Satire XI
If Atticus685 sups extravagantly, he is considered a splendid686 fellow: if Rutilus does so, he is thought mad. For what is received with louder laughter on the part of the mob, than Apicius687 reduced to poverty?
Every club,688 the baths, every knot of loungers, every theatre,689 is full of Rutilus. For while his sturdy and youthful limbs are fit to bear arms,690 and while he is hot in blood, he is driven691 (not indeed forced to it, but unchecked by the tribune) to copy out692 the instructions and imperial commands of the trainer of gladiators. Moreover, you see many whom their creditor, often cheated of his money, is wont to look out for at the very entrance of the market;693 and whose inducement to live exists in their palate alone. The greatest wretch among these, one who must soon fail, since his ruin is already as clear694 as day, sups the more extravagantly and the more splendidly. Meanwhile they ransack all the elements for dainties;695 the price never standing in the way of their gratification. If you look more closely into it, those please the more which are bought for more. Therefore they have no scruple696 in borrowing a sum, soon to be squandered, by pawning697 their plate, or the broken698 image of their mother; and, with the 400699 sesterces, seasoning an earthen700 dish to tickle their palate. Thus they are reduced to the hotch-potch701 of the gladiator.
It makes therefore all the difference who it is that procures these same things. For in Rutilus it is luxurious extravagance. In Ventidius it takes a praiseworthy name, and derives credit from his fortune.
I should with reason despise the man who knows how much more lofty Atlas is than all the mountains in Libya, yet this very man knows not how much a little purse differs from an iron-bound chest.702 “Know thyself,” came down from heaven:703 a proverb to be implanted and cherished in the memory, whether you are about to contract matrimony,704 or wish to be in a part of the sacred705 senate:—(for not even Thersites706 is a candidate for the breast-plate of Achilles: in which Ulysses exhibited himself in a doubtful character:707)—or whether you take upon yourself to defend a cause of great moment. Consult your own powers; tell yourself who you are; whether you are a powerful orator, or like a Curtius, or a Matho,708 mere spouters.
One must know one’s own measure, and keep it in view, in the greatest and in most trifling matters; even when a fish is to be bought. Do not long for a mullet,709 when you have only a gudgeon in your purse. For what end awaits you, as your purse710 fails and your gluttony increases: when your patrimony and whole fortune is squandered711 upon your belly, what can hold your money out at interest, your solid plate, your flocks, and lands?
By such proprietors as these, last of all712 the ring is parted with, and Pollio713 begs with his finger bare. It is not the premature funeral pile, or the grave, that is luxury’s horror, but old age,714 more to be dreaded than death itself. These are most commonly the steps: money, borrowed at Rome, is spent before the very owners’ faces; then when some trifling residue is left, and the lender of the money is growing pale, they give leg-bail715 and run to Baiæ and Ostia. For now-a-days to quit the forum716 is not more discreditable to you than to remove to Esquiline from hot717 Suburra. This is the only pain that they who flee their country feel, this their only sorrow, to have lost the Circensian games718 for one719 year. Not a drop of blood remains in their face; few attempt to detain modesty, now become an object of ridicule and fleeing from the city.
You shall prove to-day by your own experience, Persicus, whether all these things, which are very fine to talk about, I do not practice in my life, in my moral conduct, and in reality: but praise vegetables,720 while in secret I am a glutton: in others’ hearing bid my slave bring me water-gruel,721 but whisper “cheese-cakes” in his ear. For since you are my promised guest, you shall find me an Evander:722 you shall come as the Tirynthian, or the guest, inferior indeed to him, and yet himself akin by blood to heaven: the one sent to the skies by water,723 the other by fire.
Now hear your bill of fare,724 furnished by no public market.725
From my farm at Tibur there shall come a little kid, the fattest and tenderest of the whole flock, ignorant of the taste of grass, that has never yet ventured to browse even on the low twigs of the willow-bed, and that has more milk than blood in his veins: and asparagus726 from the mountains, which my bailiff’s wife, having laid down her spindle, gathered. Some huge eggs besides, and still warm in their twisted hay, shall be served up together with the hens themselves: and grapes kept a portion of the year, just as they were when fresh upon the vines: pears from Signia727 and Syria: and, from the same basket, apples rivaling those of Picenum,728 and smelling quite fresh; that you need not be afraid of, since they have lost their autumnal moisture, which has been dried up by cold, and the dangers to be feared from their juice if crude. This would in times gone by have been a luxurious supper for our senate. Curius729 with his own hands used to cook over his little fire pot-herbs which he had gathered in his little garden: such herbs as now the foul digger in his heavy chain rejects with scorn, who remembers the flavor of the vile dainties730 of the reeking cook-shop. It was the custom formerly to keep against festival days the flitches of the smoked swine, hanging from the wide-barred rack, and to set bacon as a birthday treat before one’s relations, with the addition of some fresh meat, if a sacrificial victim furnished any. Some one of the kin, with the title of “Thrice consul,” that had held command in camps, and discharged the dignity of dictator, used to go earlier731 than his wont to such a feast as this, bearing his spade over his shoulder from the mountain he had been digging on. But when men trembled at the Fabii,732 and the stern Cato, and the Scauri and Fabricii;733 and when, in fine, even his colleague stood in dread of the severe character of the strict Censor; no one thought it was a matter of anxiety or serious concern what kind of tortoise734 floated in the wave of ocean, destined to form a splendid and noble couch for the Trojugenæ. But with side devoid of ornament, and sofas of diminutive size, the brazen front displayed the mean head of an ass wearing a chaplet,735 at which the country lads laughed in wantonness.
The food then was in keeping with the master of the house and the furniture. Then the soldier, uncivilized, and too ignorant736 to admire the arts of Greece, used to break up the drinking-cups, the work of some renowned artists, which he found in his share of the booty when cities were overthrown, that his horse might exult in trappings,737 and his embossed helmet might display to his enemy on the point of perishing, likenesses of the Romulean wild beast bidden to grow tame by the destiny of the empire, and the twin Quirini beneath the rock, and the naked image of the god coming down738 with buckler and spear, and impending over him. Whatever silver he possessed glittered on his arms739 alone. In those days, then, they used to serve all their furmety in a dish of Tuscan earthenware: which you may envy, if you are at all that way inclined.740
The majesty of temples also was more evidently near741 to men, and a voice742 heard about midnight and through the midst of the city, when the Gauls were coming from the shore of ocean, and the gods discharged the functions of a prophet, warned us of these.
This was the care which Jupiter used to show for the affairs of Latium, when made of earthenware,743 and as yet profaned by no gold. Those days saw tables made of wood grown at home and from our native trees.744 To these uses was the timber applied, if the east wind had chanced to lay prostrate some old walnut-tree. But now the rich have no satisfaction in their dinner, the turbot and the venison lose their flavor, perfumes and roses seem to lose their smell, unless the broad circumference of the table is supported by a huge mass of ivory, and a tall leopard with wide-gaping jaws, made of those tusks, which the gate of Syene745 transmits, and the active Moors, and the Indian of duskier hue than the Moor;746 and which the huge beast has deposited in some Nabathæan747 glen, as now grown too weighty and burdensome to his head: by this their appetite748 is whetted: hence their stomach acquires its vigor. For a leg of a table made only of silver is to them what an iron ring on their finger would be: I therefore cautiously avoid a proud guest, who compares me with himself, and looks with scorn on my paltry estate. Consequently I do not possess a single ounce of ivory: neither my chess-board749 nor my men are of this material; nay, the very handles of my knives are of bone. Yet my viands never become rank in flavor by these, nor does my pullet cut up the worse on that account. Nor yet will you see a carver, to whom the whole carving-school750 ought to yield the palm, some pupil of the professor Trypherus, at whose house the hare, with the large sow’s udders,751 and the wild boar, and the roebuck,752 and pheasants,753 and the huge flamingo,754 and the wild goat755 of Gætulia, all forming a most splendid supper, though made of elm, are carved with the blunted knife, and resounds through the whole Suburra. My little fellow, who is a novice, and uneducated all his days, does not know how to take dexterously off a slice of roe, or the wing of a Guinea-hen;756 only versed in the mysteries of carving the fragments of a small collop.757
My slave, who is not gayly dressed, and only clad so as to protect him from cold, will hand you plebeian cups758 bought for a few pence. He is no Phrygian or Lycian, or one purchased from the slave-dealer759 and at great price. When you ask for any thing, ask in Latin. They have all the same style of dress; their hair close-cropped and straight, and only combed to-day on account of company. One is the son of a hardy shepherd, another of a neat-herd: he sighs after his mother, whom he has not seen for a long time, and pines for his hovel760 and his playmate kids. A lad of ingenuous face, and ingenuous modesty; such as those ought to be who are clothed in brilliant purple. He shall hand you wine761 made on those very hills from which he himself comes, and under whose summit he has played; for the country of the wine and the attendant is one and the same.
Gambling is disgraceful, and so is adultery, in men of moderate means. Yet when rich men commit all those abominations, they are called jovial, splendid fellows. Our banquet to-day will furnish far different amusements. The author of the Iliad762 shall be recited, and the verses of high-sounding Mars, that render the palm doubtful. What matter is it with what voice such noble verses are read?763 But now having put off all your cares, lay aside business, and allow yourself a pleasing respite, since you will have it in your power to be idle all day long. Let there be no mention of money out at interest. Nor if your wife is accustomed to go out at break of day and return at night, let her stir up your bile,764 though you hold your tongue. Divest yourself at once of all that annoys you, at my threshold. Banish all thoughts of home and servants, and all that is broken and wasted765 by them—especially forget ungrateful friends! Meantime, the spectacles of the Megalesian towel766 grace the Idæan solemnity: and, like one in a triumph, the prey of horses, the prætor, sits: and, if I may say so without offense to the immense and overgrown crowd, the circus to-day incloses the whole of Rome;767 and a din reaches my ears, from which I infer the success of the green faction.768 For should it not win, you would see this city in mourning and amazement, as when the consuls were conquered in the dust769 of Cannæ. Let young men be spectators of these, in whom shouting and bold betting, and sitting by a trim damsel is becoming. Let our skin,770 which is wrinkled with age, imbibe the vernal sun and avoid the toga’d crowd. Even now, though it wants a whole hour to the sixth, you may go to the bath with unblushing brow. You could not do this for five successive days; because even of such a life as this there would be great weariness. It is a more moderate use771 that enhances pleasures.
Footnotes
685 Atticus. Put for any man of wealth and rank. So Rutilus for the reverse. Cf. xiv., 18.
686 Lautus. Cf. Mart., xii., Ep. xlviii., 5.
687 Apicius (cf. iv., 23), having spent “millies sestertium,” upward of eight hundred thousand pounds, in luxury, destroyed himself through fear of want, though it appeared he had above eighty thousand pounds left.
688 Convictus. Properly, like convivium, “a dinner party.” Cf. i., 145, “It nova nec tristis per cunctas fabula cœnas.” Tac., Ann., xiv., 4; xiii., 14.
689 Stationes, “locus ubi otiosi in urbe degunt, et variis sermonibus tempus terunt.” Plin., Ep. i., 13; ii, 9.
690 Sufficiunt galeæ. Cf. vii., 32, “Defluit ætas et pelagi patiens et cassidis atque ligonis.”
691 Cogente. Cf. viii., 167, “Quanti sua funera vendunt Quid refert? vendunt nullo cogente Nerone. Nec dubitant celsi prætoris vendere ludis.”
692 Scripturus. Suet., Jul., 26. Gladiators had to write out the rules and words of command of their trainers, “dictata,” in order to learn them by heart. Lubinus gives us some of these: “attolle, declina, percute, urge, cæde.”
693 Macelli. So called from μάκελλον, “an inclosure,” because the markets, before dispersed in the Forum boarium, olitorium, piscarium, cupedinis, etc., were collected into one building; or, from one Romanius Macellus, whose house stood there, and was “propter latrocinia ejus publicè diruta.” Vid. Donat. ad Ter., Eunuch., ii., sc. ii., 24, where he gives a list of the cupediarii, “cetarii, lanii, coqui, fartores, piscatores;” or á mactando; as the French “Abattoir.” Cf. Sat., v., 95. Suet., Jul., 26. Plaut., Aul., II., viii., 3. Hor., i., Ep. xv., 31.
694 Perlucente ruinâ. Cf. x., 107, “impulsæ præceps immane ruinæ.” A metaphor from a building on the point of falling, with the daylight streaming through its cracks and fissures.
“Then with their prize to ruin’d walls repair,
And eat the dainty scrap on earthenware.” Badham.
695 Gustus. III., 93, “Quando omne peractum est, et jam defecit nostrum mare, dum gula sævit, retibus assiduis penitus scrutante macello proxima.” The idea is probably from Seneca. “Quidquid avium volitat, quidquid piscium natat, quidquid ferarum discurrit, nostris sepelitur ventribus.” Contr. V. pr. The Cœna consisted of three parts. 1. Gustus (Gustatio), or Promulsis. 2. Fercula: different courses. 3. Mensæ Secundæ. The gustus contained dishes designed more to excite than to satisfy hunger: vegetables, as the lactuca (Mart., xiii., 14), shell and other fish, with piquant sauces: mulsum (Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 24. Plin., i., Ep. 15). Cf. Bekker’s Gallus, p. 466, 493. Vide ad Sat. vi., 428.
696 Difficile, i. e., “non dubitant.” Vid. Schol. Not that they “have no difficulty” in raising the money, as Crepereius Pollio found. Cf. ix., 5.
697 Oppositis. “Ager oppositus est pignori ob decem minas.” Ter., Phorm., IV., iii., 56.
698 Fractâ. “Broken, that the features may not be recognized:” alluding probably to some well-known transaction of the time.
699 Quadringentis. Cf. Suet., Vit., 13, “Nec cuiquam minus singuli apparatus quadringentis millibus nummûm constiterunt.”
700 Fictile. III., 168, “Fictilibus cœnare pudet.”
701 Miscellanea. “A special diet-bread to advantage the combatants at once in breath and strength.” Holyday. It is said to have been a mixture of cheese and flour; probably a kind of macaroni. “Gladiatoria sagina.” Tac., Hist., ii., 88. Prop., IV., viii., 25.
702 Ferratû. XIV., 259, “Æratâ multus in arcâ fiscus.” X., 25. Hor., i., Sat. i., 67.
703 E cœlo. This precept has been assigned to Socrates, Chilo, Thales, Cleobulus, Bias, Pythagoras. It was inscribed in gold letters over the portico of the temple of Delphi. Hence, perhaps, the notion afterward, that it was derived immediately from heaven.
704 Conjugium. Cf. Æsch., Pr. V., 890. Ov., Her., ix., 32, “Si qua voles aptè nuberè nube pari.”
705 Sacri. “The undaunted spirit,” says Gifford, “which could thus designate the senate in those days of tyranny and suspicion, deserves at least to be pointed out.”
706 Thersites. Cf. vii., 115: x., 84; viii., 269. Juvenal is very fond of referring to this contest.
707 Traducebat. II., 159, “Illuc heu miseri traducimur.” VIII., 17, “Squalentes traducit avos.” It means literally “to expose to public derision,” a metaphor taken from leading malefactors through the forum with their name and offense suspended from their neck. Cf. Suet., Tit., 8. Mart., i., Ep. liv., 3, “Quæ tua traducit manifesto carmina furto.” VI., lxxvii., 5, “Rideris multoque magis traduceris afer Quam nudus medio si spatiere foro.” Grang. explains it “se risui exponebat: nec enim arma Achillis Ulyssem decebant.” Browne, “in which Ulysses cut a doubtful figure.” Others refer ancipitem to loricam; or place the stop after Ulysses, and take ancip. with causam. Gifford omits the passage altogether, as a tasteless interpolation of some Scholiast. Dryden turns it,
“When scarce Ulysses had a good pretense,
With all th’ advantage of his eloquence.”
Badham:
“Which, at the peril of a soldier’s fame,
The brave Ulysses scarcely dared to claim.”
Hodgson:
“Thersites never could that armor bear,
Which e’en Ulysses hesitates to wear.”
Britann. suggests that it may mean “his enemies doubted if he were really Achilles or no.” Facciol.: “in a doubtful frame of mind as to whether they would become him or not.”
708 Matho. Cf. i., 39; vii., 129. Mart., iv., Ep. 80, 81. For Curtius Montanus, see Tac., Ann., xvi., 48. Hist., iv., 42.
709 Mullum. Gifford always renders this by “sur-mullet” [“mugilis” being properly the mullet, of which Holyday gives a drawing, ad x., 317]; Mr. Metcalfe, by “the sea-barbel.” Cf. ad iv., 15.
“Nor doubt thy throat of mullets to amerce,
While scarce a gudgeon lingers in thy purse.” Badham.
710 Crumenâ. Properly “a bag or reticule to hang on the arm;” a satchel to be hung over a boy’s shoulder: then a purse suspended from the girdle, like the “gypciére” of the Middle Ages:
“If thy throat widen as thy pockets shrink.” Gifford.
711 Mersis.
“That deep abyss which every kind can hold,
Land, cattle, contract, houses, silver, gold.” Badham.
712 Novissimus. VI., 356, “Levibus athletis vasa novissima donat.”
713 Pollio. Probably the Crepereius Pollio mentioned Sat. ix., 6, who could get no one to lend him money, though “triplicem usuram præstare paratus.”
714 Senectus; exemplified in the story of Apicius above.
“Decrepit age far more than death they fear;
Nor thirst nor hunger haunt the silent bier.” Hodgson.
715 Qui vertere solum. Cic. pro Cæc., 34, “Qui volunt pœnam aliquam subterfugere aut calamitatem, solum vertunt, hoc est sedem ac locum mutant.” Browne conjectures the meaning to be, “They who have parted with their property by mortgage, and so changed its owner.”
716 Cedere foro is evidently explained, “to give one’s creditors the slip”—“to run away from justice”—“to abscond from ‘Change”—“to become bankrupt.”
717 Ferventi.
“Lest Rome should grow too warm, from Rome they run.” Dryden.
718 Circensibus. Cf. iii., 223, “Si potes avelli Circensibus.” vi., 87, “utque magis stupeas ludos Paridemque reliquit.” viii., 118, “Circo scenæque vacantem.” x., 80, “duas tantum res anxius optat Panem et Circenses.” All these passages show the infatuation of the Romans for these games. Cf. Plin., Ep. ix., 6. Tac., Hist., i., 4; Ann., i., 2.
719 Uno. It is not implied that they had the privilege of returning at the end of a year, by a sort of statute of limitations, but only that the loss of the games even for that short period was a greater affliction than the forfeiture of all other privileges.
720 Siliquas, from Hor. ii., Ep. i., 123, “Vivit siliquis et pane secundo.”
721 Pultes. A mixture of coarse meal and water, seasoned with salt and cheese; sometimes with an egg or honey added. It was long the food of the primitive Romans, according to Pliny, xviii., 8, seq. It probably resembled the macaroni, or “polenta,” of the poor Italians of the present day. Cf. Pers., iii., 55, “Juventus siliquis et grandi pasta polentâ.”
722 Evandrum. The allusion is to Virg., Æn., viii., 100, seq.; 228, 359, seq.
“Come; and while fancy brings past times to view,
I’ll think myself the king—the hero, you!” Gifford.
723 Alter aquis. Æneas, drowned in the Numicius. Hercules, burned on Mount Œta.
724 Fercula. Cf. ad 14.
725 Macellis. Virg., Georg., iv., 133, “Dapibus mensas onerabat inemptis.” Cf. Hor., ii., Sat. ii., 150, seq. The next 16 lines are imitated from Mart., x., Ep. 48. Gifford says, “Martial has imitated this bill of fare in Lib. x., 48.” But his 10th Book was written A.D. 99; and from line 203, it is evident this Satire was written in Juvenal’s old age, and therefore, in all probability, twenty years later.
726 Asparagi, called “corruda,” Cato, de R. R., 6. The wild asparagus is still very common on the Italian hills. Cf. Mart., Ep. xiii., 21, “Inculti asparagi.” See Sir William Hooker’s note on Badham’s version.
727 Signia, now “Segni” in Latium. Cf. Plin., xv., 15.—Syrium. The “Bergamot” pears are said to have been imported from Syria. Cf. Mart., v., Ep. lxxviii., 13, “Et nomen pyra quæ ferunt Syrorum.” Virg., Georg., ii., 88, “Crustumiis Syriisque pyris.” Columella (lib. v., c. 10) calls them “Tarentina,” because brought from Syria to Tarentum. Others say they are the same as the Falernian.
728 Picenis. Hor., ii., Sat. iv., 70, “Picenis cedunt pomis Tiburtia succo, Nam facie præstant.” And iii., 272, “Picenis excerpens semina pomis.” These apples were to be also from his Tiburtine farm: the banks of the Anio being famous for its orchards. Hor., i., Od. vii., 14, “Præceps Anio ac Tiburni lucus et uda mobilibus pomaria vivis.” Propert., IV., vii., 81, “Pomosis Anio quà spumifer incubat arvis.” Apples formed a very prominent part of the mensæ secundæ: hence the proverb, “Ab ovo usque ad mala.” Cf. Mart., x., 48, fin., “Saturis mitia poma dabo.” Cf. Sat. v., 150, seq., where apples “qualia perpetuus Phæacum Autumnus habebat” form the conclusion of Virro’s dinner. Cf. Mart., iii., Ep. 50.
729 Curius was found by the Samnite embassadors preparing his dish of turnips over the fire with his own hands. Cic., de Sen., xvi.
“Senates more rich than Rome’s first senates were,
In days of yore desired no better fare.” Badham.
730 Vulvâ. “Nul vulvâ pulchrius amplâ.” Hor., i., Ep. xv., 41. For a description of this loathsome dainty, vid. Plin., xi., 37, 84. Cf. Mart., Ep. xiii., 56.
731 Maturius.
“For feasts like these would quit the mountain’s soil,
And snatch an hour from customary toil.” Badham.
732 Fabios. Q. Fabius Maximus Rullianus, censor A.U.C. 449, obliged his colleague, P. Decius, to allow him to administer his office with all its pristine severity.
733 Fabricios. Cf. ad ix., 142.
734 Testudo. Cf. vi., 80, “Testudineo conopeo;” xiv., 308, “ebore et lata testudine.”
“Which future times were destined to employ,
To build rare couches for the sons of Troy.” Badham.
735 Vile coronati. Henninius suggests vite. The ass, by browsing on the vine, and thereby rendering it more luxuriant, is said to have first given men the idea of pruning the tendrils. Cf. Paus., ii., 38. Hyg., F., 274. The ass is always found, too, in connection with Silenus.
736 Nescius.
“Till at the soldier’s foot her treasures lay,
Who knew not half the riches of his prey.” Hodgson.
737 Phaleris: xvi., 60. Florus says Phaleræ were introduced from Etruria together with curule chairs, trabeæ, prætextæ, etc. Vid. Liv., xxxix., 31. Plin., vii., 28, 9, says Siccius Dentatus had 25 phaleræ and 83 torques. Sil., xv., 254. Cf. Virg., Æn., ix., 359. Suet., Aug., 25; Ner., 33.
738 Venientis. Supposed to be a representation of Mars hovering in the air, and just about to alight by the sleeping Rhea Sylvia. The god is armed, because the conventional manner of representing him was by the distinction of his “framea” and “clypeus.” See Addison’s note in Gifford.
739 In armis.
“Then all their wealth was on their armor spent,
And war engross’d the pride of ornament.” Hodgson.
740 Lividulus.
“Yet justly worth your envy, were your breast
But with one spark of noble spleen possess’d.” Gifford.
741 Præsentior. Cf. iii., 18, “Quanto præsentius esset Numen aquæ.” Virg., Ec., i., 42, “Nec tam præsentes alibi cognoscere Divos.” Georg., i., 10, “Præsentia Numina Fauni.” Hor., iii., Od. v., 2, “Præsens Divus habebitur Augustus.”
742 Vox. “M. Cædicius de plebe nunciavit tribunis, se in Novâ Viâ, ubi nunc sacellum est, suprà sedem Vestæ vocem noctis silentio audîsse clariorem humanâ quæ magistratibus dici juberet ‘Gallos adventare.’” “Invisitato atque inaudito hoste ab oceano terrarumque ultimis oris bellum ciente.” Liv., v., 32, 3, 7, 50. Cic., de Div., ii., “At paullo post audita vox est monentis ut providerent ne a Gallis Roma caperetur: ex eo Aio loquenti aram in novâ viâ consecratam.” Cf. Plut. in Vit. Camill.
743 Fictilis. Cf. Sen., Ep. 31, “Cogita illos quum propitii essent fictiles fuisse.”
744 Arbore. Cf. Mart., xiv., Ep. xc., “Non sum crispa quidem nec sylvæ filia Mauræ, sed nôrunt lautas et mea ligna dapes.” Cf. Sat. i., 75, 137; iv., 132. The extravagance of the Romans on their tables is almost incredible. Pliny says that Cicero himself, who accuses Verres of stealing a Citrea mensa from Diodorus (in Verr., iv., 17), gave a million of sesterces for one which was in existence in his time. A “Senatoris Census” was a price given. These tables were not provided with several feet, but rested on an ivory column (sometimes carved into the figure of animals), hence called monopodia. They were called “Orbes,” not from being round, but because they were massive plates of wood cut off the stem in its whole diameter. The wood of the citrus was most preferred. This is not the citron-tree, which never attains to this bulk, but a tree found in Mauritania, called the thyæ cypressides. Plin., xiii., 16. Those cut near the root were most valued from the wood being variegated: hence “Tigrinæ, pantherinæ, pavonum caudæ oculos imitantes.” The mensæ were formerly square, but were afterward round to suit the new fashion of the Sigma couch. The Romans also understood the art of veneering tables and other furniture with the citrus wood and tortoise-shell.
745 Porta Syenes. Syene, now “Assouan,” is situated near the rapids, just on the confines of Ethiopia. It was a station for a Roman garrison, and the place to which Juvenal is said to have been banished. Some think the island Elephantine is here meant. Cf. ad x., 150, “aliosque Elephantos.”
746 Mauro. Ab ἀμαυρός, vel μαυρός, “obscurus.” Cf. Lucan., iv., 678, “Concolor Indo Maurus.”
747 Nabathæo. The Nabathæi, in Arabia Petræa, took their name from “Nebaioth, first-born of Ishmael,” Gen., xxv., 13. Elephants are said to shed their tusks every two years.
748 Orexis. VI., 428. Vires. Henninius’ suggestion. Cf. ad l. 14.
749 Tessellæ. Holyday explains this by “chess-board,” from the resemblance of the squares to the tesselated pavements. But it is a die, properly; of which shape the separate tesseræ were. Mart., xiv., 17, “Hic mihi bis seno numeratur tessera puncto: Calculus hic gemino discolor hoste perit.” Cf. Ep. 14. Cicero considers this game to be one of the legitimate amusements of old age. “Nobis senibus, ex lusionibus multis, talos relinquant et tesseras,” de Sen., xvi. “Old Mucius Scævola, the lawyer, was a great proficient at it. It was called Ludus duodecim scriptorum, from the lines dividing the alveolus. On these the two armies, white and black, each consisting of fifteen men, or calculi, were placed; and alternately moved, according to the chances of the dice, tesseræ.” Vid. Gibbon, chap. xxxi.
750 Pergula. Literally “the stall outside a shop where articles are displayed for sale.” Here used for the teachers of the art of carving who exhibited at these stalls. Suet., Aug., 94, speaks of a “pergula Mathematici.” Pergula, “à perga, quia extrà parietem pergit.” Facc.
751 Sumine. Cf. Mart., Ep. xiii., 44, “vivo lacte papilla tumet.”
752 Pygargus. “Capræ sylvestris genus, ab albis clunium pilis.” Facc. Cf. Plin., viii., 53, 79, “Damæ et pygargi et Strepsicerotes.” The “spring-bok” of the Cape.
753 Scythicæ. The pheasant (ὄρνις φασιανὸς or φασιανικός, Arist., Av., 68) takes its name from the Phasis, a river in Colchis, on the confines of Scythia, at the mouth of which these birds congregate in large flocks. Vid. Athen., ix., 37, seq.
754 Phœnicopterus. Arist., Av., 273. Cf. Mart., xiii., 71, “Dat mihi penna rubens nomen.” Cf. iii., Ep. lviii., 14. Suetonius mentions “linguas phœnicopterûm” among the delicacies of the “Cœna adventicia” given by his brother to Vitellius, in Vit., c. 13.
755 Capreæ. Cf. Mart., Ep. xiii., 99.
756 Afra avis. Hor., Epod., ii., 53, “Non Afra avis descendat in ventrem meum non attagen Ionicus.” The μελεαγρίς of the Greeks. Varro, R. R., III., ix., 18.
757 Offelæ, the diminutive of Offa. “A cutlet or chop,” generally applied to the coarser kind of meat. Cf. Mart., xii., 48, “Me meus ad subitas invitet amicus ofellas: Hæc mihi quam possum reddere cœna placet.” Some read furtis for frustis: which imputation against the character of the little slave Gifford indignantly rejects.
758 Plebeios calices, cf. ad vi., 155; v., 46, made of glass, which was now very common at Rome. Vid. Mart., Ep. xii., 74; xiv., 94, seq., and especially the Epigram on Mamurra, ix., 60. Strabo speaks of them as sold commonly in Rome in his own time for a χαλκοῦς each (not quite a farthing), lib. xvi., p. 368, T. Cf. Bekker’s Gallus, p. 303.
759 Mango, cf. Pers., vi., 76, seq., from manu ago, because they made up their goods for sale, or from μάγγανον, “a trick.” Cf. Aristoph., Plut., 310. Bekker’s Gallus, the Excursus on “the Slaves.”
760 Casulam. Cf. ix., 59, “Rusticus infans, cum matre et casulis et conlusore catello.”
“Sighs for his little cottage, and would fain
Meet his old playfellows the goats again.” Gifford.
761 Vina. Cf. vii., 96, “Vinum Tiberi devectum.” Mart., x., 48, 19, “De Nomentana vinum sine fæce lagenâ.”
762 Iliados.
“The tale of Ilium, or that rival lay
Which holds in deep suspense the dubious bay.” Bad.
763 Legantur. Cf. Corn. Nep., vit. Attici, “Nemo in convivio ejus aliud acroama audivit quam Anagnosten: quod nos quidem jucundissimum arbitramur. Neque unquam sine aliquâ lectione apud eum cœnatum est, ut non minus animo quam ventre convivæ delectarentur,” c. xvi. Cf. Mart., iii., Ep. 50, who complains of Ligurinus inviting him to have his own productions read to him.
764 Bilem.
“Let no dire images to-day be brought
To wake the hell of matrimonial thought.” Hodgson.
765 Perit. Cf. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 121, “Detrimenta, fugas servorum, incendia ridet.”
766 Mappæ. Holyday gives the following account of the origin of this custom. “Nero on a time, sitting alone at dinner, when the shows were eagerly expected, caused his towel with which he had wiped his hands to be presently cast out at the window, for a sign of his speedy coming. Whereupon it was in after times the usual sign at the beginning of these shows.” For the mappa see Bekker’s Gallus, p. 476.—Præda, because “ruined by the expense;” or Prædo, from his “unjust decisions;” or Perda, from the “number of horses damaged.”
767 Totam Romam. See Gibbon, chap. xxxi., for the eagerness with which all ranks flocked to these games.
768 Viridis panni. Cf. ad vi., 590. Plin., Ep. ix., 6, “Si aut velocitate equorum, aut hominum arte traherentur, esset ratio nonnulla. Nunc favent panno: pannum amant,” et seq. Mart., x., Ep. xlviii., 23, “De Prasino conviva meus, venetoque loquatur.” XIV., 131, “Si veneto Prasinove faves quid coccina sumis?”
769 Pulvere is not without its force. Hannibal is said to have plowed up the land near Cannæ, that the wind which daily rose and blew in that direction might carry the dust into the eyes of the Romans. “Ventus (Vulturnum incolæ regionis vocant) adversus Romanis coortus, multo pulvere in ipsa ora volvendo, prospectum ademit.” Liv., xxii., 46 and 43. Cf. Sat, ii., 155; x., 165.
770 Cuticula. Pers., iv., 18, “Assiduo curata cuticula sole.” 33, “Et figas in cute solem.” V., 179, “Aprici meminisse senes.” Mart., x., Ep. xii., 7, “Totos avidâ cute combibe soles.” I., Ep. 78, “Sole utitur Charinus.” Plin., Ep. iii., 1, “Ubi hora balinei nuntiata est (cf. ad Sat. x., 216), est autem hieme nona, æstate octava, in sole, si caret vento, ambulat nudus.” Cicero mentions “apricatio” as one of the solaces of old age. De Sen., c. xvi.
“While we, my friend, whose skin grows old and dry,
Court the warm sunbeam of an April sky.” Badham.
771 Rarior usus.
“Our very sports by repetition tire,
But rare delight breeds ever new desire.” Hodgson.