109 to 125 ← 126 to 146 → 147 to 163
in the last section, Juvenal concluded talking about the Greeks and now is talking about the faults and vices of Rome & Romans themselves. And this goes all the way to the end.
126 Quod porro officium, ne nobis blandiar, aut quod
- ne nobis blandiar - purpose clause
127 pauperis hic meritum, si curet nocte togatus
- togatus - indicates not just any Roman but a high-ranking person because toga is formal wear and you wouldn't wear it normally according to Brophy
128 currere, cum praetor lictorem inpellat et ire
129 praecipitem iubeat dudum vigilantibus orbis,
- ire praecipitem - "to go first", "to run ahead" (both in time and space)
- vigilantibus just waking up
- orbis refers to Albinam and Modiam
130 ne prior Albinam et Modiam collega salutet?
- ne...salutet purpose clause
- prior wow an adjective used as an adverb
- ll. 127-130 si curet nocte ... collega salutet - slapstick comedy
- Albina, Modia - no idea if they are real people or stereotypical characters or something else
131 divitis hic servo cludit latus ingenuorum
132 filius; alter enim quantum in legione tribuni
- enim means "I'm going to expand on what I've just said". also nam
133 accipiunt donat Calvinae vel Catienae,
- accipiunt - has a sense of earning a salary
134 ut semel aut iterum super illam palpitet; at tu,
135 cum tibi vestiti facies scorti placet, haeres
136 et dubitas alta Chionen deducere sella.
- this part is bathos. Juvenal is measuring purchasing power in prostitutes instead of in statues or estates or whatever.
137 da testem Romae tam sanctum quam fuit hospes
138 numinis Idaei, procedat vel Numa vel qui
- Idaeus a um - of Mt Ida in Crete? Phrygia?; of Cybele
139 servavit trepidam flagranti ex aede Minervam:
- flagranti remember all 3dc adjs are i-stem
140 protinus ad censum, de moribus ultima fiet
- fiet future passive of facio
141 quaestio. "quot pascit servos? quot possidet agri
142 iugera? quam multa magnaque paropside cenat?"
- multa and magna agree with paropside.
- quam - the question word. without it the sentence would just be "xe dines with many great dishes".
- multa magnaque - Latin likes to join adjectives with et/que whereas English just puts the adjectives together. It is grammatical in Latin to not use et/que bt adjs btw.
- quot...quot...quam - Juvenalian technique where he "quotes" the people's he's attacking in order to make a straw man/caricature to attack/make fun of it
143 quantum quisque sua nummorum servat in arca,
144 tantum habet et fidei. iures licet et Samothracum
- iures from iuro are avi atus
- licet introducing a concession - "be it that, granted that, even if, although"
145 et nostrorum [deorum] aras, contemnere fulmina pauper
- ara ae ALTAR. NOT LAND.
146 creditur atque deos dis ignoscentibus ipsis.
- dis abl/dat PL of deus
the praetor bit is critiquing how praetors are now less important than they were in the republic. Also critiquing that praetors are poor enough that they have to resort to getting money by trying to get written into the wills of old ladies
Furthermore, what duty, (lest I flatter us), or what
service of the poor (is) here, if, at night, a togate person cares
to hurry, when a praetor urges his lictor and
orders him to run ahead, with the childless people still waking up,
lest his colleague greets Albina and Modia earlier.
This son of freeborns guards the side for a rich person's slave,
in fact, another (slave) gives to Calvina or Catiena
the amount that tribunes in legions recieve,
when he shudders above her once or twice; but you,
when the appearance of a clothed prostitutes pleases you, you hang around
and hesitate to lead out Chione from her high chair.
At Rome, give a witness as sacred as was the host
of Cybele's divine will. Let Numa appear, or he who
spared agitated Minerva from the burning temple:
The questioning will be immediately about his wealth, the last [question will be] about his character.
"How many servants does xe feed? How many acres of farmland does xe seize?
With how many and how lavish dishes, does xe dine?"
As much money as anyone preserves in their chest
is how much trustworthiness he has. Although you may swear at both
the altars of Samothracian (gods) and our gods, a poor man is believed to disregard thunderbolts
and the gods, by the forgiving gods themselves.
hectare - 100 x 100 metres