire in aurem, in auriculam, 1, 89, 1; 3, 28, 2, and aurem dum tibi praesto garrienti, 11, 24, 2; Afran., ap. Non., 452, 11 (283 Ribb.): gannire ad aurem numquam didici dominicam.

97. liceat: with reference to v. 84.

98. publica lex hominum naturaque: ‘The universal law of human nature.’ Of course in the peculiar Stoic sense. See note on 3, 67. ‘The doctrine of a supreme law of Nature, the actual source and ideal standard of all particular laws, was characteristic of the Stoics, and lay at the bottom of the Roman juristical notion of a ratio naturalis or ius gentium’ (Conington).

99. teneat actus: As tenere cursum is sometimes used in the sense of ‘check a course,’ ‘refrain from a course,’ so tenere vetitos actus means to refrain from, or, as Pretor translates, ‘hold in abeyance forbidden actions.’ To this effect König. But as tenere cursum is also used in the sense of ‘hold a course, keep on a course,’ Jahn’s version, which makes it a law of nature for weak ignorance to pursue forbidden actions, is not without justification. In that case fas est = ‘it is to be expected,’ as in operi longo fas est obrepere somnum. For the thought of the necessity of sin for the ignorant, see v. 119. But the immediate context favors the former interpretation. Casaubon’s tenere vetitos = habere pro vetitis is without warrant in usage.

100-104. Popular illustrations of the doctrine drawn from medicine and navigation, and from Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 114: navem agere ignarus navis timet: abrotonum aegro | non audet, nisi qui didicit dare.

100. certo conpescere puncto, etc.: ‘although you do not know how to check [that is, to bring to the perpendicular and keep there] the tongue or index [of the steelyard by putting the equipoise or pea] at a certain point.’ ‘Although you do not know how to use the steelyard’ (statera). On the examen, see 1, 6; punctum is one of the points or notches (notae) on the graduated arm. With nescius conpescere comp. callidus suspendere, 1, 118, and Prol., 11.—natura = lex, as above.

102. peronatus: The pero was a thick boot of raw-hide, crudus pero, Verg., Aen., 7, 690, and Juv., 14, 186: quem non pudet alto | per glaciem perone tegi, qui summovet Euros | pellibus inversis (Jahn). The peronatus arator is a clodhopper, a country bumpkin.

103. luciferi rudis: Not a good stroke. Some knowledge of the stars was necessary for the ploughman himself, as Casaubon remarks. See Verg., Georg., 1, 204 seqq. So notably of the Pleiades, Hesiod, O. et D., 383. 615.—Melicerta: Portunus, patron of sailors, Verg., Georg., 1, 437.—perisse: Comp. Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 80: clament periisse pudorem | cuncti paene patres.

104. frontem: the seat of modesty for modesty itself. In English, ‘face,’ ‘front,’ and ‘forehead’ are used for the absence of modesty; but ‘frontless’ and ‘effrontery’ accord with the usage and in Juv., 13, 242: quando recepit | eiectum simul attrita de fronte pudorem?—de rebus: ‘from the world,’ or omitted. See 1, 1.—recto talo: Comp. Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 176: cadat an recto stet fabula talo. Jahn comp. further Pind., Isthm., 6, 12: ὀρθῷ ἔστασας ἐπὶ σφυρῷ, and Eur., Hel., 1449: ὀρθῷ βῆναι ποδί. Transl. ‘uprightly.’

105. ars: Philosophy. [Philosophus] artem vitae professus, Cic., Tusc. Dis., 2, 4, 12; sapientia ars est, Sen., Ep., 29, 3.—speciem: Jahn gave up in 1868 the hopeless specimen of 1843, which left qua in the next line utterly unprovided for. That this aberration of a distinguished scholar should have been followed at all is a sad instance of Nachbeterei—a German word, not exclusively a German vice.

106. ne qua: sc. species. Ne because of the general notion of apprehension in the sentence, as after videre. G., 548, R. 2; A., 70, 3, e.—subaerato auro: Subaeratus is a translation of ὑπόχαλκος. Ὑπόχαλκον νόμισμα is literally a coin (of gold or silver) with copper underneath. Of course we should say gilt or silvered copper coin. Subaerato auro, Abl. Abs.—mendosum tinniat: With mendosum comp. sonat vitium, 3, 21; solidum crepet, v. 25; with tinniat, Quint., 11, 3, 31: sonis homines, ut aera tinnitu, dinoscimus. Translate the line: ‘that no [seeming truth] give a faulty ring, due to the copper underneath the gold.’

107. forent: On the sequence, see G., 511, R. 2; A., 58, 10, a.

108. ilia prius creta, etc.: Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 246: sanin creta an carbone notandi.

109. modicus voti: On the Gen., see G., 374, R. 2; A., 50, 3, c.—presso lare: ‘Your establishment within your means?’ Pressus opposed to diffusus.—dulcis: ‘indulgent.’ Observe the ‘sweet reasonableness’ of the ancient religionist. He, too, was an apostle of ‘sweetness and light.’

110. iam nunc—iam nunc: ‘At the very moment,’ ‘just at the right time,’ hence ‘at one instant, at another.’—astringas—laxes: ‘shut tight—open wide.’—granaria: 6, 25, Plural of abundance. Comp. 2, 33.

111. inque luto: It was a favorite trick of the Roman boys to solder a piece of money to a stone in the pavement, in order to have a laugh at any one who might stoop to pick it up (Scholiast). Similar pranks are common enough now. Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 16, 63: qui liberior sit avarus | in triviis fixum, cum se demittit ob assem | non video.

112. glutto: On the formation, see cachinno, 1, 12. ‘Lickerish-mouthed that you are’ would give the coarse tone.—salivam: Doth not our mouth water?—Mercurialem: Excited by gain and not by food. See 2, 12. ‘Water of treasure-trove’ (Conington).

113. haec mea sunt, teneo: The commentators notice the legal tone.—cum dixeris: G., 584.

114. -que ac: a rare combination.—praetoribus ac Iove dextro: a kind of Zeugma = praetoribus [auctoribus] et Iove dextro, ‘by the grace of the praetors and Jove.’ The Jupiter here meant is the Iuppiter Liberator (Ζεὺς ἐλευθέριος), so famous in connection with the death of Persius’s friend, Thrasea Paetus, Tac., Ann., 16, 35. See Introd., xiii.

115. sin: ‘(if not) but if,’ G., 593; A., 59, 1, a; Ribbeck, l.c. 14.—cum: ‘whereas,’ ‘after,’ adversative.—nostrae farinae: ‘one of our grain, batch, set,’ ‘one of our kidney’—doubtless a proverbial expression. The metaphor is taken from the mill or from the bakery. The batch referred to is the Stoic school. Of course the statement is ironical. ‘Whereas (to judge by your bold pretensions to liberty) you were a little while ago in our set.’

116-118. The drift of the passage is plain enough. ‘A change of fortune does not bring with it a change of character. If you possess all that you say you possess, then you are free and wise. But if you are, after all, the same old man, I take back all that I have granted. You are a fool, a slave.’ This familiar Stoic thesis is covered over with a mass of confused metaphors, at least according to the commentators and translators.—pelliculam veterem retines: is supposed to be:1. An ass in a lion’s skin, after Hor., Sat., 1, 6, 22; or, 2. A snake that has not cast its slough (Jahn).—astutam servas vulpem: is the fox dressed up like a lion, Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 186.—vapido pectore: contains an allusion to ‘dead wine,’ vappa, v. 77, and is opposed to incoctum generoso pectus honesto, 2, 74.—funem reduco: 1. Of a beast that has had rope allowed it and is pulled in; 2. Of a cock-chafer that is played at the end of a string (Ar., Nub., 763).—fronte politus: words that do not fit in very satisfactorily with ass, fox, flat wine, restiff beast, or buzzing cock-chafer. My admiration of Persius is not unqualified, but this medley is almost too wild even for his turbid genius; and here, as elsewhere, commentators have been misled by looking at mere verbal coincidences with Horace. There is an Aesopic fable (149 Halm), the moral of which gives the substance of this passage: ὁ λόγος δηλοῖ ὅτι οἱ φαῦλοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κἂν τὰ προσχήματα λαμπρότερα ἀναλάβωσι, τὴν γοῦν φύσιν οὐ μετατίθενται. In this fable, which bears a family likeness to ϝαλῆ ποτ᾽ ἀνδρός (Babr. 32), La Chatte Metamorphosée en Femme (La Fontaine, 2, 18), Zeus, charmed with the cleverness of Reynard, had made him king of the beasts; but wishing to try whether fortune had changed his character, he caused a beetle to fly before His Majesty’s eyes as he was borne by in state. The fox could not withstand the temptation, leaped from the litter, and tried to catch the game in such unseemly guise that Zeus deposed him. The fox is Dama, made Marcus; nay, become a philosopher (nostrae farinae), and the philosopher is king: sapiens—dives | liber, honoratus, pulcher, rex denique regum, as Horace puts the Stoic doctrine (Ep., 1, 1, 107). But if despite his fair seeming, his smooth regal brow (fronte politus), he retains his old nature (pelliculam veterem), and the old Reynard—the old rascal that swindled his master for a feed of corn—is still in his heart (astutam servas sub pectore vulpem), our deus ex machina takes back all that he has granted; he is a slave still.

117. relego: So Jahn. Inferior MSS. have repeto. Relego evidently suggested the new figure, funem reduco.

119. digitum exsere, peccas: a favorite expression with the Stoics to show that the wise man alone understands the conduct of life. Epictet., fr. 53: ἡ φιλοσοφία φησὶν ὅτι οὐδὲ τὸν δάκτυλον ἐκτείνειν εἰκῆ προσήκει (Casaubon).

120. nullo ture litabis: Comp. 2, 75. Here litabis = litando impetrabis.

122. fossor: ‘a ditcher, a clown, a clodhopper.’ Fossor = in cultus. Comp. ‘navvy.’ Juvenal (11, 80) speaks of the squalidus fossor; Catullus (22, 10) combines fossor and caprimulgus, Eur. (El., 252), σκαφεύς and βουφορβός.

123. tris tantum ad numeros moveare: ‘dance three steps in time.’ Ad, as often, of the standard; numerus = ῥυθμός; moveri of the dance, as in Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 125, and as motus in Od., 3, 6, 21: motus doceri gaudet Ionicos | matura virgo.—satyrum: a kind of Cognate Accusative, as in Hor., l.c.: qui | nunc satyrum, nunc agrestem Cyclopa movetur. Persius selects the satyrus in distinct opposition to the agrestis Cyclops, a more congenial dance for the agrestis fossor. See the commentators on Horace.—Bathylli: Bathyllus was a famous dancer in the time of Augustus. More bookishness. See Phaedr., 5, 7, 5; Juv., 6, 63.

124. Liber ego: The language of Dama. Only Dama is fading out. ‘Persius meets this reassertion of freedom with a new answer. Before he had contended that fools had no rights; now he shows that they have no independent power’ (Conington).—Unde datum hoc sentis: So Hor., Sat., 2, 2, 31: Unde datum hoc sentis, only sentis here is equivalent to censes (Jahn). On the interrogative with the Participle, see 3, 67. Unde datum, ‘Who allowed you?’ unde being = a quo. Comp. inde, 1, 126, and G., 613, R. 1; A., 48, 5.—tot subdite rebus: Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 7, 75: tune mihi dominus rerum imperiis hominumque | tot tantisque minor = ἥσσων = subditus.

125. an: ‘or’ (do you mean to say?) ‘what?’ See 1, 41.—relaxat: in a general sense. Exit Dama. Enter Impersonal Tu.

126. I puer: sample order of a sample master.—strigiles: A man might go to a common bath, but he would not like to use a common scraper (strigilis, ξύστρα). On the strigilis, see, if needful, the commentators on Juv., 3, 263.—Crispini: Perhaps the bath-keeper. The name is Horatian, Sat., 1, 2, 120, and elsewhere.

127. si increpuit: The slave loiters, the master scolds.—‘cessas nugator:’ Much more effective in the mouth of the master than as an apodosis to si increpuit, as Hermann has it, and Jahn (1868); though Schlüter’s remark, verba ‘cessas nugator?’ dominum, non philosophum decent, does not amount to much, when we consider that the philosopher is Persius himself. Nugator is used here of wasting time; but the use of nugari and its forms, which were often addressed to slaves, is wider, like the English ‘fool.’ So in Petron., 52, a boy lets a cup fall, and Trimalchio cries, ne sis nugax. With cessas comp. Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 14: semel hic cessavit. ‘What do you mean by this loitering, you dawdler, you?’—servitium acre: ‘the goad of bondage,’ as Conington suggests. Acre, from the same radical as aculeus.

128. nihil nec quicquam: G., 482, R. 3.

129. nervos: ‘wires.’ The figure of the puppet (sigillarium, ἄγαλμα νευρόσπαστον) as a favorite one with the Stoics, to judge by M. Antoninus, who uses it very often, e.g., σιγιλλάρια νευροσπαστούμενα, 7, 3; νευροσπαστια, 6, 28. Comp. Hor., Sat., 2, 7, 80: tu mihi qui imperitas alii servis miser atque | duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum.—agitet: ‘There is nothing from without to set your wires going.’ Your masters are within.—iecore: See 1, 25.

130. domini: An immemorial figure. So Sophocles of Love. Di meliora, inquit, libenter vero istinc sicut a domino agresti ac furioso profugi, Cic., Cat. Mai., 14, 47.—qui: ‘how?’—exis = evadis. See 1, 46; 6, 60.

131. atque = quam. G., 311, R. 6.—hic = de quo loquimur. G., 290, 3.—metus erilis = metus eri. G., 360, R. 1; 363, R.; A., 50, 1, a. ‘If I be a master, where is my fear?’ Mal., 1, 6. The assumption of Hendiadys, ‘fear of the master’s whip,’ is unnecessary, and makes the passage less forcible.

132-191. The remainder of the Satire is taken up with descriptions of the ruling passions: Avarice (132-142), Luxury (143-160), Love (161-175), Ambition (176-179), Superstition (180-189). The language is lively and mimetic, and forcibly recalls the connection between comedy and satire.

132-160. Avarice finds you snoring, makes you get up, thrusts a bill of lading in your hand, cuts out work for you—not very honest work either—and chides you till she gets you to the ship. As you are about to embark, Luxury takes you aside, remonstrates with you, reminds you of the annoyances of a sea voyage. And all for what? The difference between five and eleven per cent. Why so greedy? ‘Life let us cherish.’ Enjoy it while you may. And so you are in a strait betwixt two. First you submit to one, then to the other master; and when you have once rebelled, you must not say, ‘I have broken my bonds.’ So a struggling hound may wrench away the staple, but drags the chain after it.

132. Mane stertis: a reminiscence of himself, 3, 3.

134. saperdam: Sing. for the Plur. Comp. mena, 3, 76. The saperda (σαπέρδης, κορακῖνος) was a cheap fish for salting. The best came from the Palus Maeotis (Sea of Azow, Balik-Denghis, or Fish-sea), where they were caught in vast quantities. ‘Salt herring.’—Ponto: a whence case.

135. castoreum, stuppas, hebenum, tus: A mere hodge-podge. Comp. Menand., fr. 720 (4, 279 Mein.): στυππεῖον, ἐλέφαντ᾽, οἶνον, αὐλαίαν, μύρον. The wares are mainly Eastern. Musk came from Pontus, ebony and frankincense from the Far East.—lubrica Coa: ‘slippery Coans,’ may be understood of ‘oily (or laxative) Coan wines,’ Hor., Sat., 2, 4, 29, or of ‘soft Coan vestments,’ which were little more than woven air, Hor., Od., 4, 13, 13. The use of Coa for ‘Coan robes’ is sustained by Ov., A. A., 2, 298: Coa decere puta, even if Hor., Sat., 1, 2, 101, be cavilled at, and the effect is droller.

136. recens primus piper: Recens, ‘fresh,’ ‘just in;’ primus, ‘forestall the market.’—ex sitiente camelo: The thirsty camel brings the scene before our eyes—comp. ante boves, 1, 74—and shows that the genuine Indian pepper is meant, the rugosum piper of v. 55. The camel must have come a long way to be thirsty (sitim quadriduo tolerat, Plin., H. N., 8, 18), but Madam Avarice will not let her slave wait until the camel has been unloaded and has had its drink.

137. verte aliquid; iura: Verte aliquid is said with impatience, and aliquid is to be urged. Comp. frange aliquid, 6, 32; dest aliquid, 6, 64; fodere aut arare aut aliquid ferre, Ter., Heaut., 1, 1, 17. ‘Do something or other in the way of trade.’ This obviates Jahn’s objection, who finds the expression tame after the preceding list, and prefers to make vertere = versuram facere, ‘borrow money’ (to pay debts), and to interpret iura of swearing out of the obligation. But the connection in which iura stands shows that it is professional, and hence dishonorable; and though verte aliquid is not necessarily immoral, observe that in English we add ‘honest’ to the phrase ‘turn a penny,’ if we wish to prevent a sinister interpretation, which is the interpretation here, as König remarks. As for the ‘tameness,’ mercare is ‘tame’ after vende animam lucro, 6, 75.

138. varo: or baro, ‘lout.’ This obscure word is entered by Vaniček (Etym. Wörterb., S. 36) under KAR (KVAR)—comp. varus, ‘crooked’—so that varo would be ‘a wrong-headed creature,’ ‘a perverse blockhead.’ The verb obvaro occurs in Ennius (Trag., 2 Vahl.), and varo (Subst.) would be a formation like cachinno (1, 12) and palpo (5, 176).—regustatum digito terebrare salinum: After the Greek proverb: ἁλίαν τρυπᾶν (of extreme poverty). Casaubon quotes, and every body after him, Apoll. Tyan., Ep., 7: ἐμοὶ δ᾽ εἴη τὴν ἁλιαν τρυπᾶν ἐν Θέμιδος οἴκῳ. ‘To taste and taste until you bore a hole with your finger in the salt-cellar.’ ‘To lick the platter clean.’—salinum: Only the most advanced philosophers professed to consider salt, which even the miser could not well dispense with (4, 30), as a luxury. So Thrasycles, in Luc., Tim., 56: ὄψον δὲ ἥδιστον θύμον ἢ κάρδαμον ἢ εἴ ποτε τρυφῴην ὀλίγον τῶν ἁλῶν.

139. perages: according to Casaubon, an imitation of the Gr. διάγειν. Warrant for the ellipsis of vitam or aetatem seems to be lacking. Some wish to read perges here, and combine it with terebrare. If so, the word perges must not be translated ‘continue’ τρυπῶν διατελεῖς, but ‘proceed.’ See the Dictionaries. There is no authority for making perages = perges.—vivere cum Iove: Madam Avarice is blasphemously familiar in her expressions. ‘To live on good terms with Jupiter.’

140. pellem: simply ‘a skin,’ which might serve as many purposes as a modern traveller’s shawl. Jahn interprets it as meaning a sort of packing cloth (segestre), and compares Petron., 102. This is much more likely than the pastoria pellis of Ov., Met., 2, 680, the βαίτη of Theocr., 3, 25, elsewhere called νάκος, 5, 2, ‘a peasant’s coat of raw hide.’—succinctus: ‘high girt,’ hence ‘equipped.’—oenophorum: ‘a wine case.’ Comp. Hor., Sat., 1, 6, 109: pueri lasanum portantes oenophorumque.

141. Ocius ad navem: It matters not who says this: ‘Off to the ship this instant.’ We are on the wharf, where such cries are in the air; but if we must assign them to somebody, they are best assigned to the master, who hurries the slaves on board.—quin: G., 551,1; A., 70, 4, g.—trabe vasta: ‘mammoth ship.’ The man’s greed is indicated by the size of the ship, as contrasted with the slenderness of his personal equipment. Vastum Aegaeum, another reading, would be an epithet wasted, a rare extravagance in Persius.

142. rapias: ‘scour.’ Casaubon comp. Stat., Theb., 5, 3: rapere campum. So Verg., Georg., 3, 103: campum | corripuere. The notion is that of devouring.—sollers: ‘artful’ (literally, all-art).

143. seductum: Comp. 2, 4; 6, 42.—quo deinde ruis? So Verg., Aen., 5, 741. Deinde, ‘next.’

144. quid tibi vis? Comp. Hor., Sat., 1, 2, 69. G., 351, R.; A., 51, 7, d.—calido: is proleptic. ‘Your breast is heated by a rising of potent bile.’—mascula = robusta (Jahn). Mascula bilis means bilis nigra, μελαγχολία. Conington compares the Greek use of ἀρσην as κτύπος ἄρσην, Soph., Phil., 1455. See 6, 4.

145. intumuit: Comp. 2, 14; 3, 8.—non exstinxerit: οὐκ ἂν σβέσειε. G., 629 (250); A., 60, 2, b.—urna: nearly three gallons, half an amphora.—cicutae: the remedy for madness from this cause, Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 53.

146. mare transilias: G., 251; A., 57, 6. Conington’s ‘skip across’ would hardly answer for Horace’s non tangenda rates | transiliunt vada, Od., 1, 3, 24. Tr. ‘vault over.’—torta cannabe: ‘Twisted hemp’ is ‘rope,’ but Persius probably means a ‘coil of rope.’—fulto: with tibi. Jahn quotes Juv., 3, 82: fultusque toro meliore recumbet. A coil of rope will be your cushion and a bench your table.

147. Veientanumque rubellum: The Veientana uva (Mart., 2, 53, 4) yielded a coarse red wine. Et Veientani bibitur faex crassa rubelli, Mart., 1, 103, 9. Not a happy stroke, as Teuffel has observed. A sea voyage does not involve bad wine.

148. vapida pice: ‘fusty pitch.’ Jars were pitched to preserve the wine.—laesum: ‘damaged.’—sessilis obba: ‘broad-bottomed jorum,’ ‘squab jug’ (Gifford). Obba is an obsolete word for a large drinking-cup. Conington’s ‘noggin’ does not hold enough.

149. quincunce: As an as a month is twelve per cent. per annum, so 5/12 as (quincunx) is five per cent., and deunx eleven.

150. nutrieras: We use ‘nursing’ in similar connections, but rather in the sense of ‘husbanding.’ The figure is an extension of the Greek τόκος. See Shaksp., M. of V., 1, 3, where the ‘breed for barren metal’ embodies an ancient prejudice. Comp. further Hor., Ep., 1, 18, 35: nummos alienos pascet.—nummi—pergant avidos sudare deunces: So Jahn (1843). ‘May go on to sweat out a greedy eleven per cent.’ Hermann edits: nummos—peragant avido sudore deunces, and so Jahn (1868). H. (L. P., II., 57) refers to bona peragere (6, 22), and says that the merchant, dissatisfied with his modest five per cent. which had increased his capital, goes in for eleven per cent., which gobbles it up, and has his sweat for his pains. On pergant, see note on v. 139; with sudare deunces comp. Verg., Ecl., 4, 30: sudabunt roscida mella.

151. indulge genio: See note on 2, 3.—nostrum est quod vivis: Variously interpreted. ‘Your real life is mine,’ i.e., ‘only that part of life which you bestow on me is life’ (Casaubon, and so, in effect, Jahn). ‘Your life belongs to me and you (nostrum answering to carpamus dulcia), not to any one else, such as Avarice, and it is all that we have’ (Conington). ‘It is all in our favor that you are alive’ (Pretor)—clearly wrong. There is an evident reminiscence of the Horatian quod spiro et placeo, si placeo, tuum est (Od., 4, 3, 24), which sustains Casaubon’s view.

152. cinis et manes et fabula fies: See note on 1, 36. There are clearly three stages, as Conington suggests: ‘first ashes, then a shade, then a name.’ With fabula fies comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 13, 9: fabula fias, and Od., 1, 4, 16: iam te premet nox fabulaeque manes.

153. vive memor leti: So Hor., Sat., 2, 6, 97.—hoc quod loquor inde est: ‘What I am saying—this speech of mine—is so much off, so much time lost.’ Comp. dum loquimur fugerit invida | aetas, Hor., Od., 1, 11, 7.

154. en quid agis? See 3, 5.—duplici hamo: ‘a couple of hooks.’ If hamo is a fish-hook, scinderis is a metaphor within a metaphor. ‘You are like a fish distracted by two hooks,’ not knowing which to bite at. Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 7, 74: occultum visus decurrere piscis ad hamum, and for scinderis, Verg., Aen., 2, 39: scinditur incertum studia in contraria vulgus. The executioner’s hook, which others understand, is generally uncus; Juv., 10, 66: Seianus ducitur unco.

155. sequeris: See note on 3, 5.—subeas oportet: G., 535, R. 1; A., 70, 3, f, R.

156. oberres: Gr. δραπετεύειν, ‘go at large’ (Pretor).

157-158. nec—dicas = neu dicas. See note on 1, 5.

159. nam et: (Don’t say so) ‘for.’ ‘Why, there’s the dog that, like you (et), breaks its fastening.’—luctata: ‘by a wrench.’—nodum: ‘is the knot by which the chain is fastened to the bar of the door, (sera). Comp. Prop., 4, 11, 25-6: Cerberus et nullas hodie petat improbus umbras, | sed iaceat tacita lapsa catena sera’ (Pretor).—et tamen: So Jahn (1868). At tamen, the reading of most MSS., can not stand, if Madvig is right in maintaining that at tamen always means ‘at least.’ Hermann’s ast tamen is well supported by MSS., and is more vigorous than et.

160. a collo: G., 388, R. 2; A., 42, 2.—pars longa catenae: The long chain hampers its flight, and makes it easier to catch. The comparison clearly suggests the next picture.

161-175. Persius, knowing little of love or liaison, goes to his Greek books for an example, and finds it, where it was not far to seek, in Menander’s Eunuch. Horace (Sat., 2, 3, 259 seqq.) follows Terence’s adaptation, Persius seems to have stuck to the original. Hence the dialogue is between Chaerestratus (Χαιρέστρατος), the young master, and Davus (Δᾶος), the confidential servant, and not between Phaedria and Parmeno, as in the Latin dramatist.

Ch. Davus, I’m going to put a stop to this sort of thing.—D. Thank Heaven for that!—Ch. But—I should not like to hurt her feelings. Do you think she’ll cry?—D. Well, if you talk that way, you had better not kick over the traces at all. She will give it to you soundly when she gets hold of you again, and she will get hold of you again as soon as she calls you. Don’t be making suppositions. Go back to her in no case.

A man who can make such a resolution and keep it—here is your free man, not the lictor’s whirligig.

161. Dave, cito: Observe how he jerks out the words between the gnawings.—credas iubeo: G., 546, R. 3.—finire dolores, etc.: From Hor., l.c. 263: an potius mediter finire dolores.

162. praeteritos: logically superfluous with finire, and yet not bad dramatically; ‘that I have been having, undergoing.’—crudum: predicative, ‘to the raw,’ ‘to the quick.’ Comp. 1, 106: demorsos unguis.

163. adrodens: more natural than abrodens. ‘He is in meditation, not in despair’ (Hermann).—siccis: opp. to madidis, ebriis. ‘What! shall I be a standing disgrace in the way of my sober relations?’

164. rumore sinistro: ‘What? make myself the talk of all the scandal-mongers by squandering my estate?’

165. limen ad obscenum: ‘at a bawdy-house.’ See note on 1, 109. He puts the case strongly. Remember that he is shut out.—frangam: colloquial, ‘smash up,’ ‘make flinders of.’—Chrysidis: In Terence the lady’s name is Thais, not Chrysis.—udas: ‘dripping.’ With what? With perfumes (Lucr., 4, 1179), with wine (Hor., Od., 1, 7, 22), with tears (Ov., Am., 1, 6, 18), with rain (Hor., Od., 3, 10, 19), with the sweat of the commentators of Persius.

166. Comp. Hor., Sat., 1, 4, 51: ebrius et, magnum quod dedecus, ambulet ante | noctem cum facibus.—ante fores canto: Antique erotic literature is full of the caterwaulings of excluded lovers (παρακλαυσίθυρα).

167. puer: ‘Davus encourages his master, hence puer instead of Terence and Horace’s ere’ (Conington). ‘My young master’ gives the tone here, ‘my boy’ below.—sapias: ‘I do hope you are going to show your sense.’ Rather optative than imperative.—dis depellentibus: depulsoribus = dis averruncis. The Gr. is ἀποτρόπαιος, ἀπωσίκακος, ἀλεξίκακος. Comp. ἀποτρόποισι δαίμοσι, Aesch., Pers., 203 (quoted by Pretor).