75 A Capreis." "Bene habet; nil plus interrogo." Sed quid 74. si Nurtia Tusco Favisset,] Sejanus was an Etrurian by descent, and born at Vulsinii. Nurtia was an Etruscan goddess especially worshipped at Vulsinii (Livy vii. 3). 75. si oppressa foret secura] "If the old emperor had been caught asleep" (careless). The way of speaking, senectus Principis for senex Princeps,' has been noticed before (ix. 65, n.). But the old emperor was wide awake to the end of his life. Augustus (Zeßaoròg) was a title of all the emperors. 77. ex quo suffragia nulli] "From the time they left off selling votes;" that is since the elections were transferred from the Comitia to the Senate. See above, viii. 212, n. The subject of 'effudit curas' is 'Turba Remi' (73). It means they have cast away all care about public affairs: all they now care for is their belly and the Circus. See note on S. iii. 223: "Si potes avelli Circensibus." Panem' is commonly referred to the public distribution of corn 80 mentioned in vii. 174, and Lipsius (Elect. i. 8) takes the word literally, for bread was substituted for corn some time during the empire, he thinks by Trajan. I think that Juvenal did not mean to limit his word thus. The remark applied to all, whether they were of the sort who wanted the public dole or not. Most MSS. have Pan. The true word is certainly panem,' whatever contraction may have been used in writing it. Ceres was worshipped as Panis. 81. Perituros audio multos.] One says he hears many are to share Sejanus' fate, and another answers there is no doubt of it: there is a great furnace ready (referring to v. 61). A great many friends of Sejanus, including his son and daughter, a young girl, were put to death soon after him (Dion Cass. 58. 14, 15). 83. ad Martis fuit obvius aram.] The altar of Mars here alluded to was in the Campus Martius (Livy xxxv. 10). There is a Brutidius Niger whom Tacitus (Ann. iii. 66) mentions as aedile in A.D. 22, and as one of the accusers of Silanus. He may be the person the speaker refers to as look ing a little pale. Tacitus speaks of him as an able but ambitious man. "Brutidium artibus honestis copiosum, et si rectum iter pergeret ad clarissima quaeque iturum, festinatio exstimulabat, dum aequales, dein superiores, postremo suasmet ipse spes, anteire parat; quod multos etiam bonos pessum dedit, qui, spretis quae tarda cum securitate praematura vel cum exitio, properant." He wrote some historical work from which Seneca quotes two passages on the death of Cicero (Suasor. vii.). Madvig (Opusc. i. 44), whom Mr. Mayor follows, says he was a declamator, and that as the contest of Ajax and Ulysses was a theme often taken for declamation, he had taken Quam timeo victus ne poenas exigat Ajax, it in his time; and his friend, as the speaker in this passage ironically calls himself, with derision, says he is afraid Ajax is going to punish him for his frigid declamatiuncula,' and for not taking his part better. Madvig says the humorous description of the trial in vii. 115 sq. is taken from the same source. This is mere invention. It does not appear that Niger was a declaimer. The passages Seneca quotes are historical, not declamatory, and there is no other authority on the subject. Under the character of Ajax, enraged with the leaders and the army for not taking his part against Ulysses, the man means Tiberius, who in his letter to the Senate expressed great alarm, and begged them to send one of the consuls with a guard to conduct him, a poor solitary old man, to their presence. Suetonius adds, "Sic quoque diffidens tumultumque metuens Drusum nepotem quem vinculis adhuc Romae continebat solvi, si res posceret, ducemque constitui praecepe(c. 65). These apprehensions, whether real or pretended, the Senate might well fear would be visited on them, and they hastened to remove the cause of them, and every body connected with him, with an alacrity which was to make amends for their implied remissness. This was what Niger had to fear, and is clearly Juvenal's meaning. rat 87. Sed videant servi,] He says our slaves must see us do it, that none of them may be able to say we did not, and give information under which we shall be dragged with a rope about our necks to the praetor. As to in jus rapere,' 'trahere,' 'vocare,' see notes on Hor. S. i. 9. 74. 76. In the reign of Tiberius and afterwards the informa. tion of slaves against their masters, which was illegal, was freely received and obtained by torture. ἐβασανίζοντο δὲ οὐχὶ οἰκέται μόνον κατὰ τῶν ἰδίων δεσποτῶν ἀλλὰ καὶ XεÚÐεрoι Kai Toλira (Dion Cass. 57. 19). Nerva put a stop to the practice and checked the informers generally (ib. 68. 1). The MSS. vary between 'astricta' and 'obstricta.' 'Obstrictus' is used by Plautus in the same connexion (Amphitr. iii. 2. 72): "Quum ego Amphitruonem collo hinc obstricto traham." Heinrich takes astricta,' quoting Tac. Ann. iv. 70: "quantum obducta veste et adstrictis faucibus niti poterat, clamitans." The case is not the same. was the common way of taking a resisting culprit before the magistrate to put a rope round his neck. It 88. Hi sermones] What precedes, not what follows as Britannicus says. What follows is addressed to the reader, who is asked if he would like to have all the power and honour that Sejanus had, to give away the high curule offices to one, military commands to another, and to be the guar. dian of a tyrant shut up in his solitude with a pack of astrologers. Moderate honours any one may wish for, but what of those the greatness of which is the measure of their dangers? The curule officers, or those entitled to the use of the 'sella curulis,' were the consuls, censors, praetors, and curule aediles. Summas' does not mean the consulship in particular, as Ruperti says: it applies to all. As to exercitibus praeponere' see note on S. vii. 88: "Ille et militiae multis largitur honorem." Sejanus is called Tiberius' tutor, whose business it was to manage the affairs of his ward (pupillus). A good many MSS. and old editors have 'sellas' for summas,' and Achaintre has it. 'Summas' is certainly right, and the other only a gloss. There is a reading haberi tantundem,' which Heinsius (on Ovid, Trist. i. 8. 44) approves, and Ruperti as usual says non male.' But, as Heinrich says, it is not Latin. 93. angusta Caprearum] P. and some other ΜSS., and the old editions, followed by Jahn, have 'augusta,' which Heinrich says Cum grege Chaldaeo? Vis certe pila, cohortes, is an error of the copyists. No doubt it is. 94. Cum grege Chaldaeo?] Tiberius towards the end of his life was much given to the astrologers, a pestilent race of impostors whom he had before punished and forbidden the city (vi. 553). Suetonius says of him, "circa deos ac religiones negligentior, quippe addictus mathematicae plenusque persuasionis cuncta fato agi" (c. 69). Superstition and vice grew upon him together; a common case. Vis certe pila, cohortes,] He says, no doubt you like promotion, and why should you not? Men who have no mind to kill their fellows like to have the power to do so. He takes different grades of military rank to illustrate his meaning, which is that the desire for promotion is universal and natural, and yet when the highest rank is gained what does it lead to? The steps he takes are 'primipilus centurio,' 'praefectus cohorti,' eques egregius,' and 'praefectus praetorio.' As late as the time of Polybius the infantry 6 6 of a Roman legion were formed into three bodies, 'hastati,' 'principes,' and 'triarii' or pilani,' as they were sometimes called, because they carried a pilum or short javelin. Each of these divisions was subdivided into manipuli,' and the centurion of the first manipulus' of the 'triarii,' who were veteran troops, was called 'primipilus.' See xiv. 197: "Ut locupletem aquilam tibi sexagesimus annus Afferat." Pila' here stands for primipili' (see Forcellini). In and after the time of Caesar the legion was divided into ten cohorts, each of which consisted of three manipuli.' The commander of a cohort was 'praefectus.' Equites egregii' are explained by Lipsius on Tac. xi. 4. The distinction, he says, was confined under the republic to such equites' as were remarkable for their birth, wealth, or character. But Augustus formed a separate class of those who had the fortune of a senator, or were entitled by their position to hope for the Senate, and these he allowed to wear the latus clavus or broad stripe on the tunic (which was the mark of senatorial rank). Tacitus calls them illustres' (Ann. ii. 59; xi. 4), and “equites Romani dignitate senatoria" (xvi. 17); and he opposes to them "modici equites Romani” (i. 73). Cicero speaks in a general way of " equites Romani non obscuri neque ignoti, sed honesti et illustres (In Verr. ii. 3. 24). By 'domestica castra' he means the command of the praetoria cohors' (see S. i. 58, n.). These troops were quartered in various parts of the city till Sejanus had command of them, when they were collected and encamped in permanent quarters near the Agger of Servius Tullius. See note on S. v. 153. 97. Sed quae praeclara] “But what are great distinctions and high prosperity if we hold them only on the understanding that the measure of our sufferings is proportioned to our success?" The reading of most MSS. and some of the best is tantum;' P. has 'tanti,' which nearly all the editors have adopted, except Heinrich. I prefer 'tantum.' 100. An Fidenarum Gabiorumque] These Et de mensura jus dicere, vasa minora 'municipia' have been associated before, vi. 56. See also note on iii. 19. 2: "Simplicibus Gabiis." Ulubrae Horace mentions as a small unimportant town (Epp. i. 11. 30): "Quod petis hic est, Est Ulubris, animus si te non deficit aequus." It was in Latium. 'Potestas' is the modern 'podestà.' Vacuis is empty,' unfrequented,' as in S. iii. 2: "Laudo tamen vacuis quod sedem figere Cumis." As to the municipal aediles see S. iii. 179. They were police magistrates, and looked after the market. On great occasions, he says, a white tunic was a dress good enough for them; here he speaks of them in rags. Persius refers to the country aediles just in the same way (i. 129, 130): "Sese aliquem credens, Italo quod honore supinus Fregerit heminas Arreti aedilis iniquas." 103. Ergo quid optandum] 'Ergo' carries us back to v. 54, where the general assertion is made of which Sejanus was a notable illustration. Ignorasse fateris' implies that the answer is that which good sense suggests. 107. impulsae praeceps immane ruinae.] 'Praeceps' is used absolutely for a precipitous height often enough (see S. i. 149: "Omne in praecipiti vitium stetit"). There is no instance of an adjective agreeing with it earlier than Juvenal. Ruinae' is the genitive case (not dative, as Ruperti says). The English is "he went on building story after story of an exceeding high tower, only that his fall might be from a greater height and the tumbling of the ruin, beaten by the storm (or struck by the bolt or lightning), should be great." Impulsae' is added to 105 110 115 ruinae,' as if it were 'turris,' and it means the wreck of a tower beaten by the storm. Forcellini quotes from Statius (Silv. i. 4. 51), "subiti praeceps juvenile pericli (where 'juvenile' seems to be equivalent to immane' here); and Apuleius (Metam. 4), "per altissimum praeceps in vallem proximam asinum praecipitant." Horace has "impulsa cupressus Euro" (C. iv. 6. 10), and "celsae graviore casu Decidunt turres (C. ii. 10. 10, where other examples of this commonplace are given). 108. Quid Crassos, quid Pompeios] He here joins together the three persons who are improperly called a triumvirate, M. Licinius Crassus, Cn. Pompeius Magnus, and C. Julius Caesar. The first was killed in war with the Parthians, B C. 55, when he was consul with Pompeius, who was killed while going to land on the coast of Egypt after the battle of Pharsalia (B.c. 48). Caesar is described as the man who tamed the Romans and brought them under his lash. The plural Crassos and Pompeios does not imply more than one of each. Ruperti includes the sons of each, which weakens the illustration. 110. Summus nempe locus] This is the subject of evertit.' "Of course it was the elevation they had sought by every art to win, and their ambitious prayers heard too well by the unkind gods." Generum Cereris' is Pluto, the husband of Proserpina. 'Reges' and tyranni' explain one another. Ruperti says 'reges' are the rich. Sicca morte' is an unbloody death. 6 115. totis Quinquatribus optat,] He goes on to illustrate what he said in v. 9 about eloquence. The Quinquatria was a festi Quisquis adhuc uno partam colit asse Minervam, val of Minerva, held for six days in March. Boys had holidays during this festival and offered their devotions to the goddess of learning. See note on Horace, Epp. ii. 2. 197: Ac potius puer ut festis Quinquatribus olim Exiguo gratoque fruaris tempore raptim." The boy is said to worship Minerva with an as because it was customary to present that sum to the teacher at the Quinquatria. This payment was called 'Minerval.' See note on Hor. S. i. 6. 75: "Ibant octonis referentes Idibus aera." In 116, P. has parcam,' which Jahn has adopted. It is an obvious correction for those who are fond of correcting, and Ruperti gives Heinsius credit for ingenuity in discovering it. There is no ingenuity in going wrong, and Ruperti does not think him right, nor do I. 117. custos angustae vernula capsae.] A little slave carrying his little box of books and paper and pens went with the boy to school. He was called 'capsarius.' The 'capsa' was a round box suited for holding rolled books (see Dict. Ant.). 118. uterque perit orator;] As to 'perit' see S. vi. 559, n. 120. Ingenio manus est et cervix caesa;] This refers to the death of Cicero, B.C. 43. He was proscribed by the triumvirs, overtaken as he was trying to escape by soldiers, who cut off his head and hands and carried them to M. Antonius, who ordered them to be nailed to the rostra. If he had been a humble 'causidicus' this would not have happened, Juvenal says. Florus (iv. 6. 5) describes the feelings of the people on this occasion: "Romae capita caesorum proponere in rostris jam usitatum erat: verum sic quoque civitas lacrimas tenere non potuit quum recisum Ciceronis caput in illis suis rostris videretur, nec aliter ad videndum eum quam solebat ad audiendum concurreretur." 'Causidicus' is opposed to 120 125. orator,' which and 'patronus' are the proper titles for an advocate of the higher order (see S. i. 32, n.). Ingenio' is put for the man, as officia' above (v. 45). Cicero reached the highest point of his popularity and delivered his last ten speeches against M. Antonius the year he died. 122. O fortunatam] This verse occurred probably in a poem, in three books, that Cicero wrote on his own times (Ad Fam. i. 9), or else in that on his consulship, from which there is a long extract in his book De Divinatione (i. 11). This verse is quoted by Quintilian (Inst. ix. 4; xi. 1). Juvenal says, if he had never said a better thing than that he might have snapped his fingers at Antonius, quoting his own words (Phil. ii. 46): "Contempsi Catilinae gladios, non pertimescam tuos." He adds, he would rather have been the author of his ridiculous poetry than of that Philippic which he calls divine, famous, and so forth. This speech was written in September, B.C. 44, as a rejoinder to Antonius' reply to the first Philippic. Cicero did not attend the meeting of the Senate at which Antonius spoke, and though this speech professes to be an extemporaneous reply, it in fact never was delivered, but written in the country, nor did Cicero venture to publish it immediately. Volveris' means you are read;' 'a prima proxima' is a way of expressing the second. 126. illum Exitus eripuit,] After the death of Alexander Demosthenes used all his eloquence to produce a general rising of the Greek states against Antipater, the successor to the Macedonian division of Alexander's kingdom, and succeeded. But the resistance of the Greeks was not effectual, and rather than fall into the hands of Antipater Demosthenes poisoned himself, B.C. 322. |