25 30 35 dum vitant stulti vitia, in contraria currunt. Nil medium est. Sunt qui nolint tetigisse nisi illas, contra alius nullam nisi olenti in fornice stantem. Nam simul ac venas inflavit taetra libido, Audire est operae pretium, procedere recte 25-27. Two illustrations of excess, each described in a line, followed by two other extremes condensed into a single line. Vs. 27 is quoted in Sat. 1, 4, 92 as an example of jesting that is really harmless and in fact it is not likely that any of the names was meant to designate an individual. 29. instita: a border sewed on to the stola of the married woman, so that the garment came down to the ankles. 30. contra alius: cf. contra hic, 4. 31 f. Macte virtute esto: a colloquial phrase of approval; well done! that's right. — sententia dia Catonis formal and epic; Lucilius, 1316 (Marx), has Valeri sententia dia, and Horace frequently uses this kind of periphrasis in parody of the heroic style, e.g. Sat. 2, 1, 72. 35. laudarier: the old form of the infin. pass., used also in 78 and 104 with intentional archaism. 36. Cupiennius: identified by the scholiast with a certain C. Cupiennius Libo, a friend of Augustus. But it is much more likely that the name is selected for its suggestion of cupio. — albi: of the white dress of married women, in contrast to the dark toga worn by prostitutes. 37 f. A parody of a line of Ennius (454 Vahl.), audire est operae pretium, procedere recte | qui rem Romanam . voltis, with emphatic insertion of non. 40 atque haec rara cadat dura inter saepe pericla. Hic se praecipitem tecto dedit; ille flagellis 45 50 55 ad mortem caesus; fugiens hic decidit acrem accidit, ut quidam testes caudamque salacem non minus insanit, quam qui moechatur. At hic si, 40. rara: with haec (voluptas) in a predicate use, contrasting with saepe. -dura: with pericla. 43. pro corpore: paid a ransom to save himself from the penalty which might have been inflicted on him. 46. Galba: this may be a reference to a known person, a jurist who is said by the scholiast to have been himself caught in adultery. This would explain the point of negabat; as a jurist he dissented from the general judgment. But the story of the scholiast may have started with negabat. 48. Sallustius: not the historian. It may have been his nephew and heir, but this is not easily reconciled with the fact that Horace addressed a friendly ode (Carm. 2, 2) to him. 50. res, ratio: the two leading motives for self-restraint, care for his property and good sense. 51. licet: the verb itself expresses by its meaning the shading which in suaderet is expressed by the mode. bonus atque benignus : as if quoted from those who would receive the money. Cf. benignus, vs. 4. 53. hoc... uno: explained in the words matronam . . . tango. 55. Originis: said by the scholiast to have been a mima (cf. vs. 2) of Cicero's time. Marsaeus is unknown and this is therefore an apparent personality, which in reality refers to a long-past scandal. qui patrium mimae donat fundumque laremque, rem patris oblimare, malum est ubicunque. Quid inter- Villius in Fausta Sullae gener, hoc miser uno diceret haec animus 'Quid vis tibi? Numquid ego a te velatumque stola, mea cum conferbuit ira?' quid responderet? Magno patre nata puella est.' At quanto meliora monet pugnantiaque istis 75 80 85 dives opis natura suae, tu si modo recte nil referre putas? Quare, ne paeniteat te, plus haurire mali est quam ex re decerpere fructus. Nec magis huic inter niveos viridisque lapillos, sit licet hoc, Cerinthe, tuum, tenerum est femur aut crus rectius, atque etiam melius persaepe togatae est. molli fulta pede est, emptorem inducat hiantem, 90 95 Hoc illi recte ne corporis optima Lyncei quae mala sunt, spectes. O crus! O brachia! Verum ad talos stola demissa et circumdata palla, 105 quam mercem ostendi? 'Leporem venator ut alta in nive sectetur, positum sic tangere nolit,' her house (ciniflones, hairdressers, parasitae, at the table), which made it difficult to find her alone. 100. invideant . . apparere: the construction is unusual, but it is found in Plautus, e.g. Bacch. 543. Cf. the infin. after prohibere. 101. Altera: without a verb, to give a conversational tone; the thought is easily filled out from pure apparere and from the rest of vs. IOI.. - Cois: abl. neuter. A transparent kind of silk made originally in the island of Cos. 105-108. ut: how; the clause depends upon cantat. These verses give the substance of an epigram of Callimachus (Anth. Pal., xii, |