And the dread Ædile's dignity is known,

O sacred badge! by his white coat alone.
But HERE, beyond our power, array'd we go
In all the gay varieties of show;

And when our purse supplies the charge no more,
Borrow, unblushing, from our neighbour's store :
This is the reigning vice; and thus we flaunt,
Proud in distress, and prodigal in want!

Quæque reportandis posita est orchestra cathedris."

Our rustic theatre had no such orchestra of course; and Umbritius here uses the word figuratively for the space nearest the actors, where the wealthier villagers sat.

In the next line the poet pursues the contrast between the luxury and extravagance of Rome, and the frugality of the country: there the meanest of the people assisted at the theatre, dressed in white; here the Ædiles only, under whom the plays were acted, and whose importance is, according to custom, ironically magnified.

"In his white cloak the magistrate appears,

"The country bumkin the same livery wears."

which is directly contrary, not only to the intent, but to the words of his author.

Briefly, my friend, here all are slaves to gold,
And words, and smiles, and every thing, is sold.
What will you give for Cossus' nod? how high
Will you Veiento's gracious silence buy?—
For these, O Heavens! we to the temples bear
The firstlings of the favourites beard and hair;
With tributary sweet-meats swell his hoard,
And bribe the page for leave to bribe his lord.

VER. 279. What will you give for Cossus' nod? &c.] I know nothing of Cossus. Veiento is mentioned in the fourth Satire, and again in the sixth. He had been a great favourite with Nero; which probably recommended him to Domitian; in whose reign this Satire appears to have been written. After the death of his execrable master, he fell into disesteem, and lived, I believe, to see the day when neither his silence nor his speech was worth the purchase.

VER. 281. For these, O Heavens! we to the temples bear

The firstlings of the favourite's beard and hair;] It was the custom of the wealthier Romans to dedicate the first shavings of their beard, and pollings of their hair, after they arrived at a state of manhood, to some deity. Thus Suetonius and Dio tell us, among a variety of other instances, that Nero inclosed his in a golden pix adorned with pearls, and offered it with great state to the Capitoline Jove, avɛInnɛ τω Δι ∞∞ Καπιτωλίνῳ. The day this was done by the rich, was kept as a festival, and presents were expected from relations, friends, and clients, as on their birth-days, &c. This, however, is not what provoked the spleen of Umbritius: he complains, and justly too, that these presents should be exacted from the poor dependant, not only when his patron, but when his patron's minions, first polled and shaved! He is indignant, that it should be necessary to pay them tribute, as he calls it; since, possessing the ear of their lord, no means of access were left the client, but through the good pleasure of these proud slaves, which could only be purchased by presents.

Who fears the crash of houses, at the seat
Of simple Gabii, or the cool retreat

Of steep Volsinium, or the rugged brow
Of Tibur, beetling o'er the plain below?-
While half the city here by stilts is staid,
And feeble cramps, that lend their treacherous aid.
For thus the stewards patch the riven wall,
Thus prop the mansion, tottering to its fall;
Then bid the tenant sleep secure from dread,
While the loose pile hangs trembling o'er his head.
O! may I live where no such fears molest,
No midnight conflagrations break my rest!
For here 'tis tumult all: the neighbours cry
For "water"! and, in wild confusion, fly
With what they can :-meantime the flames aspire,
And the third floor is wrapt in smoke and fire,
Ere thou art well awake: up, ho! and know,
That, when th' impetuous pest bursts forth below,
The topmost story soon becomes its prey,
Where the thin tile scarce turns the shower away,
And doves (a timid flock) their eggs securely lay.

Codrus had but one bed, and that more short
Than his short wife; his goods of every sort
Were else but few:-six little pitchers graced
His cup-board head, a little can was placed

On a snug shelf beneath, and by it lay

A Chiron, form'd of the same marble, clay:
Item, a crazy chest, which, from the rage

Of barbarous mice, ill kept the Grecian page-
"Codrus, in short, had nothing." You say true;

yet poor Codrus lost that nothing too:

And yet poor

One curse alone was wanting to complete

His woes, that, cold and hungry, through the street
He begg'd relief, and, in the hour of need,
Found none to lodge, to clothe him, or to feed.

VER. 306. Codrus, &c.] The commentators will have this to be the person mentioned in the first Satire: but to me it seems doubtful. Be he who he will, his poverty was so notorious, that it grew into a proverb. Codrus might have furnished our author with a striking illustration of a remark in this very SatireQuid, quod materiam præbet causasque jocorum, &c., for jests and witticisms were poured upon him from all quarters. Here is one, which is neither the best, nor the worst of the set. I hope it had more ill-nature than truth in it.

"Plus credit nemo totâ quam Codrus in urbe :

"Cum sit tam pauper, quomodo? cæcus amat."

The inventory of this unfortunate man is drawn up with humour, and, perhaps, with accuracy; the trifles he possesses are all described by diminutives; they are, besides, so few in number, that they can scarce be said, like the weeds of Otway's old woman, to "speak variety of wretchedness."

I have never read this passage without feeling for poor Codrus. His little collection of curiosities (for such I am persuaded they were) totally destroyed, and himself turned out to starve in the streets! I hope it is not wicked; but I have been frequently tempted to exclaim with Martial on another occasion

"O scelus, O magnum facinus, crimenque deorum,
"Non arsit pariter quod domus, et dominus!

But should the raging flames on greatness prey,
And low in dust Asturius' palace lay,
The squalid matron sighs, the senate mourns,
The sympathizing judge the court adjourns;
All join to wail the city's hapless fate,

And rail at fire with more than common hate.
Lo! while it burns, the obsequious courtiers haste,
With rich materials, to repair the waste:

This brings him marble, that a finish'd piece
Of art, the boast of Polyclete, and Greece;
This ornaments, which graced of old the fane
Of Asia's gods; that figur'd plate and plain;

VER. 322. The squalid matron sighs, the senate mourns, &c.] We have here a very accurate description of a public mourning for any signal calamity. The women laid aside their ornaments, the senate put on black, the courts of justice deferred all business, &c. That all this would be done on such an occasion as the present may be reasonably doubted ;-and yet if we duly attend to the state of Rome in our author's time, we shall not be inclined to suspect him of much exaggeration; for to be rich and childless gave the person so circumstanced the utmost consequence. Asturius was the richest of those, orborum lautissimus, (a word, by the bye, of which Lubin mistakes the meaning,) and therefore an object of no common consideration.

The state of manners must have been long declining at Rome; for Augustus had found it necessary, even in his time, to introduce a law (lex Papia Poppaa) which conferred many privileges on matrimony, and subjected a single life to a variety of vexations, penalties, and inconveniences: notwithstanding which, celibacy still prevailed; and with the rapid degeneracy of manners under the succeeding emperors, became daily more common, and more reputable; insomuch, that there are instances of people of both sexes proving too powerful for the laws, because they were, like Asturius, rich, old, and childless!