Horum majores, ac dorso ferre cohortes, Partem aliquam belli, et euntem in prælia turrim. Nulla igitur mora per Novium, mora nulla per Istrum De grege servorum magna, aut pulcherrima quæque 110 115 had two hundred and four elephants which followed his triumph after the defeat of Asdrubal the Carthaginian general.Scipio, the fatherin-law of Pompey, had also elephants in his army in Africa. Appian. says, thirty. 108. Molossian king.] Pyrrhus, king of the Molossians, first used elephants in Italy, when he came to help the Tarentines against the Romans. 109. Cohorts.] A cohort was a tenth part of a legion-several of these were in towers on the backs of elephants, and made part of the warlike force--partem belli. 110. A tower, &c.] Towers, made of wood, and filled with armed men, were put on the backs of elephants, and thus carried into battle, where, partly by the trampling of elephants, partly by the arrows, javelins, and other missile weapons, discharged from the tow. ers, great havock was made. 111. Therefore no delay, &c.] Therefore it is not the fault of Novius, &c. that elephants are not offered, but because they can't get them.--If these legacy-hunters could procure elephants to sacrifice for the recovery of the people whom they have a design upon, they would not hesitate a moment about doing it. 112. Ivory.] Elephants, per meton. Here elephants are called ivory, from their large teeth of ivory. Georg. iii. 26. Æn. vi. 895. Virgil, on the contrary, calls ivory, elephant, by synec. 113. Before the Lares of Gallita.] In order to procure their assistance and favour towards him, that they may recover him from his sickness. The word Lares, in the largest sense, denotes certain demons, ge. nii, or spirits, believed to preside on various occasions, distinguished by their epithets. As, Lares cœlestes, some of the Dii majorum gentium; Lares marini, as Neptune, Palæmon, Thetis, &c.; Lares urbium, who were guardians of cities. The Lares also were public, as compitales, or viales, which were worshipped in the highways; or private, as the Lares domestici, or familiares, household or family deities, household gods, the protectors of the house and family. These last are usually intended by the word Lares, when used singly. See 1. 89, note. See AINSW. Lar. The note selectæ on this line, suppose this Gallita to have been And to carry cohorts on their back, Some part of the war, and a tower going to battles. 110 Ister Pacuvius, but that that ivory should be led to the altars, $115 From his flock of servants, the great, or all the most beautiful any marriageable Iphigenia at home, he will give her to the altars, although some rich childless matron, whom Tacitus calls Cruspelina. Others believe it to be' a rich old man of that name. It matters not to the subject which is right. See Juv. edit. 4to. 1695. 114. Worthy, &c.] The poet ironically styles these elephants worthy victims for such important deities as the Lares, who presided over the safety of such men, and worthy to express the huge friendship which the offerers bore them. Or, perhaps, by the word tantis, we may understand an humourous contrast, between the hugeness of the animal offered, and the littleness of the figures of the Lares before which they were offered; for the images of these were very small. See 1.87, note. Captatores were people who flattered rich men, in hopes of being their heirs-legacy-hunters. See sat. x. 1. 202, note; and see HoR. lib. ii, sat. v. l. 23, &c. 115. The one.] Pacuvius.-Alter, where two have been mentioned means one of them. That Pacuvius is here meant, appears from what follows, 1. 125-8. If you allow, &c.] If he could have his own will, and could be permitted to do such a thing. Vow.] i. e. Devote to death, 116. Flock of servants, &c.] He would pick out, from the number of his slaves, the stoutest of the men, or every one (quæque) of the most beautiful of either sex, to sacrifice. 117. His boys, &c.] He would even sacrifice those who were the instruments of his abominable pleasures. 118. Put fillets.] The vittæ were ribbands, or garlands, put on the foreheads both of the priest and of the victims. 118-19. Marriageable Iphigenia.] Any daughter in the prime of youth and beauty. Matura virgo-HOR. lib. iii. od. vi. 1. 22. Comp. HoR. lib. i. od. xxiii. 1. 11, 12. This alludes to the story of Agamemnon sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia, in order to procure a favourable wind for the departure of the Grecian fleet from Aulis, where, through the anger of the god. dess Diana, it had been wind-bound for a considerable time, because the Greeks had killed an hind belonging to the goddess. The oracle was consulted, and the answer was returned, that no wind could be had for their purpose, unless Agamemnon, the chief in the expedition, would offer up his daughter Iphigenia to appease Non speret tragicæ furtiva piacula cervæ. Post meritum sane mirandum; atque omnia soli Possideat, quantum rapuit Nero: montibus aurum 120 125 130 the anger of Diana. Agamemnon, for the public good, brought his daughter to the altar, but the goddess, relenting, conveyed her away, and put an hind in her place. 119. Give her, &c.] Offer her up as a sacrifice. 120. Furtive expiation.] Alluding to Diana's stealing away Iphigenia, and substituting the hind in her place. Tragic hind.] Which had become a subject for the tragic writers, as Sophocles, Euripides, and others. Pacuvius would consent to offer his daughter, though he were certain that nothing of this sort would happen to save her. 121. I praise my citizen.] 1 highly commend my fellow-citizen Pacuvius for his wisdom and address. Nor do I compare, &c.] To be sure the safety of a thousand ships, which could bring no peculiar and immediate profit to Agamemnon, and only answer a public purpose, is not to be compared with the last will and testament of a rich man, by which Pacuvius was to become so richly benefited as to possess his whole estate. Pacuvius therefore is certainly more justifiable than Agamemnon, in being willing to sacrifice his daughter.-A strong irony! 122. Escape Libitina.] i. e. Should recover from his sickness. Libitina was a name given to Proserpine, as presiding over funerals ; in her temple at Rome all things pertaining to funerals were sold, and the undertakers were called Libitinarii; hence, Libitina sometimes signifies death itself. 123. Cancel his will.] Lit. blot out the tables.-It has been before observed (sat. ii. 1. 58.) that the Romans wrote on thin planks of wood, called tabulæ : these were smeared over with wax, on which the letters were made with the point of a sort of bodkin, called stylus, which was flat at one end, in order to blot out, or erase, such of the writing as they meant to cancel or alter. See HoR. sat. x. lib. i. l. 72. Prison of a net.] Nassa signifies a net made of twigs, with a bait put into it, to catch fish. The rich man is here represented as fairly hampered in the net which Pacuvius had laid for him-thoroughly taken in, as we say. 124. Desert truly wonderful.] On account of such wonderful merit towards him, as Pacuvius had shewn, in lavishing such sacrifices for his recovery. He may not expect the furtive expiation of the tragic hind. Will give shortly to Pacuvius alone. He proud will 125 Great a reward of service she slaughter'd at Mycena may procure. Let Pacuvius live, I beg, even all Nestor. May he possess as much as Nero plunder'd—may gold equal Mountains; nor let him love any body, nor be loved by any body. 130 125. Will give shortly, &c.] Having cancelled his will, and erased all the legacies which he had left in it to other people, he now in a few words (breviter) makes Pacuvius his sole heir. 125-6. Will strut, &c.] Incedo sometimes means to walk or go in state. (Divûm incedo regina, says the haughty Juno, En. i. 1. 50.) The poet here means, that this fellow will take state upon him, and strut with an insolence in his look and gait, triumphing over all those who had been his competitors for Gallita's favour. 126. Therefore you see, &c.] q. d. You see of what use the example of Agamemnon was to Pacuvius; for if that king of Mycena had not offered his daughter to have her throat cut, Pacuvius had never thought of sacrificing his daughter for the recovery of the rich man who made him heir to all his estate. 128. Let Pacuvius live, &c.] Long live Pacuvius! say I, (iron.) for the longer such a man lives, the more miserable must he be. note. All Nestor.] Even to Nestor's age. See sat. x. 1. 246, 7, 129. Nero plunder'd.] Who contrary to all laws, human and divine, not only plundered the people, but even the temples of the gods. The prodigious sums, which he extorted from the provinces, by unreasonable taxes, confiscations, &c. are almost incredible. He gave no office without this charge to the person who filled it-" You "know what I want-let us make it our business that nobody may "have any thing." 187 - May gold, &c.] May heaps of ill-gotten wealth be his torment, and make him a prey to others, as others have been to him. 180. Nor let him love, &c.] This finishes completely the poet's imprecatory climax-for how thoroughly miserable must he be, who lives and dies a total stranger to the sweets of friendship. VOL. II. END OF THE TWELFTH SATIRE. SATIRA XIII. ARGUMENT. The Poet writes this Satire to Calvinus, to comfort him under the loss of a large sum of money, with which he had intrusted one of his friends, and which he could not get again. Hence Juvenal EXEMPLO quodcunque malo committitur, ipsi Displicet authori. Prima est hæc ultio, quod se Line 1. With bad example.] Every evil deed which tends to set a bad example to others. Displeases, &c.] Gives him unpleasant sensations. 2. First revenge, &c.] The vengeance which first seizes upon him, arises from himself; his own conscience will condemn him, though he should have no other judge. 4. Should have overcome the urn, &c.] Vicerit-i. e. should have defeated the urn's impartial decision, and have declared him innocent.--The pretor, who was the chief judge, had others appointed with him as assistants. The names of these were written upon little balls, and cast into an urn by the pretor: after they were shaken together, he drew out as many as the law required for the cause: after which the parties had power to reject such as they thought would be partial. The number of those excepted against were filled up by the pretor's drawing other names out of the urn. Then the judges, which were thus appointed, took an oath to judge according to law; but, on many occasions, others were often substituted by the pretor. The cause being heard, the pretor gave to each of the judges three waxen tables. On one was the letter A, to signify the acquittal or absolution of the defendant. On another C, to imply his condemnation. On another N L., for non liquet, signified that a farther hearing was necessary: which delay of the cause was called ampliation. Then the judges, being called upon, cast the billet, expressing their opinion, into the urn, according to which the pretor |