The Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter, a Roman knight, in prose and verse with the fragments recover'd at Belgrade in the year 1698;

Front matter

OF THE,

U N 1VER.S ITY or ILLINOIS

T. W. BALDWIN ELIZABETHAN LIBRARY

Contents

O F

Petronius Arbiter.

Translated by several Hands.

Preface

Qncerning the Difficulty of "Translating this Author I shall say nothings thoAhe French Translator has bestow'd half his Preface to enforce it^ because if the Difficulty was greater than the Undertakers could well go through with^ or vanquish with Reputation^ the Infamy is not lessen d^ but their Folly much magnify d. Besides^ this Version has already been receiv'd with such success^ that the Bookseller has thought it worth his while to venture a new Impression^ by several Hands : In shorty both the Prose and Verse is so much improv'd^ that this may justly be said to be wholly new ; besides a Third Part never before made English.

Having said in few words all that was necessary as to the Translation^ I shall come to the main point of this Praeludium, which is^ to remove some Reflections on the Original; and to give some few Remarks upon its Author.

xi

Inhere are some People that are prepossessed with a Prejudice against the JVorks of Petronius Arbiter, not from their own Readings or Knowledge of the Mattery hut from a sort of traditional Calumny y that the Devotees have raised against him. But such I desire to peruse the Life of Petronius without prejudice y and what I here shall offer in his Defence against those Censures which unfair Criticks or gross Ignorance have laid upon him.

We have nothing to fear from any Charge on the Defect of his JVity and the Purity of his Stiky his Fame for that is too well establish'd all Europe overy and his Party every where too numerous to apprehend an Attaque from that side^ for I may venture to asserty that Petronius is not much less admir'd noWy than he was in ancient Rome ; for our AgOy by an admirable circulation of Lemper y has very much of that of the time in which our Author liv dy and of which he has left us so agreeable a Draught.

Lhis general Inclination to Petronius is not confin d to those learned Men of my Acquaintancey but reaches all such who have ever discover d any just claim to Knowledge and a good L aste ; because there is a sort of particular Sympathy betwixt those Persons of duality who love Petronius, and the Knowledge of the Belle Lettres. For hey of all the AncientSy seems only to have knowny and to have had a Taste of that true Gallantry y which at this time finishes the Character of Politeness. With such Address he attaque s the Defects of the Understanding

xii and Wit^ or the Frailties of the Hearty in that Fainting which he has left us of the Manners of his Agey that he every where keeps up his Force and Energy y according to the different Characters of his Persons introduc d. These and his other admirable dualities gave him such a Value with the Prince <?/Conde, a Man of Spirit and JVity that he maintain d several Learned Gentlemen to read Petronius to him.

But to omit nothing that is necessary to compleat the Defence of our Author, we must enquire further than in his Life, into the Spirit with which he wrote this Satyr, what Design he hady and how he has executed Design. The Men of Wit among the Greeks and Romans always assum’d the Principle of that Sect of Philosophy which was most agreeable to his Temper and Genius. All the Authors that have wrote of Petronius, assure us^ that he was of the Sect of Epicurus, which Opinion they found on several Passages of his Satyricon, which seem agreeable to the Doctrine of that Philosopher. But that is but a Problematick Opinion, for from the very same Reason we may conclude y that he was of all and every one of the Sects ; because we find all their different Opinions in his Works : F he only Proof this gives us, isy that his Wit lov d to indulge it self with a Liberty in Writing.

But suppose that he was an Epicurean, we ought not to look on him with an Eye of that Injustice, which the Vulgar generally do on Epicurus himself y whose Sentiments are much more pure than is

Xlll commonly imagin d, like Morals of that Philosopher draw their Principles from Right Reason ; and he was far from the usual imputed Absurdities of passing his Life in a perpetual Debauch : On the contrary^ he ohserv d such a severity in his Pleasures, in his Endeavours to deliver Mankind from the tyranny of the Passions, that Seneca was oblig'd to say much to the advantage of that Philosopher^ That he had given his Followers not one Precept, but what was conformable to Honesty and Justice.

Phis Pestimony which Seneca {who was himself a Stoic by Profession') gave him^ was a Condemnation of the Sect opposite to Epicurus, and sufficiently discover'd their Vanity. For the Principles of the Stoics, which would be admirable in the Mouth of a Christian, are entirely ridiculous in that of those Philosophers : Nor can that Moral claim any Advantage^ which dethrones^ as I may say^ the Divinity, and sets Man in the Seat of ; those who held^

that Pain was a Good, and Pleasure an Evil, and who directed our whole Lives through Pain and Austerity, had only excessive Pride their Virtue, and for their supream Good nothing hut a vain Name, and Chimerical Glory : Instead of which^ the Morals of Epicurus were founded on good Sense, which taught the Pagans, that the soveraign Good was to have a long Life with Indolence and Pleasure.

Since it is by no means reasonable to expect a Christian in the person of Petronius, we ought to be satisfy d if we find him an honest Pagan ; a Man

XIV of good Sense, who reason d and liv d according to the true Principles of Natural Knowledge, which leaves neither room for Hope or Transgression. T^he manner of his Death alone may justifie this Opinion. His Death, indeed., is the most noble of any of all those., which Antiquity so much admires. In it you cannot find either Fear, or Affectation, Despair, or Pride. Tacitus, very near his time., describes him to us dying with the same tranquility in which he liv d. the Heaths of Socrates, and that of Cato of Utica, which are the two most celebrated of those Ages., in no measure approach that of Petronius. the great Philosophical Discourses which the first made, and the treatise of the Immortality of the Soul, which the other more than once had recourse to, only shew us how they were oblig’d to put off that terror, which their approaching Fates advanc d.

It is remarkable, that Tacitus does not venture to say, that Petronius was a Voluptuary ; but only, that he adapted his Conduct to his desire of pleasing the Emperour ; and we can much less conclude, that his Manners were corrupt, because he drew the Debocheries of Nero and his Court. If we give our selves leave to refiect, that this manner of Writing was the Mode of the Age he liv d in, and that he gave himself the Air of a severe Philosopher, who with Freedom lays open the Vices of his Times, and explains e' ry thing by its Name ; as Cicero, in his familiar Epistles, says of the Stoics, Placet Stoicis suo quamque rem nomine appellare. And the

XV same Custom in the greatest fart of the Authors^ who have wrote in his way^ ought to convince Posterity, that they ought to entertain no suspicion of his Libertinism. Hhus Martial says^ Lasciva est nobis pagina vita proba, that if his Epigrams had the Air of Debochery, yet his Life was regular. And Catullus almost to the same purpose assures us,

T^hat it is no manner of necessity that the Poet’s Verses be chaste, provided his Life be so. And Petronius himself,^ being apprehensive that his W'ritings might incur some such Censures in his "Time,, prevents their Objection in a manner,^ that should inform them,, that he Wrote not by a Spirit of Corruption, but by the disgust of a Court Philosopher ; who had been offended by the Disorders of the Emperour and his Favourites, whom he exposes to their own View in a most Satyrical manner. And this is so plain,, that in his most lively Descriptions of their Debaucheries, he so qualifies and sweetens the Images by the 'Terms and Expressions^ that at first Modesty cannot be shook by it ; and he employs none of those gross Words which the Authors we have nam'd are e'ry where full of,, and which the Latin Tongue allows a certain liberty of usings tho' the Modesty of our Language will not permit it.

Tho' Fulgentius tells us,, that he wrote several Books, particularly one call'd Euscius or Eustois, a Tract against a certain Advocate, whom he calls

XVI

Cerberus Forensis ; and a Poem^ entituled^ AXhxxcAZ^ against his Rivals in a Lady of that Name, with whom he was very much in Love ; hut this Satyr against Nero is all that the injury of Times has left us. Phis way of agreeably mixing Prose and Verse was invented hy Varro, which, as Aulus Gellius informs us, he call'd Menippean, from Menippus the Cynic Philosopher ; because Menippus, before him had treated of things serious in a burlesque or bantering stile or manner. This kind was call'd mixt Satyr, to distinguish it from the Satyrs in equal Verse. We have seen in the foregoing Age, in France, a Menippean Satyr ; an Author of that time having describ'd the Corruptions of the Court of Henry III. in an Allegoric History, call'd. The Isles of the Hermaphrodites.

It is therefore plain enough, that this Piece of Petronius is a Species of Roman Satyr, which gives us a Draught of Rome, or rather of the Court of Nero, of his proper Person, and loose and abandon! d Life. But Fortune permitting not this admirable Piece to come down to us entire, we have from time to time made new discoveries of parts of it ; in short, this valuable Treatise came to us only by piece-meal ; and we have had from pure Antiquity handed down to us only some particular Fragments, which were preserv'd by the Studious, selected out of such places as pleas' d them best. In process of time, about Forty or Fifty Tears since, the Story of TrimalchioV Feast was made perfect by the Fragments found in Dalmatia ; at last, at the taking of Belgrade, we got

h

XVll the rest^ which made the whole Work compleat^ as it now appears in the English Tongue.

Is there any thing among all the Latin Authors near so fine as the History ofi the Ephesian Matron ? or any thing comparable to the betters of Circe and Polyenos } or any thing better turn d^ or more gallant^ than the Conversation and Address of that Lady^ both in her Disappointment and Joy } And where can we find a Confidant more accomplisli d than Chrisis } She may be an Example to all her Profession even to our days. Her first Conversation with Polyenos is wonderfully ravishing^ but the Simplicity and Naviety is not to be imitated.

All the beamed agree ^ bhat this Roman Satyr is in its kind the most valuable Remains of Antiquity. It is a surprizing thing to find what an extent of Wit the Author has discover'd ; and how he has given us so many different Characters. When he is Declaiming, you see all the Air and Stile of a Declamator ; when he Philosophizes, he is sententiouSy and gives us charming Moral Reflections ; when he plays the Poet, we can find no Verses to compare with his. There never was a Rapsody so pleasantly put together., as whatever he puts into the Mouths of his Speakers : The Debochee e'ry where maintains his Character, and the Whores are always of a Piece : The Freedmen always speak like Men without Education ; and the Slaves ne'r lift their Thoughts or Expressions above the humble level of their Condition : The Lovers speak with equal Gallantry and Tenderness. In short, he sustains

XVlll the Characters of all sorts of People with so universal a Genius^ as Petronius Arbiter ; and Jills his Satyr with a vast variety of agreeable Images iudiciously dispos'd.

After what we have said., it is no wonder to find so many Authors speaking of him with such Applause : We find Tacitus a true Judge of Merit., giving Petronius a great deal. Pliny, Terentianus Maurus, Plutarch, St. Jerome, Macrobius, Sidonius, Apollinaris, Isidore of Seville, Petrus Crinitus, Turnebius, Scaliger, Justus Lipsius, Casaubon, and many other Authors of the foremost Rank., have celebrated the Praises of Petronius Arbiter.

Above thirty Grammarians of all Nations have made Comments upon this Satyr, thd it must he freely own'd., that the greatest part of them have by no means been able to penetrate into the difficult places of him., which they have endeavour' d to explain ; nay., they have render'd several of them more obscure than they found 'em in their Author : "They often run their Conjecture so far., that like an Ignis fatuus, they but lead you quite out of your way.

There are another sort of Learned Men, who have taken a Fancy to prove, that the Petronius mention d by Tacitus, was not the Petronius who wrote the Satyr under our consideration ; and, that it was not wrote on the Court of Nero : But certainly these Men of Letters have suspended their Penetration while they have been reading this Author, when they could doubt of a thing so evident as this; for we every where through the whole Satyr discover^ and plainly see the agreement with the Manners of Nero, the Customs of those "Times. We here find Seneca, Lucan, Silia, and the Emperours Freed-men. This you will more plainly see by the Key to the Names of the Persons of this Satyr. But Tacitus himself points out this Satyr, when he mentions the Book sent Nero by Petronius just before his 'Death ; for he says^ our Author descriF d under the borrow'' d Names DebocheeSy abandon! d Women^ and the Vices of that Prince ; as is hinted in the Life of Petronius. As for his calling him C. Petronius, it was a mistake of the first or later Transcribers ^ in putting a C, for a T, which is plain from a Passage of Plutarch

to this purpose As whenever you reproach

Debochees with their Infamy, as Titus Petronius

did Nero. And by this other of Pliny Titus

Petronius^ a Man of Consular Dignity, on the point of Death, by reason of the Hatred which Nero bore him. But we no where find any mention of two Petronius’j in the time of that Emperor, and much less can we make two of the Name, who lost their Lives by the Hate of Nero. ''Tis therefore evident., that the Petronius mention d by Tacitus was Titus, s'lnce it is confirmed by Plutarch and Pliny.

But Petronius, and the Poets we have nam'd., are not the only People who have made use of such a liberty of Stile ; but we may justifie their Practice by the Example of many grave Authors,

XX as the Mode of the Age. Let us cast an Eye to Suetonius, Dion Cassius, Lampridius, Orosius, Xiphilin, who all take a pleasure to paint in lively Colours the Vices of Nero, Domitian, Heliogabalus, all whose Pictures they have left us.

If I should push this Defence farther in this particular., it is no difficult matter to prove^ that the very Fathers of the Church sometimes speak the same Language, and imploy such Figures, Images, and Expressions, as seem most proper to inspire a Horrour ofYict.

E Veneno Salus.

XXI

THE

LIFE

O F

Petronius Arbiter.

V

Made (BngUalj by Mr. Tho. Brown,

Titus Petronius was a Roman Knight, descended from that Branch of the Family of the Petronius % which deriv’d their Original from the Sabines^ and who gave so many great Men to the Service of the Roman Republick. We cannot doubt but he was brought up with the same prudent Care that they then employ’d at Rome^ in the Education of Children of Quality, and that his Genius was continually exercis’d and cultivated in the attainment of polite Learning, even from his very Youth ; for in those things the Romans were as strict and severe as the Greeks, Petronius himself was also naturally and more particularly inclin’d to

XXll the Study of good Literature ; and it’s apparent that he excelled in it, by the Ingenuity and Politeness he has discover’d in his Writings.

When he had compleated himself in the first Rudiments in Learning, he made his appearance at the Imperial Court of Claudius; but his great Assiduity there was no impediment to the chief design of perfecting himself in the Liberal Sciences, and therefore employ’d his leisure Hours in making Declamations^ which was the custom of those times, in order to exercise and enable their young Men of the first Quality to speak in Publick, for which purpose they had Schools to Declaim in, and by this successful method, furnish’d themselves with so many famous Oratours, both in their Senate and Armies ; to the great advantage of their Republick.

The Court of Claudius was then the very Seat or Mansion of Pleasures ; for the Empress Messalina employ’d all her Cares and Thoughts to make it so, in accommodating it with all imaginable Delights and Recreations, which she more easily accomplish’d, by having a great Ascendant over the Person and Inclinations of the Emperor ; for he being a weak Prince, comply’d with every thing, provided they accommodated him with a plentiful Table, for he was an extreme lover of good Eating, and of drinking Wine even to excess ; and his Courtiers following the Example of their Prince, Debauchery was no less familiar with them.

Petronius becoming a Courtier under a Reign where the manner of living was agreeable to his Temper, he also became insensibly Voluptuous ; tho’ at the same time it was observ’d, that he took no delight in the brutal Pleasures of Love, xxm like Messalina^ nor in those of the Table and Drunkenness with Claudius ; only in a gallant and delicate manner took a relish of both, rather to gratifie his Curiosity than his Senses. In this manner he employ’d a part of the Day in Sleeping, and dedicated the whole Night to Pleasure and Business. His House was the Rendezvous of the better sort of the People of Rome : He pass’d away his time agreeably with those that visited him, and with others was celebrated for Intrigues. Petronius also procur’d himself a Reputation by an agreeable Employment, and in a method of acting easily, readily and freely, and his natural way of discoursing. One might then represent him in a continual exercise of Wit in Conversation, in the most charming Pleasures of the Table, publick Sights, Gaming, and in spending his Estate, not like a Prodigal and Debauchee, but like a nice and learned Artist in the Science of V oluptuousness.

When Petronius had thus pass’d away his Youth, in a Life of so much softness and Tranquility, he took a Resolution, to convince those that doubted of the extent of his Mind and Qualifications, that he was capable of the first and chiefest Employments in the Government ; for putting an Interval to his Pleasures, he accepted the Office of Pro-Consul of Bithynia; went into that Province, where he discharg’d all the Duties of his Place with great Applause ; but having put a period to that exercise of his Parts, and returning to Rome., Nero, who succeeded Claudius in the Empire, in recompence of the Services, made him Consul. This new Dignity gave him a great and ready Access to the Emperor, who at first honour’d him with his Esteem, and afterwards with his xxiv

Friendship, in acknowledgment of the sumptuous Entertainments he sometimes gave that Prince, to refresh him when fatigued with Business.

• The time of Petronius's Consulate being come to a Conclusion, after having laboured in quest of Glory, without quitting the Court, he reassum’d his first manner of living, and whether it proceeded from his own Inclination, or a desire to please Nero^ he soon became one of the Emperor’s Confidents, who could find nothing agreeable to his Humour, but what was approv’d by Petronius; and being thus possess’d of the Authority of deciding what might be acceptable, gave him the Surname of Arbiter^ as being Master and Controller in those Affairs.

Nero^ in the first part of his Reign, acted like a very wise Prince, and apply’d himself with care to the Government of the State : However Petronius remembred, that he was naturally inclin’d to Lust and Sensuality, and therefore like an able Politician, being in possession of his Prince’s Mind, he season’d it with honest Delights, and procur’d him all the Charms imaginable, in order to remove the thoughts of seeking after others, which peradventure would have been more disorderly, and to be dreaded by the Republick.

Things continu’d in this posture while the Emperor kept within the bounds of Moderation, and Petronius acted chearfully under him, as Intendant of his Pleasures, ordering him Shows, Games, Comedies, Musick, Feasts, pleasant Seats in the Country, with delicious Gardens, charming Lakes, and all that might contribute towards the making of a Prince’s Life happy and delightful.

But the Emperor some time after complying with his Nature, chang’d his Conduct, not only

XXV in respect of Governing the Empire, but also in relation to his own Person. He gave ear to the Counsels of others, rather than those of PetroniuSy insensibly plung’d into Debauchery, abandon’d himself to his Passions, and became as morose and wicked a Prince, as before he had been pleasant and equitable.

Nero was a learned Prince, of which he had given sufficient Proofs from his Youth ; for at Fifteen Years of Age he pleaded in the Senate y in his own Tongue, on behalf of the BoulonnoiSy and in Greek for the Rhodians ; but his Knowledge was confus’d and much embarass’d.

He also lov’d Men of Wit, and had Courtiers near him, who following the corruption of the Court, treated Seneca like a Pedanty and could not suffer that he should Preach to them the Exercise of Vertue and Modesty, because they had imbib’d an Opinion, that he himself did not live like a Philosopher in that particular.

Thus continuing frequently to ridicule him, it at length insinuated into the Emperor’s Mind, and expos’d him to his Contempt, which being joyn’d with his own Knowledge of the unjust ways by which he had acquir’d the immense Riches he was possess’d of, his Contempt grew into Hatred, and his Hate at last caus’d the Ruin of Seneca.

And now indeed Petronius saw with sorrow, that the Emperor began to hide himself from him, and sometimes to shun him, and that, following his own corrupt Inclinations, he was grown utterly debauch’d, and forgot what he ow’d to his Imperial Dignity, that he would frequently run wild up and down the Streets, and into wicked Places, outraging all he met, and would also offer Violencies to Roman Ladies of the best Quality.

XXVI

The Favour to which Petronius was rais’d had also drawn upon him the Jealousie of those who pretended, as well as he, to the Grace and Favour of the Prince, and, among others, that of Pigillinus^ Captain of the Guards, who was a dangerous Rival. This Man, of obscure Birth and Corrupt Manners, had in a short time acquir’d a great power over the Emperor’s Genius, and as he perfectly knew his blind side, began seriously to contrive the Ruin of his Competitor, and by such means, as *twas thought would also have destroy’d the Empire.

The choice and delicious Pleasures invented by Petronius grated the gross Debauches of Pigillinus^ and foreseeing that the Credit Petronius had with the Emperor would always be an Obstacle to his Designs, he therefore endeavour’d to possess himself of the Heart of the Prince ; and finding himself prevail by degrees, he soon engag’d him in the foulest Brutalities.

It’s true, ’twas no difficult thing to succeed in this attempt, for finding a Nature wholly dispos’d, he quickly, and with little trouble, seduc’d him to embrace such Pleasures, as were neither approv’d nor advis’d by Petronius.^ which were entirely dropt in order to remove his Rival ; for ISlero had already committed Parricide by murdering his Mother, and no sooner hearken’d to the Persuasions of "Tigellinus., but he signaliz’d his Power, by putting Sylla and Ruhellius Plautus to death, who were both Persons dreaded by them for their celebrated Vertues, and being highly esteemed and in favour with the People. Afterwards, Fury and Brutality render’d themselves Mistresses of his Heart to such an excess, that all manner of Crimes were perpetrated by him.

xxvii

When the Emperor had confirm'd himself in these Disorders, our ancient Favourite, by the Artifices of the new one, found himself almost without Employment near the Prince, and Nero himself could not endure so nice a Witness of his InfamiaSy nor give him so free an entrance into his Pleasures as he formerly enjoy’d.

‘Tigillinus serving himself of these Dispositions, omitted nothing that might satisfie the Desires of his Prince, by the magnificent Feasts he provided ; and as his Rival (according to Tacitus') much surpass’d him in the Science of Pleasures, one might conclude, without fear of being deceiv’d, that those which Petronius order’d were of another nature, and had nothing of those disorders in them that were seen in one of the Feasts which that Historian relates as an Example of all the rest, which he describes in this manner : They provided a stately Feast on the Lake of Agrippa ; in a Vessel cover’d with Plates of Gold and Ivory; the Rowers were plac’d in their Ranks, which they took according to their Age and Experience in Debauchery. They had sent to the very ends of the Earth for the rarest eatables. The Lake was edg’d with Porches, in which were great numbers of Chambers, fill’d on one side with Women of Quality, who prostituted themselves to the first comers, and the other with naked Courtizans in a thousand lascivious postures ; at Night appear’d in all parts surprizing Illuminations, the Woods and Palaces round about ecchoed with Consorts of Musical Instruments and Songs adapted to the Feast. To conclude this grand Debauch in a famous Action, Nero was married a little after, to one of the most corrupted Wretches of this Troop, named Pythagora, and that publickly.

XXVlll with all the accustom’d Ceremonies. They put upon the Emperor’s Head the Espoused’s Vail, sent him two Auspices^ assign’d him the Marriage- Portion, adorn’d the Nuptial Bed, lighted Flambeaux, and to conclude the Marriage, permitted that to be seen to the open view of all the Company, which the Shades of Night hide from the Eyes in the most lawful Pleasures.

Petronius being extremely disgusted at the Horrours he saw, insensibly withdrew himself from Court, and being of a mild and unenterprizing Nature, suffer’d things to run in the train they had form’d, without attempting to reestablish them in the Condition he had left them. I am of Opinion, it was about this time that he took his Pen in Hand to compose this Satyr^ which so exactly represents the Nature and Character of Nero^ and under the Names of Debauchees and Lewd Women^ decry’d all the Vices of this Prince and his Courtiers.

While Petronius liv’d in a retired Tranquility, Ligillinus labour’d with all his power to destroy him, and take away his Rival from all possibility of re-ent’ring into favour ; and knowing that the Prince’s Nature was inclining to Cruelty^ he insinuated, that Petronius was too familiar with Scevinus, not to be dipt in P iso's Conspiracy ; and for that end having suborn’d one of Petronius\ Slaves to swear against his Master, to deprive him of all means of justifying himself, they put the greatest part of his Domestics in Prison.

Nero was well enough pleas’d to find an opportunity of losing a Man who was become a dead Weight upon his Affairs ; for the Vicious cannot endure the presence of such Persons, whose sight reproaches them with their abominable Practices ;

XXIX therefore favourably receiv’d the Accusation against Petronius^ and order’d him to be apprehended at Cuma^ when the Emperor made a Voyage thither, where he was one of the Company : But as it required some time to deliberate, whether they ought to put a Man of his consideration to Death, without clearer Proofs of his being guilty of the Crimes he stood charg’d with ; he was so extreamly disgusted, and also weary of living under the Domination of such a detestable Prince, that seeing himself so long a time made the Sport of his Caprices, he resolv’d to dye. However, that he might not give himself a precipitate Death, he open’d his Veins, and afterwards clos’d them again, that he might have time to enjoy the Conversation of his Friends, who came to see him in his last Moments ; whom he requested to entertain him, not with Discourses of the Immortality of the Soul^ and the celebrated Axioms that the Pride of Philosophers had invented, to acquire Glory and a vain opinion of their Constancy, but with the recital of some curious Pieces of Poetry.