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91.--_Cænanda_ implies that these atrocities were to be actually
represented on the stage, which the good taste even of Augustus' days
would have rejected with horror. Hor., A. P., 182-188.
[1419] _Glycon_ was a tragic actor, of whom one Virgilius was part
owner. Nero admired him so much that he gave Virgilius three hundred
thousand sesterces for his share of him, and set him free.
[1420] _Stloppo._ "The noise made by inflating the cheeks, and then
forcibly expelling the wind by a sudden blow with the hands." It not
improbably comes from λόπος in the sense of an inflated skin; as stlis
for lis, stlocus for locus; stlataria from latus. Cf. ad Juv., vii.,
134.
[1421] _Verba togæ._ Having pointed out the ordinary defects of poets
of the day as to choice of subjects, style, and language, Cornutus
proceeds to compliment Persius for the exactly contrary merits. First,
for the use of words not removed from ordinary use, but such as were in
use in the most elegant and polished society of Rome, as distinguished
from the rude archaisms then in vogue, or the too familiar vulgarisms
of the tunicatus popellus in the provinces, where none assumed the toga
till he was carried out to burial. (Juv., Sat. iii, 172.) But then,
according to Horace's precept ("Dixeris egregiè si notum callida verbum
reddiderit junctura novum," A. P., 47), grace and dignity was added to
these by the novelty of effect produced by judicious combination. Cf.
Cic., de Orat., iii., 43. There is an allusion to the same metaphor as
in Sat. i., 65, "Per leve severos effundat junctura ungues."
[1422] _Ore teres modico._ The second merit, "a natural and easy mode
of reciting, suited to compositions in a familiar style." Cicero uses
_teres_ in the same sense. De Orat., iii., c. 52, "Plena quædam, sed
tamen teres, et tenuis, non sine nervis ac viribus." Horace, A. P.,
323, "Graiis dedit ore rotundo Musa loqui."
[1423] _Pallentes radere mores._ The next merit is in the choice of
a subject. Not the unnatural horrors selected to gratify the most
depraved taste, but the gentlemanly, and at the same time searching,
exposure of the profligate morals of the time.
[1424] _Cum capite._ Cf. Senec., Thyest., Act iv., 1. 763, "Denudat
artus dirus atque ossa amputat: tantum _ora_ servat et datas fidei
_manus_."
[1425] _Pondus._ So Horace, i., Epist. xix., 42, "Nugis addere pondus."
[1426] _Excutienda._ Seneca, Ep. lxxii., 1, "Explicandus est animus, et
quæcunque apud illum deposita sunt, subinde _excuti_ debent."
[1427] _Solidum crepet._ Cf. iii., 21, "Sonet vitium percussa."
[1428] _Sinuoso._ Cf. Hamlet, "Give me that man that is not passion's
slave, and I will wear him in my heart's core; ay, in my heart of
heart, as I do thee, Horatio!" Act iii., sc. 2.
[1429] _Custos._ The Prætexta was intended, as the robes of the
priests, to serve as a protection to the youths that wore it. The
purple with which the toga was bordered was to remind them of the
modesty which was becoming to their early years. It was laid aside by
boys at the age of seventeen, and by girls when they were married. The
assumption of the toga virilis took place with great solemnities before
the images of the Lares, sometimes in the Capitol. It not unfrequently
happened that the changing of the toga at the same time formed a bond
of union between young men, which lasted unbroken for many years. Hor.,
i., Od. xxxvi., 9, "Memor Actæ non alio rege puertiæ Mutatæque simul
togæ. "The Liberalia, on the 16th before the Kalends of April (i. e.,
March 17th), were the usual festival for this ceremony. Vid. Cic. ad
Att., VI., i., 12. Ovid explains the reasons for the selection. Fast.,
iii., 771, _seq._
[1430] _Bulla._ Vid. Juv., v., 164.
[1431] _Succinctis._ So Horace, A. P., 50, "Fingere cinctutis non
exaudita Cethegis." The Lares, being the original household deities,
were regarded with singular affection, and were probably usually
represented in the homely dress of the early ages of the republic.
Perhaps, too, some superstitious feeling might tend to prevent any
innovation in their costume. This method of wearing the toga, which
consisted in twisting it over the left shoulder, so as to leave the
right arm bare and free, was called the "Cinctus Gabinus" (cf. Ov.,
Fast., v., 101, 129), from the fact of its having been adopted at the
sudden attack at Gabii, when they had not time to put on the sagum, but
were forced to fight in the toga. Hence, in proclaiming war, the consul
always appeared in this costume (Virg., Æn., vii., 612, "Ipse Quirinali
trabeâ cinctuque Gabino Insignis reserat stridentia limina Consul"),
and it was that in which Decius devoted himself. Liv., viii., 9; v., 46.
[1432] _Umbo_ was the centre where all the folds of the toga met on the
left shoulder; from this boss the lappet fell down and was tucked into
the girdle, so as to form the _sinus_ or fold which served as a pocket.
[1433] _Fallere solers._ "You showed so much skill and address in your
endeavors to restore me to the right path, that I was, as it were,
gradually and insensibly cheated into a reformation of my life."
[1434] _Fœdere certo._ Hor., ii., Ep. ii., 187, "Scit Genius, natale
comes qui temperat astrum." ii., Od. xvii., 16, "Placitumque _Parcis_,
Seu _Libra_ seu me Scorpius adspicit formidolosus, pars violentior
_Natalis horæ_ seu tyrannus Hesperiæ Capricornus undæ Utrumque nostrum
incredibili modo _consentit astrum_." Manil., iv., 549, "Felix _æquato_
genitus sub pondere _Libræ_."
[1435] _Tenax veri._ "Because the decrees pronounced by Destiny at
each man's birth have their inevitable issue." So Horace, "Parca non
mendax," ii., Od. xvi., 39.
[1436] _Concordia._ This συναστρία, as the Greeks called the being born
under one Horoscopus (vi., 18), was considered to be one of the causes
of the most familiar and intimate friendship.
[1437] _Saturnum._ Hor., ii., Od. xvii., 22, "Te _Jovis impio_ tutela
_Saturno_ refulgens Eripuit." Both _gravis_ and _impius_ are probably
meant to express the Κρόνος βλαβερὸς of Manetho, i., 110. Propert.,
iv., El. i., 105, "Felicesque Jovis stellæ Martisque rapacis, Et grave
Saturni sidus in omne caput." Juv., vi., 570, "Quid sidus triste
minetur Saturni." Virg., Georg., i., 336, "Frigida Saturni stella."
[1438] _Sole recenti._ "In the extreme east;" from Hor., i., Sat. iv.,
29, "Hic mutat merces surgente à Sole ad eum quo Vespertina tepet
regio."
[1439] _Rugosum piper._ Plin., H. N., xii., 7.
[1440] _Pallentis cumini._ The cumin was used as a cheap substitute for
pepper, which was very expensive at Rome. It produced great paleness
in those who ate much of it; and consequently many who wished to have
a pallid look, as though from deep study, used to take it in large
quantities. Pliny (xx., 14, "Omne cuminum pallorem bibentibus gignit")
says that the imitators of Porcius Latro used to take it in order to
resemble him even in his natural peculiarities. Horace alludes to
this, i., Epi |