XXXVI.

IV.-8.

This Epigram is constantly quoted for its description of the occupations of a Roman day. Compare Horace's diary, Sat. I. 6, 112 seqq.

1, 2. Prima] i. e. six a.m. salutantes] Comp. Virg. G. II. 462, where Prof. Conington observes, on the authority of the text, that these levées were held from six o'clock in the morning till eight. Comp. Juv. I. 127, 8:

'Ipse dies pulchro distinguitur ordine

rerum:

Sportula, deinde forum jurisque peritus Apollo.' Comp. also V. 22, where the client repairs to his patron 'Sideribus dubiis.' 4. A siesta at noon is still common in Italy.

6. frangere toros] equivalent since the

to 'mensæ accumbere:' Romans reclined at table.

7. libellorum] Martial's verses were read to Domitian for his amuse

ment after dinner. Euphemus was probably the Emperor's maître d'hotel. 10. parca] an indirect compliment to Domitian's sobriety. Ambrosias,' 1. 8, implies the divinity of the Emperor. 11. jocos]

44.

libellos, v. 7.

Martial here alludes to the fearful eruption of Vesuvius on the 24th of August A.D. 79, described in detail by the younger Pliny in his well-known letter to the historian Tacitus, Plin. Ep. VI. 16, 20. Herculaneum and Pompeii were buried beneath the vast accumulation of ashes.

1-5. Vesuvius was noted for the great fertility of the tract which

its sloping sides, a fertility in great measure owing to the deposits of fine volcanic sand and ashes that had been thrown out from the mountain. See Virg. G. II. 224.

nobilis uva] Sir Emerson Tennent says: "The richest wines of France, Italy, Hungary, Madeira, and Teneriffe, are grown on the sites of extinct volcanoes." On Wine, etc. p. 81.

lacus] is the vat into which the wine flowed from the press: Cato R. R. 25.

64.

On Roman Gardens, see Smith's Dict. Ant. Hortus: and the letter of the younger Pliny, Epist. V. 6, in which he describes his Tuscan Villa. Comp. also Statius' account of the "Villa Surrentina" of Pollius, Silv. II. 2, and that of the "Villa Tiburtina" of Vopiscus, I. 3.

3. longo jugo] The Janiculum stretched from the Aventine and Vatican hills to the Milvian bridge..

14. frigus] "cool retreats:" such as the frigidum Præneste' of Horace, Od. III. 4, 22.

The commentators explain 'virgineo cruore' by the sacrifices offered to Diana, the Virgin goddess, in the grove of Aricia. See Geograph. Dict. Aricia. But the allusion is not clear. It is possible that the suicide of Anna Perenna may be referred to.

19. The sense is: the villa commands a good view of persons riding or driving on the Salarian and Flaminian roads, while the noise of the wheels is too distant to be heard [essedo tacente].

33. pendulam] beautifully describes the site of Setia on a lofty hill, looking down on the Pontine marshes and the Appian Way. Comp. Mart. XIII. 112: Pendula Pomptinos quæ spectat Setia campos.'

VI.-29.

3. munera] Glaucia was emancipated, and made a freedman, in his infancy.

VII.-50.

Some

Martial here attributes the decline of poetry to the absence of munificent patronage. Juvenal, VII. 38 seqq. makes the same complaint. remarks as to the relative characteristics of the Augustan and Flavian literature will be found in Merivale's Emperors, vol. VII. ch. 64.

2. duce] i. e. Domitian.

IX.-4.

5. Conturbabit] Comp. Juv. VII. 128: 'Sic Pedo conturbat [becomes insolvent]: Matho deficit [fails].'

6. decidat] Comp. Juv. XII. 33: 'decidere [to compound] cœpit cum ventis.'

7-11. Domitian restored the Temples which had perished in the conflagration of the reign of Nero: among others the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter, spending, according to Plutarch, no less than £2,400,000 on the gilding of the edifice alone. He built a temple to Minerva in the

'Nam si Virgilio puer et tolerabile deesset

Hospitium, caderent omnes a dentibus hydri:

Surda nihil gemeret grave buccina.' 12. Alexin] alluding to the second Eclogue of Virgil. Servius mentions a report that Virgil's Alexis was only another name for Alexander, a youth belonging to Mecænas, and given by him to the poet, who is supposed by Spohn to have written the 22nd Eclogue as a mark of gratitude to his patron.

17. excidit] i. e. he no longer confined himself to humble rural themes, but essayed Epic poetry.

Galatea] See Virg. Ecl. III. 64. 18. Thestylis] See Ecl. II. 10. 20. Culicem] The 'Culex,' or Gnat, is a kind of Bucolic poem in 413 hexameters, often very obscure.

21. Marsus was an Epigrammatist, whom Martial elsewhere mentions, Lib. II. Epigr. 71.

VIII.-58.

51. domus longe] Schneidewin pronounces the last word a corruption.

Transitorium [addita templa foro]; and consecrated two fanes to Juno.In the words Tarpeiæ frondis honore,' the poet alludes to the chaplets of oak and laurel which were given as prizes in the games instituted by Domitian in honour of Jupiter Capitolinus. Suet. Dom. 5. Merivale's Emperors, vol. VI. P. 164.

11. Quid loquar Alciden] The shrine and altar of Hercules, consecrated by Evander, perished in the fire and was restored by the Emperor: see Merivale, 1.c. and Id. VII. p. 142. Suet. 1. c. He also rebuilt the fanes of Castor and Pollux, 'pii Lacones.' The epithet 'pii' refers to the legend which relates that Pollux preferred to share his brother's fate, and to live and die on alternate days with him, rather than to live as an immortal in Olympus. Mythol. Dict. p. 1053.

71.

3 gener atque socer] 'socer' describes Cæsar, whose daughter Julia Pompey married. Comp. Virg. Æn. VI. 830:

'Aggeribus socer Alpinis atque arce Monoci

Descendens, gener adversis instructus Eois.'

sitively and intransitively

future active, signifying desire

noun, used for the English noun