Today | News | Books | Recipes Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History Bookwill be sure to excuse themselves. When the judge calls on you, "Produce your witness,"[1157] let the man, whoever he may be, that saw the cuffs, have the courage to stand forth and say, "I saw[1158] the act," and I will hold him worthy of the beard,[1159] and worthy of the long hair of our ancestors. You could with greater ease suborn a _false_ witness against a civilian,[1160] than one who would speak the truth against the fortune and the dignity of the man-at-arms. Now let us observe other prizes and other solid advantages of the military life. If some rascally neighbor has defrauded me of a portion of the valley of my paternal fields, or encroached on my land, and removed the consecrated stone from the boundary that separates our estates, that stone which my pulse has yearly[1161] honored with the meal-cake derived from ancient days, or if my debtor persists in refusing repayment of the sum I lent him, asserting that the deed is invalid and the signature a forgery: I shall have to wait a whole year occupied with the causes of the whole nation, before my case comes on. But even then I must put up with a thousand tedious delays, a thousand difficulties. So many times the benches only are prepared; then, when the eloquent Cæditius[1162] is laying aside his cloak, and Fuscus must retire for a little, though all prepared, we must break up; and battle in the tediously-protracted arena of the court. But in the case of those who wear armor, and buckle on the belt, whatever time suits _them_ is fixed for the hearing of their cause, nor is their fortune frittered away by the slow drag-chain[1163] of the law. Besides, it is only to soldiers that the privilege is granted, of making their wills while their fathers are still alive.[1164] For it has been determined that all that has been earned by the hard toil of military service should not be incorporated with that sum of which the father holds the entire disposal. And so it is, that while Coranus follows the standards and earns his daily pay, his father, though tottering on the edge of the grave, pays court to his son that he may make him his heir. His duties regularly discharged procure the soldier advancement; and yield to every honest exertion[1165] its justly merited guerdon.[1166] For doubtless it appears to be the interest of the general himself, that he that proves himself _brave_ should also be most distinguished for good fortune, that all may glory in their trappings,[1167] all in their golden chains. FOOTNOTES: [1145] _Gallus._ Of this friend of Juvenal, as of Volusius in the last Satire, nothing is known. He is perhaps the same person whose name occurs so frequently in Martial. [1146] _Veneris._ For her influence over Mars, vid. Lucret., i., 32. [1147] _Samia arenâ._ Cf. Virg., Æn., i., 15, "Quam Juno fertur terris magis omnibus unam Posthabitâ coluisse Samo." Herod., ii., 148; iii., 60. Paus., VII., iv., 4. Athen., xiv., 655; xv., 672. The famous temple of Juno was said to have been built by the Leleges, the first inhabitants of the island: her statue, which was of wood, was the workmanship of Smilis, a contemporary of Dædalus. Juno is said to have here given birth to Mars, alone. Ov., Fast., v., 229. Samos was the native country of the peacock, hence sacred to Juno. Cf. vii., 32. [1148] _Togatus._ The toga, the robe of peace, as the Sagum is that of war. (So 33, "paganum.") Cf. Juv., viii., 240; x., 8, "Nocitura toga nocitura petuntur Militia." So "Cedant arma togæ." [1149] _Pulsetur._ Cf. iii., 300. [1150] _Prætori._ "Tremble before the Prætor's seat to show His livid features, swoll'n with many a blow: His eyes closed up, no sight remaining there, Left by the honest doctor in despair." Hodgson. [1151] _Bardiacus._ On the _sense_ of this passage all the commentators are agreed, though they arrive at it by different routes--"Your judge will be some coarse, brutal, uncivilized soldier; who cares nothing for the feelings of the toga'd citizen, or for the principles of justice." Marius is said to have had a body-guard of slaves, who flocked to him, chiefly Illyrian; whom he called his "Bardiæi." Pliny calls them "Vardæi," and Strabo ἀρδιαῖοι. (Cf. Plut., in vit. Mar. Plin., iii., 32. Strabo, vii., 5.) Bardiacus (or Bardaicus) may therefore be taken absolutely, or with judex, or with calceus. If taken alone, then _cucullus_ is said to be understood, as Mart., xiv., 128, "Gallia Santonico vestit te Bardocucullo." i., Ep. liv., 5; xiv., 139; IV., iv., 5. This "cowl" was made of goats' hair. If taken with calceus, it would imply some such kind of shoe as the "Udo" in Ep. xiv., 140. [1152] _Camillo._ This law was passed by Camillus, while dictator, during the siege of Veii; to prevent his soldiers absenting themselves from the camp, on the plea of civil business. It led, of course, in time to the grossest abuses. [1153] _Justissima._ "Oh! righteous court, where generals preside, And regimental rogues are justly tried!" Hodgson. [1154] _Mulino._ Perhaps Stapylton's is the best translation of this epithet of the declaimer in a hopeless cause. He calls him "a desperate ass." Others read "Mutinensi." [1155] _Caligas._ iii., 247, "Plantâ mox undique magnâ calcor, et in digito clavus mihi militis hæret" (and 322, "Adjutor gelidos veniam caligatus in agros"). This was one of the _tender_ recollections Umbritius had when leaving Rome. The caliga, being a thick sole with no upper leather, bound to the foot with thongs, and studded underneath with iron nails, would be a fearful thing to encounter on one's shins or toes. (Justin says, "Antiochus' soldiers were shod with gold; treading that under foot for which men fight with iron.") [1156] _Pylades._ "And where's the Pylades, the faithful friend, That shall thy journey to the camp attend? Be wise in time! See those tremendous shoes! Nor ask a service which e'en fools refuse." Badham. [1157] _Da testem._ Cf. iii., 137. [1158] _Vidi._ Cf. vii., 13, "Quam si dicas sub judice Vidi, quod non vidisti." [1159] _Barba._ Cf. ad iv., 103. Barbers were introduced from Sicily to Rome by P. Ticinius Mæna, A.U.C. 454. Scipio Africanus is said to have been the first Roman who shaved daily. Cf. Plin., vii., 95. Hor., i., Od. xii., 41, "Incomptis Curium capillis." ii., Od. xv., 11, "Intonsi Catonis," Tib., II., i., 84, "Intonsis avis." [1160] _Paganum._ Cf. ad I., 8. It appears that under the emperors husbandmen were exempt from military service, in order that the land might not fall out of cultivation. The "paganus," therefore, is opposed to the "armatus" here, and by Pliny, Epist. x., 18, "Et milites et pagani." Epist. vii., 25, "Ut in castris, sic etiam in literis nostris (sunt), plures culto pagano quos cinctos et armatos, diligentius scrutatus invenies." Pagus is derived from the Doric παγά, because villages were originally formed round springs of water. Cf. Hooker's Eccl. Pol., lib. v., c. 80. "With much more ease false witnesses |