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This text is intended for users whose text readers cannot use the "real" (unicode/utf-8) version of the file. Greek has been transliterated and shown between +marks+. Other characters that could not be fully displayed have been "unpacked" and shown between braces:
[)a] [)e] short vowels (printed with breve symbol) [-a] [-e] [-i] [-o] long vowels (printed with macron)
In the Notes, the name "Vanicek" is given without hacek.
In the printed text, emphasis within italicized passages was shown by gesperrt (spaced-out) text. This is shown here with #marks#, as is #boldface# type. Bold and gesperrt never occur in the same contexts. Italics are shown by lines. In the Critical Appendix, superscript alpha and omega are shown as {a} and {w}.
The Notes and Critical Appendix were printed in a block at the end of the book. For this e-text, they have been regrouped so each Satire with its notes forms a discrete unit. In addition, the Satires alone-- totaling about 700 lines-- have been repeated at the beginning of the text, before the Introduction.]
THE SATIRES
of
A. PERSIUS FLACCUS
Edited By
BASIL L. GILDERSLEEVE, Ph.D. (Göttingen), LL.D., Professor of Greek in the University of Virginia.
[Publisher's Device: +LAMPADIA ECHONTES DIADÔSOUSIN ALLÊLOIS+]
New York:
Harper & Brothers, Publishers,
Franklin Square.
1875.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by HARPER & BROTHERS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
PREFACE.
The text of this edition of Persius is in the main that of Jahn's last recension (1868). The few changes are discussed in the Notes and recorded in the Critical Appendix.
In the preparation of the Notes I have made large use of Jahn's standard edition, without neglecting the commentaries of Casaubon, König, and Heinrich, or the later editions by Macleane, Pretor, and Conington, or such recent monographs on Persius as I have been able to procure. Special obligations have received special acknowledgment.
My personal contributions to the elucidation of Persius are too slight to warrant me in following the prevalent fashion and cataloguing the merits of my work under the modest guise of aims and endeavors. I shall be contenf, if I have succeeded in making Persius less distasteful to the general student; more than content, if those who have devoted long and patient study to this difficult author shall accord me the credit of an honest effort to make myself acquainted with the poet himself as well as with his chief commentators.
In compliance with the wish of the distinguished scholar at whose instance I undertook this work, Professor Charles Short, of Columbia College, New York, I have inserted references to my Latin Grammar and to the Grammar of Allen and Greenough, here and there to Madvig.
B. L. GILDERSLEEVE.
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, February, 1875.
CONTENTS.
Page
INTRODUCTION VII
A. PERSII FLACCI SATURARUM LIBER 39
VITA PERSII 65
NOTES 71
CRITICAL APPENDIX 207
INDEX 211
* * * * *
A. PERSII FLACCI
SATURARUM
LIBER.
[Duplicated material: see Transcriber's Note at beginning of e-text.]
PROLOGUS.
Nec fonte labra prolui caballino,
nec in bicipiti somniasse Parnaso
memini, ut repente sic poeta prodirem.
Heliconidasque pallidamque Pirenen
illis remitto, quorum imagines lambunt 5
hederae sequaces: ipse semipaganus
ad sacra vatum carmen adfero nostrum.
quis expedivit psittaco suum chaere
picamque docuit nostra verba conari?
magister artis ingenique largitor 10
venter, negatas artifex sequi voces;
quod si dolosi spes refulserit nummi,
corvos poetas et poetridas picas
cantare credas Pegaseium nectar.
SATURA I.
O curas hominum! o quantum est in rebus inane! 'Quis leget haec?' Min tu istud ais? nemo hercule! 'Nemo?' Vel duo, vel nemo. 'Turpe et miserabile!' Quare? ne mihi Polydamas et Troiades Labeonem praetulerint? nugae. non, si quid turbida Roma 5 elevet, accedas examenque inprobum in illa castiges trutina, nec te quaesiveris extra. nam Romae quis non--? a, si fas dicere-- sed fas tum, cum ad canitiem et nostrum istud vivere triste aspexi ac nucibus facimus quaecumque relictis, 10 cum sapimus patruos; tunc, tunc, ignoscite-- 'Nolo.' Quid faciam? sed sum petulanti splene cachinno. Scribimus inclusi, numeros ille, his pede liber, grande aliquid, quod pulmo animae praelargus anhelet. scilicet haec populo pexusque togaque recenti 15 et natalicia tandem cum sardonyche albus sede leges celsa, liquido cum plasmate guttur mobile collueris, patranti fractus ocello. hic neque more probo videas nec voce serena ingentis trepidare Titos, cum carmina lumbum 20 intrant, et tremulo scalpuntur ubi intima versu. tun, vetule, auriculis alienis colligis escas? auriculis, quibus et dicas cute perditus ohe. 'Quo didicisse, nisi hoc fermentum et quae semel intus innata est rupto iecore exierit caprificus?' 25 En pallor seniumque! o mores! usque adeone scire tuum nihil est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter? 'At pulchrum est digito monstrari et dicier hic est! ten cirratorum centum dictata fuisse pro nihilo pendas?' Ecce inter pocula quaerunt 30 Romulidae saturi, quid dia poemata narrent. hic aliquis, cui circa umeros hyacinthia laena est, rancidulum quiddam balba de nare locutus, Phyllidas Hypsipylas, vatum et plorabile si quid, eliquat ac tenero supplantat verba palato. 35 adsensere viri: nunc non cinis ille poetae felix? non levior cippus nunc inprimit ossa? laudant convivae: nunc non e manibus illis, nunc non e tumulo fortunataque favilla nascentur violae? 'Rides' ait 'et nimis uncis 40 naribus indulges. an erit qui velle recuset os populi meruisse et cedro digna locutus linquere nec scombros metuentia carmina nec tus?' Quisquis es, o, modo quem ex adverso dicere feci, non ego cum scribo, si forte quid aptius exit, 45 quando haec rara avis est, si quid tamen aptius exit, laudari metuam, neque enim mihi cornea fibra est; sed recti finemque extremumque esse recuso euge tuum et belle. nam belle hoc excute totum: quid non intus habet? non hic est Ilias Atti 50 ebria veratro? non si qua elegidia crudi dictarunt proceres? non quidquid denique lectis scribitur in citreis? calidum seis ponere sumen, scis comitem horridulum trita donare lacerna, et 'verum' inquis 'amo: verum mihi dicite de me.' 55 qui pote? vis dicam? nugaris, cum tibi, calve, pinguis aqualiculus protenso sesquipede exstet. o Iane, a tergo quem nulla ciconia pinsit, nec manus auriculas imitari mobilis albas, nec linguae, quantum, sitiat canis Apula, tantae! 60 vos, o patricius sanguis, quos vivere fas est occipiti caeco, posticae occurrite sannae! Quis populi sermo est? quis enim, nisi carmina molli nunc demum numero fluere, ut per leve severos effundat iunctura unguis? scit tendere versum 65 non secus ac si oculo rubricam derigat uno. sive opus in mores, in luxum, in prandia regum dicere, res grandis nostro dat Musa poetae. ecce modo heroas sensus adferre videmus nugari solitos graece, nec ponere lucum 70 artifices nec rus saturum laudare, ubi corbes et focus et porci et fumosa Palilia faeno, unde Remus, sulcoque terens dentalia, Quinti, cum trepida ante boves dictatorem induit uxor et tua aratra domum lictor tulit-- euge poeta! 75 est nunc Brisaei quem venosus liber Acci, sunt quos Pacuviusque et verrucosa moretur Antiopa, aerumnis cor luctificabile fulta. hos pueris monitus patres infundere lippos cum videas, quaerisne, unde haec sartago loquendi 80 venerit in linguas, unde istuc dedecus, in quo trossulus exsultat tibi per subsellia levis? nilne pudet capiti non posse pericula cano pellere, quin tepidum hoc optes audire decenter? 'Fur es' ait Pedio. Pedius quid? crimina rasis 85 librat in antithetis: doctas posuisse figuras laudatur 'bellum hoc!' hoc bellum? an, Romule, ceves? men moveat? quippe et, cantet si naufragus, assem protulerim. cantas, cum fracta te in trabe pictum ex umero portes? verum, nec nocte paratum 90 plorabit, qui me volet incurvasse querela. 'Sed numeris decor est et iunctura addita crudis. cludere sic versum didicit Berecyntius Attis et qui caeruleum dirimebat Nerea delphin sic costam longo subduximus Appennino. 95 Arma virum, nonne hoc spumosum et cortice pingui, ut ramale vetus vegrandi subere coctum?' 'Quidnam igitur tenerum et laxa cervice legendum? Torva mimalloneis inplerunt cornua bombis, et raptum vitulo caput ablatura superbo 100 Bassaris et lyncem Maenas flexura corymbis euhion ingeminat, reparabilis adsonat echo?' haec fierent, si testiculi vena ulla paterni viveret in nobis? summa delumbe saliva hoc natat in labris, et in udo est Maenas et Attis, 105 nec pluteum caedit, nec demorsos sapit unguis. 'Sed quid opus teneras mordaci radere vero auriculas? vide sis, ne maiorum tibi forte limina frigescant: sonat hic de nare canina littera.' Per me equidem sint omnia protinus alba; 110 nil moror. euge! omnes, omnes bene mirae eritis res. hoc iuvat? 'hic' inquis 'veto quisquam faxit oletum.' pinge duos anguis: pueri, sacer est locus, extra meite! discedo. secuit Lucilius urbem, te Lupe, te Muci, et genuinum fregit in illis; 115 omne vafer vitium ridenti Flaccus amico tangit et admissus circum praecordia ludit, callidus excusso populum suspendere naso: men muttire nefas? nec clam, nec cum scrobe? nusquam? hic tamen infodiam. vidi, vidi ipse, libelle: 120 auriculas asini quis non habet? hoc ego opertum, hoc ridere meum, tam nil, nulla tibi vendo Iliade. audaci quicumque adflate Cratino iratum Eupolidem praegrandi cum sene palles, aspice et haec, si forte aliquid decoctius audis. 125 inde vaporata lector mihi ferveat aure: non hic, qui in crepidas Graiorum ludere gestit sordidus, et lusco qui possit dicere 'lusce,' sese aliquem credens, Italo quod honore supinus fregerit heminas Arreti aedilis iniquas; 130 nec qui abaco numeros et secto in pulvere metas scit risisse vafer, multum gaudere paratus, si cynico barbam petulans nonaria vellat. his mane edictum, post prandia Calliroen do.
SATURA II.
Hunc, Macrine, diem numera meliore lapillo qui tibi labentis apponit candidus annos. funde merum genio. non tu prece poscis emaci, quae nisi seductis nequeas committere divis; at bona pars procerum tacita libabit acerra. 5 haud cuivis promptum est murmurque humilisque susurros tollere de templis et aperto vivere voto. 'Mens bona, fama, fides' haec clare et ut audiat hospes; illa sibi introrsum et sub lingua murmurat 'o si ebulliat patruus, praeclarum funus?' et 'o si 10 sub rastro crepet argenti mihi seria dextro Hercule! pupillumve utinam, quem proximus heres inpello, expungam! namque est scabiosus et acri bile tumet. Nerio iam tertia conditur uxor.' haec sancte ut poscas, Tiberino in gurgite mergis 15 mane caput bis terque et noctem flumine purgas? heus age, responde-- minimum est quod scire laboro-- de Iove quid sentis? estne ut praeponere cures hunc-- 'cuinam?' cuinam? vis Staio? an scilicet haeres? quis potior index, puerisve quis aptior orbis? 20 hoc igitur, quo tu Iovis aurem inpellere temptas, dic agedum Staio, 'pro Iuppiter! o bone' clamet 'Iuppiter!' at sese non clamet Iuppiter ipse? ignovisse putas, quia, cum tonat, ocius ilex sulpure discutitur sacro quam tuque domusque? 25 an quia non fibris ovium Ergennaque iubente triste iaces lucis evitandumque bidental, idcirco stolidam praebet tibi vellere barbam Iuppiter? aut quidnam est, qua tu mercede deorum emeris auriculas? pulmone et lactibus unctis? 30 Ecce avia aut metuens divum matertera cunis exemit puerum frontemque atque uda labella infami digito et lustralibus ante salivis expiat, urentis oculos inhibere perita; tunc manibus quatit et spem macram supplice voto 35 nunc Licini in campos, nunc Crassi mittit in aedis 'hunc optet generum rex et regina! puellae hunc rapiant! quidquid calcaverit hic, rosa fiat!' ast ego nutrici non mando vota: negato, Iuppiter, haec illi, quamvis te albata rogarit. 40 Poscis opem nervis corpusque fidele senectae. esto age; sed grandes patinae tuccetaque crassa adnuere his superos vetuere Iovemque morantur. Rem struere exoptas caeso bove Mercuriumque arcessis fibra 'da fortunare Penatis, 45 da pecus et gregibus fetum!' quo, pessime, pacto, tot tibi cum in flammas iunicum omenta liquescant et tamen hic extis et opimo vincere ferto intendit 'iam crescit ager, iam crescit ovile, iam dabitur, iam iam!' donec deceptus et exspes 50 nequiquam fundo suspiret nummus in imo. Si tibi creterras argenti incusaque pingui auro dona feram, sudes et pectore laevo excutiat guttas laetari praetrepidum cor. hinc illud subiit, auro sacras quod ovato 55 perducis facies; nam fratres inter aenos somnia pituita qui purgatissima mittunt, praecipui sunto sitque illis aurea barba. aurum vasa Numae Saturniaque inpulit aera Vestalisque urnas et Tuscum fictile mutat. 60 o curvae in terris animae et caelestium inanes! quid iuvat hoc, templis nostros inmittere mores et bona dis ex hac scelerata ducere pulpa? haec sibi corrupto casiam dissolvit olivo, haec Calabrum coxit vitiato murice vellus, 65 haec bacam conchae rasisse et stringere venas ferventis massae crudo de pulvere iussit. peccat et haec, peccat: vitio tamen utitur. at vos dicite, pontifices, in sancto quid facit aurum? nempe hoc quod Veneri donatae a virgine pupae. 70 quin damus id superis, de magna quod dare lance non possit magni Messallae lippa propago: conpositum ius fasque animo sanctosque recessus mentis et incoctum generoso pectus honesto. haec cedo ut admoveam templis et farre litabo. 75
SATURA III.
'Nempe haec adsidue: iam clarum mane fenestras intrat et angustas extendit lumine rimas: stertimus indomitum quod despumare Falernum sufficiat, quinta dum linea tangitur umbra. en quid agis? siccas insana canicula messis 5 iam dudum coquit et patula pecus omne sub ulmo est.' unus ait comitum. "Verumne? itane? ocius adsit huc aliquis! nemon?" turgescit vitrea bilis: "findor"-- ut Arcadiae pecuaria rudere dicas. iam liber et positis bicolor membrana capillis 10 inque manus chartae nodosaque venit harundo. tunc querimur, crassus calamo quod pendeat umor, nigra quod infusa vanescat sepia lympha; dilutas querimur geminet quod fistula guttas. o miser inque dies ultra miser, hucine rerum 15 venimus? at cur non potius teneroque columbo et similis regum pueris pappare minutum poscis et iratus mammae lallare recusas? "An tali studeam calamo?" Cui verba? quid istas succinis ambages? tibi luditur. effluis amens, 20 contemnere: sonat vitium percussa, maligne respondet viridi non cocta fidelia limo. udum et molle lutum es, nunc nunc properandus et acri fingendus sine fine rota. sed rure paterno est tibi far modicum, purum et sine labe salinum-- 25 quid metuas?-- cultrixque foci secura patella. hoc satis? an deceat pulmonem rumpere ventis, stemmate quod Tusco ramum millesime ducis, censoremne tuum vel quod trabeate salutas? ad populum phaleras! ego te intus et in cute novi. 30 non pudet ad morem discincti vivere Nattae? sed stupet hic vitio et fibris increvit opimum pingue, caret culpa, nescit quid perdat, et alto demersus summa rursum non bullit in unda. magne pater divum, saevos punire tyrannos 35 haud alia ratione velis, cum dira libido moverit ingenium ferventi tincta veneno: virtutem videant intabescantque relicta. anne magis Siculi gemuerunt aera iuvenci, et magis auratis pendens laquearibus ensis 40 purpureas subter cervices terruit, 'imus, imus praecipites' quam si sibi dicat et intus palleat infelix, quod proxima nesciat uxor? Saepe oculos, memini, tangebam parvus olivo, grandia si nollem morituri verba Catonis 45 discere, non sano multum laudanda magistro, quae pater adductis sudans audiret amicis. iure; etenim id summum, quid dexter senio ferret, scire erat in voto; damnosa canicula quantum raderet; angustae collo non fallier orcae; 50 neu quis callidior buxum torquere flagello. haud tibi inexpertum curvos deprendere mores, quaeque docet sapiens bracatis inlita Medis porticus, insomnis quibus et detonsa iuventus invigilat, siliquis et grandi pasta polenta; 55 et tibi quae Samios diduxit littera ramos surgentem dextro monstravit limite callem. stertis adhuc, laxumque caput conpage soluta oscitat hesternum, dissutis undique malis! est aliquid quo tendis, et in quod dirigis arcum? 60 an passim sequeris corvos testaque lutoque, securus quo pes ferat, atque ex tempore vivis? helleborum frustra, cum iam cutis aegra tumebit, poscentis videas: venienti occurrite morbo! et quid opus Cratero magnos promittere montis? 65 discite, o miseri, et causas cognoscite rerum: quid sumus, et quidnam victuri gignimur; ordo quis datus, aut metae qua mollis flexus et unde; quis modus argento, quid fas optare, quid asper utile nummus habet; patriae carisque propinquis 70 quantum elargiri deceat; quem te deus esse iussit, et humana qua parte locatus es in re. disce, nec invideas, quod multa fidelia putet in locuplete penu, defensis pinguibus Umbris, et piper et pernae, Marsi monumenta clientis, 75 menaque quod prima nondum defecerit orca. Hic aliquis de gente hircosa centurionum dicat 'Quod sapio satis est mihi. non ego curo esse quod Arcesilas aerumnosique Solones, obstipo capite et figentes lumine terram, 80 murmura cum secum et rabiosa silentia rodunt atque exporrecto trutinantur verba labello, aegroti veteris meditantes somnia, gigni de nihilo nihilum, in nihilum nil posse reverti. hoc est, quod palles? cur quis non prandeat, hoc est?' 85 His populus ridet, multumque torosa iuventus ingeminat tremulos naso crispante cachinnos. 'Inspice; nescio quid trepidat mihi pectus et aegris faucibus exsuperat gravis alitus; inspice, sodes!' qui dicit medico, iussus requiescere, postquam 90 tertia conpositas vidit nox currere venas, de maiore domo modice sitiente lagoena lenia loturo sibi Surrentina rogabit. 'Heus, bone, tu palles!' "Nihil est." 'Videas tamen istuc, quidquid id est: surgit tacite tibi lutea pellis.' 95 "At tu deterius palles; ne sis mihi tutor; iam pridem hunc sepeli: tu restas." 'Perge, tacebo.' turgidus hic epulis atque albo ventre lavatur, gutture sulpureas lente exalante mefites; sed tremor inter vina subit calidumque triental 100 excutit e manibus, dentes crepuere retecti, uncta cadunt laxis tunc pulmentaria labris. hinc tuba, candelae, tandemque beatulus alto conpositus lecto crassisque lutatus amomis in portam rigidas calces extendit: at illum 105 hesterni capite induto subiere Quirites. 'Tange, miser, venas et pone in pectore dextram. nil calet hic. summosque pedes attinge manusque. non frigent.' Visa est si forte pecunia, sive candida vicini subrisit molle puella, 110 cor tibi rite salit? positum est algente catino durum holus et populi cribro decussa farina: temptemus fauces, tenero latet ulcus in ore putre, quod haud deceat plebeia radere beta. alges, cum excussit membris timor albus aristas; 115 nunc face supposita fervescit sanguis et ira scintillant oculi, dicisque facisque, quod ipse non sani esse hominis non sanus iuret Orestes.
SATURA IV.
'Rem populi tractas?' barbatum haec crede magistrum dicere, sorbitio tollit quem dira cicutae 'quo fretus? dic hoc, magni pupille Pericli. scilicet ingenium et rerum prudentia velox ante pilos venit, dicenda tacendaque calles. 5 ergo ubi commota fervet plebecula bile, fert animus calidae fecisse silentia turbae maiestate manus. quid deinde loquere? "Quirites, hoc puta non iustum est, illud male, rectius illud." scis etenim iustum gemina suspendere lance 10 ancipitis librae, rectum discernis, ubi inter curva subit, vel cum fallit pede regula varo, et potis es nigrum vitio praefigere theta. quin tu igitur, summa nequiquam pelle decorus, ante diem blando caudam iactare popello 15 desinis, Anticyras melior sorbere meracas! quae tibi summa boni est? uncta vixisse patella semper et adsiduo curata cuticula sole? exspecta, haud aliud respondeat haec anus. i nunc "Dinomaches ego sum," suffla "sum candidus." esto; 20 dum ne deterius sapiat pannucia Baucis, cum bene discincto cantaverit ocima vernae.' Ut nemo in sese temptat descendere, nemo, sed praecedenti spectatur mantica tergo! quaesieris 'Nostin Vettidi praedia?' "Cuius?" 25 'Dives arat Curibus quantum non miluus errat.' "Hunc ais, hunc dis iratis genioque sinistro, qui, quandoque iugum pertusa ad compita figit, seriolae veterem metuens deradere limum ingemit: hoc bene sit! tunicatum cum sale mordens 30 caepe et farrata pueris plaudentibus olla pannosam faecem morientis sorbet aceti?" at si unctus cesses et figas in cute solem, est prope te ignotus, cubito qui tangat et acre despuat 'hi mores! penemque arcanaque lumbi 35 runcantem populo marcentis pandere vulvas! tu cum maxillis balanatum gausape pectas, inguinibus quare detonsus gurgulio exstat? quinque palaestritae licet haec plantaria vellant elixasque nates labefactent forcipe adunca, 40 non tamen ista filix ullo mansuescit aratro.' caedimus inque vicem praebemus crura sagittis. vivitur hoc pacto; sic novimus. ilia subter caecum vulnus habes; sed lato balteus auro praetegit. ut mavis, da verba et decipe nervos, 45 si potes. 'Egregium cum me vicinia dicat, non credam?' Viso si palles, inprobe, nummo, si facis in penem quidquid tibi venit amarum, si puteal multa cautus vibice flagellas: nequiquam populo bibulas donaveris aures. 50 respue, quod non es; tollat sua munera cerdo; tecum habita: noris, quam sit tibi curta supellex.
SATURA V.
Vatibus hic mos est, centum sibi poscere voces, centum ora et linguas optare in carmina centum, fabula seu maesto ponatur hianda tragoedo, vulnera seu Parthi ducentis ab inguine ferrum. 'Quorsum haec? aut quantas robusti carminis offas 5 ingeris, ut par sit centeno gutture niti? grande locuturi nebulas Helicone legunto, si quibus aut Prognes, aut si quibus olla Thyestae fervebit, saepe insulso cenanda Glyconi; tu neque anhelanti, coquitur dum massa camino, 10 folle premis ventos, nec clauso murmure raucus nescio quid tecum grave cornicaris inepte, nec scloppo tumidas intendis rumpere buccas. verba togae sequeris iunctura callidus acri, ore teres modico, pallentis radere mores 15 doctus et ingenuo culpam defigere ludo. hinc trahe quae dicis, mensasque relinque Mycenis cum capite et pedibus, plebeiaque prandia noris.' Non equidem hoc studeo, bullatis ut mihi nugis pagina turgescat, dare pondus idonea fumo. 20 secreti loquimur; tibi nunc hortante Camena excutienda damus praecordia, quantaque nostrae pars tua sit, Cornute, animae, tibi, dulcis amice, ostendisse iuvat: pulsa, dinoscere cautus, quid solidum crepet et pictae tectoria linguae. 25 his ego centenas ausim deposcere voces, ut, quantum mihi te sinuoso in pectore fixi, voce traham pura, totumque hoc verba resignent, quod latet arcana non enarrabile fibra. Cum primum pavido custos mihi purpura cessit 30 bullaque succinctis Laribus donata pependit; cum blandi comites totaque inpune Subura permisit sparsisse oculos iam candidus umbo; cumque iter ambiguum est et vitae nescius error deducit trepidas ramosa in compita mentes, 35 me tibi supposui: teneros tu suscipis annos Socratico, Cornute, sinu; tum fallere sollers apposita intortos extendit regula mores, et premitur ratione animus vincique laborat artificemque tuo ducit sub pollice vultum. 40 tecum etenim longos memini consumere soles, et tecum primas epulis decerpere noctes: unum opus et requiem pariter disponimus ambo, atque verecunda laxamus seria mensa. non equidem hoc dubites, amborum foedere certo 45 consentire dies et ab uno sidere duci nostra vel aequali suspendit tempora Libra Parca tenax veri, seu nata fidelibus hora dividit in Geminos concordia fata duorum, Saturnumque gravem nostro Iove frangimus una: 50 nescio quod, certe est, quod me tibi temperat astrum. Mille hominum species et rerum discolor usus; velle suum cuique est, nec voto vivitur uno. mercibus hic Italis mutat sub sole recenti rugosum piper et pallentis grana cumini, 55 hic satur inriguo mavult turgescere somno; hic campo indulget, hunc alea decoquit, ille in Venerem putris; sed cum lapidosa cheragra fregerit articulos, veteris ramalia fagi, tunc crassos transisse dies lucemque palustrem 60 et sibi iam seri vitam ingemuere relictam. at te nocturnis iuvat inpallescere chartis; cultor enim iuvenum purgatas inseris aures fruge Cleanthea. petite hinc puerique senesque finem animo certum miserisque viatica canis! 65 'Cras hoc fiet.' Idem cras fiet. 'Quid? quasi magnum nempe diem donas.' Sed cum lux altera venit, iam cras hesternum consumpsimus: ecce aliud cras egerit hos annos et semper paulum erit ultra. nam quamvis prope te, quamvis temone sub uno 70 vertentem sese frustra sectabere cantum, cum rota posterior curras et in axe secundo. Libertate opus est, non hac, ut, quisque Velina Publius emeruit, scabiosum tesserula far possidet. heu steriles veri, quibus una Quiritem 75 vertigo facit! hic Dama est non tressis agaso, vappa lippus et in tenui farragine mendax: verterit hunc dominus, momento turbinis exit Marcus Dama. papae! Marco spondente recusas credere tu nummos? Marco sub iudice palles? 80 Marcus dixit: ita est; adsigna, Marce, tabellas. haec mera libertas; hoc nobis pillea donant! 'An quisquam est alius liber, nisi ducere vitam cui licet, ut voluit? licet ut volo vivere: non sum liberior Bruto?' "Mendose colligis," inquit 85 stoicus hic aurem mordaci lotus aceto "haec reliqua accipio; licet illud et ut volo tolle." 'Vindicta postquam meus a praetore recessi, cur mihi non liceat, iussit quodcumque voluntas, excepto si quid Masuri rubrica vetavit?' 90 Disce, sed ira cadat naso rugosaque sanna, dum veteres avias tibi de pulmone revello. non praetoris erat stultis dare tenuia rerum officia atque usum rapidae permittere vitae: sambucam citius caloni aptaveris alto. 95 stat contra ratio et secretam garrit in aurem, ne liceat facere id quod quis vitiabit agendo. publica lex hominum naturaque continet hoc fas, ut teneat vetitos inscitia debilis actus. diluis helleborum, certo conpescere puncto 100 nescius examen: vetat hoc natura medendi. navem si poscat sibi peronatus arator, luciferi rudis, exclamet Melicerta perisse frontem de rebus. tibi recto vivere talo ars dedit, et veri speciem dinoscere calles, 105 ne qua subaerato mendosum tinniat anro? quaeque sequenda forent, quaeque evitanda vicissim, illa prius creta, mox haec carbone notasti? es modicus voti? presso lare? dulcis amicis? iam nunc astringas, iam nunc granaria laxes, 110 inque luto fixum possis transcendere nummum, nec glutto sorbere salivam Mercurialem? 'haec mea sunt, teneo' cum vere dixeris, esto liberque ac sapiens praetoribus ac Iove dextro, sin tu, cum fueris nostrae paulo ante farinae, 115 pelliculam veterem retines et fronte politus astutam vapido servas sub pectore vulpem, quae dederam supra relego funemque reduco: nil tibi concessit ratio; digitum exsere, peccas, et quid tam parvum est? sed nullo ture litabis, 120 haereat in stultis brevis ut semuncia recti. haec miscere nefas; nec, cum sis cetera fossor, tris tantum ad numeros satyrum moveare Bathylli. 'Liber ego.' Unde datum hoc sentis, tot subdite rebus? an dominum ignoras, nisi quem vindicta relaxat? 125 'I puer et strigiles Crispini ad balnea defer!' si increpuit, 'cessas nugator;' servitium acre te nihil impellit, nec quicquam extrinsecus intrat, quod nervos agitet; sed si intus et in iecore aegro nascuntur domini, qui tu inpunitior exis 130 atque hic, quem ad strigiles scutica et metus egit erilis? Mane piger stertis. 'Surge!' inquit Avaritia 'heia surge!' Negas; instat 'Surge!' inquit. "Non queo." 'Surge!' "Et quid agam?" 'Rogitas? en saperdam advehe Ponto, castoreum, stuppas, hebenum, tus, lubrica Coa; 135 tolle recens primus piper ex sitiente camelo; verte aliquid; iura.' "Sed Iuppiter audiet." 'Eheu! varo, regustatum digito terebrare salinum contentus perages, si vivere cum Iove tendis!' iam pueris pellem succinctus et oenophorum aptas 140 'Ocius ad navem!' nihil obstat, quin trabe vasta Aegaeum rapias, ni sollers Luxuria ante seductum moneat 'Quo deinde, insane, ruis? quo? quid tibi vis? calido sub pectore mascula bilis intumuit, quod non exstinxerit urna cicutae? 145 tu mare transilias? tibi torta cannabe fulto cena sit in transtro, Veientanumque rubellum exalet vapida laesum pice sessilis obba? quid petis? ut nummi, quos hic quincunce modesto nutrieras, pergant avidos sudare deunces? 150 indulge genio, carpamus dulcia! nostrum est quod vivis; cinis et manes et fabula fies. vive memor leti! fugit hora; hoc quod loquor inde est.' en quid agis? duplici in diversum scinderis hamo. huncine, an hunc sequeris? subeas alternus oportet 155 ancipiti obsequio dominos, alternus oberres. nec tu, cum obstiteris semel instantique negaris parere imperio, 'rupi iam vincula' dicas; nam et luctata canis nodum abripit; et tamen illi, cum fugit, a collo trahitur pars longa catenae. 160 'Dave, cito, hoc credas iubeo, finire dolores praeteritos meditor.' crudum Chaerestratus unguem adrodens ait haec 'an siccis dedecus obstem cognatis? an rem patriam rumore sinistro limen ad obscenum frangam, dum Chrysidis udas 165 ebrius ante fores exstincta cum face canto?' "Euge, puer, sapias, dis depellentibus agnam percute." 'Sed censen plorabit, Dave, relicta?' "Nugaris; solea, puer, obiurgabere rubra. ne trepidare velis atque artos rodere casses! 170 nunc ferus et violens; at si vocet, haud mora, dicas: Quidnam igitur faciam? nec nunc, cum arcessat et ultro supplicet, accedam? Si totus et integer illinc exieras, nec nunc." hic hic, quod quaerimus, hic est, non in festuca, lictor quam iactat ineptus. 175 ius habet ille sui palpo, quem ducit hiantem cretata ambitio? vigila et cicer ingere large rixanti populo, nostra ut Floralia possint aprici meminisse senes: quid pulchrius? at cum Herodis venere dies, unctaque fenestra 180 dispositae pinguem nebulam vomuere lucernae portantes violas, rubrumque amplexa catinum cauda natat thynni, tumet alba fidelia vino: labra moves tacitus recutitaque sabbata palles. tum nigri lemures ovoque pericula rupto, 185 tum grandes galli et cum sistro lusca sacerdos incussere deos inflantis corpora, si non praedictum ter mane caput gustaveris alli. Dixeris haec inter varicosos centuriones, continuo crassum ridet Pulfennius ingens, 190 et centum Graecos curto centusse licetur.
SATURA VI.
Admovit iam bruma foco te, Basse, Sabino? iamne lyra et tetrico vivunt tibi pectine chordae? mire opifex numeris veterum primordia vocum atque marem strepitum fidis intendisse Latinae, mox iuvenes agitare iocis et pollice honesto 5 egregius lusisse senes. mihi nunc Ligus ora intepet hibernatque meum mare, qua latus ingens dant scopuli et multa litus se valle receptat. Lunai portum, est operae, cognoscite, cives! cor iubet hoc Enni, postquam destertuit esse 10 Maeonides, Quintus pavone ex Pythagoreo. hic ego securus vulgi et quid praeparet auster infelix pecori, securus et angulus ille vicini nostro quia pinguior, etsi adeo omnes ditescant orti peioribus, usque recusem 15 curvus ob id minui senio aut cenare sine uncto, et signum in vapida naso tetigisse lagoena. discrepet his alius! geminos, horoscope, varo producis genio. solis natalibus est qui tingat holus siccum muria vafer in calice empta, 20 ipse sacrum inrorans patinae piper; hic bona dente grandia magnanimus peragit puer. utar ego, utar, nec rhombos ideo libertis ponere lautus, nec tenuis sollers turdarum nosse salivas. messe tenus propria vive et granaria, fas est, 25 emole; quid metuis? occa, et seges altera in herba est. ast vocat officium: trabe rupta Bruttia saxa prendit amicus inops, remque omnem surdaque vota condidit Ionio; iacet ipse in litore et una ingentes de puppe dii, iamque obvia mergis 30 costa ratis lacerae. nunc et de caespite vivo frange aliquid, largire inopi, ne pictus oberret caerulea in tabula. 'Sed cenam funeris heres negleget, iratus quod rem curtaveris; urnae ossa inodora dabit, seu spirent cinnama surdum, 35 seu ceraso peccent casiae, nescire paratus. tune bona incolumis minuas? et Bestius urguet doctores Graios: Ita fit, postquam sapere urbi cum pipere et palmis venit nostrum hoc maris expers; fenisecae crasso vitiarunt unguine pultes.' 40 Haec cinere ulterior metuas? At tu, meus heres quisquis eris, paulum a turba seductior audi. o bone, num ignoras? missa est a Caesare laurus insignem ob cladem Germanae pubis, et aris frigidus excutitur cinis, ac iam postibus arma, 45 iam chlamydes regum, iam lutea gausapa captis essedaque ingentesque locat Caesonia Rhenos. dis igitur genioque ducis centum paria ob res egregie gestas induco; quis vetat? aude. vae, nisi conives! oleum artocreasque popello 50 largior; an prohibes? dic clare! 'Non adeo,' inquis 'exossatus ager iuxta est.' Age, si mihi nulla iam reliqua ex amitis, patruelis nulla, proneptis nulla manet patrui, sterilis matertera vixit, deque avia nihilum superest, accedo Bovillas 55 clivumque ad Virbi, praesto est mihi Manius heres. 'Progenies terrae?' Quaere ex me, quis mihi quartus sit pater: haud prompte, dicam tamen; adde etiam unum, unum etiam: terrae est iam filius, et mihi ritu Manius hic generis prope maior avunculus exit. 60 qui prior es, cur me in decursu lampada poscis? sum tibi Mercurius; venio deus huc ego ut ille pingitur; an renuis? vin tu gaudere relictis? 'Dest aliquid summae.' Minui mihi; sed tibi totum est, quidquid id est. ubi sit, fuge quaerere, quod mihi quondam 65 legarat Tadius, neu dicta repone paterna: Faenoris accedat merces; hinc exime sumptus. quid reliquum est? Reliquum? nunc, nunc inpensius ungue, ungue, puer, caules! mihi festa luce coquetur urtica et fissa fumosum sinciput aure, 70 ut tuus iste nepos olim satur anseris extis, cum morosa vago singultiet inguine vena, patriciae inmeiat vulvae? mihi trama figurae sit reliqua, ast illi tremat omento popa venter? vende animam lucro, mercare atque excute sollers 75 omne latus mundi, nec sit praestantior alter Cappadocas rigida pinguis plausisse castata: rem duplica. 'Feci; iam triplex, iam mihi quarto, iam deciens redit in rugam: depunge, ubi sistam.' Inventus, Chrysippe, tui finitor acervi. 80
[End of duplicated material: see Transcriber's Note at beginning of e-text.]
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_Quando cerco norme di gusto, vado ad Orazio, il più amabile; quando ho bisogno di bile contra le umane ribalderie, visito Giovenale, il più splendido; quando mi studio d'esser onesto, vivo con PERSIO, il più saggio, e con infinito piacere mescolato di vergogna bevo li dettati della ragione su le labbra di questo verecondo e santissimo giovanetto._ VINCENZO MONTI.
+Sunistanto hoi men hôs touton, hoi d' hôs ekeinon plên monou tou Iônos; ekeinos de meson heauton ephulatten.+ +LOUKIANOU.+
PERSIUS das rechte Ideal eines hoffärtigen und mattherzigen der Poesie beflissenen Jungen. MOMMSEN.
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INTRODUCTION.
An ancient Vita Persii, of uncertain authorship, of evident authenticity, gives all that it is needful for us to know about our poet-- much more than is vouchsafed to us for the rich individuality of Lucilius, much more than we can divine for the unsubstantial character of Juvenal.
Aulus Persius Flaccus was born on the day before the nones of December, A.U.C. 787, A.D. 34, at Volaterrae, in Etruria. That Luna in Liguria was his birthplace is a false inference of some scholars from the words meum mare in a passage of the sixth satire, where he describes his favorite resort on the Riviera.
The family of Persius belonged to the old Etruscan nobility, and more than one Persius appears in inscriptions found at Volaterrae. Other circumstances make for his Etruscan origin: the Etruscan form of his name, Aules, so written in most MSS. of his Life; the Etruscan name of his mother, Sisennia; the familiar spitefulness of his mention of Arretium, the allusions to the Tuscan haruspex, to the Tuscan pedigree; the sneering mention of the Umbrians-- fat-witted folk, who lived across the Tuscan border. Most of these, it is true, are minute points, and would be of little weight in the case of an author of wider vision, but well-nigh conclusive in a writer like Persius, who tried to make up for the narrowness of his personal experience by a microscopic attention to details.
Persius belonged to the same sphere of society as Maecenas. Like Maecenas an Etruscan, he was, like Maecenas, an eques Romanus. The social class of which he was a member did much for Roman literature; Etruria's contributions were far less valuable, and Mommsen is right when he recognizes in both these men, so unlike in life and in principle-- the one a callous wordling, the other a callow philosopher-- the stamp of their strange race, a race which is a puzzle rather than a mystery. Indeed, the would-be mysterious is one of the most salient points in the style of Persius as in the religion of the Etruscans, and Persius's elaborate involution of the commonplace is parallel with the secret wisdom of his countrymen. The minute detail of the Etruscan ritual has its counterpart in the minute detail of Persius's style, and the want of a due sense of proportion and a certain coarseness of language in our author remind us of the defects of Etruscan art and the harshness of the Etruscan tongue.
Persius was born, if not to great wealth, at least to an ample competence. His father died when the poet was but six years old, and his education was conducted at Volaterrae under the superintendence of his mother and her second husband, Fusius. For the proper appreciation of the career of Persius, it is a fact of great significance that he seems to have been very much under the influence of the women of his household. To this influence he owed the purity of his habits; but feminine training is not without its disadvantages for the conduct of life. For social refinement there is no better school; but the pet of the home circle is apt to make the grossest blunders when he ventures into the larger world of no manners, and attempts to use the language of outside sinners. And so, when Persius undertakes to rebuke the effeminacy of his time, he outbids the worst passages of Horace and rivals the most lurid indecencies of Juvenal.
When Persius was twelve years old he went to Rome, as Horace and Ovid had done before him, for the purpose of a wider and higher education, and was put to school with Verginius Flaccus, the rhetorician, and Remmius Palaemon, the grammarian. Verginius Flaccus was exiled from Rome by Nero, with Musonius Rufus, on account of the prominence which he had achieved as a teacher, and Quintilian quotes him as an authority in his profession. Remmius Palaemon, the other teacher of Persius, a man of high attainments and low principles, was one of the most illustrious grammarians of a time when grammarians could be illustrious. A freedman, with a freedman's character, he was arrogant and vain, grasping and prodigal-- in short, a Sir Epicure Mammon of a professor. But his prodigious memory, his ready flow of words, his power of improvising poetry, attracted many pupils during his prolonged life, and after his death he was cited with respect by other grammarians-- a rare apotheosis among that captious tribe. The first satirical efforts of ingenuous youth are usually aimed at their preceptors, and the verses which Persius quotes in the First Satire are quite as likely to be from the school of Palaemon as from the poems of Nero.
But the true teacher of Persius, the man to whom he himself attributed whatever progress he made in that 'divine philosophy' which deals at once with the constitution of the universe and the conduct of life-- his 'spiritual director,' to use the language of Christian ascetics-- was Cornutus. Persius is one of those literary celebrities whose title to fame is not beyond dispute; and while some maintain his right to high distinction on the ground of intrinsic merit, others seek with perhaps too much avidity for the accidents to which he is supposed to owe his renown. If it is necessary to excuse, as it were, his reputation, the relation of Persius to Cornutus might go far to explain the care which schoolmasters have taken of the memory of the poet. No matter how crabbed the teacher may be, how austere the critic, the opening of the Fifth Satire, with its warm tribute to the guide of his life and the friend of his heart, calls up the image of the ideal pupil, and touches into kindred the brazen bowels of Didymus.
Lucius Annaeus Cornutus, of Leptis in Africa, was a philosopher, grammarian, and rhetorician. It has been conjectured that he was a freedman of the literary family of the Annaei; and this is rendered probable by the fact that Annaeus Lucanus, the nephew of Annaeus Seneca, was his pupil. The year of his life and the year of his death are alike unknown. He was banished from Rome by Nero because he had ventured to suggest that Nero's projected epic on Roman history would be too long if drawn out to four hundred books, and that the imperial poem would find no readers. When one of Nero's flatterers rejoined that Chrysippus was a still more voluminous author, Cornutus had the bad taste to point out the practical importance of the writings of Chrysippus in contrast with Nero's unpractical project; and Nero, who had a poet's temper, if not a poet's gifts, sent him to an island, there to revise his literary judgment. Cornutus was not only a man of various learning in philosophy, rhetoric, and grammar, but a tragic poet of some note, and perhaps a satirist. Whether the jumble that bears the name of Cornutus or Phurnutus, De Natura Deorum, is in any measure traceable to our Cornutus, is not pertinent to our subject. Of more importance to us than his varied attainments is his pure and lofty character, which made him worthy of the ardent affection with which Persius clung to his 'Socratic bosom.' It is recorded to his honor that Persius having bequeathed to him his library and a considerable sum of money, he accepted the books only and relinquished the money to the family of Persius. Nor did he cease his loving care for his friend after his ashes, but revised his satires, and suppressed the less mature performances of the young poet.
The social circle in which Persius moved was not wide. The mark of the beast called Coterie, which is upon the foreheads of the most plentifully belaurelled Roman poets, is on his brow also. But it must be said that the men whom he associated with belonged to the chosen few of a corrupt time, albeit they would have been of more service to their country if they had not recognized themselves so conspicuously as the elect. The Stoic salon in which Persius lived and moved and had his being reminds M. Martha of a Puritan household; it reminds us of the sequestered Legitimist opposition to the France of yesterday. We are so apt to see parallels when we are well acquainted with but one of the lines-- or with neither.
Let us pass in review some of the associates and acquaintances of Persius.
Among his early friends was Caesius Bassus, to whom the Sixth Satire is addressed: an older contemporary, who had studied with the same master, next to Horace, by a long remove, among the Roman lyrists. To his fellow-pupils belong Calpurnius, who is more than doubtfully identified with the author of the Bucolics; and Lucan (Annaeus Lucanus), the poet of the Pharsalia, who shared with him the instructions of Cornutus, and is said to have shown the most fervent admiration of the genius of his school-fellow. We are told that when the First Satire was recited, Lucan exclaimed that these were true poems. Whether he accompanied this encomium with a disparagement of his own performances, or simply had reference to the modest disclaimer of Persius's Prologue, as Jahn is inclined to think, does not appear. The anecdote is in perfect keeping with the perfervid Spanish temper of Lucan and Lucan's family. But this momentary burst of admiration is no indication of any genuine sympathy between the effusive and rhetorical Cordovan and the shy, philosophical Etruscan. Nominally they belonged to the same school-- the Stoic; but Persius was ready to resist unto blood, Lucan's Stoicism was a mere parade.
While this anecdote leaves us in suspense as to the relations between Lucan and Persius, we have express evidence that there was no sympathy between Persius and Seneca. They met, we are informed, but the poet took little pleasure in the society of the essayist. This is not the place to attempt a characteristic of this famous writer, who, like Persius, leaves few readers indifferent. Once the idol of the moralists-- who of all old birds are the most easily caught with chaff-- Seneca has fallen into comparative disfavor within the last few decades; yet sometimes a vigorous champion starts up to do battle for him, such as Farrar in England, and, with more moderation, Constant Martha in France; and his cause is by no means hopeless if the advocate can keep his hearers from reading Seneca for themselves. It is impossible not to admire Seneca in passages; it seems very difficult to retain the admiration after reading him continuously. The glittering phrase masks a poverty of thought; 'the belt with its broad gold covers a hidden wound.' To Persius, the youthful Stoic, with his high purpose and his transcendental views of life, Seneca the courtier, the time-server, the adroit flatterer, must have appeared little better than a hypocrite, or, which is worse to an ardent mind, a practical negation of his own aspirations. The young convert-- and Persius's philosophy was Persius's religion-- in the first glow of his enthusiasm, must have been repelled by the callousness of the older professor of the same faith. And yet so strong was the impress of the age that Persius and Seneca are not so far asunder after all. To understand Persius we must read Seneca; and the lightning stroke of Caligula's tempestuous brain, harena sine calce, illuminates and shivers the one as well as the other.
If the family of the Annaei did not prove congenial, there were others to whom Persius might look for sympathy and instruction. Such was M. Servilius Nonianus, a man of high position, of rare eloquence, of unsullied fame. Such was Plotius Macrinus, to whom the Second Satire is addressed, itself a eulogy. Even in his own family circle there were persons whose lofty characters have made them celebrated in history. His kinswoman Arria, herself destined to become famous for her devotion to her husband, was the wife of Thrasea Paetus, and the daughter of that other Arria, whose supreme cry, NON DOLET, when she taught her husband how to meet his doom, is one of the most familiar speeches of a period when speech was bought with death. Thrasea, the husband of the younger Arria, was one of the foremost men of his time, and bore himself with a moderation which contrasts strongly with the ostentatious virtue of some of the Stoic chiefs. He rebuked the vices of his time unsparingly, but steadily observed the respect due to the head of the state; and even when the decree was passed which congratulated Nero on the murder of his mother, he contented himself with retiring from the senate-house. But Thrasea's silent disapproval of one crime fired Nero to another, and his refusal to deprecate the wrath of the emperor was the cause of his ruin-- if that could be called ruin which he welcomed as he poured out his blood in libation to Jupiter the Liberator.
That the familiar intercourse with such a man should have inspired a youth of the education and the disposition of Persius with still higher resolves and still higher endeavors is not strange. That it sufficed, as some say, to penetrate Persius with the sober wisdom of maturer years, and made up to him for the lack of personal experience and artistic balance, is attributing more to association than association can accomplish.
To Thrasea's influence Jahn ascribes Persius's juvenile essays in the preparation of praetextae, or tragedies with Roman themes, and it is not unlikely that a poetical description of his travels (+hodoiporikôn+) referred to some little trip that he took with Thrasea. Thanks to Cornutus, this youthful production-- which doubtless was nothing more than a weak imitation of Horace, or haply of Lucilius-- was suppressed after the death of the author, and with it his praetexta, and a short poem in honor of the elder Arria also.
The purity of Persius's morals, and the love which he bore his mother, his sister, his aunt, stand to each other reciprocally as cause and effect; and the occasional crudity of his language is, as we have already seen, the crudity of a bookish man, who thinks that the sure way to do a thing is to overdo it. Persius was a man of handsome person, gentle bearing, attractive manners, and added to the charm of his society the interest which always gathers about those whom the gods love.
He died on his estate at the eighth milestone on the Appian Road, vitio stomachi, eight days before the kalends of December, A.U.C. 815-- A.D. 62-- in the twenty-eighth year of his age.
Cornutus first revised the satires of his friend, and then gave them to Caesius Bassus to edit. The only important change that Cornutus made was the substitution of quis non for Mida rex (1,121), a subject which is discussed in the Commentary. Other traces of wavering expression and duplex recensio are due to the imagination of commentators, who attribute to the young poet a logical method and an exactness of development for which the style of Persius gives them no warrant. Raro et tarde scripsit, the statement of the Life of Persius, explains much.
The poems of Persius were received with applause as soon as they appeared, and the old Vita Persii would have us believe that people scrambled for the copies as if the pages were so many Sabine women. Quintilian, in his famous inventory of Greek and Roman literature, says that Persius earned a great deal of glory, and true glory, by a single book, and here and there the great scholar does Persius homage by imitating him; and Martial holds up Persius with his one book of price, as a contrast to the empty bulk of a half-forgotten epic. But it would not be worth the while to repeat the list of the admirers of Persius in the ages of later Latinity. It suffices to say that he was the special favorite of the Latin Fathers. Augustin quotes or imitates him often, and Jerome is saturated with the phraseology of our poet. Commended to Christian teachers by the elevation of his moral tone, by the pithiness of his maxims and reflections, and the energy of his figures, he was set up on a high chair, a big school-boy, to teach other school-boys, and scarcely a voice was raised in rebellion for centuries. But since the time of the Scaligers, who were not to be kept back by any consideration for the feelings of the Fathers, there has been much unfriendly criticism of Persius; and the world owes him a debt of gratitude for provoking an animosity that has opened the way to a freer discussion of the literary merits of the authors of antiquity. To be subject all one's life through fear of literary death to the bondage of antique dullness, as well as to the thraldom of contemporary stupidity, would have been a sad result of the revival of letters.
The first and last charge brought against Persius is his obscurity. Admitted by all, it is variously interpreted variously excused, variously attacked. Now it is accounted for by the political necessities of the time. Now it is attributed to the perverse ingenuity of the poet, which was fostered by the perverse tendencies of an age when, as Quintilian says, Pervasit iam multos ista persuasio ut id iam demum eleganter dictum putent quod interpretandum sit. Some simply resolve the lack of clearness into the lack of artistic power; others intimate that the fault lies more in the reader than in the author, whose dramatic liveliness, which puzzles us, presented no difficulties to the critics of his own century. But the controversy is not confined to the obscurity of the satires, Persius is all debatable ground. Some admire the pithy sententiousness of the poet; others sneer at his priggish affectation of superiority. Some point to the bookish reminiscences, which bewray the mere student; others recall the example of Ben Jonson, of Molière, to show that in literature, as in life, the greatest borrowers are often the richest men, and bid us observe with what rare and vivid power he has painted every scene that he has witnessed with his own eyes. To some he is a copyist of copyists; to others his real originality asserts itself most conspicuously where the imitation seems to be the closest. Julius Scaliger calls him miserrimus auctor; Mr. Conington notes his kindred to Carlyle.