The satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis / translated into English verse by William Gifford.

  • Juvenal
Date:
1802
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis / translated into English verse by William Gifford. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    133/574 (page 53)
    JUVENAL. V. 144—145. 5S These grasp a mirror—pathic Otiio’s boast, (Auruncan Actor’s spoil) where, while his host, And thus a more ancient writer, “ Fulget, et in patinis ludit pulcherrima Nais, “ Prandentum inflammans ora decore suo “ Congrua non tardus diffundat jura minister, “ Ut lateat positis tecta libido cibis.” J do not know whether it be worth while to add, that in the cabinet of curi- osities, collected by the profligate Commodus, and after his death, exposed to sale by Pertinax, there were several of these toys, these drillopotce, argento, auro, chore, citroque compositce. Vek. 143. And hy their Jmio bid their servants swear.~] Men swore by the male, and women by the female deities ; there are exceptions to be found, no doubt, but Juno was always considered as exclusively belonging to the latter. For a man, therefore, to swear by her, was the extreme of efteminacy and irreligion ; and this probably was what chiefly recommended it to this worshipful fraternity. Ver. 144. These grasp a mirror—pathic Othoi’s boast,^ Our author seems extremely hostile to Otho; he recollected, perhaps, the influence he possessed in the court of Nero, to whose pleasures he administered in the most shame- less manner. With the usual versatility of favourites, he w as the first to join Galba, against his too indulgent master; and w'e now see him murdering the man whom he had contributed so much to advance. And yet he had some virtues. When his compliances with the vices of Nero had procured him the Province of Lusitania, he conducted himself like a just and merciful governor: and there is great reason to suspect, that the report of his effeminate behaviour in the struggle with Vitellius, is a satirical exag- geration. Let us hear Tacitus. Necillisegne ant corruptnm luxii iter; (not a word of the speculum) sed lorica ferrea, et ante signa pedester, horridiis, in- comptusjfameeque dissimilis. This rough and soldier-like appearance, so unlike his former habits, added to his voluntary death, and the alleged motives for it, should have exempted him from the sarcastic triumph with which Juvenal pursues his end. But the truth is, he was actuated by a spirit of hostility to the Flavian family, with whom Otho was a favourite—for Vespasian, who