Juvenal: SATVRAE

Quamvis digressu veteris confusus amici
laudo tamen, vacuis quod sedem figere Cumis
destinet atque unum civem donare Sibyllae.
ianua Baiarum est et gratum litus amoeni
secessus. ego vel Prochytam praepono Suburae;

Although, confused at the departure of an old friend,
I nevertheless praise that he intends to fix his seat in empty Cumae
and to donate one citizen to the Sibyl.
It is the gateway to Baiae and the pleasing shore of a delightful
retreat. I for my part would even prefer Prochyta to the Subura;

nam quid tam miserum, tam solum vidimus, ut non
deterius credas horrere incendia, lapsus
tectorum adsiduos ac mille pericula saevae
urbis et Augusto recitantes mense poetas?
Sed dum tota domus raeda componitur una,

for what so wretched, so solitary have we seen, that you would not think worse: the fires that make one shudder, the continual collapses of roofs, and the thousand dangers of the savage city, and poets reciting in the month of Augustus?
But while an entire household is being packed into one carriage,

substitit ad veteres arcus madidamque Capenam.
hic, ubi nocturnae Numa constituebat amicae
(nunc sacri fontis nemus et delubra locantur
Iudaeis, quorum cophinus fenumque supellex;
omnis enim populo mercedem pendere iussa est

he halted at the ancient arches and the dripping Capena.
here, where Numa used to arrange meetings with his nocturnal girlfriend
(now the grove of the sacred spring and the shrines are leased out
to the Jews, whose basket and hay are their furnishings;
for everything has been ordered to pay rent to the People

arbor et eiectis mendicat silva Camenis),
in vallem Egeriae descendimus et speluncas
dissimiles veris. quanto praesentius esset
numen aquis, viridi si margine cluderet undas
herba nec ingenuum violarent marmora tofum.

the tree and, with the Camenae cast out, the grove begs alms),
we descend into the valley of Egeria and to caverns
unlike the true ones. How much more present would
the divinity be to the waters, if with a green margin the grass were to enclose the waves
and marbles did not violate the native tufa.

Hic tunc Umbricius 'quando artibus' inquit 'honestis
nullus in urbe locus, nulla emolumenta laborum,
res hodie minor est here quam fuit atque eadem cras
deteret exiguis aliquid, proponimus illuc
ire, fatigatas ubi Daedalus exuit alas,

Hereupon then Umbricius says: 'since for honest arts there is no place in the city, no emoluments of labors, my means today are smaller than they were yesterday, and the same tomorrow will wear away something by petty diminishments, we propose to go thither where Daedalus put off his wearied wings,'

dum nova canities, dum prima et recta senectus,
dum superest Lachesi quod torqueat et pedibus me
porto meis nullo dextram subeunte bacillo.
cedamus patria. vivant Artorius istic
et Catulus, maneant qui nigrum in candida vertunt,

while the grayness is new, while senectitude is prime and upright,
while there remains for Lachesis something to twist, and I carry myself on my own feet,
with no walking-stick coming up under my right hand.
let us yield from the fatherland. let Artorius live there
and Catulus; let those remain who turn black into white,

quis facile est aedem conducere, flumina, portus,
siccandam eluviem, portandum ad busta cadaver,
et praebere caput domina venale sub hasta.
quondam hi cornicines et municipalis harenae
perpetui comites notaeque per oppida buccae

to whom it is easy to lease a temple, rivers, harbors,
a flood to be dried, a cadaver to be carried to the pyres,
and to offer his head to a mistress, for sale under the spear.
once these were horn‑blowers and perpetual companions of the municipal arena,
and cheeks known throughout the towns

munera nunc edunt et, verso pollice vulgus
cum iubet, occidunt populariter; inde reversi
conducunt foricas, et cur non omnia? cum sint
quales ex humili magna ad fastigia rerum
extollit quotiens voluit Fortuna iocari.

now they put on gladiatorial shows and, when the mob, with thumb turned,
bids it, they kill to the populace’s taste; then, returning,
they contract for the privies, and why not everything? since they are
the sort whom, from the humble, to the great pinnacles of affairs
Fortune extols whenever she has wished to jest.

Quid Romae faciam? mentiri nescio; librum,
si malus est, nequeo laudare et poscere; motus
astrorum ignoro; funus promittere patris
nec volo nec possum; ranarum viscera numquam
inspexi; ferre ad nuptam quae mittit adulter,

What am I to do in Rome? I do not know how to lie; a book,
if it is bad, I cannot praise and solicit; the motions
of the stars I am ignorant of; to promise my father’s
funeral I neither wish nor am able; the entrails of frogs I have never
inspected; to carry to a bride what the adulterer sends,

quae mandat, norunt alii; me nemo ministro
fur erit, atque ideo nulli comes exeo tamquam
mancus et extinctae corpus non utile dextrae.
quis nunc diligitur nisi conscius et cui fervens
aestuat occultis animus semperque tacendis?

what she entrusts, others know; with me as attendant no one will be a thief, and therefore I go out as a companion to no one, as if maimed and a body not useful, the right hand extinct. who is cherished now except the privy confidant, he for whom a fervent mind seethes with hidden things and with matters always to be kept silent?

nil tibi se debere putat, nil conferet umquam,
participem qui te secreti fecit honesti.
carus erit Verri qui Verrem tempore quo vult
accusare potest. tanti tibi non sit opaci
omnis harena Tagi quodque in mare volvitur aurum,

he thinks he owes you nothing, he will contribute nothing ever,
who has made you a participant in a respectable secret.
he will be dear to Verres who can accuse Verres at whatever time he wants.
let not for you be of such great worth all the sand of the opaque
Tagus and the gold which is rolled into the sea,

ut somno careas ponendaque praemia sumas
tristis et a magno semper timearis amico.
Quae nunc divitibus gens acceptissima nostris
et quos praecipue fugiam, properabo fateri,
nec pudor obstabit. non possum ferre, Quirites,

so that you may be without sleep and take up rewards to be posted,
grim, and be always feared by a great friend.
What people are now most acceptable to our rich men,
and whom I should especially flee, I will hasten to confess,
nor will shame stand in the way. I cannot endure it, Quirites,

Graecam urbem. quamvis quota portio faecis Achaei?
iam pridem Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes
et linguam et mores et cum tibicine chordas
obliquas nec non gentilia tympana secum
vexit et ad circum iussas prostare puellas.

A Greek city. although what fraction of the dregs is Achaean?
long since the Syrian Orontes has flowed down into the Tiber
and both the language and the customs and, with the pipe-player, slanting strings,
and also native tympana he has carried with him,
and girls ordered to stand on display at the Circus.

ite, quibus grata est picta lupa barbara mitra.
rusticus ille tuus sumit trechedipna, Quirine,
et ceromatico fert niceteria collo.
hic alta Sicyone, ast hic Amydone relicta,
hic Andro, ille Samo, hic Trallibus aut Alabandis,

go, you to whom a painted she-wolf with a barbarian mitra is pleasing.
that rustic of yours takes trechedipna, Quirinus,
and carries niceteria on a ceromatic neck.
this one with lofty Sicyon left behind, but that one with Amydon left behind,
this one from Andros, that one from Samos, this one from Tralles or Alabanda,

Esquilias dictumque petunt a vimine collem,
viscera magnarum domuum dominique futuri.
ingenium velox, audacia perdita, sermo
promptus et Isaeo torrentior: ede quid illum
esse putes. quemvis hominem secum attulit ad nos:

They make for the Esquiline and the hill named from withe (the Viminal),
the inmost parts of great houses and a master-to-be.
a swift ingenium, a reckless audacity, a speech
ready and more torrential than Isaeus: say what you
think he is. he has brought with him to us any man you please:

grammaticus, rhetor, geometres, pictor, aliptes,
augur, schoenobates, medicus, magus, omnia novit
Graeculus esuriens: in caelum iusseris, ibit.
in summa non Maurus erat neque Sarmata nec Thrax
qui sumpsit pinnas, mediis sed natus Athenis.

grammarian, rhetor, geometer, painter, aliptes,
augur, rope-walker, physician, magus, the hungry little Greek knows all things:
if you order him into heaven, he will go.
in sum, it was not a Moor nor a Sarmatian nor a Thracian
who took up wings, but born in the midst of Athens.

horum ego non fugiam conchylia? me prior ille
signabit fultusque toro meliore recumbet,
advectus Romam quo pruna et cottana vento?
usque adeo nihil est quod nostra infantia caelum
hausit Aventini baca nutrita Sabina?

Shall I not flee the purple of these men? Will that fellow seal sooner than I, and, propped on a better couch, recline,
borne to Rome by the same wind by which plums and cottana-figs come?
Is it then utterly nothing that our infancy drank in the heaven,
nourished by the Sabine berry of the Aventine?

Quid quod adulandi gens prudentissima laudat
sermonem indocti, faciem deformis amici,
et longum invalidi collum cervicibus aequat
Herculis Antaeum procul a tellure tenentis,
miratur vocem angustam, qua deterius nec

What of this, that the most prudent tribe of adulation lauds
sermon of the unlearned, the face of a deformed friend,
and makes the long neck of a weakling equal to the neck of Hercules holding Antaeus far from the earth,
marvels at a narrow voice, than which nothing is worse

ille sonat quo mordetur gallina marito?
haec eadem licet et nobis laudare, sed illis
creditur. an melior cum Thaida sustinet aut cum
uxorem comoedus agit vel Dorida nullo
cultam palliolo? mulier nempe ipsa videtur,

does he sound with that note with which a hen is bitten by her husband?
these same things it is permitted for us also to praise, but to them
credit is given. Or is he better when he sustains Thais or when
as a comedian he plays a wife, or a Doris adorned with no
little mantle? plainly he himself seems a woman,

non persona, loqui: vacua et plana omnia dicas
infra ventriculum et tenui distantia rima.
nec tamen Antiochus nec erit mirabilis illic
aut Stratocles aut cum molli Demetrius Haemo:
natio comoeda est. rides, maiore cachinno

not the mask, speaking: you would say that everything below the belly is empty and flat and separated by a thin fissure.
nor, however, will Antiochus be marvelous there, nor Stratocles, nor Demetrius together with soft Haemus:
the nation is a comedian. you laugh, with a greater cachinnation

100

concutitur; flet, si lacrimas conspexit amici,
nec dolet; igniculum brumae si tempore poscas,
accipit endromidem; si dixeris "aestuo," sudat.
non sumus ergo pares: melior, qui semper et omni
nocte dieque potest aliena sumere vultum

he is shaken; he weeps, if he has caught sight of a friend’s tears,
nor does he grieve; if in the time of winter you should ask for a little spark,
he puts on an endromis; if you should say “I am sweltering,” he sweats.
we are therefore not equals: better is he who always and at every
night and day can assume another’s visage

105

a facie, iactare manus laudare paratus,
si bene ructavit, si rectum minxit amicus,
si trulla inverso crepitum dedit aurea fundo.
Praeterea sanctum nihil +aut+ ab inguine tutum,
non matrona laris, non filia virgo, nec ipse

from the face, ready to throw up his hands and praise,
if a friend has belched well, if he has pissed straight,
if the golden ladle gave a rattle with its bottom turned upside down.
Moreover, nothing sacred +or+ safe from his groin,
not the matron of the household, not the maiden daughter, nor he himself

110

sponsus levis adhuc, non filius ante pudicus.
horum si nihil est, aviam resupinat amici.
[scire volunt secreta domus atque inde timeri.]
et quoniam coepit Graecorum mentio, transi
gymnasia atque audi facinus maioris abollae.

the bridegroom still smooth, not the formerly modest son.
if none of these, he throws his friend's grandmother on her back.
[they want to know the secrets of the house and from that to be feared.]
and since mention of the Greeks has begun, cross the gymnasia and hear the crime of the greater cloak.

115

Stoicus occidit Baream delator amicum
discipulumque senex ripa nutritus in illa
ad quam Gorgonei delapsa est pinna caballi.
non est Romano cuiquam locus hic, ubi regnat
Protogenes aliquis vel Diphilus aut Hermarchus,

the Stoic informer killed Barea, his friend and pupil,
an old man nourished on that bank
to which the feather of the Gorgonian horse slipped down.
there is no place here for any Roman, where there reigns
some Protogenes or Diphilus or Hermarchus,

120

qui gentis vitio numquam partitur amicum,
solus habet. nam cum facilem stillavit in aurem
exiguum de naturae patriaeque veneno,
limine summoveor, perierunt tempora longi
servitii; nusquam minor est iactura clientis.

who, by the vice of his race, never shares a friend, has him alone.
for when into a facile ear he has distilled a small exiguous dose of the venom about my nature and fatherland,
I am removed from the threshold, the times of long servitude have perished;
nowhere is the loss of the client smaller.

125

Quod porro officium, ne nobis blandiar, aut quod
pauperis hic meritum, si curet nocte togatus
currere, cum praetor lictorem inpellat et ire
praecipitem iubeat dudum vigilantibus orbis,
ne prior Albinam et Modiam collega salutet?

What further duty, not to flatter myself, or what
merit of a poor man is here, if, toga-clad, he takes pains to run by night,
when the praetor drives on the lictor and orders him to go headlong,
with the world long since wakeful,
lest a colleague greet Albina and Modia before him?

130

divitis hic servo cludit latus ingenuorum
filius; alter enim quantum in legione tribuni
accipiunt donat Calvinae vel Catienae,
ut semel aut iterum super illam palpitet; at tu,
cum tibi vestiti facies scorti placet, haeres

here the son of the freeborn closes his side for a rich man’s slave;
for another donates to Calvina or Catiena as much as tribunes receive in a legion,
so that once or twice he may palpitate over her; but you,
when the face of a clothed prostitute pleases you, you stick fast

135

et dubitas alta Chionen deducere sella.
da testem Romae tam sanctum quam fuit hospes
numinis Idaei, procedat vel Numa vel qui
servavit trepidam flagranti ex aede Minervam:
protinus ad censum, de moribus ultima fiet

and you hesitate to escort Chione down from her lofty sedan-chair.
produce at Rome a witness as holy as was the host
of the Idaean divinity; let either Numa come forward, or he who
saved trembling Minerva from the blazing temple:
straightway it comes to the census; of morals the last thing will be made

140

quaestio. "quot pascit servos? quot possidet agri
iugera?

the question. "how many slaves does she maintain? how many of land’s iugera
does she possess?

quam multa magnaque paropside cenat?"
quantum quisque sua nummorum servat in arca,
tantum habet et fidei. iures licet et Samothracum
et nostrorum aras, contemnere fulmina pauper

“with how many and how great a serving-platter does he dine?”
as much as each man keeps of coins in his own chest,
so much he has of faith/credit. You may swear by both the altars
of the Samothracians and of ours; a poor man may despise the thunderbolts

145

creditur atque deos dis ignoscentibus ipsis.
Quid quod materiam praebet causasque iocorum
omnibus hic idem, si foeda et scissa lacerna,
si toga sordidula est et rupta calceus alter
pelle patet, vel si consuto volnere crassum

he is believed, and even to make light of the gods, the gods themselves forgiving.
What of the fact that this same man provides material and causes for jests
to everyone, if his cloak is foul and torn,
if his toga is somewhat filthy and one shoe, burst, gapes to the hide,
or if, at a sewn-up wound, the thick

150

atque recens linum ostendit non una cicatrix?
nil habet infelix paupertas durius in se
quam quod ridiculos homines facit. "exeat" inquit,
"si pudor est, et de pulvino surgat equestri,
cuius res legi non sufficit, et sedeant hic

and does more than one scar show fresh linen-thread?
unhappy poverty has nothing harsher in itself
than that it makes men ridiculous. "Let him go out," he says,
"if there is modesty, and let him rise from the equestrian cushion,
whose property does not suffice for the law, and let them sit here

155

lenonum pueri quocumque ex fornice nati,
hic plaudat nitidus praeconis filius inter
pinnirapi cultos iuvenes iuvenesque lanistae."
sic libitum vano, qui nos distinxit, Othoni.
quis gener hic placuit censu minor atque puellae

the boys of pimps, born from whatever brothel-arch,
here let the sleek praeco’s son applaud among
the well-groomed youths of the plume-snatcher and of the lanista."
thus it pleased vain Otho, who has distinguished us.
what bridegroom here has found favor, lower in census than the girl

160

sarcinulis inpar? quis pauper scribitur heres?
quando in consilio est aedilibus?

unequal to her little bundles? What poor man is written down as heir?
when is he in council with the aediles?

agmine facto
debuerant olim tenues migrasse Quirites.
Haut facile emergunt quorum virtutibus obstat
res angusta domi, sed Romae durior illis

with the column formed
the poor Quirites ought long ago to have migrated.
Not easily do those emerge whose virtues are hindered
by straitened means at home, but at Rome it is harder for them

165

conatus: magno hospitium miserabile, magno
servorum ventres, et frugi cenula magno.
fictilibus cenare pudet, quod turpe negabis
translatus subito ad Marsos mensamque Sabellam
contentusque illic veneto duroque cucullo.

attempts: at great cost, a pitiable lodging; at great cost
the bellies of slaves; and at great cost a frugal little supper.
to dine on fictile dishes one is ashamed—a thing you will not call base,
once suddenly transferred to a Marsian table and Sabellian,
and there content with a sea-blue and rough hooded cloak.

170

Pars magna Italiae est, si verum admittimus, in qua
nemo togam sumit nisi mortuus. ipsa dierum
festorum herboso colitur si quando theatro
maiestas tandemque redit ad pulpita notum
exodium, cum personae pallentis hiatum

A great part of Italy, if we admit the truth, is one in which no one dons the toga unless dead. The very majesty of festival days is observed, if ever, in a grassy theater, and at last the well-known afterpiece returns to the stage, when the gape of the pallid mask

175

in gremio matris formidat rusticus infans,
aequales habitus illic similesque videbis
orchestram et populum; clari velamen honoris
sufficiunt tunicae summis aedilibus albae.
hic ultra vires habitus nitor, hic aliquid plus

in the mother’s lap a rustic infant is afraid,
there you will see equal outfits and similar-looking the orchestra and the populace;
white tunics suffice as the garment-veil of illustrious honor for the highest aediles.
here the sheen of attire beyond their means, here something extra

180

quam satis est interdum aliena sumitur arca.
commune id vitium est: hic vivimus ambitiosa
paupertate omnes. quid te moror?

more than is enough is sometimes taken from another’s coffer.
that is a common vice: here we all live in ambitious poverty
why do I detain you?

omnia Romae
cum pretio. quid das, ut Cossum aliquando salutes,
ut te respiciat clauso Veiento labello?

everything at Rome comes with a price.
what do you pay, so that you may sometime greet Cossus,
so that Veiento may look back at you with his little lip closed?

185

ille metit barbam, crinem hic deponit amati;
plena domus libis venalibus: accipe et istud
fermentum tibi habe. praestare tributa clientes
cogimur et cultis augere peculia servis.
Quis timet aut timuit gelida Praeneste ruinam

that man reaps a beard, here one lays down the hair of a beloved;
the house is full of liba for sale: take this too—have the leaven for yourself.
we clients are compelled to furnish tributes and to augment the peculium of well-groomed servants.
Who fears, or has ever feared, a collapse at chilly Praeneste?

190

aut positis nemorosa inter iuga Volsiniis aut
simplicibus Gabiis aut proni Tiburis arce?
nos urbem colimus tenui tibicine fultam
magna parte sui; nam sic labentibus obstat
vilicus et, veteris rimae cum texit hiatum,

or in the well-wooded Volsinii set among the ridges, or in plain Gabii, or on the citadel of sloping Tibur?
we inhabit a city propped by a slender prop for a great part of itself; for thus the bailiff withstands things collapsing, and, when he has covered the hiatus of an old crack,

195

securos pendente iubet dormire ruina.
vivendum est illic, ubi nulla incendia, nulli
nocte metus. iam poscit aquam, iam frivola transfert
Ucalegon, tabulata tibi iam tertia fumant:
tu nescis; nam si gradibus trepidatur ab imis,

he bids the unworried to sleep with ruin pending.
one must live there, where there are no conflagrations, no
fears by night. Already Ucalegon calls for water, already he transfers
his frivolities; the third story for you is already smoking:
you do not know; for if there is trepidation from the lowest steps,

200

ultimus ardebit quem tegula sola tuetur
a pluvia, molles ubi reddunt ova columbae.
lectus erat Cordo Procula minor, urceoli sex
ornamentum abaci, nec non et parvulus infra
cantharus et recubans sub eodem marmore Chiron,

the last will burn, he whom a single tile protects from the rain,
where gentle doves return soft eggs.
Cordo had a bed smaller than Procula, six little ewers
the ornament of the abacus, and likewise a tiny
cantharus below, and Chiron reclining beneath the same marble,

205

iamque vetus Graecos servabat cista libellos
et divina opici rodebant carmina mures.
nil habuit Cordus, quis enim negat? et tamen illud
perdidit infelix totum nihil. ultimus autem
aerumnae cumulus, quod nudum et frusta rogantem

and by now an old chest was preserving Greek little books
and boorish Opic mice were gnawing the divine songs.
Cordus had nothing—who, indeed, denies it?—and yet the unlucky man
lost that whole nothing. however, the last heap of hardship,
that he, naked and begging for scraps,

210

nemo cibo, nemo hospitio tectoque iuvabit.
Si magna Asturici cecidit domus, horrida mater,
pullati proceres, differt vadimonia praetor.
tum gemimus casus urbis, tunc odimus ignem.
ardet adhuc, et iam accurrit qui marmora donet,

no one will help with food, no one with hospitality and a roof.
If the great house of Asturicus has fallen, the disheveled mother,
the nobles in mourning-black, the praetor defers the recognizances.
then we groan over the disasters of the city, then we hate the fire.
it is still burning, and already there runs up one to donate marbles,

215

conferat inpensas; hic nuda et candida signa,
hic aliquid praeclarum Euphranoris et Polycliti,
haec Asianorum vetera ornamenta deorum,
hic libros dabit et forulos mediamque Minervam,
hic modium argenti. meliora ac plura reponit

let him contribute expenses; here nude and white statues,
here something very illustrious by Euphranor and Polyclitus,
these ancient ornaments of the Asiatic gods,
here he will give books and little bookcases and a central Minerva,
here a peck (modius) of silver. he lays by better and more

220

Persicus orborum lautissimus et merito iam
suspectus tamquam ipse suas incenderit aedes.
Si potes avelli circensibus, optima Sorae
aut Fabrateriae domus aut Frusinone paratur
quanti nunc tenebras unum conducis in annum.

Persicus, the most refined of the childless, and now deservedly suspected as though he himself had set his own house ablaze.
If you can be torn away from the Circus-games, an excellent house at Sora or Fabrateria or at Frusino is procured for as much as you now hire darkness for one year.

225

hortulus hic puteusque brevis nec reste movendus
in tenuis plantas facili diffunditur haustu.
vive bidentis amans et culti vilicus horti
unde epulum possis centum dare Pythagoreis.
est aliquid, quocumque loco, quocumque recessu,

here a little garden and a shallow well, not needing to be drawn by rope,
is poured out in an easy draught upon the slender plants.
live as a lover of the bident and the steward of a cultivated garden
whence you can give a banquet to a hundred Pythagoreans.
there is something, in whatever place, in whatever retreat,

230

unius sese dominum fecisse lacertae.
Plurimus hic aeger moritur vigilando (sed ipsum
languorem peperit cibus inperfectus et haerens
ardenti stomacho); nam quae meritoria somnum
admittunt? magnis opibus dormitur in urbe.

to have made himself the master of a single lizard.
Here very many ailing men die by keeping vigil (but the languor itself
was begotten by imperfect food clinging
to a burning stomach); for what rented rooms admit
sleep? with great resources one sleeps in the city.

235

inde caput morbi. raedarum transitus arto
vicorum in flexu et stantis convicia mandrae
eripient somnum Druso vitulisque marinis.
si vocat officium, turba cedente vehetur
dives et ingenti curret super ora Liburna

thence the head of the malady. the passage of carriages in the tight bend of the alleys, and the revilings of a standing herd will snatch sleep from Drusus and from the sea-calves. if duty calls, with the crowd yielding he will be carried, the rich man, and on a huge Liburnian he will run over faces

240

atque obiter leget aut scribet vel dormiet intus;
namque facit somnum clausa lectica fenestra.
ante tamen veniet: nobis properantibus obstat
unda prior, magno populus premit agmine lumbos
qui sequitur; ferit hic cubito, ferit assere duro

and along the way he will read or write or even sleep inside;
for a closed window of the lectica makes sleep.
yet he will arrive before: while we are hurrying, the wave in front blocks us;
the people press our loins in a great throng
of those who follow; this one strikes with his elbow, he strikes with a hard plank

245

alter, at hic tignum capiti incutit, ille metretam.
pinguia crura luto, planta mox undique magna
calcor, et in digito clavus mihi militis haeret.
Nonne vides quanto celebretur sportula fumo?

one man—while this one—bangs a beam against my head, that one a metretes-jar.
my legs are greasy with mud, soon I am trampled on every side by a great sole,
and on my toe the nail of a soldier sticks.
Do you not see with how much smoke the sportula is celebrated?

centum convivae, sequitur sua quemque culina.

a hundred guests, his own kitchen follows each one.

250

Corbulo vix ferret tot vasa ingentia, tot res
inpositas capiti, quas recto vertice portat
servulus infelix et cursu ventilat ignem.
scinduntur tunicae sartae modo, longa coruscat
serraco veniente abies, atque altera pinum

Corbulo would scarcely bear so many huge vessels, so many things
imposed upon the head, which an unlucky little slave carries with his head held straight
and by his running ventilates the fire.
Tunics only just mended are torn; a long fir coruscates
as a wagon comes along, and another a pine

255

plaustra vehunt; nutant alte populoque minantur.
nam si procubuit qui saxa Ligustica portat
axis et eversum fudit super agmina montem,
quid superest de corporibus? quis membra, quis ossa
invenit? obtritum volgi perit omne cadaver

the wagons bear them; they sway on high and menace the populace.
for if he who carries Ligurian stones has pitched forward,
the axle has poured an overturned mountain over the throngs,
what is left of the bodies? who finds the limbs, who the bones?
finds them? the crushed cadaver of the crowd perishes entire

260

more animae. domus interea secura patellas
iam lavat et bucca foculum excitat et sonat unctis
striglibus et pleno componit lintea guto.
haec inter pueros varie properantur, at ille
iam sedet in ripa taetrumque novicius horret

like breath. Meanwhile the household, carefree, now washes the pans,
and with a puff of the cheeks kindles the little hearth, and it rings with oily
strigils, and sets the linens in order with the full oil-flask.
These things are hastened variously among the boys, but he
already sits on the bank and, a newcomer, shudders at the foulness.

265

porthmea nec sperat caenosi gurgitis alnum
infelix nec habet quem porrigat ore trientem.
Respice nunc alia ac diversa pericula noctis:
quod spatium tectis sublimibus unde cerebrum
testa ferit, quotiens rimosa et curta fenestris

nor does he hope for the ferryman’s skiff of the muddy whirlpool,
the unlucky man, nor has he a triens to offer forth from his mouth.
Look now at other and diverse perils of the night:
what a drop from the lofty roofs, whence a potsherd
strikes the brain, how often, cracked and chipped, from the windows

270

vasa cadant, quanto percussum pondere signent
et laedant silicem. possis ignavus haberi
et subiti casus inprovidus, ad cenam si
intestatus eas: adeo tot fata, quot illa
nocte patent vigiles te praetereunte fenestrae.

let vessels fall, with how great a weight, when they are struck, they stamp a mark
and wound the flint. you could be held a sluggard
and improvident of sudden mishap, if to dinner you go
intestate: so many dooms as there are, that night, open
wakeful windows while you pass by.

275

ergo optes votumque feras miserabile tecum,
ut sint contentae patulas defundere pelves.
Ebrius ac petulans, qui nullum forte cecidit,
dat poenas, noctem patitur lugentis amicum
Pelidae, cubat in faciem, mox deinde supinus:

therefore you may wish and carry with you a pitiable vow,
that they be content to pour out broad basins.
A drunken and petulant man, who by chance has felled no one,
pays the penalty, he endures a night like the friend of the grieving Pelides,
he lies on his face, then thereafter supine:

280

[ergo non aliter poterit dormire; quibusdam]
somnum rixa facit. sed quamvis inprobus annis
atque mero fervens cavet hunc quem coccina laena
vitari iubet et comitum longissimus ordo,
multum praeterea flammarum et aenea lampas.

[therefore he will be able to sleep in no other way; for some]
sleep a brawl makes. But although shameless with years
and seething with wine, he is wary of him whom the scarlet cloak
bids be avoided and the very long line of companions,
much besides of flames, and a bronze lamp.

285

me, quem luna solet deducere vel breve lumen
candelae, cuius dispenso et tempero filum,
contemnit. miserae cognosce prohoemia rixae,
si rixa est, ubi tu pulsas, ego vapulo tantum.
stat contra starique iubet. parere necesse est;

me, whom the moon is accustomed to escort, or the brief light
of a candle, whose wick I apportion and temper,
he scorns. Learn the proems of a wretched brawl,
if it is a brawl, where you strike, I only take a beating.
he stands opposite and orders me to stand. To obey is necessary;

290

nam quid agas, cum te furiosus cogat et idem
fortior? "unde venis" exclamat, "cuius aceto,
cuius conche tumes? quis tecum sectile porrum
sutor et elixi verecis labra comedit?

for what are you to do, when a madman compels you and the same man is stronger?
"whence do you come," he shouts, "with whose vinegar,
with whose conch do you swell? what cobbler with you has eaten
the sliced leek and the lips of a boiled wether?"

nil mihi respondes? aut dic aut accipe calcem.

You do not respond to me? Either speak or receive a kick.

295

ede ubi consistas: in qua te quaero proseucha?"
dicere si temptes aliquid tacitusve recedas,
tantumdem est: feriunt pariter, vadimonia deinde
irati faciunt. libertas pauperis haec est:
pulsatus rogat et pugnis concisus adorat

say where you lodge: in what proseucha am I to seek you?"
if you try to say anything or withdraw in silence,
it is all the same: they strike alike, then in their anger
they draw up recognizances. this is the liberty of the poor man:
beaten, he begs, and cut to pieces by fists he adores

300

ut liceat paucis cum dentibus inde reverti.
Nec tamen haec tantum metuas; nam qui spoliet te
non derit clausis domibus postquam omnis ubique
fixa catenatae siluit compago tabernae.
interdum et ferro subitus grassator agit rem:

so that it may be permitted to return from there with few teeth.
Nor yet should you fear only these things; for one to despoil you
will not be lacking, with houses shut, after everywhere
the fixed framework of the chain-bound shop has gone silent.
sometimes too with iron a sudden highwayman does the deed:

305

armato quotiens tutae custode tenentur
et Pomptina palus et Gallinaria pinus,
sic inde huc omnes tamquam ad vivaria currunt.
qua fornace graves, qua non incude catenae?
maximus in vinclis ferri modus, ut timeas ne

whenever the Pomptine marsh and the Gallinarian pine-wood are held safe by an armed custodian,
thus from there to here they all run as if to vivaria (game-preserves).
In what furnace are there not heavy chains, on what anvil are there not?
The greatest measure of iron is in bonds, so that you may fear lest

310

vomer deficiat, ne marra et sarcula desint.
felices proavorum atavos, felicia dicas
saecula quae quondam sub regibus atque tribunis
viderunt uno contentam carcere Romam.
His alias poteram et pluris subnectere causas,

lest the ploughshare fail, lest the mattock and little hoes be lacking.
happy the great-great-grandfathers of our forefathers, happy you would call
the ages which once under kings and tribunes
saw Rome content with a single prison.
To these I could also subjoin other and more numerous causes,

315

sed iumenta vocant et sol inclinat. eundum est;
nam mihi commota iamdudum mulio virga
adnuit. ergo vale nostri memor, et quotiens te
Roma tuo refici properantem reddet Aquino,
me quoque ad Helvinam Cererem vestramque Dianam

but the beasts of burden call and the sun inclines. we must be going;
for the muleteer has long since nodded to me, his rod brandished.
therefore farewell, mindful of us; and whenever Rome returns you
to your Aquinum, hurrying to be refreshed,
lead me too to Helvina Ceres and your Diana

320

converte a Cumis. saturarum ego, ni pudet illas,
auditor gelidos veniam caligatus in agros.'

turn aside from Cumae. Of Satires I—unless they shame—
an auditor, I will come booted into the gelid fields.'