SATIRE VIII

A Snob's Dinner-party.

Fundanius, the comic poet (1. 10. 42), describes to Horace a banquet given by Nasidienus Rufus, at which Maecenas and he were present. The host was a wealthy man, without the breeding of a gentleman. Accordingly, the banquet was a lamentable failure. The host's vulgarity appears chiefly in the fact that he makes remarks about everything that is put on his table lines 6, 17, 31, 44-53, 92. In this he is backed up by his parasite Nomentanus, who is specially deputed to point out everything that escapes the notice of the guests. An accident happens, the dusty hangings falling from the wall, and, instead of cheerfully apologising, the host weeps, 54. But to add to his vulgarity he has a bad cook, 28, 68, 90; he has his groom waiting, and he waits badly, 72. In short, the Nemesis overtakes him which overtakes all who give dinner parties without the art of doing it. It is a mistake to regard him as a miser: he has very expensive viands; the best kind of boar; costly fish, fowl, game, fruit, all suaves res, line 92, and the best wine. He is a simple sort of fellow, and does not see any malice in Balatro's sarcastic remarks, line 75. Unfortunately, our ignorance of Roman manners may keep us from detecting some of the points in which the awkwardness of Nasidienus lay; and it is possible, too, that we may be led into the opposite error of imagining ridicule where there is none intended.

1. ut . . . iuvit? cf. Ep. 1. 3. 12: ut valet? the use of ut to introduce a question is conversational. Nasidieni: to be scanned Nasidjeni. The second syllable is short, if we may trust Mart. 7. 54. 8 aut vigila aut dormi Nasidiene tibi. So fluviorum, ariete, parietibus in Virg. Cf. Od. 3. 4. 41 consilium, 3. 6. 6 principium. In Servilio line 21, vindemiator 1. 7. 30, the synaeresis is after a long vowel. beati: there is some irony in the word he was really dives, but scarcely beatus: cf. Od. 4. 9. 46. 2. dictus= dictus es; the ellipse is very harsh, but to be explained as conversational (Kiessling; Orelli), cf. Plaut. Aul. 347 Cererin, Strobile, has facturi nuptias? sc. estis. Among other ellipses of the auxiliary verb, sortitus= sortitus sim, 1. 6. 53, comes next in harshness. here this form, which occurs a few times in Plaut., rarely in the golden age, perhaps once in Cic., was in the postAugustan age the regular form. heri is spoken of by Quint. 1. 4. 7 as quite archaic. 3. de medio die: the more fashionable banquets were the earlier they began, convivia tempestiva. Cf. Catull. 47. 5 vos convivia lauta sumptuose | de die facitis, with Ellis' note: the ninth hour was a more usual one for a dinner-party: imperat extructos frangere nona toros Mart. 4. 8. 6 ; Cic. ad Fam. 9. 26. 1; or later, the 10th hour, Mart. 7. 51. 11; or later still sub lumina prima 2. 7. 33; supremo sole Ep. 1. 5. 3. Nasidienus, like a vulgarian, aping the height of fashion, begins his dinner at the very early hour of noon. 4. fuerit melius, 'I never had a better time'; cf. Plaut. Most. 3. 2. 1 melius anno hoc mihi non fuit. Like ut iuvit the phrase is ironical: he 'enjoyed the dinner' and 'had a good time,' in a sense which his questioner does not yet suspect. dic has more MS. authority, but da is very idiomatic; and the change from da to dic is more likely than the reverse. Ter. Heaut. Prol. 10 paucis dabo; Virg. Ecl. 1. 18 da, Tityre, nobis; Cic. Acad. Post. 1. 3. 10 da mihi nunc. stomachum

5. With iratum ventrem placaverit cf. 2. 2. 18 latrantem leniet. Obbar says on Ep. 1. 2. 45 'pacare opponitur fere

hostili, placare irato.' Hence pacare is used of taming feras, incultas silvas, etc.; while placare is to put in a good humour, appease, satisfy: used in Horace of appeasing the gods, Od. 3. 23; envy, 2. 3. 13; the irritable race of poets, Ep. 2. 2. 102.

6. in primis: Kiessling (followed by Orelli) rightly makes the boar served cold and forming with the other piquant edibles the gustatio. That a boar, which usually formed the caput cenae, should be thus served marks extravagance. Cf. Pliny, H. N. 8. 51. 210 in principio (cenae) bini ternique manduntur apri. Lucanus aper: cf. 2. 3. 234. leni Austro: the host at once begins to speak of the peculiar excellences of his viands: a gentle south wind had, he said, given the boar a delicate flavour; boar's flesh was preferred rather high. fuit firstly there was a L. boar which had been caught . . .'; captus is participle. So Madvig, but most put colon after aper, 'firstly a L. boar it was one. caught In no case is captus fuit=captus est, cf. 1. 6. 13. 7. cenae pater, like pater domus 2. 6. 88. 8. rapula and radices are both species of radishes, the former perhaps the round white kind, resembling small turnips in shape. 9. siser, 'skirret.' allec, 'fish-pickle.' faecula, tartar lees.'

11.

13. The point is the

10. acernam: next to the high-priced orbes of citrus wood, maple tables were most prized at Rome; Plin. H. N. 16. 15. 66 acer operum elegantia ac subtilitate citro secundum; Mart. 14. 90; Mayor on Juv. 1. 137. gausape, a towel with a thick nap; nom. sing. gausapes or gausape; also gausapum: in plur. gausapa. The line is from Lucil. 517 purpureo tersit tum latas gausape mensas. purpureo: both the table and the towel are quite grand. pertersit: the table had no cloth on it; but that was not strange; the use of table-cloths was later: Becker's Gallus 2. 153. 12. sublegit: such slaves were called analectae. Mart. 7. 20. 17 colligere longa turpe nec putat dextra | analecta quidquid et canes reliquerunt. Attica virgo: one of the κavηpóρo: cf. 1. 3. 9 n. kavnpópoɩ: solemn air with which Hydaspes advances with the wine in his hands, as though such wine were not to be met with at every house. 14. fuscus Hydaspes: a black slave from India who was called after the river of his native land. So Enipeus Od. 3. 7. 23; Hebrus 3. 12. 6. Fritzsche mentions a philosopher Euphrates, Plin. Ep. 1. 10. 1. 15. Caecuba: a very choice wine ; see Dict. Ant. s. v. vinum. vina: poetic for vinum; cf. Epod. 2. 47 et horna dulci vina promens dolio. So Caecubum Od. 1. 37. 5, but Caecuba 2. 14. 25. Chium: one of the best Greek wines; cf. Od. 3. 19. 5. maris expers, i.e. the very best that could be got. To the choice wines of Chios and Lesbos no brine was added: see Galen x. p. 833 où μǹv ovdè eiwbaoɩ Toîs εὐγένεσιν οἴνοις μίγνυναι τῆς θαλάσσης ἐν Λέσβῳ, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ ἐν Χίῳ. év The poorer sorts were thus doctored, Telaλaoowμévol. So in Italy resinata τεθαλασσωμένοι. vina were inferior (Mart. 3. 77. 8); cf. Columella 12. 19. 2 quaecumque vini nota sine condimento valet perennare optimam esse censemus. So we talk of 'brut' wines.

16. Albanum and Falernum were not ranked as high as Caecuban by Pliny: Alban was placed in the third, Falernian in the second class, though in his day equal to any. 17. habemus utrumque: the words mark the ostentation of Nasidienus: he produces the choicest Caecuban, but not content with that, remarks that if his guest prefers these other fine wines they are both at hand. It is this ostentation which wrings from Horace the exclamation divitias miseras! 'what wretched riches!' i.e. what a wretched

rich man, who does not know how to use his riches like a gentleman. 19. pulchre fuerit, 'you enjoyed yourself': pulchre esse=bene esse; Plaut. Merc. 3. 3. 22 has pulchre ut simus: cf. 1. 9. 62. laboro, 'I am anxious' for the infin. cf. Od. 1. 15. 27 n.

20. summus ego: see Triclinium in Smith's Dict. Ant. The following sketch shows how the guests were disposed on this occasion:

Nine was the regular number for a triclinium: three on each couch, though the number was often exceeded, 1. 4. 86. Varro, ap. Gell. 13. 11, says the number of the diners ought to begin with that of the Graces, three, and not exceed that of the Muses, nine. The lowest couch was generally reserved for the host and his family or friends. He was usually summus (7), the place here occupied by Nomentanus. No. 6 (imus of the middle couch) was reserved for the most honoured guest; it was called locus consularis (úñatikós), Plut. Quaest. Conviv. 1. 3. Viscus Thurinus: probably one of the Visci mentioned 1. 10. 83. 21. Varius: 1. 5. 40; 1. 9. 23, where he is mentioned with Viscus. Servilio: trisyllabic, for the antepenult. is long; Juv. 10. 319; Claud. Eutr. 1. 217. This person had the nickname Balatro, from his buffoonery: see on 1. 2. 2; he plays the part referred to in 1. 4. 87. 22. Vibidius: not mentioned elsewhere. umbras: uninvited guests, left to a guest to bring with him; cf. Ep. 1. 5. 28. Maecenas seems to have been fond, not only of literary men, but also of scurrae, and hangers-on generally. Augustus, in a letter to him, quoted by Suet. in his life of Horace, tells him to let Horace come to him to be his private secretary ab ista parasitica mensa. 23. Nomentanus is not necessarily the prodigal of 1. 1. 102; 2. 3. 224, but probably a man of that character, a ruined spendthrift. It was bad taste in Nasidienus to ask such a man to meet Maecenas, but his circle was not a fashionable one. ipsum, Nasidienus, the master of the house; so aúrós is used. Porcius: unknown; he ate like a pig, hence Horace selects the name for him. 24. ridiculus absorbere : Od. 1. 3. 25 n. totas simul (which many MSS. give) and totas

:

semel mean the same thing from different points of view, namely, that Porcius swallows his cakes whole. simul would lead us to think of the cake not broken, as was usual, into fragments, but swallowed whole. semel would refer to the one gulp made by Porcius.

25. ad hoc, qui for ad hoc, 'for this purpose,' taken up by a relative, cf. 2. 6. 42; 2. 1. 37. Why Nasidienus gave Nomentanus his seat next Maecenas is obscure; perhaps for the reason indicated in this line, that he could better there point out to Maecenas what might escape his notice. 26. indice, the forefinger; the other fingers were called medius (or famosus or infamis), medicus, minimus. cetera turba, nos, inquam probably refer to the occupants of the summus lectus. Nasidienus only cared about Maecenas and his umbrae; so Nomentanus is posted next to them, to point out to them what was good. 'We, on our couch,' says Fundanius, ‘had to get on as best we could.' 28. celantia, 'hiding,' not merely 'containing': there is some irony in the word; they would expect the ordinary flavour, but are disappointed. The neuter is regularly used when a plural adj. connects things of different genders; see Madv. 214 B. 29. ut vel continuo patuit, 'as at once became apparent,' i.e. the strange flavour of the viands. The odour of the passer and of the ilia rhombi was enough to convince Fundanius of this, without tasting them (ingustata). The nom. to porrexerat is probably 'our host.' It was Nasidienus who held out the plaice (passer) and the turbot to Fundanius: this is also shown by melimela me docuit rubere, for these subtle disquisitions belong to Nasidienus all through the Satire. Kiessling explains 'as for instance (vel, cf. 1. 6. 105) was at once made apparent when he (? Nomentanus) had handed to me a dish that I refused to taste,' not having any idea what it was. The passage is very obscure.

31. melimela, honey apples, formerly called mustea: Varr. R. R. 1. 59. minorem ad lunam delecta, 'gathered by the light of a waning moon'; not merely gathered when the moon is on the wane, for ad lunam always means by moonlight. Virg. Aen. 4. 513 messae ad lunam; Juv. 10. 21 ad lunam motae trepidabis arundinis umbram; cf. 2. 4. 30. 32. hoc: their being gathered so. ipso, i.e. from Nasidienus. 34. damnose bibimus, 'drink him bankrupt.' moriemur inulti: an epic phrase. Virg. Aen. 2. 670 numquam omnes hodie moriemur inulti, 4.659. Vibidius means': Nasidienus is killing us with his vulgarity, poisoning us with his bad cookery: let us have revenge before we die. 35. calices poscit maiores: to call for larger cups was not unusual with hard drinkers; generally, however, after the second course was put on the table. Cf. Epod. 9. 33 capaciores affer huc, puer, scyphos; Cic. Verr. 2. 1. 26. 66 poscunt maioribus poculis. vertere: Eur. Med. 1168 χροίαν ἀλλάξασα. 36. parochi, 'our caterer,' 'our inessman': see on 1. 5. 46; here a contemptuous expression for their host. 37. vel quod . He fears, as a parvenu might, what language his guests might use to himself when they began to express their real thoughts, or else that they would dull the sensibility of their palate to the flavour of his dishes. Palmer and Orelli say that his real reason is that he could not bear to see his good wine drunk freely. So too, they say, line 17, he brags of his Alban and other wines, but does not produce them; cf. too lines 40, 81. 39. invertunt, tilt into': cf. Lucil. 113 vertitur oenophoris fundus, sententia nobis ; Virg. Aen. 9. 165 vertunt crateras aënos, which is taken from Ennius. Allifanis sc. scyphis, large earthenware cups made at Allifae, in Samnium. vinaria, 'decanters.'

40. secutis omnibus, imi . . . i.e. though every one else followed the example of Servilius and Balatro, the parasites of the host were careful to comply with his humour and drink little. Editors place the colon after omnibus, but H. W. Moss rightly places it after Balatroque. 42. squillas, 'prawns,' 2. 4. 58: these were swimming, as it were, in sauce round a large lamprey. 43. porrecta implies that the dish was a large one, 2.2. 39. sub hoc, 'on this.' So sub haec Epod. 5. 83. 44. partum, 'spawning.' 45. his mixtum ius est, 'the sauce is composed of the following ingredients.' prima: olives were pressed three times, we are told by Colum. 12. 52. 11. The oil primae pressurae was naturally the richest and best. Venafri: 2. 4. 69. 46. garo, 'caviare.' piscis Hiberi, 'mackerel. 48. dum coquitur, 'while boiling,' the sauce was to have Italian wine added to it; after boiling,' some Chian: cf. the composition of the two kinds of sauce, 2. 4. 64 seq.; there plain sweet oil is put in before boiling; the best Venafran oil was added afterwards. 50. The vinegar must be vinegar made from Methymnaean, i. e. Lesbian wine. The line literally means which has turned the grape (i.e. the wine) of Methymna by its spoiling,' i.e. by fermentation. The essential principle of the vinegar (which is in the wine) has worked on the wine until it has soured it; cf. mutatum vinum 2. 2. 58. 51. Nasidienus has a discovery to boast of, like Catius' preceptor, 2. 4. 74. It consists of boiling with the other ingredients (incoquere) erucas, 'rockets' (and these must be green and fresh), and inulas, 'elecampane.' 52. incoquere, 'boil in the sauce.' Curtillus claims, and is allowed, a niche in the temple of culinary fame. His invention was to boil in the sauce sea-urchins without washing them (inlutos), so as to retain the 'liquor.' 53. ut melius muria quod : explanatory of inlutos, 'inasmuch as that which the sea-shell itself yields is better than the fish-pickle liquor.' In Catius' sauce, 2. 4. 65, muria is an ingredient: Curtillus' invention makes it unnecessary. ut melius ὡς κρείσσον ὄν. muria: 2. 4. 65. quod=id quod. remittit: cf. 2. 4. 69.

These

54. aulaea, 'hangings'; cf. Od. 3. 29. 15 sine aulaeis et ostro. were hung from the walls, like tapestry, merely for decoration; cf. Val. Max. 9.1.5 Attalicis aulaeis contectos parietes. See Illustration in Becker's Charicles, 319; Marquardt, Privatleben, ed. 2, 311. 56. The Campanian level plains were dry and dusty. 58. erigimur, 'we regain courage,' a common use of the word. tolleret, 'cheered up,' in 61 has the same metaphor. Rufus Nasidienus Rufus, the host. 59. flere instead of cheerfully apologising, he cried as if his heart would break. The dramatic infin. gives a mock-heroic tone, cf. vertere 35; note too the position of the word. 62. ut semper, 'how you will always make game of human affairs'; cf. Od. 3. 29. 49, and for ut gaudes 2. 6. 54.

63. mappa, which he stuffed in his mouth. Horace does not give any hint as to Maecenas' behaviour. It was probably that of a polite gentleman. 64. naso: 1.6.5. 65. eo, 'on that account,' 1. 3. 30. 67. tene: addressed to Nasidienus. ego is part of Balatro's raillery. Nasidienus did not go to such trouble for men of Balatro's mark. 68. It will give sting to Balatro's remarks if we suppose all the anxious care of Nasidienus was vain; that the bread was really burnt, and so forth. 72. agaso: a clumsy groom pressed to wait at table, who, we may suppose, removing the patina, lets it drop. 75. tibi di . . . a common formula of blessing; Plaut. Mil. 4. 2. 47 di tibi dent quaecumque optes; Stich. 3. 2. 15 di dent quae velis. 76. Nasidienus