Juvenal: SATVRAE

Exemplo quodcumque malo committitur, ipsi
displicet auctori. prima est haec ultio, quod se
iudice nemo nocens absoluitur, improba quamuis
gratia fallaci praetoris uicerit urna.
quid sentire putas homines, Caluine, recenti

Whatever is committed as an evil example displeases the author himself.
this is the first vengeance: that, with himself as judge, no guilty man
is acquitted, although wicked favor may have conquered the urn of the deceitful praetor.
what do you think men feel, Calvinus, at a recent

de scelere et fidei uiolatae crimine? sed nec
tam tenuis census tibi contigit, ut mediocris
iacturae te mergat onus, nec rara uidemus
quae pateris: casus multis hic cognitus ac iam
tritus et e medio fortunae ductus aceruo.

about the crime of wickedness and of violated good faith? But neither
has so slender an estate fallen to you, that the onus of a mediocre
loss should submerge you, nor do we see rare
things that you endure: this mischance is known to many and already
worn-smooth, and drawn from the common heap of Fortune.

ponamus nimios gemitus. flagrantior aequo
non debet dolor esse uiri nec uolnere maior.
tu quamuis leuium minimam exiguamque malorum
particulam uix ferre potes spumantibus ardens
uisceribus, sacrum tibi quod non reddat amicus

let us set aside excessive groans. A man’s pain ought not to be more inflamed than is fair, nor greater than the wound. you, though it be the tiniest and most meager particle of the lightest evils, can scarcely bear it, ablaze with foaming viscera, because a friend does not return to you a sacred deposit.

depositum? stupet haec qui iam post terga reliquit
sexaginta annos Fonteio consule natus?
an nihil in melius tot rerum proficis usu?
magna quidem, sacris quae dat praecepta libellis,
uictrix fortunae sapientia, ducimus autem

a deposit? Is he amazed at these things, who has already left sixty years behind his back, born when Fonteius was consul?
or do you profit nothing for the better from the experience of so many affairs?
great indeed we deem wisdom, which gives precepts in sacred booklets,
the conqueror of Fortune; however we reckon

hos quoque felices, qui ferre incommoda uitae
nec iactare iugum uita didicere magistra.
quae tam festa dies, ut cesset prodere furem,
perfidiam, fraudes atque omni ex crimine lucrum
quaesitum et partos gladio uel pyxide nummos?

these too happy, who have learned to bear the inconveniences of life
and not to shake the yoke, with life as their instructress.
what day is so festal, that it ceases to betray the thief,
perfidy, frauds, and the lucre sought from every crime,
and coins gotten by the sword or by the money‑box?

rari quippe boni, numera, uix sunt totidem quot
Thebarum portae uel diuitis ostia Nili.
nona aetas agitur peioraque saecula ferri
temporibus, quorum sceleri non inuenit ipsa
nomen et a nullo posuit natura metallo.

rare indeed are the good; count them, they are hardly as many as
the gates of Thebes or the mouths of rich Nile.
the ninth age is being conducted, and ages worse than the times of iron,
times for whose wickedness she herself has not found a name,
and nature has assigned them from no metal.

nos hominum diuomque fidem clamore ciemus
quanto Faesidium laudat uocalis agentem
sportula? dic, senior bulla dignissime, nescis
quas habeat ueneres aliena pecunia? nescis
quem tua simplicitas risum uulgo moueat, cum

we summon the good faith of men and gods with a shout
how greatly does the vocal one praise Faesidius, the dole’s agent?
say, old man most worthy of a bulla, do you not know
what charms another man’s money has? do you not know
whom your simplicity moves to laughter in the crowd, when

exigis a quoquam ne peieret et putet ullis
esse aliquod numen templis araeque rubenti?
quondam hoc indigenae uiuebant more, priusquam
sumeret agrestem posito diademate falcem
Saturnus fugiens, tunc cum uirguncula Iuno

You demand from anyone that he not perjure himself and that he think there is some numen in any temples and in the blood-red altar?
Once the natives lived by this custom, before Saturn, fleeing, with the diadem set aside, took up the rustic sickle,
then, when Juno was a little virgin girl.

et priuatus adhuc Idaeis Iuppiter antris;
nulla super nubes conuiuia caelicolarum
nec puer Iliacus formonsa nec Herculis uxor
ad cyathos et iam siccato nectare tergens
bracchia Volcanus Liparaea nigra taberna;

and Jupiter still a private person in the Idaean caverns;
no banquets of the heaven-dwellers above the clouds
nor the Iliac boy handsome, nor Hercules’ wife
at the ladles, and now, the nectar dried, wiping
his arms, Vulcan in his Liparaean black shop;

prandebat sibi quisque deus nec turba deorum
talis ut est hodie, contentaque sidera paucis
numinibus miserum urguebant Atlanta minori
pondere; nondum imi sortitus triste profundi
imperium Sicula toruos cum coniuge Pluton,

each god lunched for himself, nor was there a throng of gods
such as there is today, and the stars, content with a few
numina, used to press the wretched Atlas with a lesser
weight; not yet had Pluto drawn by lot the grim rule of the lowest
deep, grim with his Sicilian wife,

nec rota nec Furiae nec saxum aut uolturis atri
poena, sed infernis hilares sine regibus umbrae.
inprobitas illo fuit admirabilis aeuo,
credebant quo grande nefas et morte piandum
si iuuenis uetulo non adsurrexerat et si

neither the wheel nor the furies nor the rock or the punishment of the black vulture,
but in the infernal regions the shades were cheerful and without kings.
improbity in that age was a marvel,
in which they believed it a great nefas and to be expiated by death
if a youth had not risen for an old man, and if

barbato cuicumque puer, licet ipse uideret
plura domi fraga et maiores glandis aceruos;
tam uenerabile erat praecedere quattuor annis
primaque par adeo sacrae lanugo senectae.
nunc si depositum non infitietur amicus,

to any bearded man, the boy—though he himself might see
more strawberries at home and larger heaps of acorns;
so venerable was it to be ahead by four years,
and the first down was equal to sacred old age.
now, if a friend does not deny a deposit,

si reddat ueterem cum tota aerugine follem,
prodigiosa fides et Tuscis digna libellis
quaeque coronata lustrari debeat agna.
egregium sanctumque uirum si cerno, bimembri
hoc monstrum puero et miranti sub aratro

if he gives back the old purse with all its verdigris,
a prodigious fidelity and worthy of Tuscan little books
and one that ought to be lustrated with a garlanded lamb.
if i discern an egregious and holy man, a two-limbed
monster this is to the boy, marveling beneath the plow

piscibus inuentis et fetae comparo mulae,
sollicitus, tamquam lapides effuderit imber
examenque apium longa consederit uua
culmine delubri, tamquam in mare fluxerit amnis
gurgitibus miris et lactis uertice torrens.

I compare it to fish being found and to a pregnant mule,
anxious, as though a rainstorm had poured out stones
and a swarm of bees, a long grape-cluster, had settled
on the rooftop of a shrine, as though a river had flowed into the sea
with marvelous whirlpools and a torrent with a vortex of milk.

intercepta decem quereris sestertia fraude
sacrilega. quid si bis centum perdidit alter
hoc arcana modo, maiorem tertius illa
summam, quam patulae uix ceperat angulus arcae?
tam facile et pronum est superos contemnere testes,

you complain of ten sestertia intercepted by sacrilegious fraud
sacrilegious. What if another has lost twice a hundred in this arcane manner,
a third a greater sum than the corner of a gaping coffer had scarcely contained?
so easy and prone is it to contemn the gods above as witnesses,

si mortalis idem nemo sciat. aspice quanta
uoce neget, quae sit ficti constantia uoltus.
per Solis radios Tarpeiaque fulmina iurat
et Martis frameam et Cirrhaei spicula uatis,
per calamos uenatricis pharetramque puellae

if likewise no mortal knows. look how loud he denies it, what constancy there is in a feigned face.
he swears by the rays of the Sun and the Tarpeian thunderbolts
and Mars’s spear and the darts of the Cirrhaean seer,
by the shafts and the quiver of the maiden huntress,

perque tuum, pater Aegaei Neptune, tridentem,
addit et Herculeos arcus hastamque Mineruae,
quidquid habent telorum armamentaria caeli.
si uero et pater est, 'comedam' inquit 'flebile nati
sinciput elixi Pharioque madentis aceto.'

and by your trident, father Neptune of the Aegean,
he adds also the Herculean bows and the spear of Minerva,
whatever the armories of the sky have of missiles.
but if indeed he is a father as well, “I will eat,” he says, “the mournful crown of my son,
boiled and soaked with Egyptian vinegar.”

sunt in fortunae qui casibus omnia ponant
et nullo credant mundum rectore moueri
natura uoluente uices et lucis et anni,
atque ideo intrepidi quaecumque altaria tangunt.
[est alius metuens ne crimen poena sequatur.]

there are those who place everything upon the contingencies of Fortune
and believe that the world is moved by no Rector,
Nature revolving the vicissitudes both of light and of the year,
and therefore, fearless, they touch whatever altars.
[there is another, fearing lest punishment follow crime.]

hic putat esse deos et peierat, atque ita secum:
'decernat quodcumque uolet de corpore nostro
Isis et irato feriat mea lumina sistro,
dummodo uel caecus teneam quos abnego nummos.
et pthisis et uomicae putres et dimidium crus

this man thinks there are gods and perjures himself, and thus with himself:
'let Isis decree whatever she will concerning my body,
and with an irate sistrum let her smite my eyes,
provided that, even blind, I may hold the coins I deny.
and phthisis and putrid vomicae, and half a leg

sunt tanti. pauper locupletem optare podagram
nec dubitet Ladas, si non eget Anticyra nec
Archigene; quid enim uelocis gloria plantae
praestat et esuriens Pisaeae ramus oliuae?
ut sit magna, tamen certe lenta ira deorum est;

they are worth it. let even ladas, a poor man, not hesitate to wish for the opulent man’s gout,
if he has no need of anticyra nor of archigenes; for what does the glory of a swift sole
avail, and the hungry branch of the pisaean olive?
grant that it is great—yet surely the wrath of the gods is slow;

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si curant igitur cunctos punire nocentes,
quando ad me uenient? sed et exorabile numen
fortasse experiar; solet his ignoscere. multi
committunt eadem diuerso crimina fato:
ille crucem sceleris pretium tulit, hic diadema.'

if therefore they care to punish all the guilty,
when will they come to me? but perhaps I shall even find the divinity exorable;
it is wont to forgive such men. many
commit the same crimes with a different fate:
that man bore the cross as the price of his crime, this one the diadem.'

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sic animum dirae trepidum formidine culpae
confirmat, tunc te sacra ad delubra uocantem
praecedit, trahere immo ultro ac uexare paratus.
nam cum magna malae superest audacia causae,
creditur a multis fiducia. mimum agit ille,

thus he fortifies his spirit, trembling with the dire dread of guilt,
then, as you call to the sacred shrines, he goes before, ready rather to drag you on and even of his own accord to vex you.
for when great audacity remains to a bad cause,
it is taken by many for confidence. he plays a mime,

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urbani qualem fugitiuus scurra Catulli:
tu miser exclamas, ut Stentora uincere possis,
uel potius quantum Gradiuus Homericus, 'audis,
Iuppiter, haec nec labra moues, cum mittere uocem
debueris uel marmoreus uel aeneus? aut cur

such as the fugitive buffoon of urbane Catullus:
you, wretch, cry out, so that you might surpass Stentor,
or rather as much as the Homeric Gradivus, 'Do you hear,
Jupiter, this, and you do not even move your lips, when you ought to send forth a voice
even if you were marble or brazen? Or why

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in carbone tuo charta pia tura soluta
ponimus et sectum uituli iecur albaque porci
omenta? ut uideo, nullum discrimen habendum est
effigies inter uestras statuamque Vagelli.'
accipe quae contra ualeat solacia ferre

on your charcoal do we place pious paper, incense loosed,
and the cut liver of a calf and the white omentum (caul) of a pig?
as I see, no discrimination is to be made
between your effigies and the statue of Vagellius.'
receive what may avail to bring counter-solaces

120

et qui nec Cynicos nec Stoica dogmata legit
a Cynicis tunica distantia, non Epicurum
suspicit exigui laetum plantaribus horti.
curentur dubii medicis maioribus aegri:
tu uenam uel discipulo committe Philippi.

and he who reads neither the dogmas of the Cynics nor of the Stoics,
differing from the Cynics by a tunic, does not look up to Epicurus,
happy with the planting-beds of a meager garden.
let patients of doubtful case be cared for by greater physicians:
you, entrust your vein even to the disciple of Philippus.

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si nullum in terris tam detestabile factum
ostendis, taceo, nec pugnis caedere pectus
te ueto nec plana faciem contundere palma,
quandoquidem accepto claudenda est ianua damno,
et maiore domus gemitu, maiore tumultu

if you point out no deed on earth so detestable
I am silent, nor do I forbid you to beat your breast with fists
nor to bruise your face with a flat palm,
since, the damage once received, the door must be closed,
and with a greater groaning of the house, with a greater tumult

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planguntur nummi quam funera; nemo dolorem
fingit in hoc casu, uestem diducere summam
contentus, uexare oculos umore coacto:
ploratur lacrimis amissa pecunia ueris.
sed si cuncta uides simili fora plena querella,

coins are lamented rather than funerals; no one feigns grief
in this case, content to tear the outer garment,
to vex the eyes with compelled moisture:
lost money is wept with true tears.
but if you see all the fora full of a similar complaint,

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si deciens lectis diuersa parte tabellis
uana superuacui dicunt chirographa ligni,
arguit ipsorum quos littera gemmaque princeps
sardonychum, loculis quae custoditur eburnis,
ten, o delicias, extra communia censes

if, ten times, with the tablets read on the opposite side,
the empty chirographs of superfluous wood speak vainly,
the letter and the princely gem, the sardonyx,
which is guarded in ivory little cases, arraigns those very men—
do you, O delight, reckon yourself outside the common lot?

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ponendum, quia tu gallinae filius albae,
nos uiles pulli nati infelicibus ouis?
rem pateris modicam et mediocri bile ferendam,
si flectas oculos maiora ad crimina. confer
conductum latronem, incendia sulpure coepta

to be set outside the common lot, because you are the son of a white hen,
and we are cheap chicks born from unlucky eggs?
it is a modest matter and to be borne with moderate gall,
if you should bend your eyes to greater crimes. Compare
a hired bandit, arsons begun with sulphur

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atque dolo, primos cum ianua colligit ignes;
confer et hos, ueteris qui tollunt grandia templi
pocula adorandae robiginis et populorum
dona uel antiquo positas a rege coronas;
haec ibi si non sunt, minor exstat sacrilegus qui

and by guile, when the doorway gathers the first flames;
compare also these men, who remove from an ancient temple the grand chalices
of to-be-adored rust and the gifts of peoples,
or the crowns set in place by an antique king;
if these are not there, the sacrilegious man who

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radat inaurati femur Herculis et faciem ipsam
Neptuni, qui bratteolam de Castore ducat;
[an dubitet solitus totum conflare Tonantem?]
confer et artifices mercatoremque ueneni
et deducendum corio bouis in mare, cum quo

let him scrape the thigh of gilded Hercules and the very face
of Neptune, he who would draw off a little foil-leaf from Castor;
[or would he hesitate, who is wont to melt down the whole Thunderer?]
add also the artificers and the poison-merchant,
and the one to be led down into the sea with an ox’s hide, with whom

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clauditur aduersis innoxia simia fatis.
haec quota pars scelerum, quae custos Gallicus urbis
usque a lucifero donec lux occidat audit?
humani generis mores tibi nosse uolenti
sufficit una domus; paucos consume dies et

the innocuous monkey is shut in by adverse fates.
what fraction of crimes is this, which the Gallic guardian of the city
hears from the morning-star until the light sets?
to you, wanting to know the mores of the human race,
one house suffices; consume a few days and

160

dicere te miserum, postquam illinc ueneris, aude.
quis tumidum guttur miratur in Alpibus aut quis
in Meroe crasso maiorem infante mamillam?
caerula quis stupuit Germani lumina, flauam
caesariem et madido torquentem cornua cirro?

dare to call yourself miserable, after you have come from there.
who marvels at a tumid throat in the Alps, or who
in Meroe at a breast larger than a fat infant?
who has been stupefied by a German’s cerulean eyes, his blond
mane and horns coiling with a damp curl?

165

[nempe quod haec illis natura est omnibus una.]
ad subitas Thracum uolucres nubemque sonoram
Pygmaeus paruis currit bellator in armis,
mox inpar hosti raptusque per aera curuis
unguibus a saeua fertur grue. si uideas hoc

[surely because this nature is one and the same for them all.]
toward the sudden birds of the Thracians and the sonorous cloud
the Pygmy warrior runs with small arms,
soon unequal to the foe, and snatched through the air by curved
talons he is borne by the savage crane. if you see this

170

gentibus in nostris, risu quatiare; sed illic,
quamquam eadem adsidue spectentur proelia, ridet
nemo, ubi tota cohors pede non est altior uno.
'nullane peiuri capitis fraudisque nefandae
poena erit?' abreptum crede hunc grauiore catena

among our peoples, you would be shaken with laughter; but there,
although the same battles are constantly beheld, no one laughs
where the whole cohort is not taller than one foot.
'Will there be no capital penalty for perjury and nefarious fraud
will there?' Believe this man dragged off with a heavier chain

175

protinus et nostro (quid plus uelit ira?) necari
arbitrio: manet illa tamen iactura nec umquam
depositum tibi sospes erit, sed corpore trunco
inuidiosa dabit minimus solacia sanguis.
'at uindicta bonum uita iucundius ipsa.'

immediately too to be killed at our (what more would anger wish?) discretion:
yet that loss remains, and never
will the deposit be safe for you, but with a truncated body
the very least blood will give invidious solaces.
'But revenge is a good, more pleasant than life itself.'

180

nempe hoc indocti, quorum praecordia nullis
interdum aut leuibus uideas flagrantia causis.
[quantulacumque adeo est occasio sufficit irae.]
Chrysippus non dicet idem nec mite Thaletis
ingenium dulcique senex uicinus Hymetto,

surely this is the view of the unlearned, whose hearts you may sometimes see blazing from no causes or from slight causes.
[any occasion, however small, suffices for ire.]
Chrysippus will not say the same, nor the gentle genius of Thales,
and the old man, neighbor to sweet Hymettus,

185

qui partem acceptae saeua inter uincla cicutae
accusatori nollet dare. [plurima felix
paulatim uitia atque errores exuit, omnes
prima docens rectum, sapientia.] quippe minuti
semper et infirmi est animi exiguique uoluptas

who would not be willing to give a share of the hemlock received amid savage bonds
to his accuser. [happy wisdom
gradually strips away very many vices and errors, teaching all
first what is right, wisdom.] for the pleasure
is always of a minute and infirm spirit and of an exiguous mind

190

ultio. continuo sic collige, quod uindicta
nemo magis gaudet quam femina. cur tamen hos tu
euasisse putes, quos diri conscia facti
mens habet attonitos et surdo uerbere caedit
occultum quatiente animo tortore flagellum?

vengeance. straightway gather thus, that in vengeance
no one rejoices more than a woman. why yet do you
think these to have escaped, whom, conscious of the dire deed,
the mind holds thunderstruck and smites with a mute lash,
the hidden scourge, with the mind, as torturer, brandishing it?

195

poena autem uehemens ac multo saeuior illis
quas et Caedicius grauis inuenit et Rhadamanthus,
nocte dieque suum gestare in pectore testem.
Spartano cuidam respondit Pythia uates
haut inpunitum quondam fore quod dubitaret

but a punishment vehement and much more savage than those
which both grave Caedicius and Rhadamanthus devised,
is to carry night and day one’s own witness in the breast.
to a certain Spartan the Pythian prophetess replied
that it would not be unpunished someday that he doubted

200

depositum retinere et fraudem iure tueri
iurando. quaerebat enim quae numinis esset
mens et an hoc illi facinus suaderet Apollo.
reddidit ergo metu, non moribus, et tamen omnem
uocem adyti dignam templo ueramque probauit

to retain a deposit and to defend the fraud as right by swearing.
for he was inquiring what the mind of the divinity was
and whether Apollo was urging this crime upon him.
he therefore returned it from fear, not from morals; and yet he proved every
utterance of the adytum worthy of the temple and true

205

extinctus tota pariter cum prole domoque
et quamuis longa deductis gente propinquis.
has patitur poenas peccandi sola uoluntas.
nam scelus intra se tacitum qui cogitat ullum
facti crimen habet.

wiped out together with all his progeny and household,
and with his kinsmen, though of a long lineage, brought low.
these penalties the mere will to sin endures.
for he who within himself tacitly cogitates any crime
has the guilt of the deed.

cedo si conata peregit.

Come, tell me if she carried out what she attempted.

210

perpetua anxietas nec mensae tempore cessat
faucibus ut morbo siccis interque molares
difficili crescente cibo, sed uina misellus
expuit, Albani ueteris pretiosa senectus
displicet; ostendas melius, densissima ruga

perpetual anxiety does not even at mealtime cease
with his throat, as by a disease, dry, and between the molars
as the food increases with difficulty; but the poor wretch
spits out the wines, the precious senescence of aged Alban wine
displeases; you might show better, the very densest wrinkle

215

cogitur in frontem uelut acri ducta Falerno.
nocte breuem si forte indulsit cura soporem
et toto uersata toro iam membra quiescunt,
continuo templum et uiolati numinis aras
et, quod praecipuis mentem sudoribus urguet,

the densest wrinkle is forced into his forehead, as if drawn by sharp Falernian.
if by chance care indulged a brief sleep at night
and now the limbs, having been turned about on the whole couch, rest,
straightway the temple and the altars of the violated divinity,
and that which with especial sweats presses the mind,

220

te uidet in somnis; tua sacra et maior imago
humana turbat pauidum cogitque fateri.
hi sunt qui trepidant et ad omnia fulgura pallent,
cum tonat, exanimes primo quoque murmure caeli,
non quasi fortuitus nec uentorum rabie sed

he sees you in dreams; your sacred rites and an image greater than human
trouble the timorous and compel him to confess.
these are they who tremble and grow pale at every lightning-flash,
when it thunders, exanimate at even the first murmur of the sky,
not as if fortuitous nor by the rage of the winds but

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iratus cadat in terras et iudicet ignis.
illa nihil nocuit, cura grauiore timetur
proxima tempestas uelut hoc dilata sereno.
praeterea lateris uigili cum febre dolorem
si coepere pati, missum ad sua corpora morbum

that in wrath it falls upon the lands and the fire pronounces judgment.
that one did no harm; with weightier care the next storm is feared,
as though the nearest tempest were, by this clear sky, only deferred.
moreover, when they have begun to suffer a pain of the side with a wakeful fever,
they think a disease has been sent to their bodies

230

infesto credunt a numine; saxa deorum
haec et tela putant. pecudem spondere sacello
balantem et Laribus cristam promittere galli
non audent; quid enim sperare nocentibus aegris
concessum? uel quae non dignior hostia uita?

they believe it is from a hostile numen; they think these are the stones and missiles of the gods.
they do not dare to pledge to a little shrine a bleating sheep and to promise to the Lares the crest of a cock;
for what hope is granted to the guilty sick?
or what victim more worthy than life?

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[mobilis et uaria est ferme natura malorum.]
cum scelus admittunt, superest constantia; quod fas
atque nefas tandem incipiunt sentire peractis
criminibus. tamen ad mores natura recurrit
damnatos fixa et mutari nescia. nam quis

[inconstant and various is for the most part the nature of the wicked.]
when they commit a crime, constancy remains; what is right
and what is wrong they at last begin to feel after the crimes
have been accomplished. yet nature returns to condemned habits,
fixed and not knowing how to change. for who

240

peccandi finem posuit sibi? quando recepit
eiectum semel attrita de fronte ruborem?
quisnam hominum est quem tu contentum uideris uno
flagitio? dabit in laqueum uestigia noster
perfidus et nigri patietur carceris uncum

has he set an end to sinning for himself? when has he taken back
the blush once cast out, rubbed away from his brow?
what man among men is there whom you have seen content with a single
flagitious deed? our perfidious fellow will set his footsteps into the snare
and will endure the hook of the black prison

245

aut maris Aegaei rupem scopulosque frequentes
exulibus magnis. poena gaudebis amara
nominis inuisi tandemque fatebere laetus
nec surdum nec Teresian quemquam esse deorum.

or the rock of the Aegean sea and the crags frequented
by great exiles. you will rejoice in the bitter penalty
of the detested name, and at last you will gladly confess
that none of the gods is deaf nor Tiresian.