Latin Verse Satire

by Miller, Paul Allen

  The reality of this disenfranchisement is depicted in the opening section of the satire (lines 1–21), which forms a pendant to the final section’s discussion of Juvenal’s reasons for lampooning only the dead (lines 147–71). The satirist asks how can he remain silent any longer. Will he always be a listener and never reply (semper ego auditor tantum? numquamne reponam)? In part, this opening section is recapitulation of Persius 1. Juvenal is surrounded by bad poets. How can he stand to listen to this rot any more? Satire is the only response to a world of corrupted literary, and hence moral, standards. Yet, as Freudenburg has pointed out (2001: 234–9), this pose of breaking a long silence is a standard trope in the period after the death of Domitian [73]. Analogous statements can be found in Pliny and Tacitus. Silence had been externally imposed. Now the poet or orator can speak. However, as Freudenburg observes, this rush to utter the truth is suspect. Tacitus and Pliny were more closely implicated in the previous regime than either would care to admit, and the desire to proclaim the virtues of a new libertas was, if not crudely self-interested, at least designed not to offend Trajan and Hadrian.

  Juvenal’s famous indignatio (line 79) at once acknowledges the liberalization that has occurred under Trajan and yet reflects a strategic decision to indict only the vices of the recent past. Things are not always what they seem. In fact, the satire may be read as an indictment of this very rush to speak a truth that can only be articulated once it is no longer consequential. To that extent, this opening programmatic poem is also a satire of the moralist’s claim to parrhesia or to speaking the unvarnished truth [10]. It is a satire of satire [32]. Or in the poet’s own ambiguous words: difficile est saturam non scribere (line 30).

  1–21. Must I always be a spectator and never a participant?

  1–2. Ego auditor: understand ero.

  Reponam = “reply.”

  Rauci < raucus, –a, –um: “hoarse” from continual recitation.

  Theseide Cordi = an epic poem on Theseus by Cordus, presumably the same man of letters mentioned at 3.203.

  3–6. Note the rhetorical devices Juvenal uses to produce a sense of continuity: the repetition of inpune in two different metrical positions and the chiastic arrangement of the heroes’ names, Telephus and Orestes.

  Ille = another poet, this time a dramatist as indicated by togatas, comedies in Roman dress, as opposed to adaptations of Greek plays such as those found in Plautus and Terence.

  Hic = a third poet who composed elegies (elegos), an erotic genre whose most notable authors were Propertius, Tibullus, and Ovid, though it was still practiced in Juvenal’s day.

  Telephus = son of Hercules and Auge, wounded by the spear of Achilles but healed by its rust. A tragedy by this name was written by Euripides and the topic was presumably popular among his latter-day imitators. Telephus was himself ingens, but the clear intimation from the next line is that so were the tragedies written about him.

  Orestes = son and avenger of Agamemnon. A tragedy with this title was also written by Euripides. Summi plena iam margine libri = ablative absolute: “with the margin of the end of the book already full.” In tergo: this Orestes is so over-inflated it not only fills up the white space on one side of a scroll, but it can’t even be finished on the back. Note the enjambment between lines 5 and 6, as one line spills over to the next just as a single scroll could not contain the Orestes.

  7–9. “I know better the standard pieces of mythological geography than anyone knows their own home!” While much of the mythology mentioned in the following lines is standard epic fare, many of the items have special reference to the Argonautica. It has been generally assumed that the target is Valerius Flaccus whose version of the story had recently been published. Courtney (1980) however disagrees. Lucus Martis = the grove in Colchis where the Golden Fleece was kept.

  Aeoliis vicinum rupibus antrum / Vulcani: a group of seven volcanic islands north of Sicily where Aeolus, king of the winds in the Odyssey, was thought to live. Vulcan was said to have his forge on one of these. Flaccus, however, locates it on Lemnos.

  9–13. Each of these indirect questions depends on clamant.

  Quid agant venti: an epic topos.

  Aeacus = one of the judges of the underworld with Minos and Rhadamanthys.

  Alius: a contemptuous reference to Jason.

  Pelliculae = diminutive of pellis: “hide,” for the fleece.

  Monychus = a centaur involved in the battle with the Lapiths, a common theme of Greek art. See the frieze on the Parthenon. According to Flaccus it was painted on the Argo.

  Frontonis: a wealthy patron who lends his house and gardens for poetic recitations; perhaps the same Fronto addressed by Martial (1.55).

  Convolsaque marmora: a vivid hyperbole.

  Semper recalls the opening of the poem.

  Ruptae … columnae: the peeling voices of inanity shatter the house’s columns.

  14. One of Juvenal’s most common rhetorical strategies is the simultaneous assertion and undermining of hierarchical relations. The summus and minimus poeta ultimately produce the same thing. Note: this is not the same as saying there is no difference between them, but rather that the difference is irrelevant, and yet nonetheless needs to be asserted. One is summus and the other minimus. The result is a topsy-turvy world in which judgment is demanded—who is the best? who is the worst?—yet impossible. Compare lines 147–9. Expectes = hortatory subjunctive.

  15–18. “We’ve had the same rhetorical training as the rest of them. Why should we alone be silent?” Ferulae < ferula, –ae: “cane,” the proverbial rod that Roman schoolmasters feared if you spared, you would spoil the child.

  Consilium dedimus Sullae: an example of a popular suasoria. Suasoriae were common exercises in Roman rhetorical training. The student was generally assigned to give advice to a prominent historical figure. L. Cornelius Sulla’s decision to retire after having achieved supreme power as dictator was a common topic. Sulla (138–78 BCE) was a reactionary politician whose proscriptions set a brutal precedent later to be followed by Antony and Octavian.

  Vatibus < vates vatis: originally “prophet” or “soothsayer,” with the Augustan poets it became associated with “the inspired poet.” Here, it is clearly sarcastic.

  Periturae parcere chartae is in apposition to clementia. Rome is crawling with poets. The paper will perish anyway. Clementia was a virtue claimed by imperial power since the time of Julius Caesar. The image of sparing those about to die would have conjured up more sinister images than that of bad poets wasting papyrus. Note the contemptuous alliteration and assonance.

  19–21. “Nonetheless, I’ll tell you why I wish to practice the genre of Lucilius.” The poet rounds off the proem and prepares for the satire proper. Cur tamen introduces an indirect question dependent on edam.

  Magnus … Auruncae … alumnus = Lucilius [56] who came from Suessa Aurunca in Campania.

  Vacat = impersonal construction: “if there is leisure.”

  22–80. The poet immediately launches into a vivid catalog of vice, the violence of which is all the more unexpected given the casual courtesy of the three preceding lines.

  22–30. This opening period sets out a list of conditions introduced by cum (lines 22, 24, and 26), all leading to the climactic conclusion, difficile est saturam non scribere, which means not only that in the face of such outrage how can one not write satire, but also that under such conditions no matter what one writes it becomes satire. This is an age of irony. Compare Persius 1.11–12.

  Ducat < duco, ducere, duxi, ductum: “to lead,” the common verb for a man marrying a woman, since he “leads” her to his house.

  Spado = “eunuch.”

  Mevia fights in the arena dressed as an Amazon (nuda … mamma). She is taking part in the venatio or beast hunt. The name is a common one in Latin and appears to designate a woman of good family, though she cannot be positively identified. Fighting in the arena was considered a sign of degradation for a free Roman. It was doubly so for a woman. There
are however recorded instances from the reigns of Nero and Domitian. Note the chiastic relation between the eunuch husband who is not a man and the gladiator woman who acts the part of one.

  Venabula < venabulum, –i: “hunting spear.”

  24–9. A second pair is introduced. Patricios omnis: the patricians were the traditional aristocracy of birth in Rome. Their numbers were vastly depleted by the end of the first century BCE. The point here is that wealth (opibus) challenges (provocet) birth.

  25. Quo tondente: ablative of attendant circumstances. Tondente < tondeo, –ere, totundi, tonsum: “to shave, shear clip.” The barber in question is thought to be one Cinnamus who, apparently owing to a bequest from his mistress, became an eques. Barbering was a low profession, generally practiced by slaves. Gravis has been variously explained without any consensus having been achieved. It can be attached either to barba or taken adverbially with sonabat. The epic grandeur of the line belies its trivial subject matter. The line is a parody of Eclogues 1.28, candidior postquam tondenti barba cadebat. See Braund (1996a), “Here the happy world of Virgil’s Tityrus is contrasted with the corrupt world the speaker sees surrounding him. Parody of pastoral is found again on a larger scale in Satire 3.”

  26–9. The two hemistiches (half lines) are in apposition to one another. Both refer to Crispinus (v. 27) who, as a foreign-born freedman who has achieved great wealth, epitomizes Juvenal’s fears. He came to Rome as a seller of fish. He later rose to the rank of knight and was appointed to Domitian’s privy council. He plays a prominent part in Satire 4. Verna = “house-born slave,” as opposed to one purchased on the block. Canopi: Canopus was an Egyptian town near Alexandria.

  Tyrias … lacernas = “Tyrian purple mantle”: Tyrian purple was made from crushed shellfish. It was very expensive.

  Revocante = “hitching up.”

  Ventilet < ventilo, –are: “to fan, wave in the air, brandish.”

  Aestivum … aurum: as the scholiast notes, Crispinus is so rich he has winter and summer rings. Equestrians wore plain gold rings as a sign of their rank.

  Maioris pondera gemmae: either his summer wear is quite heavy or Crispinus is quite dissipated.

  30–9. Who is so hardened to this parade of iniquity that he can hold himself in check? Ferreus: i.e., as unyielding as “iron.”

  Ut teneat se = “that he would control himself.” Note the harsh rhythmic effect of ending the hexameter with a monosyllable [51].

  Causidici > causidicus, -i: “advocate” (causa/dico). This is not a laudatory term such as orator. It implies a gun for hire.

  Mathonis: a lawyer under Domitian. By poem 7 he is bankrupt, presumably as a result of his excess.

  Plena ipso: a lectica normally accommodated two but Matho is so corpulent that he fills the litter himself. Note how the elision enacts his spilling over its bounds.

  Magni delator amici: amicus was often a euphemism for patron. This character enriched himself by informing on his aristocratic (magnus) patron. Under Tiberius it was enacted that informers received a quarter of the property of anyone they caused to be convicted of treason.

  Comesa < comedo, –esse, –edi, –esum: “to devour,” a vivid image of the informer feeding on the corpse of the fallen nobilis.

  Massa = Baebius Massa, a notorious informer under Domitian as is Mettius Carus. Our delator is a delator delatorum.

  Palpat = “strokes.”

  A trepido Thymele summissa Latino: understand ad quem. “Latinus was Domitian’s favorite actor, possibly a member of his court, and Thymele was Latinus’s leading lady” (Freudenburg 2001: 214). Summissa is best understood first in its most literal sense as the perfect participle of sub + mitto: she was “put under” both the informer and his authority.

  37–9. Testamenta = “bequests.” Legacy hunters are a common theme of imperial literature. Summoveant also has the technical sense of excluding someone from a legacy.

  Merentur noctibus: “earn at night,” deponent.

  Processus = “advancement,” genitive.

  Vesica = “bladder,” used as metonymy for the female sexual organ. It is in apposition to via.

  40–1. Proculeius and Gillo are gigolos servicing wealthy widows and compensated proportionally to their equipment (ad mensuram inguinis). Unciolam = one twelfth. Deuncem = eleven twelfths. Roman fractions were done according to a duodecimal system.

  42–3. Sanguinis here = “semen,” which according to Aristotelian medical theory was highly refined blood. Note the assonance with inguinis, which occupies the same metrical sedes in the previous line, and with anguem in the sixth foot in the next. The two monosyllabic words ending 42 are extraordinarily harsh.

  Palleat: sexual excess and loss of blood were thought to produce pallor, but also fear. See Persius 1.26. These men approached their work with the same apprehension they would have in stepping on a snake (anguem). The simile is found in Homer (Iliad 3.33–5) and Vergil (Aeneid 2.329–80). The incongruity of the present context with the simile’s heroic past is part of the fun.

  44. Caligula, in the winter of 39–40 CE, held a contest in oratory at Lyons (Lugdunum). According to Suetonius, winners were rewarded but losers faced flogging or a dunking in the Rhone, or were forced to lick away their offending words.

  45–8. “What should I say when one (hic) and another (hic) criminal roam free?” Iecur: see Horace 1.9.66 and Persius 1.25.

  Populum … premit: “he crowds the people,” but also he “importunes, oppresses.” In one way or another, as we say, he is “putting the squeeze” on the people.

  Gregibus comitum: ablative of means. This would be the entourage of clientes that traditionally followed a great man around and served as a visual marker of his political and social status. These markers now belong to a criminal who should represent the opposite of a great Roman patronus.

  Spoliator = “despoiler” both fiscally and sexually.

  Pupilli < pupillus: an orphan placed under another’s guardianship.

  Prostantis < prosto, –are, –stiti: he has been so despoiled that he is forced to prostitute himself.

  Infamia: a technical legal term for the loss of civil rights.

  49–50. Marius Priscus was prosecuted by Tacitus and Pliny in 100 CE for financial misappropriations during his proconsulship in Africa. He was sentenced to banishment (relegatio), which did not involve a loss of property rights. Exul here is used in the general, not the technical legal sense, as is often the case in Ovid’s exilic poetry. The victrix provincia evidently was unable to secure full restitution, since Marius enjoys the life of luxury. Ab octava = from the eighth hour after sunrise, about 2 pm. Normally dinner parties and drinking began at the ninth hour. On the style of these lines, see the introduction [51].

  Fruitur dis iratis: deliberately oxymoronic.

  51. Venusina … lucerna: Horace was from Venusia (2.1.34–5).

  52–61. “How can I not attack (agitem) these things? When husbands are pimping their own wives should I write mythological epics?”

  Magis = “rather.”

  Heracleas and Diomedeas = nouns formed by analogy with Odyssea, i.e., epics on Heracles and Diomedes. Note the spondaic fifth foot in Heracleas, giving the line a heavy epic feeling [51].

  Mugitum labyrinthi = “the mooing of the labyrinth,” a bathetic deflation after the high epic tone just established. Pasiphaë, queen of Crete, conceived a lust for the bull of Minos. The product of their union was the Minotaur.

  54. Daedalus (fabrum) designed both the hollow cow that allowed Pasiphaë to consummate her lust and the labyrinth that imprisoned her monstrous off-spring. When he sought to escape the island he fashioned wings of wax and feathers for himself and his son (puero). The latter, however, flew too close to the sun, causing the wax to melt, and fell into the sea (mare). Notice how the topics of epic discourse get more perverse as Juvenal gets closer to resuming his portrait of contemporary vice.

  Accipiat … si capiendi: this is technical legal vocabulary. As Courtney (1980) summar
izes Ulpian on this point, “capere is used of legal heirs … accipere of the provisional possession of a heres fiduciarius who accepts a legacy as a fideicommissum to be passed on to someone else.” According to the lex Voconia (169 BCE), women of questionable morals were disallowed from receiving inheritances. This husband, however, in effect acts as his wife’s pimp (leno) by ignoring her lovemaking with another so as to receive an inheritance that he will share with her, since she cannot receive it directly. Such acts of lenocinium had been explicitly outlawed by the lex Julia de adulteriis of Augustus.

  Ius nullum: understand sit.

  56–7. Doctus: “The ironic doctus demonstrates how Juvenal examines the Roman scene and hints at the cause of its degradation. As one of his crucial methods throughout this section, he indicates the total overthrow of Roman virtus by transferring terms of moral approval to the description of immorality” (Anderson 1982: 201).

  Lacunar = “a paneled ceiling.”

  Stertere = “to snore.”

  58–61. Puer is the subject for putet. He hopes to command a cohort of auxiliaries (curam … cohortis) even as he dissipates the family fortune (omni maiorum censu) by spending all his money (bona) on horses. The army was a normal way of social advancement, but to accede to the praefectura cohortis sociorum required that one possess the equestrian census of 400,000 sesterces.

  Praesepibus < praesepes, –is: “stalls,” generally of stables, but can refer to brothels as well.

  Flaminiam = via Flaminia, the main road north from Rome.

  Automedon = the charioteer of Achilles, clearly ironic.

  61–2. The puer is a character right out of New Comedy, spending the family fortune on horses to impress a woman of low virtue.

  Lacernatae: i.e. dressed in a lacerna (line 27) and hence like a man. This would either be a sign of moral turpitude or indicate that she is a prostitute.

  Se iactaret = “he was boasting.”