thyself to be insane; while he who laughs at thee, is in no respect whatever a wiser man than thou art, and will be himself laughed at by others as not in possession of his senses. - 53. Caudam trahat. A metaphor, taken, as the scholiast informs us, from a custom among children, who tied a tail behind a person whom they had a mind to laugh at.-56. Huic varum. " The opposite to this."- 59. Serva ! "Take care! "~60. Non magis audierit, quam Fufius ebrius olim, &c. The idea of a person madly making his way amid such dangers as those mentioned in the text, deaf to all the exclamations and warnings of his friends, naturally reminds Stertinius of the laughable anecdote relative to the actor Fufius. In the play of Pacuvius, entitled Iliona, Fufius had to support the character of this princess; and in the scene where the shade of her son, who had been murdered by Polymnestor, king of Thrace, appears to her, and begins to address her in the words Mater, te appello, proceeding to relate what has happened to him, and entreating the rites of burial, the drunken Fufius, who should have awakened and sprung from his couch at the very first words Mater, te appello, slept away in good earnest (Ilionam edormit), while Catienus, the performer who acted the part of the shade, and the entire audience after him (Catienis mille ducentis), kept calling out the words to no purpose, the intoxicated actor being too soundly asleep to hear them. -62. Huic ego vulgus, &c. The construction is as follows: Ego docebo cunctum vulgus insanire errorem similem huic errori. " I will now show that the common herd of mankind are all similarly insane." The term vulgus is here purposely employed, as keeping up the distinction between the wise man of the stoics and the less favoured portion of his fellow-creatures.

64. Insanit veteres statuas, &c. Stertinius now proceeds to prove his assertion, that the common herd of mankind are all mad. Damasippus is mad in buying up old statues: the creditor of Damasippus, who lends him the money wherewith to make these purchases, is also mad, for he knows very well it will never be repaid: usurers are mad in putting out money at interest with worthless and unprincipled men; for, however careful they may be in taking written obligations for repayment, these Proteus-like rogues will slip through their fingers. Finally, he is mad who lends money at such an exorbitant rate of interest that it can never be paid by the debtor. - 65. Esto. Accipe, quod nunquam, &c. An indirect mode is adopted to prove the insanity of Damasippus's creditor. It is conceded, for argument's sake, that he is sane, (Esto. "Suppose for a moment that he is so,") only to prove him eventually altogether out of his senses. If I tell thee, observes Stertinius, to take what I know thou wilt never be able to repay, will it be madness in thee to accept of it? Will it not rather be the height of madness for thee to refuse such an offer? It is I, then, that am mad in acting this part to thee. 69. Scribe decem a Nerio: non est satis; &c. With scribe supply tabulas. Stertinius is now supposed to address some sordid usurer, whom he advises to take care and not be over-reached in lending out his money. " Write ten obligations for the repayment of the money, after the form devised by Nerius: 'tis not enough: Add the hundred covenants of the knotty Cicuta," i. e. make the individual, who borrows of thee, sign his name, not to one merely, but to ten obligations for repayment, and let these be drawn up after the form which Nerius, craftiest of bankers, has devised, and which he compels his own debtors to sign. Still, this form cautious and guarded as it is, will not prove strong enough. Add to it

the hundred covenants of the banker Cicuta, with which, as if they were so many knots, he ties down his debtors to their agreements. -72. Mulis ridentem alienis. "Laughing with the cheeks of another." Commentators differ in their explanation of this phrase. According to some, it means "laughing immoderately:" others take it to denote "laughing at the expense of another;" while a third class render it, "forcing a laugh."

75. Putidius multo cerebrum est, &c. "Believe me, the brain of Perillius is by far the more addle of the two, who lends thee money which thou canst never repay," i. e. lends it at such an exorbitant rate of interest as to preclude the possibility of its being ever repaid. Perillius appears to have been a noted usurer. - 76. Dictantis. This term refers literally to the creditor's dictating the form of the written obligation for repayment. This the borrower writes and signs. If the money is repaid, another writing is signed by both the borrower and lender. Hence scribere, "to borrow;" and rescribere, "to repay." -77. Audire, atque togam jubeo componere, &c. Thus far, the examples of insanity, which Stertinius has adduced, have grown naturally out of the particular case of Damasippus. He now enters on a wider field of observation. The expression togam componere refers to an attentive hearer.-80. Calet. In the sense of æstuat. -82. Hellebori. Hellebore was prescribed in cases of madness.-83. Anticyram omnem. "The whole produce of Anticyra." There were two Anticyras in the ancient world, one in Thessaly and the other in Phocis. The first of these places was situate at the mouth of the river Sperchius. It was said to produce the genuine hellebore. The second lay on a bend of the Sinus Corinthiacus, east of the Sinus Crissæus. It was also celebrated for producing hellebore. -84. Hæredes Staberi summam, &c. "The heirs of Staberius engraved the sum he left them on his tomb." With summam the genitive hæreditatis may be supplied.-85. Gladiatorum dare centum, &c. "They were bound by the will to exhibit a hundred pair of gladiators to the people." The term damnati contains an allusion to the form of the will, in which the testator required any thing of his heirs, Hæres meus damnas esto, or Hæredes mei damnas sunto. -86. Arrí. Arrius appears to have been a noted gourmand of the day; and an entertainment such as he should direct, would be, of course, no unexpensive one. -87. Sive ego prave, seu recte hoc volui; ne sis patruus mihi. The words employed by Staberius in his will. 88. Ne sis patruus mihi. "Be not severe against me," i. e. Blame me

not.

Consult note on Ode 3. 12. 2.

89. Hoc vidisse. "Foresaw this," i. e. that they would refuse to engrave the amount of the inheritance on his tomb, unless they were forced to do it by severe penalties. -91. Quoad. To be pronounced, in metrical reading, as a word of one syllable. - 94. Videretur. For the common form visus esset. 98. Hoc. Alluding to his accumulated riches: and in this we see the reason for the injunction which Staberius laid upon his heirs. As he himself thought every thing of wealth, he conceived that posterity would adopt the same standard of excellence, and entertain the higher opinion of him, the greater they saw the sum to be which he had amassed during his life, and left by testament to his heirs.-99. Quid simile isti Græcus Aristippus. "What did the Grecian Aristippus do like this man," i. e. how unlike to this was the conduct of the Grecian Aristippus. The philosopher here named was founder of the Cyrenaic sect, which derived its name from his native city, Cyrene

:

in Africa. Pleasure, according to him, is the ultimate object of human pursuit; and it is only in subserviency to this, that fame, friendship, and even virtue, are to be desired. Since pleasure, then, argued our philosopher, is to be derived, not from the past or the future, but the present, a wise man will take care to enjoy the present hour, and will be indifferent to life or death. His doctrine was, of course, much decried by the stoics; and Stertinius, who was himself a stoic, has given an illnatured turn to this story. -103. Nil agit exemplum, litem quod lite resolvit. "An instance, which solves one difficulty by raising another, concludes, thou wilt say, nothing." Stertinius here anticipates an objection that might be urged against his mode of reasoning, and in so doing indulges his feelings of opposition to the doctrines of Aristippus. The excessive regard for wealth, which characterized Staberius, cannot be censured by adducing the opposite example of Aristippus; for this last, according to him, is equally indicative of an insane and distempered mind.

104. Si quis emat citharas, &c. Stertinius allows the force of the objection, that it is impossible to decide who is the greater fool, Staberius or Aristippus; but he now gives other instances to determine the question against the former. Money to a miser is like an instrument of music in the hands of a man who knows not how to play on it. They both owe their harmony to the art of using them. 116. Nihil est. "Nay." - 117. Age. " Still farther." Equivalent to audi porro. — Undeoctoginta annos natus. "When seventy-nine years old."-120. Nimirum. "No doubt." Ironical.-121. Morbo jactatur eodem. "Labour under the same malady." Literally, " are tossed to and fro by the same disease."-123. Dis inimice. "Object of hatred to the gods themselves." -Ne tibi desit? Supply an. "Or is it lest want may overtake thee?" -124. Quantulum enim summæ, &c. The train of ideas, when the ellipsis is supplied, is: Be of good cheer, old man! want shall not come nigh thee! "for, how little will each day take from thy accumulated hoard, if," &c. -125. Ungere si caules oleo meliore. Compare verse 59. of the preceding satire. - 127. Si quidvis satis est. "If any thing suffices," i. e. if our wants are so few as thou maintainest them to be. Covetous men have always some excuse at hand to palliate and disguise their avarice; that they deny themselves nothing necessary; that nature is satisfied with a little, &c. Stertinius here retorts very severely upon them. If nature's wants are so few, why dost thou commit so many crimes to heap up riches, which thou canst be as well without. -128. Tun' sanus? We have here a new character introduced, and a new species of madness passes in review.

131. Quum laqueo uxorem interimis, &c. The scene again changes, and the stoic now addresses one who had strangled his wife, to get into possession of a rich portion; and another, who had poisoned his mother, in order to attain the sooner to a rich estate. Thus avarice is regularly conducted through all its degrees, until it ends in murder and parricide. -132. Quid enim? "And why not?" Stertinius, at first, ironically concedes, that the individual in question is not insane, because, forsooth, he neither killed his mother at Argos, nor with the sword, as Orestes did. Just as if the place or instrument had any thing to do with the criminality of the act. After this, however, he changes to a serious tone, and proceeds to show that Orestes, in fact, was the least guilty of the two. The latter slew his mother, because, contrary to the common belief, the Furies maddened and impelled him to the deed: but the moment his mother fell beneath his hand, insanity departed, and reason returned. Whereas the person whom the stoic addresses, after having committed crimes to which nothing but his own inordinate desire of riches prompted him, is still as insane as ever in adding to his store. 187. Quin ex quo habitus male tutæ, &c. "Moreover, from the time that Orestes was commonly regarded as of unsound mind." The expression male tutæ is here equivalent to male sana.-141. Splendida bilis. "High-toned choler." The stoic will have it that Orestes was not insane after he had slain Clytemnestra, but only in a state of high-wrought excitement.

142. Pauper Opimius, &c. Another instance of the insanity of avarice. -143. Veientanum. Understand vinum. The Veientan wine, his holiday beverage, is described by Porphyrion as being of the worst kind.-144. Campana trulla. "From an earthen pot." The epithet Campana is here used to indicate the earthenware of Campania. The trulla was a species of pot or mug used for drawing wine, and from which the liquor was also poured into the drinking-cups. The meaning of the text. therefore, is not that Opimius drank his wine immediately from the trulla, but after it had been poured from such a vessel (made of earthenware and not of better materials) into the poculum or cup.-147. Multum celer atque fidelis. "A man of great promptness and fidelity." - 152. Men' vivo? "What! while I am yet alive?" Ut vivas igitur, vigila: hoc age. The reply of the physician. Connect the train of ideas as follows: In the state in which thou at present art, thou canst hardly be said to be alive: that thou mayest live, therefore, in reality, arouse thyself, do this which I bid. 154. Ruenti. In the sense of deficienti. The term is here employed on account of its direct opposition to fultura. - 155. Hoc ptisanarium oryza. "This decoction

of rice."

160. Cur, Stoice? Stertinius here puts the question to himself, and immediately subjoins the answer. - 161. Non est cardiacus. "Has nothing the matter with his stomach." The cardiacus morbus is a disorder attended with weakness and pain of the stomach, debility of body, great sweatings, &c. - Craterum. Craterus was a physician, of whom Cicero speaks in a flattering manner in his correspondence with Atticus. -162. Negabit. sc. Craterus. -164. Æquis. In the sense of Propitiis. -165. Porcum. As all the good and bad accidents that happened in families, were generally attributed to the household deities, Stertinius advises the man, who by the favour of these gods is neither perjured nor a miser, gratefully to sacrifice a hog to them, which was their usual oblation.-166. Naviget Anticyram. Compare note on verse 83. The expression naviget Anticyram (or Anticyras) is one of a proverbial character, and equivalent to insanus est. Barathro. "On the greedy and all-devouring gulf of the populace." The populace, constantly demanding new gratifications from the candidates for their favour, and never satiated, are here forcibly compared to a deep pit or gulf, into which many things may be thrown, and yet no perceptible diminution in depth present itself.

169. Dives antiquo censu. "Rich according to the estimate of former times," i. e. who in the earlier and simpler periods of the Roman state, when riches were less abundant, would have been regarded as a wealthy man. Divisse. Contracted from divisisse. -171. Talos, nucesque

"Thy tali and nuts," i. e. thy playthings. The tali here meant were a kind of bones, with which children used to play. -172. Sinu laxo. " In the bosom of thy gown left carelessly open." Aulus carried about his playthings in the bosom or sinus of his prætexta, which he allowed to hang in a loose and careless manner about him. The anxious father saw in this, and in what immediately follows (donare et ludere), the seeds, as he feared, of prodigality in after-life. - Donare et ludere. "Give them away to others, and lose them at play." - 173. Tristem. "With an anxious brow." - 174. Vesania discors. "Different kinds of madness," i. e. the father feared lest Aulus should become a prodigal, and Tiberius a miser. -175. Nomentanum. Consult note on Sat. 1.

1. 101. - Cicutam. Compare note on verse 69. - 178. Coercet. "Assigns as a limit," i. e. what is sufficient to answer all the demands of nature. - 180. Ædilis, fueritve vestrúm prætor. The offices of ædile and prætor being the principal avenues to higher preferment, and those who were defeated in suing for them finding it difficult, in consequence, to attain any office of magistracy for the time to come, it was a necessary result that canvassing for the respective dignities of ædile and prætor should open a door to largesses and heavy expenditure, for the purpose of conciliating the good-will of the voters. -181. Intestabilis et sacer. "Infamous and accursed." The epithet intestabilis, which both here and in general is equivalent simply to infamis, denotes, in its proper and special sense, an individual who is neither allowed to give evidence in a court of justice, to make a will, be a witness to one, or receive any thing by testamentary bequest. - 182. In cicere atque faba, &c. Alluding to largesses bestowed on the populace. Horace here puts for largesses in general, those of a particular kind, though of an earlier date. - 183. Latus. "Puffed up with importance." - Et aeneus ut stes. that thou mayest stand in brass," i. e. mayest have a brazen statue raised to thy honour, and as a memorial of thy liberality.-184. Nudus agris, nudis nummis, &c. Alluding to the ruinous effects of largesses on the private resources of the individual who bestows them. 185. Scilicet. Ironical. Agrippa. M. Vipsanius Agrippa, the illustrious Roman, having been elected ædile A. U. C. 721, displayed so much magnificence in the celebration of the Circensian games, and in the other spectacles which he exhibited, and also evinced such munificent liberality in the public buildings with which he caused the city to be adorned, as to be every where greeted with the loudest acclamations by the populace. 186. Astuta vulpes. Supply veluti, or some equivalent particle. a cunning fox having imitated a noble lion."

"And

"Like

187. Ne quis humasse velit, &c. Stertinius now brings forward a new instance of insanity; that of no less a personage than the royal Agamemnon himself, in offering up his own daughter as a victim to Diana. The transition at first view appears abrupt; but when we call to mind that this new example is aimed directly at the criminal excesses to which ambition and a love of glory lead, the connection between it and the concluding part of the previous narrative becomes immediately apparent. A man from the lower rank is introduced, who enquires of Agamemnon why the corpse of Ajax is denied the rites of burial. The monarch answers, that there is a just cause of anger in his breast against the son of Telamon, because the latter, while under the influence of frenzy, slew a flock of sheep, calling out at the same time that he was consigning to death Ulysses, Menelaus, and Agamemnon. The interrogator then