whose shameless incestes and adulteries are largely related by Sueton in his Life cap. 24 25 and 36. His horrible countenance also is noted by the same Author cap. 50. in these words Vultum verâ— naturâ— horridum ac tetrum etiam ex industriâ efferabat componens ad speculum in oâ—nem terrorem ac formidinem Which I may grant to be marks of the adulterer here described yet they are but some of them and to pronounce a judgment on the whole person for some few signs were but to imitate an unskilfull Physiognomer There are then three more delivered in this place The first that he did at the same time put in execution Laws against Adultery when he himself committed the same The Second that a Cheif Adulteress with whom he offended was called Julia The Third that she had Abortives or untimely Births none of which are by these Interpreters proved to be recorded of Him There is indeed cap. 25. mention made of one whom he adulterously abused and quickly dismissing commanded her to abstain from the bed of any man for ever after but there is no mention of putting en execution Laws against Adultery 〈◊〉 sides the word nuper which notes the season of this fact must be drawn back very much from Juvenal's time who writ partly in the raign of Domirian to Caligula's and so be understood of crimes committed about 40. years before which will but inconveniently be carried by the propertie of the word naper and therefore we may nor yeild to this first opinion A second is of them that appliâ— this to Claudiâ—s the Emperor who after the execution of his leud wife Moffaâ—â—na married the daughter of his brother Germaâ—â—icus Julia Agrippius the mother of Nero and by a decree of the Senate made such incestuous marriages lawful for any man as Tacitus notes in his Annals lib. 12. nere the beginning By which we find him guilty of incest but not of adultery Agrippina being a widow when he married her as Tacitus there testifies Besides that he reviv'd Laws against adultery the Interpreters take not the pains to prove Moreover whereas some Expositers make Claudius very ill-favour'd Sucton accurate in the description of his Emperors bestows a better visage on him cap. 30. saying Authoritas dignitasque forma non defuit stanti velsedenti ac praecipuè quiescenti and adding that he was specie canitieque putchrâ Indeed he describes his Laughter and his Anger to have been very unseemly but Now we speak of his Own face not of the face of his Passions But the word naper will not so readily admit likewise this opinion there being 27. years between Claudius his End and Domitian's Beginning Wherefore in a third Opinion we may rather look upon Domitian to whom the Time agrees and the Fact he having not only corrupted many mens wives but also more particularly taken away Domitia Longina from her husbâ—md Aelius Lamia and made her his own wife as Sueton relates in this Domitian cap. 1. Yet he made Laws against dishonest women reviv'd the Scantinian Law against unnatural lust and another against the prophane pollution of the Vestal Virgins and put a Roman Knight out of the number of the Judges because after that he had accused and dismissed his wife for adultery he took her again as Sueton relates cap. 8. He desil'd also his brother Thus his daughter Julia who was at that time another man's wife and when her father and husband were both dead he sham'd not to love her openly yet was he the cause of her death by forcing her to abortion as Sutton cap. 22. testifies saying Vt etiam cause morris extiterit coact ae conceptum a se abigere This therefore we must conclude to be the person here intended Only there is yet one doubt to be remov'd Juvenal seeming here to implie his ill visage in those words abortivas patrue similes offâ—â— whereas Sueton cap. 18. says that he was vultu modesto and afterward praterea pulcher ac decens Indeed after the first words vultu modesto he adds ruborisque pleno which if they be taken only as an interpretation of the former then must they fignifie only that he was much subject to blushing which is also implyed in that chapter but if they be expounded of his constant colour as the words do aptly bear it then they will most litterally and exactly expound these words of our Poet and Domitian's complexion partrus similes offas But Juvenal's sense may be made more easy and appliable if we understand this not of Domitian's complexion but of his conditions in respect of which he might figuratively be call'd an Abortive and so like the fruit which he got and destroy'd 8. The Scantinian Law When a Stoick objected to Laronia a bold harlot the Julian Law against Adultery she requited him by objecting the Scantinian Law against Unnatural Lust a Law so nam'd not from him that made it but from Scantinius who was the occasion of it by his crime Which manner of giving names to Laws it being less usual some have denied but you may see it justified by Janus Parrhasius Epiâ—â— 23. by the like among the Graecians who made the Laâ—an Law mentioned by Plate of the same nature with the Scantinian upon occasion of the like crime committed by Laius 9. By their thick Squadrons Junctaque umbone phalanges An expression of companions in Vice desending themselves like souldiers when for fifty they joine their targets so that one touches anothers boss as when according to some they cast themselves as an the assaulting of a fort into the military figure of the testadâ— or the torteiseshell which in Guâ—llâ—â—â—e du Choul in his Discours sur la Castraâ—etation des Romains fol. 41. b. is thus represented 10. The wrastlers bread Coliphia Some take Colophia to be a strong kind of meat made of cheese and flower but Rigaltius on this place takes it to be the same with the Athenian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which were pernae gammons of bacon which we may grant to be a strong meat yet there is no prooffor such derivation of the word Junius would have it in an unclean sense to signifie the form of the loaf not unlike the glasse priapus Sat. 2. from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 membrum though there is no necessitie of such unseemly signification from the word it self Wherefore the usual derivation from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems best as if only transposing the words the food had been called strong-limbs metonymically from the effect of it Which varietie of expositions may be drawn from the note which the Scholiast gives on this place Pulmentum sive membrum aut potius athletarum cibum dicit The last part of which annotation I think to be the best so that it shall in general signifie the wrastlers diet as Buâ—â—aeus thinks Yet because the coliphia seem to have been some special part of that diet and most probably loaves as we may conjecture from
to be detested which pretend the Love and knowledge of Vertue but are destitute of both 3. Bids a first-form'd Cleanthes Et jubet archetypos plutenm servare Cleanthas the antique images of Cleanthes such pictures and statues being called â—â—chetype as are first form'd and those ectype which are made by the first The first as most ancient and true were held in great estimation and therefore with the more curiositie sought-after by these hypocrites But this passage is not without some difficulties arising from the diverse fignifications of pluteus and the ambiguous order of the construction Pluteus is properly taken for a Desk figuratively for a studie or the books in it The Manuscript Commentary takes it in the first sense telling us that they us'd anciently to draw the pictures of learned men upon their desks whereon they writ The Scholiast takes it according to the second for a study so likewise Britannicus who though the opinion be in a sort true illustrates it ill from that of Persius Nec pluteum caedit as if the Poet had there implied that Poets when their compositions were not easy but with violence us'd to knock their knuckles against their studie-walls But the whole difficulty may be best removed by taking notice of the custome of the Romans who orderd several sorts of Images into several places The first of which was before their Gates where they placed the Images of their Ancestours expressed in brass or such solid matter The second was in their Halls as in a conspicuous part of their house and here they set the like statues but curiously wrought in waxe The third was in their Chamber where they placed their Lares for the careful keeping of which a servant was appointed then the Images of those friends whom they lov'd most dearly as also the Deities which had the care of the Marriage bed The Roman Emperors in latter times kept here also a golden Image of Fortune yet Domitian had not an Image of Fortune but of Minerva as before him Tully also had The fourth place was their pinacotheca by comparison of the use we may call it a gallerie of pictures and in this they placed the representations of their Gods and their Heroës and likewise painted fables and histories The fift and last was their study wherein they kept the Images of Learned men Of which two last that place of Lampridius may seem properly to be understood in his Alexand. where he speaks of the Emperor's two-fold Lararium in the one of which he says he had the Images of Apollonius Abraham and Orpheus and this agrees with the use of their pinacotheca in the other he says he had the Images of Virgil and Tully and this agrees with the propertie of their bibliatheca or study By this then we may avoid the error of Calderine who says that pluteus here signifies pinacotheca for proof alleging that of Pliny Pinacothecas veteribus tabulis consumunt as he reads it or consnuâ—t as the common copies have it as ill or rather as Dinoâ—sius Peravius in his Notes upon Synes Caâ—â—it Encom p 27. better conjectures construunt Lubin likewise though he delivers and chooses the true opinion says this also may stand which cannot be For since the Images of learned men were kept only in their studies not in their galleries and that pluteus according to themselves signifies the place where such Images were kept it follows that pluteus here cannot fignifie pinacotheca but bibliotheca That place of Pliny shews only that in their pinacotheca they kept Images but that they were not of learned men appears from the distinction of places See also Beroald upon Sucron's Augustus cap. 7. and Casaubon on the same place To applie this Pluteus may be taken conveniently in the second or third sense for a studie or the books in it the figure and sense bearing boâ—h As for the Order of the construction some would have it that the study should keep the Images but this is cold and without life the contrary order more happily expressing the vigour of Ironie According to which way of interpretation our Poet then says That this ignorant hypocrite never applying himself to his book bids his Images take care that his studie and Books run not away 4. Their locks Supercilio brevior coma By this passage it is commonly conceived that the Severe Philosophers cut the hair of their head as short as that upon their eye brow But with what truth then could Seneca have said Epist 5. describing the form of the severe Philosopher Asperum incultum intonsum caput negligetiorem barbam devita For the removing therefore of this scruple we may take notice of the Scholiast upon Aristophanes his Nâ—â—â—â— Act. 1. sc 1. writing thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which last words implie as Heraldus observes in his Adversar lib. 2. cap. 16. that the Stoicks were close-cut only in the lower part of the head where locks were by others nourished but that upon the upper part of their head their hair was negligently rough The sense then of this place lies in the special acception of Coma which is not here in a general acception the same with cupiâ—â—us the hair of the head but rather as much as compta caesaries the ornament of locks which the negligent Roughness of these Stoicks avoided 5. With a Herculean style Verbis Herculis Some make this an allusion to a passage in Xenophon in which Hercules is described severely checking the Woman that offerd him Pleasure and following her that represented Vertue according to which this may be expounded and the rather because it follows Et de virtute loqunti which seems aptly to express that story of Hercules Yet to speak with libertie I think this not to be the Poets intent and that this verse does only casually agree with that description For we must suppose that the Poet's meaning was in his own time commonly understood and that therefore probably it had not a special reference to a private story with which few were acquainted More likely therefore it is that he alludes to the famous labours of Hercules whose hand known to be dreadful in the taining of Monsters these false Stoicks whom Juvonal detested would seem to emulate using as terrible language against the monsters of Vice and so striving in a diverse kind to be as fierce as Hercules himself and thus Hercules his words or style are such as might seem sutable to Hercules his Courage 6. The three Scholars of Sylla These by the Scholiast are said to be Caesar Pompey and Crassus yet by way of probability he changes them into Angustus Lepius and Antonie Indeed though the instance in the three first be a truth yet we may say that the three last not so nere to Sylla in Time were nearer to him in Imitation 7. A serve Adulterer Nuper pollutus adulter Inverpreters differ much in defining the person here intended Diverse think it to be Caligula
tribum haber haec addictus Where he addâ— that they which were made free were admitted into some tribe and as some say call'd also by the name of the tribe and that this right of three names a Freeman retain'd although he were in debt ad addictus deliver'd-up to his creditours till he could redeem himself Which being so clear a truth there is one doubt fit to be observ'd and the rather because not observ'd by the Interpreters that expound this passage De ingenuo libero and that is how the Poet could say of Trebius Tanquam habeas tria nomina for this were plainly to denie him to be a Freeman But Trebius though poor was one of Virro's Clients now Clients though they perform'd much honourarious attendance upon their patrons yet were not properly servants but sometimes guests and so Freemen Let Juvenal be judge who describing Clients hasting for the sportula says it was Turbae rapiend a togetae now the toga was proper to the Citizen as the tunica without the toga to Servants Trebius then being a Freeman we must unless we will reject Copie expound it with Britannicus De Nobili and understand Juvenal as also Ausonius to speak of the right of three names as it was bestowed for some samous cause at the first So that Juvenal may seem here satyrically though he himself also enjoy'd the priviledge of three names to check the vain custome of bestowing three names upon every one that was made free such emptie names being but the guist of their masters and as well marks of their old servitude as of their new liberties But if any would understand this passage De ingenuo according to the latter custome of the Romans they must flie to Conjecture for some new Reading In which way of exposition the learned Rigaltius very wittily thinks that Juvenal writ Quanquam habeas tria nomina this indeed avoids the alleg'd inconvenience concerning Trebius and according to this the sense will be this Thou Trebius must not talk Freely though thou art a Freeman for Though thou art a Freeman thou art but a poor man But the Critical rule of interpretation prefers not Guess before Copie where this does yield a tolerable sense wherefore I retain in my interpretation the first exposition to this sense Thou maist not though free talk like a Nobleman like a three-nam'd man of the first institution before the priviledge became ordinary And thus the ancient Reading Tanquam will be preserv'd 15. But yet four hundred Sesterces if straight some God or Heros c. Quadringenta tibi si quis Deus aut similis Diis c. He means quadringenta sestertiâ—â— 3125 l. a Roman Knight's yearly revenue according to the Law Thus much as the Poet says if some God aut similis Diis some Heros as Lubin renders it or some Man by his Bountie not unlike the Gods should bestow on thee Virro would then esteem thee Where it may be observ'd that the Heroës according to the doctrine of the Pythagoreans were Good Angels as they sometimes call them being of a middle nature between the Gods and their Daemones terreni that is Learned and Wise Men for unto these three sorts of excellent natures they held a reverence to be due So Hierocles an Alexandrian Philosopher of that Sect in his Commentary In aurea Pythagoreorum carmina publish'd by Curterius p. 18. distinguishes them and p. 41. describes them saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And these Heroës of a more excellent nature then Man they held to be Rational according to which doctrine he describes a Heros p. 290. thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every Heros is a Rational Soul join'd with a Lucide or enlightned body and p. 46. he says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ΚΑΤΑΞΘΟÎΙΟΥΣ ΔΑΙΜΟÎΑΣ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that deservedly he joyn'd them together and call'd Wise Men Terrene Angels according to those golden verses which he expounds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Th' Immortal Gods First honour as they 're plac'd Esteem thy Oath th' Heroës Next so grac'd Wise Mortals too What 's Law be That imbrac'd 16. Gives a green coat Viridem thoraca The Poet says that a man though formerly poor if he become rich shall he flatter'd by the rich especially if he be childless if as he speaks he have no young Aeneas sporting in his house in auld which some render in his Court in respect of the allusion to Dido and Aeneas in Virgil. But the word not only signifying the Court of a Prince but also the Court or Hall for so diversely it is taken of a privace though a great house I choose to render it according to this latter acception First because the first opinion would yield this strange sense that the way for a Frince to be flatter'd were to be childless Secondly because the Poet speaks but of a private person of Trebius his possible advancement to the estate of a Knight I mean a Roman Knight that was to have above 3000 l. a year And such a rich one that was able to requite even the rich would flatter and though he had some Little-ones they would be at some trifling charge with them They would give a green coat or the like sometimes as he speaks In a nearer expression it might be render'd a green stomacher but that he speaks of boyes and the Scholiast takes it in the sense in which I render it saying Armilausiam prasinam ut simiae Yet thorax was a garment for Men and is mention'd by Sueton in his Augustus and armelausa is by Isidore describ'd to be a garment open before and behind but clos'd at the shoulders or arms and therefore call'd so as he thinks quasi armiclausa As for the Colour Statius mentions the like in Epiced Glauciae saying modo puniceo velabat amictu Nunc herbas imitante sinu and Martial lib. 5. Epig. 24 in those words Herbarum fueras indutus Basse colores Rutgersius Var. Lect. lib. 6. cap. 13. thinks that this green colour was the Livery colour of Virro's parasites as I have partly mention'd Sat. 3. Illustrat 9. â—â—v Sat. V. Ill. 17. Now this Mount was greatly frequented by the meaner sort and many sports as tricks with Apes and the like were here perform'd The substance then of this last exposition is this For Virro is provided the most choice fruit but thou poor Trebius hast such as they feed Apes with at the Rampire or as Juvenal amplifies it such as he that is the Ape mumps upon at the Mount where being ridiculously clad with Helmet and Shield and quaking at his Masters lash learns to cast the dart Souldier like from the back of a Goat on which he is ridiculously placed This I prefer before any of the rest first because it is without any alteration of the Copy and is in the ancient interlinear Gloss of the Scholiast as also in the Margin of one Manuscript namely in that
uses these for her Husband whom she did disrespect addes that she prepares leaf-ointments which were excellent for her Adulterer Indeed these foliata were ointments made of Nard-leaf so Martial Tinge caput Nardi folio cervical olebit and such was that precious ointment which Mary used on our Saviours feet as Fortunatus Schaccus thinks in his Myrothecium lib. 1. cap. 22. And here to imitate the zeal of our Satyrist I may but necessarily condemn the painting of the Face which is so common that a witty Painter being asked whether it were harder to paint by a pattern or by the life answer'd He knew not and being moved to shew his reason replied he thought he had scarce ever drawn any by the Life because he never came time enough but that some other Painter had been upon the face before he came at it Yet were it but vain to send self-Painters to the Divine his advice being more offensive then their paint should be But we may charitably present to them the more powerful motives from the Physitian who will assure them that their paint is the Enemy of their Life nay of their Beauty Sublimate makes black the teeth Cerusse makes gray the hair Plume-Alume burns the skin Lemmon-juice disloves the hardest stones Oile of Tartar takes stains out of cloth and schorches flesh Rock-Alume dissolves metals shrivels the skin loosens the teeth Salnitrum mortifies the natural moisture spoils the hearing the complexion and the stomach Camphire vehemently sealds the face and stupifies the brain who then will choose to be so stupid as to bestow Life and Soul upon a Face But to proceed with our Author one doubt may here arise that seeing these Poppaeana were used by an Empress how may we conveniently suppose that they were not excellent In which point we may believe at least guess from the ingredients mention'd that they had not in them the mineral danger of new inventions yet were effectual for the beautifying and smoothing of the face though of a less pleasant smell which was no great inconvenience in Poppaea's use of them she cleansing her face from the grossness of them before she went unto the Emperour but the leud Dames here intended by our Poet let them discourteously stick on as preparatives at home and wash'd them off only when they went to their paramours Where we may farther observe that Poppea had 50. she-Asses for such purpose as Pliny relates lib. 2. cap. 4. and carried so many with her when she was banish'd and the same Pliny lib. 28. reports that some kept 700. for the like use Yet says the Poet Tandem aperit vultum tectoria prima repoâ—it incipit agnosci at que illo lacte fovetur c. which methinks is a passage of some difficulty especially as it is expounded by Lubin who alone insists upon it saying quod tandem post quam multum diuque faciem illeverunt vultum aperias fucum removet agnosci incipit quod prior vetula sit deformis But to what season of her behaviour shall this tandem be applied For if she appear'd with her own face that is with her wrinkled face after that she was wash'd why does he then say or how with reason can he say that she went to her Adulterer lot a cute after that she was multum diuque very much or thoroughly wash'd for that had been to go to him with her deformity discover'd Or if it be not meant at least in part of the washing of her face then must it follow that she went to her Adulterer with her plastrings not wash'd off and so as coursely to Him as to her Husband Again whereas he says upon the word Tecloria ubi prima operimenta incructationes panis lactis asinini à facie removet after that she has taken off the Plaistering of steeped bread and Asses milk how can it agree with the Poet who says Tectoria prima reponit incipit agnosci atque illo lacte fovetur c. That after she had laid afide her daubings and that again her own face appear'd she yet us'd Asses milk These things then seeming inconsistent I think the place may with best convenience be order'd thus First he says that she us'd bread steep'd in Asses milk or else poppaean ointments which she suffer'd to stick rudely upon her face till she went abroad to her Adulterer but that then wash'd off all the undecency of them that is all but what necessarily fill'd the wrinkles yet that she singularly supplied all defects with advantage by her leaf ointments Then sayes he Tandem aperit c. After she is return'd and has been a little while at home she wears again her own face layes aside her paintings and appears aged Yet that she may not be stark ugly though she uses not her plaisterings she uses Asses milk and this is the best face which she bestows upon her Husband though rather for shame then Love but at her times of preparing for out-a-dores visits he is glad to be content again with her plaister'd face 53. Wo to the Wool-weigh-maide Periit libraria Here the Poet enters on the description of a cruel mistress in which arises a doubt first from the sense of the word Libraria which does sometimes from Liber signifie a woman amanuenfis or writer out of Books For that anciently they had persons of either sex for such employment it is manifest by Vespasian who had Antonia a freed-woman who usually writ for him and whom he extreamly loved as Sueton relates of him cap. 3. Eusebius likewise in his Hist lib. 6. cap. 17. makes mention of Origen in this kind saying that he had not only men for the writing out of Books but also maids which writ very nearly Upon which proof Pignorius de Servis pag. 120. disesteems the exposition of Libraria here for a Spinster or literally a weigher of what was to be spun as vain Yet it is as known that the word may intimately and conveniently be taken in this latter sense and is by the Scholiaft expounded so by Lani-pendia a wool-weigher which was the cheif Maid-servant that weigh'd out the several taâ—ks to others and peradventure thus more properly For though I grant the Poet did before describe a learned Dame one studious of ancient Books yet now he is upon the description of another and as I conceive of another temper namely one imployed in Cruelty and Lust And though she were indeed wastful and destructive as the Poet says afterwards yet we may observe in her some pretended and dissembled house-wifery not only in this particular of punishing her spinning Maid but afterwards in viewing of embroydered works and the accounts of the day transacta diei or as some have it transversa implying that the accounts were so long that they were written even thwart the Paper as for want of room or on the other side which was upon extremity Wherefore though I deny not the use of the word Libraria in
Pignorius his sense yet upon these convenient inducements though not touch'd by the Scholiast incline to the Scholiasts opinion and accordingly render it The Poet Proceeds Ponunt cosmetae tunicas her tiring-Maids those that dress her are fain to undress themselves to receive punishment in the liberty of interpretation I express it The Chamber-maid is stripp'd So Tardè venisse Liburnus Dicitur Her Liburnian is accus'd to her of laziness in not coming speedily I render Her Litter man too long has stay'd The Poet names him from his Country Liburnia whence they had tall and lusty slaves whom they imployed like our Sedan men in carrying of them in their Litters but the more strict expression being insolent to an English ear I choose to render it by implying his office Her Litter-man c. The Poet then jeers at her cruelty saying that at last with a pretended dislike she loudly bids the Tormentor Be gon but not till she has been as cruel as the Sicilian Phalaris or the Dionysii Whereby we may observe the severity of that age wherein they used Lor arit which were sometimes of the number of their Servants sometimes hired occasionally for the punishing of them the whips they used for such purposes being usually sold in the Suburra as Martial implies Tonstrix Suburrae fancibus sedet primis Craentae pendent qua flagra tortorum 54. The haunted Brothel shrine of Isis Aut apud Isiacae potiùs sacraria lenae A strange and yet a common place for opportunity of Adulterers But a larger accusation is that Sat. 9. In quo non prostat faemina templo Yet such impurity was amongst the Graecians too as Rhodigin observes lib. 13. Antiq. Lection cap. 24. out of Pausanias in his Achaica Near the Temple of Isis were also publick Gardens which occasions the Scholiast to say In hortis templorum adulteria committuntur upon the precedent words of the Poet jamque expectatur in hortis I may lightly touch a story in Josephus Antiquit. lib. 18. cap. 4. of Mundus a young Roman and whom Britannicus thinks to be here intended for he alledges the story to this purpose who extreamly loving one Paulina a matron of especial birth and modesty corrupted the Priests of Isis who under a pretence of Religion called the woman into the Temple telling her that Osyris had by night talk'd with them and perswaded her that their God was in love with her by which means Mundus even in the Temple had his desire for which fact the Priests were crucified and Mundus banish'd Tiberius in whose raign it was using Him so gently because forsooth it was done in the impatience of Love A gentle name and a false one for Adultery 55. Why stands this Curle so high With thong she 's paid straight Altior hic quare cincinnus taurea punit Continuc The first are the words of the curious Mistress reprehending her poor Chamber-maid Psecas ironically here so called it being a name in Ovid given to an attendant of Diana The Poet adds that she was punish'd with the taurea which Britannicus mistakes for the name of a Matron so called if we may thence frame a harsh Epithet from her taurine fierceness Johannes Baptista Pius in his Annotat. Posterior cap. 124. erroneously thinks it to be Vincula a kind of fetters Indeed they are names sometimes found together as particularly in Eutropius but signifying different things and invented by Tarquin the proud and therefore by Curio and others it is rather taken for a thong of a Bulls hide to silence a less seemly expression of some wherewith condemn'd persons were punish'd So it is used 2 Macchab. 7.1 where the Author describes the seven brethren and the Mother to have been flagris taureis cruciatos where the word for taureis is in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whips as the English modestly choses to render it rather according to the Latin then the strict sense of the Greek 56. Yet once cunning at the Crisping pin Emerita quae cessat acu Some understand this of one past needle-work through an aged and weak sight but the Scholiast of one that had formerly been expert at the curling of the hair with the crisping pin for so he upon the word emerita Quae non ornatrix eft sed jam quasi emerita cessat her Hand being past the work but not her Judgment 57. Like tall Andromache The Poet expresses the height of this proud dame by her dress and by comparison It was anciently the custome of Matrons to form their hair into a high rowle towards the crown of the head which rowles were call'd tutuli as Varrs says whether it were tuendi capilli causa or that they call'd that tutissimum which in a City is altissimum that is Arx as Janus Parrhasius questions it Epist 58. Statius has an expression of such a dress in those words Celsae procul aspice frontis Suggestumque comae The height of this dame is next set-out by comparing her with Andromache Hector's wise whom Dares Phrygius and Ovid relate to have been very tall Wherefore I marvall that so eminent a mark in her stature is omitted in her description by Isaacus Porphyrogenitus in his Characters of the Greeks and Romans which were at Troy In which publish'd by Rutgersius in his Var. Lect. lib. 5. cap. 20. he calls Andromache 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 long visag'd but says nothing of her stature only he says she was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 slender but so she might be and yet not tall Besides in his character of Polyxena though he call her 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 slender-faced yet when he describes her to be tall he calls her not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As for the latter part of the Poet's expression of this dame he says that behind she was shorter then a Fygmie speaking so according to the receiv'd fable of which see more conveniently Sat. 13. Illust 10. on those words Pymaeus bellator but implies that her true stature was more easily and rightly discern'd behind then before her hair before seeming a continuation of stature but behind rather a distinct superaddition 58. Whom th' admire As less obscene Obscoeno facies reverenda minori I choose to vary a little from the strict sense of these words in which he expresses the Eunuch-priest with his inferior attendants Eunuches also who therefore are here called rauca cohors beating their drummes according to their custome their chief Priest attir'd with a Phrygian tiara which was a silken cap much like a calot but fasten'd behind with broad ribbands coming down by the jawes and so tied under the chin and therfore he says Et phrygia uâ—stitur bucca tiara See the fashion of it in picture Sat. 3. Illust 8. see also Sat. 10. Illustrat 38. 59. And then Give him their old cloathes brown like vine-leaves when Th' are dried Et xerampelinas veteres donaverit ipsi In the farther description of these