UNIT XI
JUVENAL
    From the satires of Juvenal the modern reader can acquire a rich and critical view of daily life in ancient Rome. His sixteen satires, however, contain very little autobiographical information. Consequently, almost nothing is known of his personal life, and only one of his contemporaries, Persius, even mentions him. Juvenal is thought to have been born about AD 55 in Aquinum, about eighty miles southeast of Rome. He died sometime after AD 130. Topical references in his satires, usually divided into five books, make mention of Agricola's activities in England, Trajan's German and Dacian campaigns, and other events which occurred between 85 and 130 A.D. He was probably born of lower class parents, perhaps even of freedmen, received some training as a rhetor, likely served as a soldier, especially in Britain, since he shows exceptional familiarity with this land. Late in life he was exiled to Egypt. Martial, a contemporary satirist, was his friend.
    Nathaniel Williams reports that Juvenal was read at the Boston Latin Grammar School in the seventh year of instruction.1 Although Juvenal was a pronouncedly moral writer (see, for example, Satire 1, 79), still his omission from the grammar school curriculum is understandable since his xenophobic references frequently are explicilty sexual.

    The following selection is taken from a first American printing of a Delphin edition of P. Junii Juvenalis et A. PersiiFlacci: Satirae by L. Prateus. It was printed in Philadelphia in 1814.

Readings
Satire 3:
Quamvis digressu veteris confusus amici,
Laudo tamen vacuis quod sedem figere Cumis
Destinet, atque unum civem donare Sibyllae.
Janua Baiarum est, et gratum littus amoeni
Recessus. Ego vel Prochytam praepono Suburrae.                                   5
Nam quid tam miserum, et tam solum vidimus, ut non
Deterius credas horrere incendia, lapsus
Tectorum assiduos, ac mille pericula saevae
Urbis et Augusto recitantes mense Poetas?
Sed dum tota domus rheda componitur una,                                             10
Substitit ad veteres arcus, madidamque Capenam;
Hic ubi nocturnae Numa constituebat amicae.
Nunc sacri fontis nemus, et delubra locantur
Iudaeis, quorum cophinus, foenumque supellex.
Omnis enim populo mercedem pendere jussa est                                     15
Arbor, et ejectis mendicat silva Camoenis.
In vallem Aegeriae descendimus, et speluncas
Dissimiles veris. Quanto praestantius esset
Numen aquae, viridi si margine clauderet undas
Herba, nec ingenuum violarent marmora tophum?                                   20
Hic tunc Umbritius, Quando artibus, inquit, honestis
Nullus in urbe locus, nulla emolumenta laborum,
Res hodie minor est, here quam fuit, ac eadem cras
Deteret exiguis aliquid; proponimus illuc
Ire, fatigatas ubi Daedalus exuit alas:                                                       25
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 Arturius isthic,
Et Catulus: maneant qui nigra in candida vertunt:                                    30
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 arenae
Perpetui comites, notaeque per oppida buccae,                                         35
Munera nunc edunt, et verso pollice vulgi
Quemlibet occidunt populariter; inde reversi
Conducunt foricas. Et cur non omnia? Cum sint,
Quales ex humili magna ad fastigia rerum
Extollit, quoties voluit Fortuna jocari.                                                         40
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 nunquam
Inspexi: ferre ad nuptam quae mittit adulter,                                             45
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?                                          50
Nil tibi se debere putat, nil conferet unquam,
Participem qui te secreti fecit honesti.
Carus erit Verri, qui Verrem tempore, quo vult,
Accusare potest. Tanti tibi non sit opaci
Omnis arena Tagi, quodque in mare volvitur aurum,                                 55
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,                                       60
Graecam urbem; quamvis quota portio faecis Achaeae?
Jampridem Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes,
Et linguam, et mores, et cum tibicine chordas
Obliquas, necnon gentilia tympana secum
Vexit, et ad Circum jussas prostare puellas.                                               65
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,                                     70
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.                                 75
Grammaticus, Rhetor, Geometres, Pictor, Aliptes,
Augur, Schoenobates, Medicus, Magus, omnia novit.
Graeculus esuriens, in coelum jusseris, ibit.
Ad summam non Maurus erat, nec Sarmata nec Thrax
Qui sumpsit pennas, mediis sed natus Athenis.                                           80
Horum ego non fugiam conchylia? Me prior ille
Signabit? Fultusque toro meliore recumbet
Advectus Romam, quo pruna, et coctona vento:
Usque adeo nihil est, quod nostra infantia coelum
Hausit Aventini bacca nutrita Sabina?                                                         85
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                                                 90
Ille sonat, qua 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.                                               95
Non persona, loqui: vacua et plena omnia dicas
Inquam ventriculum et tenui distantia rima.
Nec tamen Antiochus, nec erit mirabilis illic
Aut Stratocles, aut cum molli Demetrius Haemo.
Natio comoeda est. Rides? Majore cachinno                                             100
Concutitur: flet, si lacrymas aspexit 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 alienum sumere vultum;                                             105
A facie jactare manus, laudare paratus,
Si bene ructavit, si rectum minxit amicus,
Si trulla inverso crepitum dedit aurea fundo.
Praeterea sanctum nihil est, et ab inguine tutum,
Non matrona laris, non filia virgo, neque ipse                                             110
Sponsus levis adhuc, non filius ante pudicus.
Horum si nihil est, aulam resupinat amici.
Scire volunt secreta domus, atque inde timeri.
Et quoniam coepit Graecorum mentio, transi
Gymnasia, atque audi facinus majoris abollae.                                            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 Erimanthus,                                        120
Qui gentis vitio, nunquam partitur amicum;
Solus habet. Nam cum facilem stillavit in aurem
Exiguum de naturae, patriaeque veneno,
Limine summoveor: perierunt tempora longi
Servitii: nusquam minor est jactura clientis.                                                 125
Quod porro officium (ne nobis blandiar) aut quod
Pauperis hic meritum; si curet nocte togatus,
Currere, cum Praetor lictorem impellat, et ire
Praecipitem jubeat dudum vigilantibus orbis;
Ne prior Albinam, et Modiam collega salutet?                                             130
Divitis hic servi claudit latus ingenuorum
Filius; alter enim quantum in legione tribuni
Accipiunt, donat Calvinae, vel Catienae,
Ut semel atque iterum super illam palpitet: at tu
Cum tibi vestiti facies scorti placet, haeres,                                                 135
Et dubitas alta Chionem 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                                                   140
Quaestio: quot pascit servos, quot possidet agri
Jugera, quam multa magnaque paropside coenat?
QUANTUM quisque sua nummorum servat in arca,
Tantum habet et fidei: jures licet et Samothracum
Et nostrorum aras, contemnere fulmina pauper                                            145
Creditur, atque Deos, Diis ignoscentibus ipsis.
Quid, quod materiam praebet causasque jocorum
Omnibus hic idem, si foeda et scissa lacerna,
Si toga sordidula est, et rupta calceus alter
Pelle patet; vel si consuto vulnere crassum                                                  150
Atque recens linum ostendit non una cicatrix?
NIL habet infelix paupertas durius in se,
Quam quod ridicules homines facit: Exeat, inquit,
Si pudor est, et de pulvino surgat equestri,
Cujus res legi non sufficit, et sedeant hic                                                      155
Lenonum pueri quocunque in fornice nati.
Hic plaudat nitidi praeconis filius inter
Pinnirapi cultos juvenes, juvenesque lanistae.
Sic libitum vano, qui nos distinxit, Othoni.
Quis gener hic placuit censu minor, atque puellae                                        160
Sarcinulis impar? Quis pauper scribitur haeres?
Quando in consilio est AEdilibus? agmine facto
Debuerant olim tenues migrasse Quirites.
HAUD facile emergunt, quorum virtutibus obstat
Res angusta domi. Sed Romae durior illis                                                     165
Conatus: magno hospitium miserabile, magno
Servorum ventres, et frugi coenula magno,
Fictilibus coenare pudet, quod turpe negavit
Translatus subito ad Marsos, mensamque Sabellam,
Contentusque illic Veneto duroque cucullo.                                                    170
Pars magna Italiae est (si verum admittimus) in qua
Nemo togam sumit nisi mortuus. Ipsa dierum
Festorum herboso colitur siquando theatro
Majestas: tandemque redit ad pulpita notum
Exodium, cum personae pallentis hiatum                                                         175
In gremio matris formidat rusticus infans:
AEquales habitus illic, similemque videbis
Orchestram, et populum, clari velamen honoris.
Sufficiunt tunicae summis AEdilibus albae.
Hic ultra vires habitus nitor; hic aliquid plus,                                                   180
Quam satis est, interdum aliena sumitur arca.
Commune id vitium est: hic vivimus ambitiosa
Paupertate omnes: quid te moror? OMNIA Romae
Cum pretio.

Notes
    Satire 3 is the monologue of Juvenal's friend, Umbricius, as he is leaving Rome, headed to Cumae. Umbricius is disgusted with life in Rome. In this selection of the satire, Umbricius condemns dishonesty, foreign influences, and poverty in Rome.2   1.1 amici - refers to Umbricius.

l.2 vacuis, translate "deserted" or "empty," in contrast with overcrowded Rome. Cumis = Cumae,
    on the bay of Naples, and home of the prophetess, Sibyl (see 1.3; also Virgil, Aeneid 6,
    77-102).

l.4 Baiarum = Baiae, a famous resort on the bay of Naples and reached by passage through Cumae. amoeni recessus, genitive of quality.

l.5 Prochytam, a small desolate island not far from Baiae. Subburae = Subura, the valley
    located between the Viminal and Esquiline hills in Rome; it was a very noisy, overcrowded,
    and crime infested area.

1.7 deterius credas horrere, translate "that you would not consider it worse to be scared of..."

l.9 Poets recited even during the sweltering month of August, when most inhabitants of Rome
    would have departed for cooler locations

l. 10 rheda, a sturdy, four-wheeled wagon, designed for luggage and passengers, awaited
    Umbricius at the Capena gate, since wheeled traffic, with few exceptions, was not allowed
    within city limits between sunrise and sunset.

l. 11madidamque Capenam, "the dripping Porta Capena," situated on the Appian Way
    and crossed overhead by an aqueduct, a branch of the Aqua Marcia, build it 144 B.C.

l. 12 Numa, legendary second king of Rome who met (constituebat) his mistress (amicae),
    the nymph Egeria, who, according to Livy, was his wife and source of inspiration.

l. 13 locantur, "are let out for rent."

l. 14 Judaeis, Jews were expelled from Rome under Claudius; in all likelihood, many
    Jews immigrated to Rome in A.D. 70, after the fall of Jerusalem. quorum cophines,
    - faenumque supplex, "whose furnishings are a basket and hay." A reference to the
    Jewish custom of placing food in a basket, lined with hay, to keep it warm on the
    Sabbath, when cooking was not permitted.

1.15f. "For every tree has been bidden to pay a price to the people, and the forest has
    become a beggar, after the Camenae (prophetic nymphs) were cast out."

l. 17speluncas dissimiles veris - "not like natural caves."

1.19f Umbricius (and Juvenal) can more easily envision a nymph residing in a grotto
    whose waters are rimmed by grass, rather than by marble.

l. 23 res, "money," "wealth," or "means;" eadem = res.

l. 25 Daedalus fashioned wings for himself and his son, Icarus, to escape from the island of
    Crete. Daedalus landed safely from the island of Cumae; Icarus flew too near the sun and
    after the wax on his wings melted, he plummeted to his death.

l. 26 nova canities and prima et recta senectus, i.e., Umbricius is just beginning to turn gray
    and he is not bent with excessive old age.

1.27 Lachesi = Lachesis, along with Clotho and Atropos, are Fates who spin out the
    thread of everyone's destiny.   1.30 the antecedent of qui is the understood subject of maneant.

1.31 quis, an early form of quibus, dative plural.

1.32 siccandam eluviem, "to clean up sewers."

l.33 praebere caput venale, "to offer their own persons for sale," i.e., to place their goods
    in bankruptcy; domina sub hasta, "under the authority of the spear," - a spear was set up
    as the sign of public auction to indicate that dominium was transferred from one owner to
    the next.

1.36f. modern texts read vulgus cum (or quem) iubet, in place of vulgi quemlibet.

l.38 conducunt foricas, "they collected the fee at small latrines." Umbricius here criticizes
    the officials of the games who, upon leaving the amphitheater, make their fortunes in the
    lowliest trades or business enterprises.

l.40 Fortuna is also the subject of extollit.

1.42f. Umbricius says that he does not know the practice of astrology whereby he can
    foretell (promittere) the death of a parent.

l.45 with ferre, understand nescio

l.46 norunt = noverunt.

      1.47 comes = a personal staff member of a provincial governor.

      l.48 Mancus... translate "like a cripple with a paralyzed right hand, a useless body."
          (see Ferguson, p-138); extinctae dextrae, genitive of quality, understand homo.

      l.49 cui, disyllabic.

      l.52 participem, in apposition with te.

      l.53 Verri = Verres, the corrupt governor of Sicily who was prosecuted by Cicero (73-70 B.C.).

      l.54 tanti, genitive of value, "of such value."

      l.55 Tagi = the Tagus river of Spain and Portugal, reputed to be rich in gold.

      l.56 praemia, "gifts," or perhaps, "bribes," which will have to be surrendered (ponendaque).

      l.58 understand est; the word order is: gens quae est nunc acceptissima divitibus nostris.

      l.61 understand est with quota portio.

      l.62 Orontes, the principal river of Syria, on which is situated Antioch. This reference
          indicates the Asian influx into Rome.

      1.63f chordas obliquas, the sambuca, a harp of triangular shape.

      l.64 necnon, "and likewise;" gentilia, "native."

      l.66 picta ... mitra, "with embroidered headband."

      l.67 trechedipna, Quirine, i.e., even the conservative farmers wear stylish Greek articles of
          clothing to dinner.

      1.69f Sicyon, in the Peloponnese; Amydon, in Macedonia; Andros, an Aegean island;
          Samos, an island near Asia Minor; Tralles and Alabanda are towns of Asia Minor.

      l.71 Vimine, the Viminal hill in Rome.

      l.73 understand est with ingenium and probably illis or his, dative of possession indicating
          the Greeks previously named.

      1.74 Isaeo = Isaeus, an Assyrian rhetorician who was in Rome, about A.D. 100.

      l.76 aliptes = "masseur."

      l.77 Schoenobates, "rope dancer;" magus, "magician."

      1.78f jusseris = understand si; modern texts place a period after ibit, and read
          in summa ("in fact") for ad summam. Maurus, a Moor; Sarmata, from southwest Russia.

      l.81 conchylia, "purple gaments," indicating ostentatious dress.

      l.82 signabit, "will sign," or "testify."

      l.83 with pruna (plums) and coctona (figs), understand advecta sunt.

      l.84 usque adeo nihil est, "it is absolutely worthless..."

      l.86 quid quod, "what of the fact that..."

      l.89 Antaeum = Antaeus, a giant whose exceptional strength remained intact provided
          he was in contact with the earth, his mother. Hercules killed him by lifting him in the air
          and crushing him.

      1.90f qua ... marito, literal translation, "than which not even the male sounds worse by
          whom as husband the hen is being pecked" (Ferguson, p.143).

      1.93f melior + understand est Graecus, "is the Greek a better actor when he plays the
          role (sustinet) of Thais." Greek New Comedy had three traditional roles for women,
          parts played by male actors: a prostitute (Thaida was a prostitute in a play of Menander),
          a wife (uxorem), or a servant girl (Dorida).

      1.96-97 omitted from 1814 text.

      l. 99Stratocles, Demetrius, and Haemo were all famous Greek actors performing in Rome.

      l.103 endromidem, a thick cloak, or sweater, used by Greek athletes after vigorous exercise.

      l.109 trulla aurea, apparently Juvenal describes the perverted use of a golden goblet
          for a chamberpot.

      l.111 levis, "beardless."

      l.112 aulam, modern texts read aviam.

      l.115 abollae, a large, double cloak; supposedly a proverb implying a crime of such an
          extent to cast a shadow on others.

      l.116 Baream, Nero condemned Barea Soranus, an upright man to death, as well as his
          daughter Servilia. P. Egnatius Celer, a Stoic, and previously Bareals client, gave
          testimony against him and was rewarded (see Tacitus Annals, xvi, 30-32). Vespasian
          later executed Barea.

      l.117 ripa, the Scholiast tells us that Juvenal here makes an obscure reference to the
      city of Tarsus.

      l.118 gorgonei ... caballi, "of the nag of Gorgon;" the winged horse of Pegasus, which
          came to life from the blood of the Gorgon Medusa, after Perseus beheaded her.

      l.122 understand amicum as the direct object of habet.

      l.125 minor, "of less consequence," or "of less duration."

      l.126 nobis, i.e., Romans, not Greeks.

      l.128 Praetor lictorem impellat, etc., Juvenal laments the inferior chances of poor clients
          to obtain a gratuity from a patron, in this instance two childless women, since even a
          praetor is hastening to their homes before daybreak to greet (salutet) these women
          (Albinam et Modiam) in anticipation of a generous remembrance in their wills.

      l.131 claudit latus, a military expression describing the protection of a soldier's left,
          or exposed, flank; translate, "to give the place of honor," or "respectfully accompany."

      l.132 alter, i.e., the servus.

      l.133 Calvinae and Catienae, aristocratic names.

      l.136 Chionem, Martial frequently mentions a prostitute of this name in his epigrams.

      1.137f hospes Numinis Idaei, "the host of the Idaean divinity," i.e., Cybele, a Phrygian
          deity who was received into Rome in 204 B.C. by Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica.

      1.138 Numa, a legendary king of Rome, said to be the founder of several Roman
          religious customs.

      l.139 servavit, Lucius Caecilius Metellus, the Pontifex Maximus, saved the palladium
          (Minervam) from the burning temple of Vesta in 241 B.C.

      l.140 with ad censum, understand prima quaestio fiet.

      l.142 paropside, "dessert dishes," a Greek word, deliberately used, to indicate that
          the Romans are acting out of character.

      l.144 Samothracum ... aras, the worship of the gods of Samothrace, located in the
          northeast Aegean, was very secretive.

      l.147 quid, quod, "what of the fact that."

      l.148 hic idem = pauper; with lacerna, understand est.

      l.150 vulnere, "hole," or "tear."

      1.154f The Roscian Law of 67 B.C. reserved the first fourteen rows in the theater
          for the equites, who, by virtue of a property qualification (400,000 sesterces), not
          birth, claimed these seats.

      l.157 praeconis, in the sense of an auctioneer.

      l.158 pinnirapi, a gladiator who snatched at the plume of his opponent's helmet.

      l.159 vano ... Othoni; "the dummy (or blockhead) Otho," = L. Roscius Otho, the
          author of the Roscian Law.

      l.161 sarcinulis, "the pocketbook," i.e., the dowry.

      l.162 in consilio, "as an advisor (or assessor) to the aediles," - officials in charge
          of public works (water supply, traffic, etc.), with the authority to levy and collect fines.

      l.163 tenues, "of slight means."

      l.166 with magno, understand pretio; constat is the missing verb.

      l.168 fictilibus, "earthenware;" the antecedent of quod is coenare.

      l.169 Marsos et Sabellam; the Marsi were a people of Latium and the Sabelli
          were the mountaineer Sabines living to the northwest of Rome.

      l.170 Veneto ... cucullo, "a Venetian cowl," a hood made of third-rate wool.

      1.172f stone theaters were commonplace in Rome in the mid-first century A.D.,
          where half the days of the year were public holiday. Life was more vigorous in the
          countryside where local inhabitants were satisfied with only a short farce (exodium)
          rather than a whole day at the theater. Redit is contracted from rediit; personae
          refers to the masks worn by the actors, here that of a monster.

      1.177f orchestram, at Rome, the space unused in the semi-circular orchestra was
          reserved for dignitaries, such as senators; in the countryside, these seats would be
          occupied by lesser officials, whose dress, however, was similar to that of the common
          folk who sat behind them. Modern texts insert a comma after honoris.
       


References
    Eighteenth-century Americans were familiar with both the Latin text of Juvenal and his satires in English translation. The English scholar, John Dryden (1631-1700) had already successfully translated satires 1, 3, 6, 10 and 16 when his fellow Englishman, the erudite Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), produced his two widely read translations: London (1738), based on Juvenal satire 3, and The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749), subtitled "An Imitation of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal."3 Juvenal's Latin verse and moralistic satire were also often inserted in the highly popular English newspapers, The Tatler and The Spectator. These newspapers were the joint venture of Joseph Addison (1672-1717) and Richard Steele (1672-1729). Two hundred and seventy-one numbers of The Tatler were published three times weekly from 1709 to 1711; five hundred and fifty-five numbers of The Spectator were published daily from 1711-1712, and resumed briefly in 1714. In addition to Juvenal frequently being cited in the texts of their editorials, Steele even began the first forty issues of The Tatler with the Latin tag, "Quicquid agunt Homines nostri Farrago Libelli," from Juvenal's Satire 1, vv. 85-86.4 In a short period of time after the dates of their original publication, The Tatler and The Spectator were jointly bound and their several volumes became popular reading in both England and the American colonies. James Madison was an avid reader of these publications, especially The Spectator, and highly recommended their reading to young students, as, for example, his eleven-year-old nephew Richard Cutts:
Your letter, my dear Richard, gave me much pleasure, as it shews that you love your
studies, which you would not do if you did not profit by them. Go on, my good boy, as
you have begun; and you will find that you have chosen the best road to a happy life,
because a useful one; the more happy, because it will add to the happiness of your
parents, and of all who love you and are anxious to see you deserving to be loved.

When I was at an age which will soon be yours, a book fell into my hands, which I
read, as I believe, with particular advantage. I have always thought it the best that
had been written for cherishing in young minds a desire of improvement, a taste for
learning, and a lively sense of duties, the virtues, and the proprieties of life. The work
I speak of is the "Spectator," well known by that title. It had several authors, at the
head of them Mr. Addison, whose papers are marked at the bottom of each by one
of the letters in the name of the muse CLIO. They will reward you for a second reading
after reading them along with the others.

Addison was of the first rank among the fine writers of the age, and has given a
definition of what he shewed himself to be an example.

"Fine writing," he says, "consists of sentiments that are natural without being
obvious;" to which adding the remark of Swift, another celebrated author of the
same period, making a good style to consist "of proper words in their proper places,"
a definition is formed which will merit your recollection, when you become qualified,
as I hope you will one day be, to employ your pen for the benefit of others, and for
your own reputation.

I send you a copy of the "Spectator," that it may be at hand when the time arrives
for making use of it; and as a token, also, of the good wishes of your affectionate uncle.5
 

    There is no record that Richard Cutts took his uncle's advice, but if he had, he could not have escaped numerous references to Juvenal in the text of The Spectator. He would have found Juvenal's name frequently associated with Horace and Homer, as examples of the best authors of Classical literature. He also would have found direct references to Juvenal's Latin text, such as vv.145-149 of the Third Satire in No. 150.6 In time, Richard Cutts would read the actual Latin text of Juvenal, as his fellow Virginian, Peter Carr, nephew of Thomas Jefferson, had done several years earlier and whose progress with the text of Juvenal, among other classical authors, was monitored coincidentally by another James Madison in Williamsburg. In the course of three months this James Madison twice assured Jefferson, who was in Paris, that under the direction of William Maury, "Master P. Carr has read at Williamsbg. Horace, some of Tully's select orations, Greek Testament, Aesop's fables in Greek, ten books of Homer, and is now beginning Xenophon, Juvenal and Livy."7
    John Adams also knew Juvenal's satire indirectly through his reading and meticulous copying of selections from The Spectator.8 Adams also was directly familiar with the Latin text of Juvenal from his study of this author at both the Boston Latin Grammar School and at Harvard College. He was particularly fond of Satire 3 and on many occasions quoted from it in his letters, especially lines 164-65. In his draft of "An Essay on Agriculture" which appeared in the Boston Gazette on 18 July 1763, Adams writes:
The Intention of this Paper then is to intreat my worthy Countrymen who have any
Advantages of Leisure, Education, or Fortune to amuse themselves, at convenient
opportunities, with the study, and the Practice too, of Husbandry. Nor let the narrow
Circumstances of others who have Power to think and Act, discourage them from
exerting their talents in the same Way, for haud facile emergunt, Quorum Virtutibus, obstat
Res angusta Domi -
with all its Truth and Pathos, has done more Mischief in the World by soothing the
Pride and Indolence of Genius, than it ever did good, by prompting the rich and
Powerfull to seek the solitary haunts of Merit to amplify its sphere.9
    Juvenal's Res angusta Domi was Adams' favorite description of his own family circumstances and he used this Latin tag frequently in his correspondence. Twice in 1813 he inserted it into letters written to Jefferson. On 29 May he wrote:
  But my life has been too trifling and my Actions too insignificant for me to write or
the Public to read. In my wandering romantic Life, with my incessant Res angusta
Domi, and my numerous unfortunate Family, of Children and Grand Children without
the honour, which you have attained of being a great grandfather, tho' I have near a
prospect for it; it has been impossible for me to pursue such Inquiries with any thing
Like Learning.10


    Only a few months later, Adams again quotes the same passage from Juvenal in a 2 September 1813 letter to Jefferson:
 

And Philosophers themselves in marrying their Children prefer the rich and handsome
and the well descended to the wise and good. What chance have Talents and Virtues
in competition, with Wealth and Birth? and Beauty? Haud facile emergunt, quorum Virtutibus obstant [i.e., obstat]
Res Angusta Domi

One truth is clear; by all the World confess'd
Slow rises worth, by Poverty oppress'd.11
 

    Adams also quoted from Juvenal's first satire in a 3 May 1816 letter written to Jefferson:
  Voila! a sillier Letter than my last! For a Wonder, I have f illed a Sheet. And a greater
Wonder, I have read fifteen Volumes of Grim. Digito comesce [i.e., compesce] Labellum.
I hope to write you more upon this and other Topicks of your Letter. I have also read
a History of the Jesuits in four Volumes. Can you tell me the Author or any Thing of
this Work?12


    Evidently John Adams' enthusiasm for Juvenal was contagious in his household since even his wife Abigail included a modest quote from Juvenal's sixth Satire (vv. 15-16) in a letter to Jefferson:
 

From the Publick Advertiser I extract the following. "Yesterday morning a messenger
was sent from Mr. Pitt to Mr. Adams the American plenipotentiary with notice to
suspend for the present their intended interview" (absolutely false). From the same paper:
"An Ambassador from America! Good Heavens what a sound! The Gazette surely never
announced any thing so extraordinary before, nor once on a day so little expected. This
will be such a phoenomenon in the Corps Diplomatique that tis hard to say which can
excite indignation most, the insolence of those who appoint the Character, or the
meanness of those who receive it. Such a thing could never have happened in any former Administration, not even that of Lord North. It was reserved like some other Humiliating circumstances to take place Sub Jove, sed Jove nondum
Barbato ______.13


    Finally, John Quincy Adams, whose instruction in Latin had been very closely prescribed and supervised by his father, not only was a serious student of Juvenal, but can fittingly be called America's first Juvenal scholar. In addition to writing a critical review of William Gifford's 1802 translation of Juvenal, he also had published two of his own translations of Juvenal - the Thirteenth Satire on 3 January 1801 and the Seventh Satire on 18 May 1805, both in the Philadelphia magazine, the Port Folio.14



Endnotes

1. However, Juvenal is omitted from the list of Classical authors who were read in the grammar school of Philadelphia in the late
    eighteenth century - see Introduction to Volume I.

2. For an excellent commentary on the references in Juvenal, see John Ferguson Juvenal: The Satires (New York: St. Martin's
    Press, 1979), pp. 135-158.

3. See Gilbert Highet, The Classical Tradition (New Oxford University Press, 1949), pp. 314-315, 651-652; for Johnson's The
    Vanity of Human Wishes; see M. H. Abrams, ed., The Norton Anthology of English Literature (New York: W. W. Norton &
    Company, 1979), pp. 2277-2289.

4. For a more detailed discussion of the history of the text of The Tatler and The Spectator, see Angus Ross, Selections
    from THE TATLER and THE SPECTATOR of Steele and Addison (New York: Penguin Books, 1982), pp. 15-55.

5. James Madison to Richard Cutts, 4 January 1829; see Letters and Writings of James Madison, vol. 4 (New York; R.
    Worthington, 1884), pp.1-2, published by order of Congress. For Madison's quotations of "Spectator - 551 Paper" in his
    own "Conmnplace Book," and his early exposure to the "Spectator," see William T. Hutchinson and W. M. E. Rachal,
    The Papers of James Madison, vol. 1 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1962), pp. 23-24 and 32.

6. G. Gregory Smith, ed., vol. 1, The Spectator (New York, E. P. Dutton & Co., 1906), p. 246.

7. James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 15 November 1785 and 22 January 1786. See Julian P. Boyd, ed., The Papers
    of Thomas Jefferson, 9 (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1954), pp. 38 and 201.

8. See L. H. Butterfield, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, 9 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press
    of  Harvard University, 1961), pp. 26 and 72 for Adams' reading of The Spectator in May of 1756 and January of 1759.

9. Butterfield, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, 1, pp. 246-247

10. See Lester J. Cappon, ed., The Adams-Jefferson Letters, 1 (Chapel Hill, North Carolina: The University of North
    Carolina Press, 1959), p. 325.

11. Cappon, The Adams-Jefferson Letters, 1, p. 371

12. Cappon, The Adams-Jefferson Letters, 1, p. 471.

13. Julian Boyd, ed., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, 8 (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1953),
    pp. 179-180, 6 June 1785.

14. For an interesting critical review of John Quincy Adams' translating abilities and the political and moralistic
    purposes of the Port Folio, see Irving N. Rothman, "Two Juvenalian Satires by John Quincy Adams," Early
    American Literature 6 (1971-72),



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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