Chapter XVII: Prologue (3)

Or had he drawn from the fountains of inspired wisdom, that he
had had in his eye a passage of still more solemn import: "A
sharp judgment shall be to them that be in high places. For mercy
will soon pardon the meanest; but mighty men shall be mightily
tormented." Wisdom, vi., 5. Either of these passages might fairly
serve as the argument of this Satire. What, however, Persius
really took as his model is the First Alcibiades of Plato, and
the imitation of it is nearly as close as is that of the Second
Alcibiades in the Second Satire. And the subject of his criticism
is no less a personage than Nero himself. The close analogy between
Nero and Alcibiades will be further alluded to in the notes. We
must remember that Nero was but seventeen years old when he was
called to take the reins of government, and was but three years
younger than Persius himself. The Satire was probably written
before Nero had entirely thrown off the mask; at all events, before
he had given the full evidence which he afterward did of the savage
ferocity and gross licentiousness of his true nature. There was
enough indeed for the stern Satirist to censure; but still a spark
of something noble remaining, to kindle the hope that the reproof
might work improvement. In his First Satire he had ridiculed his
pretensions to the name of Poet; in this he exposes his inability
as a Politician. The Satire naturally and readily divides itself
into three parts. In the first he ridicules the misplaced ambition
of those who covet exalted station, and aspire to take the lead in
state affairs, without possessing those qualifications of talent,
education, and experience, which alone could fit them to take the
helm of government; and who hold that the adventitious privileges
of high birth and ancient lineage can countervail the enervating
effects of luxurious indolence and vicious self-indulgence. The
second division of the subject turns on the much-neglected duty of
self-examination; and enforces the duty of uprightness and purity
of conduct from the consideration, that while it is hopeless in
all to escape the keen scrutiny that all men exercise in their
neighbor's failings, while they are at the same time utterly
blind to their own defects, yet that men of high rank and station
must necessarily provoke the more searching criticism, in exact
proportion to the elevation of their position. He points out also
the policy of checking all tendency to satirize the weakness of
others, to which Nero was greatly prone, and in fact had already
aspired to the dignity of a writer of Satire; as such sarcasm only
draws down severer recrimination on ourselves. In the third part
he reverts to the original subject; and urges upon the profligate
nobles of the day the duty of rigid self-scrutiny, by reminding
them of the true character of that worthless rabble, on whose
sordid judgment and mercenary applause they ground their claims to
approbation. This love of the "aura popularis" was Nero's besetting
vice; and none could doubt for whom the advice was meant. Yet
the allusions to Nero throughout the Satire, transparent as they
must have been to his contemporaries, are so dexterously covered
that Persius might easily have secured himself from all charge
of personally attacking the emperor under the plea that his sole
object was a declamatory exercise in imitation of the Dialogue cf
Plato.

"Dost thou wield the affairs of the state?"[1386]--(Imagine the bearded[1387] master, whom the fell draught of hemlock[1388] took off, to be saying this:)--Relying on what? Speak, thou ward[1389] of great Pericles. Has talent, forsooth, and precocious knowledge of the world, come before thy beard? Knowest thou what must be spoken, and what kept back? And, therefore, when the populace is boiling with excited passion, does your spirit move you to impose silence on the crowd by the majesty of your hand?[1390] and what will you say then? "I think, Quirites, this is not just! That is bad! This is the properer course?" For you know how to weigh the justice of the case in the double scale of the doubtful balance. You can discern the straight line when it lies between curves,[1391] or when the rule misleads by its distorted foot; and you are competent to affix the Theta[1392] of condemnation to a defect.

Why do you not then (adorned in vain with outer skin[1393]) cease to display your tail[1394] before the day to the fawning rabble, more fit to swallow down undiluted Anticyras?[1395]

What is your chief good? to have lived always on rich dishes; and a skin made delicate by constant basking in the sun?[1396] Stay: this old woman would scarce give a different answer--"Go now! I am son of Dinomache!"[1397] Puff yourself up!--"I am beautiful." Granted! Still Baucis, though in tatters, has no worse philosophy, when she has cried her herbs[1398] to good purpose to some slovenly slave.

How is it that not a man tries to descend into himself? Not a man! But our gaze is fixed on the wallet[1399] on the back in front of us! You may ask, "Do you know Vectidius' farms!" Whose? The rich fellow that cultivates more land at Cures than a kite[1400] can fly over! Him do you mean? Him, born under the wrath of Heaven, and an inauspicious Genius, who whenever he fixes his yoke at the beaten cross ways,[1401] fearing to scrape off the clay incrusted on the diminutive vessel, groans out, "May this be well!" and munching an onion in its hull, with some salt, and a dish of frumety (his slaves applauding the while), sups up the mothery dregs of vapid vinegar.

But if, well essenced, you lounge away your time and bask in the sun, there stands by you one, unkenned, to touch you with his elbow, and spit out his bitter detestation on your morals--on _you_, who by vile arts make your body delicate! While you comb the perfumed hair[1402] on your cheeks, why are you closely shorn elsewhere? when, though five wrestlers pluck out the weeds, the rank fern will yield to no amount of toil.

"We strike;[1403] and in our turn expose our limbs to the arrows. It is thus we live. Thus we know it to be. You have a secret wound, though the baldric hides it with its broad gold. As you please! Impose upon your own powers; deceive _them_ if you can!"

"While the whole neighborhood pronounces me to be super-excellent, shall I not credit[1404] them?"

If you grow pale, vile wretch, at the sight of money; if you execute all that suggests itself to your lust; if you cautiously lash the forum with many a stroke,[1405] in vain you present to the rabble your thirsty[1406] ears. Cast off from you that which you are not. Let the cobbler[1407] bear off his presents. Dwell with yourself,[1408] and you will know how short your household stuff is.

FOOTNOTES:

[1386] _Rem populi tractas?_ from the Greek περὶ τῶν τοῦ δήμου πραγμάτων βουλεύεσθαι. The imitations of the First Alcibiades are very close throughout the Satire. Even in our own day, in looking back upon ancient history, it would be difficult to find two persons so nearly counterparts of each other as Nero and Alcibiades; not only in their personal character but in the adventitious circumstances of their life. Both came into public life at a very early age. Nero was emperor before he was seventeen years old, and Alcibiades was barely twenty at the siege of Potidæa. Seneca was to Nero what Socrates was to Alcibiades. Both derived their claims to pre-eminence from the _mother's_ side: Nero through Agrippina, from the Julian gens; Alcibiades through Dinomache, from the Alemæonidæ. The public influence of both extended through nearly the same period, thirteen years. Both were notorious for the same vices: love of self-indulgence, ambition of pre-eminence, personal vanity, lawless insolence toward others, lavish expenditure, and utter disregard of all principle. It would be very easy to carry out the parallel into greater detail. Comp. Suet., Nero, c. 26, with Grote's Greece, vol. vii., ch. 55.

[1387] _Barbatum._ Cf. Juv., xiv., 12, "Barbatos licet admoveas mille inde magistros." Cic., Fin., iv., "Barba sylvosa et pulcrè alita inter hominis eruditi insignia recensetur." Hor., ii., Sat. iii., 34, "Tempore quo me solatus jussit sapientem pascere barbam."

[1388] _Cicutæ._ Cf. ad Juv., vii, 206.

[1389] _Pupille._ Alcibiades was left an orphan at the age of five years, his father, Clinias, having been killed at the battle of Coronea; when he was placed with his younger brother Clinias, under the guardianship of Pericles and his brother Ariphron, to whom his ungovernable passions, even in his boyhood, were a source of great grief. Of this connection Alcibiades was very proud. Cf. Plat., Alc., c. 1. Nero lost his father when scarcely three years old; and at the age of eleven, he was adopted by Claudius and placed under the care of Annæus Seneca. It is curious that the first public act of both was an act of liberality to the people. Compare the account of Nero's proposing the Congiarium (Suet., Nero, c. 7), with the anecdote of the quail of Alcibiades told by Plutarch (in Vit., c. 10). There is probably also a bitter sarcasm in the word "pupille," as it was the term of contempt applied to Nero by Poppæa, who was impatient to be married to him, which the control of his mother Agrippina, and the influence of Seneca and Burrhus, delayed. Cf. Tac., Ann., xiv., I, "Quæ (Poppæa) aliquando per facetias incusaret Principem et _pupillum_ vocaret qui jussis alienis obnoxius non modo imperii sed libertatis etiam indigeret." Some imagine _pericli_ to be intended as a pun, "One that would prove _dangerous_ hereafter;" as Alcibiades was compared to a lion's whelp, Arist., Ran., 1431, οὐ χρὴ λέοντος σκύμνον ἐν πόλει τρέφειν ἤν δ' ἐκτρέφῃ τις, τοῖς τρόποις ὑπηρετεῖν.

[1390] _Majestate manûs._ Ov., Met., i., 205, "Quam fuit illa Jovi: qui postquam voce, _manuque_ Murmura compressit, tenuere silentia cuncti." So Lucan says of Cæsar, "Utque satis trepidum turbâ coeunte tumultum Composuit vultu, _dextrâque_ silentia jussit." Cf. Acts, xiii. 16.

[1391] _Curva._ The Stoic notion that virtue is a straight line; vices, curved: the virtues occasionally approaching nearer to one curve than the other. Cf. Arist., Eth., II., vii. and viii.; and Sat., iii., 52, "Haud tibi inexpertum _curvos_ deprendere mores, Quæque docet sapiens braccatis illita Medis Porticus."

[1392] _Nigrum Theta._ The Θ, the first letter of θάνατος, was set by the Judices against the names of those whom they adjuged worthy of death, and was hence used by critics to obelize passages they condemned or disapproved of; the contrary being marked with Χ, for χρηστόν. Cf. Mart., vii., Ep. xxxvii., 1, "Nosti mortiferum quæstoris, Castrice, signum, Est operæ pretium discere theta novum." Auson., Ep. 128, "Tuumque nomen theta sectilis signet." Sidon., Carm., ix., 335, "Isti qui valet exarationi Districtum bonus applicare theta." (It was also used on tomb-stones, and as a mark to tick off the dead on the muster-roll of soldiers.)

[1393] _Summâ pella decorus._ The personal beauty of Alcibiades is proverbial. Suetonius does not give a very unfavorable account of Nero's exterior, "Staturâ fuit prope justâ, sufflavo capillo, vultu pulchro magis quam venusto, oculis cæsiis." The rest of the picture is not quite so flattering. It should be observed, by the way, that Suetonius speaks in terms by no means disparaging of Nero's verses, which, he says, flowed easily and naturally: he discards the insinuation that they were mere translations, or plagiarisms, as he says he had ocular proof to the contrary. Suet., Vit., c. 51, 2.

[1394] _Caudam jactare_, a metaphor either from "a dog fawning," or "a peacock displaying its tail." Hor., ii., Sat. ii., 26, "Rara avis et pictâ pandat spectacula caudâ."

[1395] _Anticyras._ Cf. ad Juv., xiii., 97. Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 137, "Expulit helleboro morbum bilemque meraco." Lucian, ἐν Πλοίῳ, 45, καὶ ὁ ἑλλέβορος ἱκανὸς ποιῆσαι ζωρότερος ποθείς. _Meracus_ is properly applied to unmixed _wine_; _merus_, to any _other_ liquid.

[1396] _Curata cuticula sole._ Cf. ad Juv., xi., 203, "Nostra bibat vernum contracta cuticula solem." Alluding to the _apricatio_, or "sunning themselves," of which old men are so fond. Line 33. Sat. v., 179. Cic., de Senect., xvi. Mart., x., Ep. xii., 7, "I precor et totos avida cute combibe soles, Quam formosus eris, dum peregrinus eris." Plin., Ep. iii., 1. "Ubi hora balinei nuntiata est, in sole, si caret vento, ambulat nudus." iv., Ep. 5, "Post cibum sæpe æstate si quod otii, jacebat in sole." Cic., Att., vii., 11. Mart., i., Ep. lxxviii., 4. Juv., ii., 105, "Et curare cutem summi constantia civis." Hor., i., Ep. iv., 29, "In cute curandâ plus æquo operata juventus." iv., 15, "Me pinguem et nitidum bene curatâ cute vises." Cf. Sat. ii., 37, "Pelliculam curare jube."

[1397] _Dinomaches._ Vid. line 1. Plut., Alc., 1. It appears from Plat., Alc., cxviii., that it was a name Alcibiades delighted in.

[1398] _Ocima._ Properly the herb "Basil," _ocimum Basilicum_, either from ὠκὺς, from its "rapid growth," or from ὄζειν, from its "fragrance."

[1399] _Mantica._ From Phædrus, lib. iv., Fab. x., "Peras imposuit Jupiter nobis duas: propriis repletam vitiis post tergum dedit: Alienis ante pectus suspendit gravem. Hâc re videre nostra mala non possumus: alii simul delinquunt, censores sumus." So Petr., Frag. Traj., 57, "In alio peduclum vides: in te ricinum non vides." Cat., xxii., 20, "Suus quoique attributus est error: Sed non videmus manticæ quod in tergo est."

[1400] _Quantum non milvus._ Cf. Juv., ix., 55, "Tot milvos intra tua pascua lassos."

[1401] _Pertusa ad compita._ "Compita" are places where three or more roads meet, from the old verb bito or beto. At these places altars, or little chapels, were erected with as many sides as there were ways meeting. (Jani bifrontes.) Cf. v., 35, "Ramosa in compita." Hence they are called "pertusa," i. e., _pervia_, "open in all directions." At these chapels it was the custom for the rustics to suspend the worn-out implements of husbandry. Though some think this was more especially done at the Compitalia. This festival was one of those which the Romans called Feriæ Conceptivæ, being fixed annually by the Prætor. They generally followed close upon the Saturnalia, and were held sometimes three days before the kalends of January, sometimes on the kalends themselves. Vid. Cic., Pis., iv. Auson., Ecl. de Fev., "Et nunquam certis redeuntia festa diebus, Compita per vicos quum sua quisque colit." According to Servius, they are described, though not by name, by Virgil, Æn., viii., 717. Like the Quinquatrus, they lasted only one day, and on that occasion additional wooden chapels were erected, the sacrificial cakes were provided by different houses, and slaves, not freedmen, presided at the sacrifices. Vid. Plin., XXXVI., xxvii., 70. The gods whom they worshiped are said to have been the Lares Compitales, of whom various legends are current. But this is doubtful. Augustus appointed certain rites in their honor, twice in the year. Suet., Vit., c. xxxi., "Compitales Lares ornari bis anno instituit vernis floribus et æstivis." It seems to have been a season of rustic revelry and feasting, and of license for slaves, like the Saturnalia. The avarice of the miser, therefore, on such an occasion, is the more conspicuous. His vessel is but a small one (seriola), and its contents woolly (pannosam) with age (veterem); yet he grudges scraping off the clay (limum) with which they used to stop their vessels, in order to pour a libation of his sour wine.

[1402] _Balanatum gausape._ The Balanus, or "Arabian Balsam," was considered one of the most expensive perfumes. πρὸς τὰ πολυτελῆ μύρα ἀντ' ἐλαίου ἔχρωντο. Dioscor., iv., 160. Cf. Hor., iii., Od. xxix., 4, "Pressa tuis _balanus_ capillis Jamdudum apud me est." The gausape is properly a thick shaggy kind of stuff. Hence Sen., Ep. 53, "Frigidæ cultor mitto me in mare quomodo psychrolutam decet, gausapatus." Lucil., xx., Fr. 9, "Purpureo tersit tunc latas gausape mensas." From whom Horace copies, ii., Sat. viii., 10, "Puer alte cinctus acernam gausape purpureo mensam pertersit." It is here used for "a very thick, bushy beard."

[1403] _Cædimus._ A metaphor from gladiators, which is continued through the next three lines. "While we are intent on wounding our adversaries, we leave our own weak points unguarded;" i. e., while satirizing others, we are quite forgetful of and blind to our own defects. There is here also a covert allusion to Nero, who, though so open to sarcasm, yet took upon him to satirize others. Cf. ad Juv., iv., 106, "Et tamen improbior satiram scribente cinædo."

[1404] _Non credam._ Sen., Ep. lix., 11, "Cito nobis placemus: si invenimus qui nos bonos viros dicat, qui prudentes, qui sanctos, agnoscimus. Nec sumus modicâ laudatione contenti: quidquid in nos adulatio sine pudore congessit, tanquam debitum prendimus: optimos nos esse sapientissimos affirmantibus assentimur."

[1405] _Puteal flagellas._ "This line," Casaubon says, "was purposely intended to be obscure; that while all would apply it in one sense to Nero, Persius, if accused, might maintain that he intended only the other sense, which the words at first sight bear." Puteal is put for the forum itself by synecdoche. It is properly the "puteal Libonis," a place which L. Scribonius Libo caused to be inclosed (perhaps cir. A.U.C. 604). It had been perhaps a bidental (cf. ad Sat. ii., 27), or, as others say, the place where the razor of the augur Nævius was deposited. Near it was the prætor's chair, and the benches frequented by persons who had private suits, among whom the class of usurers would be most conspicuous. (Hence Hor., i., Epist. xix., 8, "Forum putealque Libonis Mandabo siccis." ii., Sat. vi., 35.) _Puteal flagellare_, therefore, is taken in its primitive sense to mean, "to frequent the forum for the purpose of enforcing rigorous payment from those to whom you _have_ lent money; or the benches of the usurers, in quest of persons to whom you _may_ lend it on exorbitant interest." Cf. Ov., Remed., Am., 561, "Qui _puteal_ Janumque timet, celeresque Kalendas." Cic., Sext., 8. In its secondary sense, it may apply to the nightly atrocities of Nero, who used to frequent the forum, violently assaulting those he met, and outrageously insulting females, not unfrequently committing robberies and even murder; but having been soundly beaten one night by a nobleman whose wife he had outraged, he went ever after attended by gladiators, as a security for his personal safety; who kept aloof until their services were required. Nero might well, therefore, be called the "scourge of the Forum," and be said to leave scars and wales behind him in the scenes of his enormities. Juvenal (Sat. iii., 278, _seq._) alludes to the same practices. A description of them at full length may be found in Tacitus (Ann., xiii., 26) and Suetonius (Vit. Neron., c. 26).

[1406] _Bibulas._ "Those ears which are as prone to drink in the flattery of the mob as a sponge to imbibe water."

[1407] _Cerdo_, Put here for the lower orders generally, whose applause Nero always especially courted. So Juv., iv., 153, "Sed periit postquam cerdonibus esse timendus cœperat." viii., 182, "Et quæ turpia cerdoni volesos Brutosque decebunt." "Give back the rabble their tribute of applause. Let them bear their vile presents elsewhere!"

[1408] _Tecum habita._ "Retire into yourself; examine yourself thoroughly; your abilities and powers of governing: and you will find how little fitted you are for the arduous task you have undertaken." Compare the end of the Alcibiades. Juv., xi., 33, "Te consule, die tibi qui sis." Hor., i., Sat. iii., 34, "Te ipsum concute." Sen., Ep. 80, _fin._, "Si perpendere te voles, sepone pecuniam, domum, dignitatem: intus te ipse considera. Nunc qualis sis, aliis credis."

SATIRE V.

ARGUMENT.

On this Satire, which is the longest and the best of all, Persius
may be said to rest his claims to be considered a Philosopher
and a Poet. It may be compared with advantage with the Third
Satire of the second book of Horace. As the object in that is to
defend what is called the Stoical paradox, "that none but the
Philosopher is of _sound mind_,"

"Quem mala stultitia et quemcunque inscitia veri
Cæecum agit, insanum Chrysippi porticus et grex
Autumat:" i., 43-45,

so here, Persius maintains that other dogma of the Stoics, "that
none but the Philosopher is truly a _free_ man." Horace argues
(in the person of a Stoic) that there can be but _one_ path that
leads in the right direction; all others must lead the traveler
only farther astray. "Unus utrique error sed variis illudit
partibus" (ἐσθλοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἁπλῶς, παντοδαπῶς δὲ κακοί. Arist.,
Eth., II., vi., 4). So Persius argues, whatever are the varied
pursuits of different minds, he that is under the influence of some
overwhelming passion, can offer no claim to be accounted a free
agent. "Mille hominum species, et rerum discolor usus." (52.) In
fact, if we substitute "freedom" for "wisdom," the whole argument
of the last part of the Satire may be expressed in the two lines of
Horace:

"Quisquis
_Ambitione_ malâ aut _argenti_ pallet amore
Quisquis _Luxuria_ tristive _Superstitione_
Aut alio mentis morbo calet:"

that man can neither be pronounced free or of sound mind.

The Satire consists of two parts; the first serving as a Proëm to
the other. It is, in fact, the earnest expression of unbounded
affection for his tutor and early friend Annæus Cornutus, from
whom he had imbibed those principles of philosophy, which it is
the object of the latter part of the Satire to elucidate. After a
few lines of ridicule at the hackneyed prologues of the day, he
puts into the mouth of Cornutus that just criticism of poetical
composition which there is very little doubt Persius had in reality
derived from his master; and in answer to this, he takes occasion
to profess his sincere and deep-seated love and gratitude toward
the preceptor, whose kind care had rescued him from the vicious
courses to which a young and ardent temperament was leading him;
and whose sound judgment and dexterous management had weaned him
from the temptations that assail the young, by making him his own
companion in those studies which expanded his intellect while
they rectified the _obliquity_ (to use the Stoics' phrase) of his
moral character. Such mutual affection, he urges, could only exist
between two persons whom something more than mere adventitious
circumstances drew together; and he therefore concludes that the
same natal star must have presided over the horoscope of both.

He then proceeds to the main subject of the Satire, viz., that all
men should aim at attaining that freedom which can only result from
that perfect "soundness of mind" which we have shown to be the
summum bonum of the Stoics. This real freedom no mere external or
adventitious circumstances can bestow. Dama, though freed at his
master's behest, if he be the slave of passion, is as much a slave
as if he had never felt the prætor's rod. Until he have really cast
off, like the snake, the slough of his former vices, and become
changed in heart and principles as he is in political standing,
he is so far from being really free from bondage that he can not
rightly perform even the most trivial act of daily life. True
freedom consists in virtue alone; but "Virtus est vitium fugere:"
and he who eradicates all other passions, but cherishes still one
darling vice, has but changed his master. The dictates of the
passions that sway his breast are more imperious than those of the
severest task-master. Whether it be avarice, or luxury, or love,
or ambition, or superstition, that is the dominant principle, so
long as he can not shake himself free from the control of these, he
is as much, as real a slave as the drudge that bears his master's
strigil to the bath, or the dog that fancies he has burst his bonds
while the long fragment of his broken chain still dangles from his
neck. The last few lines contain a dignified rebuke of the sneers
which such pure sentiments as these would provoke in the coarse
minds of some into whose hands these lines might fall; perhaps,
too, they may be meant as a gentle reproof of the sly irony in
which the Epicurean Horace indulged, while professing to enunciate
the Stoic doctrine, that none but the true Philosopher can be said
to be of sound mind.

It is the custom of poets to pray for a hundred voices,[1409] and to wish for a hundred mouths and a hundred tongues for their verses;[1410] whether the subject proposed be one to be mouthed[1411] by a grim-visaged[1412] Tragœdian, or the wounds[1413] of a Parthian drawing his weapon from his groin.[1414]

CORNUTUS.[1415] What is the object of this? or what masses[1416] of robust song are you heaping up, so as to require the support of a hundred throats? Let those who are about to speak on grand subjects collect mists on Helicon;[1417] all those for whom the pot of Procne[1418] or Thyestes shall boil, to be often supped on by the insipid Glycon.[1419] You neither press forth the air from the panting bellows, while the mass is smelting in the furnace; nor, hoarse with pent-up murmur, foolishly croak out something ponderous, nor strive to burst your swollen cheeks with puffing.[1420] You adopt the language of the Toga,[1421] skillful at judicious combination, with moderate style, well rounded,[1422] clever at lashing depraved morals,[1423] and with well-bred sportiveness to affix the mark of censure. Draw from this source what you have to say; and leave at Mycenæ the tables, with the head[1424] and feet, and study plebeian dinners.

PERSIUS. For my part, I do not aim at this, that my page may be inflated with air-blown trifles, fit only to give weight[1425] to smoke. We are talking apart from the crowd. I am now, at the instigation of the Muse, giving you my heart to sift;[1426] and delight in showing you, beloved friend, how large a portion of my soul is yours, Cornutus! Knock then, since thou knowest well how to detect what rings sound,[1427] and the glozings of a varnished[1428] tongue. For this I would dare to pray for a hundred voices, that with guileless voice I may unfold how deeply I have fixed thee in my inmost breast; and that my words may unseal for thee all that lies buried, too deep for words, in my secret heart.

When first the guardian purple left me, its timid charge,[1429] and my boss[1430] was hung up, an offering to the short-girt[1431]

Lares; when my companions were kind, and the white centre-fold[1432] gave my eyes license to rove with impunity over the whole Suburra; at the time when the path is doubtful, and error, ignorant of the purpose of life, makes anxious minds hesitate between the branching cross-ways, I placed myself under you. You, Cornutus, cherished my tender years in your Socratic bosom. Then your rule, dexterous in insinuating itself,[1433] being applied to me, straightened my perverse morals; my mind was convinced by your reasoning, and strove to yield subjection; and formed features skillfully moulded by your plastic thumb. For I remember that many long nights I spent with you; and with you robbed our feasts of the first hours of night. Our work was one. We both alike arranged our hours of rest, and relaxed our serious studies with a frugal meal.

Doubt not, at least, this fact; that both our days harmonize by some definite compact,[1434] and are derived from the selfsame planet. Either the Fate, tenacious of truth,[1435] suspended our natal hour in the equally poised balance, or else the Hour that presides over the faithful divides between the twins the harmonious destiny[1436] of us two; and we alike correct the influence of malignant Saturn[1437] by Jupiter, auspicious to both. At all events, there is some star, I know not what, that blends my destiny with thine.

There are a thousand species of men; and equally diversified is the pursuit of objects. Each has his own desire; nor do men live with one single wish. One barters beneath an orient sun,[1438] wares of Italy for a wrinkled pepper[1439] and grains of pale cumin.[1440] Another prefers, well-gorged, to heave in dewy[1441] sleep. Another indulges in the Campus Martius. Another is beggared by gambling. Another riots in sensual[1442] pleasures. But when the stony[1443] gout has crippled his joints, like the branches of an ancient beech--then too late they mourn that their days have passed in gross licentiousness, their light has been the fitful marsh-fog; and look back upon the life they have abandoned.[1444] But your delight is to grow pale over the midnight papers; for, as a trainer of youths, you plant in their well-purged ears[1445] the corn of Cleanthes.[1446] From this source seek, ye young and old, a definite object for your mind, and a provision against miserable gray hairs.

"It shall be done to-morrow."[1447] "To-morrow, the case will be just the same!" What, do you grant me one day as so great a matter? "But when that other day has dawned, we have already spent yesterday's to-morrow. For see, another to-morrow wears away our years, and will be always a little beyond you. For though it is so near you, and under the selfsame perch, you will in vain endeavor to overtake the felloe[1448] that revolves before you, since you are the hinder wheel, and on the second axle."

It is liberty, of which we stand in need! not such as that which, when every Publius Velina[1449] has earned, he claims as his due the mouldy corn, on the production of his tally. Ah! minds barren of all truth! for whom a single twirl makes a Roman.[1450] Here is Dama,[1451] a groom,[1452] not worth three farthings![1453] good for nothing and blear-eyed; one that would lie for a feed of beans. Let his master give him but a twirl, and in the spinning of a top, out he comes Marcus Dama! Ye gods! when Marcus is security, do you hesitate to trust your money? When Marcus is judge, do you grow pale? Marcus said it: it must be so. Marcus, put your name to this deed? This is literal liberty. This it is the cap of liberty[1454] bestows on us.

"Is any one else, then, a freeman, but he that may live as he pleases? I may live as I please; am not I then a freer man than Brutus?"[1455] On this the Stoic (his ear well purged[1456] with biting vinegar) says, "Your inference is faulty; the rest I admit, but cancel '_I may_,' and '_as I please_.'"

"Since I left the prætor's presence, made my own master by his rod,[1457] why _may_ I not do whatever my inclination dictates, save only what the rubric of Masurius[1458] interdicts?"

Learn then! But let anger subside from your nose, and the wrinkling sneer; while I pluck out those old wives' fables from your breast. It was not in the prætor's power to commit to fools the delicate duties of life, or transmit that experience that will guide them through the rapid course of life. Sooner would you make the dulcimer[1459] suit a tall porter.[1460]

Reason stands opposed to you, and whispers in your secret ear, not to allow any one to do that which he will spoil in the doing. The public law of men--nay, Nature herself contains this principle--that feeble ignorance should hold all acts as forbidden. Dost thou dilute hellebore, that knowest not how to confine the balance-tongue[1461] to a definite point? The very essence of medicine[1462] forbids this. If a high-shoed[1463] plowman, that knows not even the morning star, should ask for a ship, Melicerta[1464] would cry out that all modesty had vanished from the earth.[1465]

Has Philosophy granted to you to walk uprightly? and do you know how to discern the semblance of truth; lest it give a counterfeit tinkle, though merely gold laid over brass? And those things which ought to be pursued, or in turn avoided, have you first marked the one with chalk, and then the other with charcoal? Are you moderate in your desires? frugal in your household? kind to your friends? Can you at one time strictly close, at another unlock your granaries? And can you pass by the coin fixed in the mud,[1466] nor swallow down with your gullet the Mercurial saliva?

When you can say with truth, "These are my principles, this I hold;" then be free and wise too, under the auspices of the prætor and of Jove himself. But if, since you were but lately one of our batch, you preserve your old skin, and though polished on the surface,[1467] retain the cunning fox[1468] beneath your vapid breast; then I recall all that I just now granted, and draw back the rope.[1469]

Philosophy has given you nothing; nay, put forth your finger[1470]--and what act is there so trivial?--and you do wrong. But there is no incense by which you can gain from the gods this boon,[1471] that one short half-ounce of Right can be inherent in fools. To mix these things together is an impossibility; nor can you, since you are in all these things else a mere ditcher, move but three measures of the satyr Bathyllus.[1472]

"_I am_ free." Whence do you take this as granted, you that are in subjection to so many things?[1473] Do you recognize no master, save him from whom the prætor's rod sets you free? If he has thundered out, "Go, boy, and carry my strigils to the baths of Crispinus![1474] Do you loiter, lazy scoundrel?" This bitter slavery affects not thee; nor does any thing _from without_ enter which can set thy strings in motion.[1475] But if _within_, and in thy morbid breast, there spring up masters, how dost thou come forth with less impunity than those whom the lash[1476] and the terror of their master drives to the strigils?

Do you snore lazily in the morning? "Rise!" says Avarice. "Come! rise!" Do you refuse? She is urgent. "Arise!" she says. "I can not." "Rise!" "And what am I to do?" "Do you ask? Import fish[1477] from Pontus, Castoreum,[1478] tow, ebony,[1479] frankincense, purgative Coan wines.[1480]

"Be the first to unload from the thirsty camel[1481] his fresh pepper--turn a penny, swear!"

"But Jupiter will hear!" "Oh fool! If you aim at living on good terms with Jove, you must go on contented to bore your oft-tasted salt-cellar with your finger!"

Now, with girded loins, you fit the skin and wine flagon to your slaves.[1482]--"Quick, to the ship!" Nothing prevents your sweeping over the Ægæan in your big ship, unless cunning luxury should first draw you aside, and hint, "Whither, madman, are you rushing? Whither! what do you want? The manly bile has fermented in your hot breast, which not even a pitcher[1483] of hemlock could quench. Would _you_ bound over the sea? Would _you_ have your dinner on a thwart, seated on a coil of hemp?[1484] while the broad-bottomed jug[1485] exhales the red Veientane[1486] spoiled by the damaged pitch![1487] Why do you covet that the money you had here put out to interest at a modest five per cent., should go on to sweat a greedy eleven per cent.? Indulge your Genius![1488] Let us crop the sweets of life! That you really _live_ is my boon! You will become ashes, a ghost, a gossip's tale! Live, remembering you must die.--The hour flies! This very word I speak is subtracted from it!"

What course, now, do you take? You are torn in different directions by a two-fold hook. Do you follow this master or that? You must needs by turns, with doubtful obedience, submit to one, by turns wander forth free. Nor, even though you may have _once_ resisted, or once refused to obey the stern behest, can you say with truth, "I have burst my bonds!" For the dog too by his struggles breaks through his leash, yet even as he flies a long portion of the chain hangs dragging from his neck.

"Davus![1489] I intend at once--and I order you to believe me too!--to put an end to my past griefs. (So says Chærestratus, biting his nails to the quick.) Shall I continue to be a disgrace to my sober relations? Shall I make shipwreck[1490] of my patrimony, and lose my good name, before these shameless[1491] doors, while drunk, and with my torch extinguished, I sing[1492] before the reeking doors of Chrysis?"

"Well done, my boy, be wise! sacrifice a lamb to the gods who ward off[1493] evil!" "But do you think, Davus, she will weep at being forsaken?" Nonsense! boy, you will be beaten with her red slipper,[1494] for fear you should be inclined to plunge, and gnaw through your close-confining toils,[1495] now fierce and violent. But if she should call you, you would say at once, "What then shall I do?[1496] Shall I not now, when I am invited, and when of her own act she entreats me, go to her?" Had you come away from her heart-whole, you would not, even now. This, this is the man of whom we are in search. It rests not on the wand[1497] which the foolish Lictor brandishes.

Is that flatterer[1498] his own master, whom white-robed Ambition[1499] leads gaping with open mouth? "Be on the watch, and heap vetches[1500] bountifully upon the squabbling mob, that old men,[1501] as they sun themselves, may remember our Floralia.--What could be more splendid?"

But when Herod's[1502] day is come, and the lamps arranged on the greasy window-sill have disgorged their unctuous smoke, bearing violets, and the thunny's tail floats, hugging the red dish,[1503] and the white pitcher foams with wine: then in silent prayer you move your lips, and grow pale at the sabbaths of the circumcised. Then are the black goblins![1504] and the perils arising from breaking an egg.[1505] Then the huge Galli,[1506] and the one-eyed priestess with her sistrum,[1507] threaten you with the gods inflating your body, unless, you have eaten the prescribed head of garlic[1508] three times of a morning.

Were you to say all this among the brawny centurions, huge Pulfenius[1509] would immediately raise his coarse laugh, and hold a hundred Greek philosophers dear at a clipped centussis.[1510]

FOOTNOTES:

[1409] _Centum voces._ Homer is content with ten. Il., ii., 484, Οὐδ εἴ μοι δέκα μὲν γλῶσσαι δέκα δέ στόματ εἶεν. Virgil squares the number. Georg., ii., 43, "Non mihi si _linguæ centum_ sint, _oraque centum_, Ferrea vox." Æn., vi., 625. Sil., iv., 527, "Non mihi Mæoniæ redeat si gloria linguæ, _Centenas_que pater det Phœbus fundere _voces_, Tot cædes proferre queam." Ov., Met., viii., 532, "Non mihi si _centum_ Deus _ora_ sonantia _linguis_." Fast., ii., 119.

[1410] _In carmina._ "That their style and language may be amplified and extended adequately to the greatness and variety of their subjects."

[1411] _Hianda._ Juv., vi., 636, "Grande Sophocleo carmen bacchamur hiatu;" alluding to the wide mouths of the tragic masks (οἱ ὑποκριταὶ μέγα κεχηνότες, Luc., Nigrin., i., p. 28, Ben.), or to the "ampullæ et sesquipedalia verba" of the tragedy itself. Hor., A. P., 96.

[1412] _Mæsto._ Hor., A. P., 105, "Tristia mæstum vultum verba decent."

[1413] _Vulnera_, i. e., "Or whether it be an epic poem on the Parthian war," which was carried on under Nero. The genitive Parthi may be either subjective or objective, probably the former, in spite of Hor., ii., Sat. i., 15, "Aut labentis equo describat vulnera Parthi."

[1414] _Ab inguine._ This may either mean, "drawing out the weapon from the wound he has received from the Roman," or may describe the manner in which the Parthian ("versis animosus equis," Hor., i., Od. xix., 11) draws his bow in his retrograde course. ("Miles sagittas et celerem fugam Parthi timet," ii., Od. iii., 17.) Casaubon describes, from Eustathius, three other ways of drawing the bow, παρὰ μαζον, παρ' ὦμον, and παρὰ τὸ δεξιὸν ὠτίον, "from the ear," like our English archers. So Propertius, lib. iv., says of the Gauls, "Virgatis jaculantis ab inguine braccis." El., x., 43.

[1415] _Cornutus._ Annæus Cornutus (of the same gens as Mela, Lucan, and Seneca) was distinguished as a tragic poet as well as a Stoic philosopher. He was a native of Leptis, in Africa, and came to Rome in the reign of Nero, where he applied himself with success to the education of young men. He wrote on Philosophy, Rhetoric, and a treatise entitled ἡ ἑλληνικὴ θεολογία. Persius, at the age of sixteen (A.D. 50), placed himself under his charge, and was introduced by him to Lucan; and at his death left him one hundred sestertia and his library. Cornutus kept the books, to the number of seven hundred, but gave back the money to Persius' sisters. Nero, intending to write an epic poem on Roman History, consulted Cornutus among others; but when the rest advised Nero to extend it to four hundred books, Cornutus said, "No one would read them." For this speech Nero was going to put him to death; but contented himself with banishing him. This took place, according to Lubinus, four years after Persius' death; more probably in A.D. 65, when so many of the Annæan gens suffered. (Cf. Clinton in Ann.) Vid. Suid., p. 2161. Dio., lxii., 29. Eus., Chron., A. 2080. Suet. in Vit. Pers.

[1416] _Offas._ "Huge goblets of robustious song." Gifford.

[1417] _Helicone._ Cf. Prol., 1. 4. Hor., A. P., 230, "Nubes et inania captet."

[1418] _Procnes olla._ The "pot of Procne, or Thyestes," is said to _boil_ for them who compose tragedies on the subjects of the unnatural banquets prepared by Procne for Tereus, and by Atreus for Thyestes. Cf., Ov., Met., vi., 424-676. Senec., Thyest. Hor., A. P., 91.--_Cænanda_ implies that these atrocities were to be actually represented on the stage, which the good taste even of Augustus' days would have rejected with horror. Hor., A. P., 182-188.

[1419] _Glycon_ was a tragic actor, of whom one Virgilius was part owner. Nero admired him so much that he gave Virgilius three hundred thousand sesterces for his share of him, and set him free.

[1420] _Stloppo._ "The noise made by inflating the cheeks, and then forcibly expelling the wind by a sudden blow with the hands." It not improbably comes from λόπος in the sense of an inflated skin; as stlis for lis, stlocus for locus; stlataria from latus. Cf. ad Juv., vii., 134.

[1421] _Verba togæ._ Having pointed out the ordinary defects of poets of the day as to choice of subjects, style, and language, Cornutus proceeds to compliment Persius for the exactly contrary merits. First, for the use of words not removed from ordinary use, but such as were in use in the most elegant and polished society of Rome, as distinguished from the rude archaisms then in vogue, or the too familiar vulgarisms of the tunicatus popellus in the provinces, where none assumed the toga till he was carried out to burial. (Juv., Sat. iii, 172.) But then, according to Horace's precept ("Dixeris egregiè si notum callida verbum reddiderit junctura novum," A. P., 47), grace and dignity was added to these by the novelty of effect produced by judicious combination. Cf. Cic., de Orat., iii., 43. There is an allusion to the same metaphor as in Sat. i., 65, "Per leve severos effundat junctura ungues."

[1422] _Ore teres modico._ The second merit, "a natural and easy mode of reciting, suited to compositions in a familiar style." Cicero uses _teres_ in the same sense. De Orat., iii., c. 52, "Plena quædam, sed tamen teres, et tenuis, non sine nervis ac viribus." Horace, A. P., 323, "Graiis dedit ore rotundo Musa loqui."

[1423] _Pallentes radere mores._ The next merit is in the choice of a subject. Not the unnatural horrors selected to gratify the most depraved taste, but the gentlemanly, and at the same time searching, exposure of the profligate morals of the time.

[1424] _Cum capite._ Cf. Senec., Thyest., Act iv., 1. 763, "Denudat artus dirus atque ossa amputat: tantum _ora_ servat et datas fidei _manus_."

[1425] _Pondus._ So Horace, i., Epist. xix., 42, "Nugis addere pondus."

[1426] _Excutienda._ Seneca, Ep. lxxii., 1, "Explicandus est animus, et quæcunque apud illum deposita sunt, subinde _excuti_ debent."

[1427] _Solidum crepet._ Cf. iii., 21, "Sonet vitium percussa."

[1428] _Sinuoso._ Cf. Hamlet, "Give me that man that is not passion's slave, and I will wear him in my heart's core; ay, in my heart of heart, as I do thee, Horatio!" Act iii., sc. 2.

[1429] _Custos._ The Prætexta was intended, as the robes of the priests, to serve as a protection to the youths that wore it. The purple with which the toga was bordered was to remind them of the modesty which was becoming to their early years. It was laid aside by boys at the age of seventeen, and by girls when they were married. The assumption of the toga virilis took place with great solemnities before the images of the Lares, sometimes in the Capitol. It not unfrequently happened that the changing of the toga at the same time formed a bond of union between young men, which lasted unbroken for many years. Hor., i., Od. xxxvi., 9, "Memor Actæ non alio rege puertiæ Mutatæque simul togæ. "The Liberalia, on the 16th before the Kalends of April (i. e., March 17th), were the usual festival for this ceremony. Vid. Cic. ad Att., VI., i., 12. Ovid explains the reasons for the selection. Fast., iii., 771, _seq._

[1430] _Bulla._ Vid. Juv., v., 164.

[1431] _Succinctis._ So Horace, A. P., 50, "Fingere cinctutis non exaudita Cethegis." The Lares, being the original household deities, were regarded with singular affection, and were probably usually represented in the homely dress of the early ages of the republic. Perhaps, too, some superstitious feeling might tend to prevent any innovation in their costume. This method of wearing the toga, which consisted in twisting it over the left shoulder, so as to leave the right arm bare and free, was called the "Cinctus Gabinus" (cf. Ov., Fast., v., 101, 129), from the fact of its having been adopted at the sudden attack at Gabii, when they had not time to put on the sagum, but were forced to fight in the toga. Hence, in proclaiming war, the consul always appeared in this costume (Virg., Æn., vii., 612, "Ipse Quirinali trabeâ cinctuque Gabino Insignis reserat stridentia limina Consul"), and it was that in which Decius devoted himself. Liv., viii., 9; v., 46.

[1432] _Umbo_ was the centre where all the folds of the toga met on the left shoulder; from this boss the lappet fell down and was tucked into the girdle, so as to form the _sinus_ or fold which served as a pocket.

[1433] _Fallere solers._ "You showed so much skill and address in your endeavors to restore me to the right path, that I was, as it were, gradually and insensibly cheated into a reformation of my life."

[1434] _Fœdere certo._ Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 187, "Scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum." ii., Od. xvii., 16, "Placitumque _Parcis_, Seu _Libra_ seu me Scorpius adspicit formidolosus, pars violentior _Natalis horæ_ seu tyrannus Hesperiæ Capricornus undæ Utrumque nostrum incredibili modo _consentit astrum_." Manil., iv., 549, "Felix _æquato_ genitus sub pondere _Libræ_."

[1435] _Tenax veri._ "Because the decrees pronounced by Destiny at each man's birth have their inevitable issue." So Horace, "Parca non mendax," ii., Od. xvi., 39.

[1436] _Concordia._ This συναστρία, as the Greeks called the being born under one Horoscopus (vi., 18), was considered to be one of the causes of the most familiar and intimate friendship.

[1437] _Saturnum._ Hor., ii., Od. xvii., 22, "Te _Jovis impio_ tutela _Saturno_ refulgens Eripuit." Both _gravis_ and _impius_ are probably meant to express the Κρόνος βλαβερὸς of Manetho, i., 110. Propert., iv., El. i., 105, "Felicesque Jovis stellæ Martisque rapacis, Et grave Saturni sidus in omne caput." Juv., vi., 570, "Quid sidus triste minetur Saturni." Virg., Georg., i., 336, "Frigida Saturni stella."

[1438] _Sole recenti._ "In the extreme east;" from Hor., i., Sat. iv., 29, "Hic mutat merces surgente à Sole ad eum quo Vespertina tepet regio."

[1439] _Rugosum piper._ Plin., H. N., xii., 7.

[1440] _Pallentis cumini._ The cumin was used as a cheap substitute for pepper, which was very expensive at Rome. It produced great paleness in those who ate much of it; and consequently many who wished to have a pallid look, as though from deep study, used to take it in large quantities. Pliny (xx., 14, "Omne cuminum pallorem bibentibus gignit") says that the imitators of Porcius Latro used to take it in order to resemble him even in his natural peculiarities. Horace alludes to this, i., Epist. xix., 17, "Quod si pallerem casu biberent _exsangue cuminum_." (Latro died A.U.C. 752.) Cf. Plin., xix., 6, 32.

[1441] _Irriguo._ Virg., Æn., i., 691," Placidam per membra quietem _irrigat_." iii., 511, "Fessos sopor irrigat artus."--_Turgescere._ Sulp., 56, "Somno moriuntur obeso."

[1442] _Putris._ Hor., i., Od. xxxvi., 17, "Omnes in Damalin _putres_ deponunt oculos."

[1443] _Lapidosa._ "That fills his joints with chalk-stones." Hor., ii., Sat. vii., 16, "Postquam illi justa _cheragra Contudit articulos_." i., Ep. i., 81, "_Nodosâ_ corpus nolis prohibere _cheragrâ_."

[1444] _Vitam relictam._ Cf. iii., 38, "Virtutem videant intabescantque relictâ."

[1445] _Purgatas aures._ Cf. l. 86, "Stoicus hic aurem mordaci lotus aceto." One of the remedies of deafness was holding the ear over the vapor of heated vinegar. The metaphor was very applicable to the Stoics, who were famous for their acuteness in detecting fallacies, and their keenness in debating. Cf. Plaut., Mil. Gl., III., i., 176, "Ambo perpurgatis tibi operam damus auribus." Hor., i., Epist. i., 7, "Est mihi purgatam crebrò qui personet aurem."

[1446] _Cleantheâ._ Vid. Juv., ii., 7. Cleanthes was a native of Assos, and began life as a pugilist. He came to Athens with only four drachmæ, and became a pupil of Zeno. He used to work at night at drawing water in the gardens, in order to raise money to attend Zeno's lectures by day; and hence acquired the nickname of φρεάντλης. He succeeded Zeno in his school, and according to some, Chrysippus became his pupil. Diog. Laërt., VII., v., 1, 2; vii., 1.

[1447] _Cras hoc fiet._ Cf. Mart., v., Ep. lviii., 7, "Cras vives! hodie jam vivere Postume serum est, Ille sapit, quisquis, Postume, vixit heri." Macbeth, Act v., sc. 5,

"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time:
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death."

"Our yesterday's to-morrow now is gone,
And still a new to-morrow does come on.
We by to-morrows draw out all our store,
Till the exhausted well can yield no more." Cowley.

[1448] _Canthum._ "The tire of the wheel." Quintilian (i., 5) says, "The word is of Spanish or African origin. Though Persius employs it as a word in common use." But Casaubon quotes Suidas, Eustathius, and the Etym. Mag., to prove it is a pure Greek word; κανθὸς, "the corner of the eye." Hence put for the orb of the eye.

[1449] _Velinâ Publius._ When a slave was made perfectly free he was enrolled in one of the tribes, in order that he might enjoy the full privileges of a Roman citizen: one of the chief of these was the frumentatio, i. e., the right of receiving a ticket which entitled him to his share at the distribution of the public corn, which took place on the nones of each month. This ticket or tally was of wood or lead, and was transferable. Sometimes a small sum was paid with it. Cf. Juv., vii., 174, "Summula ne pereat quâ vilis tessera venit frumenti." The slave generally adopted the prænomen of the person who manumitted him, and the name of the tribe to which he was admitted was added. This prænomen was the distinguishing mark of a freeman, and they were proportionally proud of it. (Hor., ii., Sat. v., 32, "Quinte, puta, aut Publi--gaudent prænomine molles auriculæ." Juv., v., 127, "Si quid tentaveris unquam hiscere tanquam habeas tria nomina.") The tribe "Velina" was one of the country tribes, in the Sabine district, and called from the Lake Velinus. It was the last tribe added, with the Quirina, A.U.C. 512, to make up the thirty-five tribes, by the censors C. Aurelius Cotta and M. Fabius Buteo. Vid. Liv., Epit., xix. Cic., Att., iv., 15. The name of the tribe was always added in the ablative case, as Oppius Veientinâ, Anxius Tomentinâ.

[1450] _Quiritem._ Cf. Sen., Nat., iii., "Hæc res efficit non è jure Quiritium liberum, sed è jure Naturæ." There were three ways of making a slave free: 1, per Censum; 2, per Vindictam; 3, per Testamentum. The second is alluded to here. The master took the slave before the prætor or consul and said, "Hunc hominem liberum esse volo jure Quiritium." Then the prætor, laying the rod (Vindicta) on the slave's head, pronounced him free; whereupon his owner or the lictor turned him round, gave him a blow on the cheek (alapa), and let him go, with the words, "Liber esto atque ito quo voles." (Plaut., Men., V., vii., 40.)

[1451] _Dama_ was a common name for slaves (Hor., ii., Sat. vii., 54, "Prodis ex judice Dama turpis;" and v., 18, "Utne tegam spurco Damæ latus"), principally for Syrians. It is said to be a corruption of Demetrius or Demodorus. So Manes, from Menodorus, was a common name of Phrygian slaves.

[1452] _Agaso._ Properly, "a slave who looks after beasts of burden" (_qui agit asinos_, Schell.), then put as a mark of contempt for any drudge. Hor., ii., Sat. viii., 73, "Si patinam pede lapsus frangat agaso."

[1453] _Tressis._ Literally, "three asses." So Sexis, Septussis, etc.

[1454] _Pilea._ Cf. ad iii., 106, "Hesterni capite induto subiere Quirites."