# The Satires of A. Persius Flaccus

## Part 9

Book page: https://www.cyberlibrary.org/la/books/the-satires-of-a-persius-flaccus-22119/index.md

Hunc, Macrine, diem numera meliore lapillo qui tibi labentis apponit candidus annos. funde merum genio. non tu prece poscis emaci, quae nisi seductis nequeas committere divis; at bona pars procerum tacita libabit acerra. 5 haud cuivis promptum est murmurque humilisque susurros tollere de templis et aperto vivere voto. 'Mens bona, fama, fides' haec clare et ut audiat hospes; illa sibi introrsum et sub lingua murmurat 'o si ebulliat patruus, praeclarum funus?' et 'o si 10 sub rastro crepet argenti mihi seria dextro Hercule! pupillumve utinam, quem proximus heres inpello, expungam! namque est scabiosus et acri bile tumet. Nerio iam tertia conditur uxor.' haec sancte ut poscas, Tiberino in gurgite mergis 15 mane caput bis terque et noctem flumine purgas? heus age, responde-- minimum est quod scire laboro-- de Iove quid sentis? estne ut praeponere cures hunc-- 'cuinam?' cuinam? vis Staio? an scilicet haeres? quis potior index, puerisve quis aptior orbis? 20 hoc igitur, quo tu Iovis aurem inpellere temptas, dic agedum Staio, 'pro Iuppiter! o bone' clamet 'Iuppiter!' at sese non clamet Iuppiter ipse? ignovisse putas, quia, cum tonat, ocius ilex sulpure discutitur sacro quam tuque domusque? 25 an quia non fibris ovium Ergennaque iubente triste iaces lucis evitandumque bidental, idcirco stolidam praebet tibi vellere barbam Iuppiter? aut quidnam est, qua tu mercede deorum emeris auriculas? pulmone et lactibus unctis? 30 Ecce avia aut metuens divum matertera cunis exemit puerum frontemque atque uda labella infami digito et lustralibus ante salivis expiat, urentis oculos inhibere perita; tunc manibus quatit et spem macram supplice voto 35 nunc Licini in campos, nunc Crassi mittit in aedis 'hunc optet generum rex et regina! puellae hunc rapiant! quidquid calcaverit hic, rosa fiat!' ast ego nutrici non mando vota: negato, Iuppiter, haec illi, quamvis te albata rogarit. 40 Poscis opem nervis corpusque fidele senectae. esto age; sed grandes patinae tuccetaque crassa adnuere his superos vetuere Iovemque morantur. Rem struere exoptas caeso bove Mercuriumque arcessis fibra 'da fortunare Penatis, 45 da pecus et gregibus fetum!' quo, pessime, pacto, tot tibi cum in flammas iunicum omenta liquescant et tamen hic extis et opimo vincere ferto intendit 'iam crescit ager, iam crescit ovile, iam dabitur, iam iam!' donec deceptus et exspes 50 nequiquam fundo suspiret nummus in imo. Si tibi creterras argenti incusaque pingui auro dona feram, sudes et pectore laevo excutiat guttas laetari praetrepidum cor. hinc illud subiit, auro sacras quod ovato 55 perducis facies; nam fratres inter aenos somnia pituita qui purgatissima mittunt, praecipui sunto sitque illis aurea barba. aurum vasa Numae Saturniaque inpulit aera Vestalisque urnas et Tuscum fictile mutat. 60 o curvae in terris animae et caelestium inanes! quid iuvat hoc, templis nostros inmittere mores et bona dis ex hac scelerata ducere pulpa? haec sibi corrupto casiam dissolvit olivo, haec Calabrum coxit vitiato murice vellus, 65 haec bacam conchae rasisse et stringere venas ferventis massae crudo de pulvere iussit. peccat et haec, peccat: vitio tamen utitur. at vos dicite, pontifices, in sancto quid facit aurum? nempe hoc quod Veneri donatae a virgine pupae. 70 quin damus id superis, de magna quod dare lance non possit magni Messallae lippa propago: conpositum ius fasque animo sanctosque recessus mentis et incoctum generoso pectus honesto. haec cedo ut admoveam templis et farre litabo. 75

NOTES.

SECOND SATIRE.

The theme of this Satire is the Wickedness and Folly of Popular Prayers. The true philosopher is the only man that knows how to pray aright, and the Stoic is your only true philosopher. Compare, on the subject of prayer, the Second Alcibiades ascribed to Plato.

ARGUMENT.-- Macrinus, you may well salute your returning birthday. Your wishes on that day of wishes are pure, whereas most of our magnates pray for what they dare not utter aloud. Any one can hear their requests for sound mind and good report, but the petitions for the death of an uncle, a ward, a wife, the prayer for sudden gain, are mere whispers (1-15). Strange that, in order to prepare for such impieties as these, men should go through all manner of lustral services, and trust to the ear of Jove what they would not breathe to any mortal (15-23). Strange that men should fancy because Jove is not swift to strike the sinner dead that he may be insulted with safety, or easily bought off by a lot of greasy chitterlings (24-30).

Pass from wicked to foolish prayers. Grandam and aunt would have skinny Master Hopeful a wealthy nabob, would have him make a great match. Girls are to scramble for him, and roses spring up beneath his feet. Silly petitions! Refuse them, Jupiter (31-40). Nor less silly are those prayers whose fulfilment the suppliant himself defeats-- prayers for a hale old age, despite rich made-dishes (41-43); prayers for wealth, while the worshipper expends his whole substance in sacrifice (44-51).

The trouble lies in this, that men judge the gods by themselves. Because gold brings a joyous flutter to their hearts, they think to sway the gods by gold, and change to gold the vessels of the sanctuary. The gods are measured by our 'accursed blubber,' that flesh which corrupts all that it handles. Yet the flesh tastes what it touches, and enjoys the ruin which it has wrought. But what can a pure god do with our gold? To him it is a spent toy, an idle offering. Let us give the gods honest and upright hearts, and a handful of meal will suffice to gain their blessing (32-75).

Although the colors of the piece pale before the rhetorical glare of Juvenal's Tenth Satire, which treats of a kindred theme-- the 'Vanity of Human Wishes'-- the philosophical commonplace is handled with considerable vigor, and with all the picturesque detail of the author's style. And Montaigne, who, as a moralist, quotes Persius very often, has garnished the 56th essay of his First Book with copious extracts from this Satire.

1-15. Macrinus, your prayers are pure, you need no private audience of the gods. Not so the petitions of many of our foremost men. Far different is what they say and what they whisper, when they come before the gods in prayer.

1. #Hunc diem#: The birthday was always a high-day in Rome, as elsewhere. In French, _fête_ is a synonym of birthday. --#Macrine#: 'Plotius Macrinus, the scholiast says, was a learned man, who loved Persius as his son, having studied in the house of the same preceptor, Servilius. He had sold some property to Persius at a reduced rate' (Conington). --#meliore#: sc. _solito_. G., 312, 2; A., 17, 5. --#lapillo#: The Scythians used to drop into a quiver a stone for every day, white for the good and black for the bad, and when life was over the stones were counted. There is a similar story of the Thracians, Plin., H. N., 7, 40, 41 (Jahn). The phrase 'white stone' is so common that one passage will suffice as a parallel: _Felix utraque lux diesque nobis | signandi #melioribus lapillis#_, Mart., 9, 52, 4.

2. #labentis#: not simply an _epitheton ornans_, 'the gliding years,' but 'the years as they glide away.' _Eheu, fugaces, Postume, Postume | #labuntur anni#_, Hor.., Od., 2, 14, 1. --#apponit#: 'puts to your account.' Comp. _quem fors dierum cumque dabit lucro | #appone#_, Hor., Od., 1, 9, 15. Each day lived may be a day gained or a day lost. Comp. also Hor., Od., 2, 5, 15. --#candidus#: +leukê hêmera, leukon euameron phaos+, Soph., Ai., 709. Comp. Catull., 8, 3: _fulsere vere #candidi# tibi soles_.

3. #genio#: 'The tutelary Deity, or "guardian angel," who was supposed to attend on every individual from the cradle to the grave. Its cultus was strictly materialistic, and should be compared with the offerings of meat, drink, and clothes which were made to the _manes_ of the dead. Comp. Censorin., De Die Nat., 3; Serv. ad Verg., Georg., 1, 302; Hor., Ep., 2, 2, 187: _scit #Genius#, natale comes qui temperat astrum | naturae deus humanae_, _mortalis in unum | quodque caput, vultu mutabilis albus et ater_. In character it was the reflex of the man (comp. Sat. 6, 48, where it represents the _felicitas_ of the emperor); it might be humored and appeased by proper attention, more especially by sacrifice (comp. 5, 151), or irritated and made baneful by neglect (comp. 4, 27; Juv., 10, 129). From these latter passages it would appear to represent the _alter homo_, or second self.' So Pretor. The _genius_ is the divine element which is born with a man, and when he dies becomes a _lar_, if he is good; if he is wicked, a _larva_, or a _lemur_. Departed _genii_ were called _manes_-- 'good fellows'-- doubtless with a view to propitiation. --#non tu#: Comp. 1, 45. --#emaci#: 'chaffering, haggling.' Prayer was often conceived as bargain and sale. See v. 29, and Plato, Euthyphro, 14E (Jahn). By the _prece emaci_ is meant the _votum_, or vow, the +euchê+, and not the +proseuchê+, as Gregory of Nyssa puts it (De Orat., Ed. Paris. a. 1638, Tom. 1, p. 724D). Casaubon compares Hor., Od., 3, 29, 59: _ad miseras preces | decurrere et #votis pacisci#_.

4. #seductis#: Comp. _paulum a turba #seductior# audi_, 6, 42. --#nequeas#: G., 633; A., 65, 2.

5. #at bona pars#: Comp. Hor., Sat., 1, 1, 61: _at #bona pars# hominum._ --#libabit#: Gnomic or sententious future. See 3, 93. Jahn comp. Juv., 8, 182: _quae | turpia cerdoni Volesos Brutumque decebunt_. 'That which is done is that which shall be done.' The other reading, _libavit_ (gnomic Perfect), is not so good. See G., 228, R. 2, and Dräger, _Histor. Synt. der lat. Sprache_, § 127.

6. #haud cuivis#: Comp. _non #cuivis# homini contingit_, Hor., Ep., 1, 17, 36. --#humilis#: 'that keep near the ground,' 'groundling,' hence 'low.' Persius delights in rare epithets.

7. #aperto vivere voto#: Comp. Mart., 1, 39, 6: _si quis erit recti custos, mirator honesti | et #nihil arcano qui roget ore deos#_.

8. #Mens bona#: Comp. Hor., Ep., 1, 16, 59. --#Mens bona, fama, fides#: are commonly considered to be the things prayed for. They are possibly persons prayed to. 'Such notions as Welfare (_salus_), Honesty (_fides_), Harmony (_concordia_), belong to the oldest and holiest Roman divinities' (Mommsen). --#hospes#: 'a stranger,' 'any body.'

9. #o si#: On this form of the wish, see G., 254, R. 1; A., 57, 4, _b._ _O si_ may be considered an elliptical conditional sentence, but as the ellipsis is emotional it must not be supplied. Such an apodosis as scholars are prone to understand for the Greek (+kalôs an echoi+) _bene sit_, would change the _wish_ into a _thought_. In this passage the apodosis, which is involved in _praeclarum funus_, comes limping in as an afterthought.

10. #ebulliat#: is slang. Comp. _tam bonus Chrysanthus animam #ebulliit#_, Petron., 42 (_nos non pluris sumus quam #bullae#_, ibid.); Sen., Apocolocynt., 4. Conington renders 'go off.' 'Kick the bucket' would be worthy of Persius. _Ebulliat_ must be read _ebulljat_ (G., 717). The best MSS. have _ebullit_, but such a Subjunctive would be more than doubtful (G., 191, 3; Neue, _Formenl._, 2, 339). --#praeclarum funus#: Either 'that would be a grand funeral,' or 'that would be a corpse worth seeing.' In the former case the man of prayer tries to salve his conscience by promising his uncle (comp. 1, 11) a 'first-class funeral.' Comp. _#funus# egregie factum laudet vicinia_, Hor., Sat., 2, 5, 105. In the latter, he is welcoming the death of the crabbed old man. For _funus_, in this connection, Jahn compares Prop., 1, 17, 8: _haecine parva meum #funus# harena teget?_ The half-light of the passage is well suited to the paltering knavery of the prayer.

11. #sub rastro#, etc.: Hor., Sat., 2, 6, 10: _O si urnam argenti fors quae mihi monstret, ut illi_ | _thesauro invento, qui mercennarius agrum_ | _illum ipsum mercatus aravit, dives amico_ | _Hercule_.

12. #Hercule#: This is Hercules +ploutodotês+, to whom the Romans consecrated a tithe of their gains. Mommsen and others dissociate this Hercules from the Greek +Hêraklês+. According to Casaubon and the schol. (v. 44), Hermes (Mercury) is the bestower of windfalls found on the way, Hercules the patron of sought treasures. --#pupillum#: 'The Twelve Tables provided that where no guardian was appointed by will, the next of kin would be guardian, and he would of course be heir' (Conington, after Jahn).

13. #inpello#: 'whose kibe I gall,' 'whom I tread hard upon.' --#expungam#: 'get him out' (of his place in the will). --#namque#: gives an explanation, which serves at once to heighten and to excuse the hope. 'You see he is in a bad way already. He is going to die at any rate, and death would really be a relief to all parties.' --#scabiosus#: 'scrofulous.' --#acri | bile#: +drimeia cholê+, Casaubon, who compares Juv., 6, 565: _consulit #ictericae# lento de funere matris_.

14. #tumet#: Comp. _turgescit vitrea bilis_, 3, 8; _mascula bilis_ | _intumuit_, 5, 145. --#Nerio#: Nerius is the usurer in Horace, Sat., 2, 3, 69. Persius borrows his names from Horace, as Horace borrows his from Lucilius-- progressive bookishness, of which there are several examples. Comp. Pedius, 1, 85; Craterus, 3, 65; Bestius, 6, 37. --#conditur#: So Jahn (1868) and Hermann. Jahn (1843) reads _ducitur_ with many MSS. _Ducitur_ is not to be explained of 'being carried out to burial' (Servius ad Verg., Georg., 4, 256), but in its ordinary sense of 'being married.' Nerius has got rid of two wives, and 'is actually marrying a third.' _Conditur_ is best supported by MS. authority, and gives a sufficiently good sense. Hermann quotes, in support of _#conditur#_, Mart., 5, 37, where a man survives the loss of a rich wife, and +gunaika thaptein kreitton estin ê gamein+, Chaeremon, ap. Stobaeum, Sermon., 88, 22. Among the wishes in Lucian's Icaromen., 25, we find +ô theoi, ton patera moi tacheôs apothanein+ (comp. v. 10), and +eithe klêronomêsaimi tês gunaikos+, which is the key of this verse. On the use of the Dative, see G., 352, R. 1; A., 51, 4, _c_.

15, 16. These are the impious prayers that must be prefaced by pious observances.

15. #in gurgite mergis#: G., 384, R. 1; A., 56, 1, _c_, R.

16. #bis terque#: +dis kai tris+. G., 497. --#flumine#: Prol., 1. The lustral use of the bath, the pollution of the night, the peculiar virtue of running water, are common to Scriptural and classical antiquity. Lev., chap. 15. _Illo_ | _mane die, quo tu indicis ieiunia nudus_ | _in #Tiberi# stabit_, Hor., Sat., 2, 3, 290; _Ter matutino #Tiberi# mergetur et ipsis_ | _verticibus timidum #caput abluet#_, Juv., 6, 523; _Ac primum pura #somnum# tibi #discute# lympha_, Prop., 4, 10, 13. For parallels, see Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, 2, 388.

17-30. With a sudden dramatic turn, Persius pins his omnipresent Second Person to the wall by an ironical question touching his conception of the divine character. 'What do you think of God? What can you think of God when you confide to him wishes that you would conceal from a Staius? Are you so bold because God is so slow? Are you so bold because God's favor is so cheaply bought?'

17. #minimum est#, etc.: Ironical. --#scire laboro#: So Hor., Ep., 1, 3, 2, and _nosse laboro_, Sat., 2, 8, 19.

18. #estne ut#: On this periphrasis, see G., 558; A., 70, 4, _a_. _Si #est#, patrue, culpam #ut# Antipho in se admiserit_, Ter., Phormio, 2, 1, 40. Comp. Hec., 3, 5, 51; 4, 1, 43; Adelph., 3, 5, 4; Hor., Od., 3, 1, 9. --#cures#: _Curare_, with Inf. usually has a negative (3, 78) or equivalent, as here.

19. #'cuinam?' cuinam?# The first _cuinam_ is the question of the other man, the second the echo of Persius. Comp. Ar., Ach., 594: +alla #tis# gar ei? D. #hostis?# politês chrêstos.+ --#vis#: Comp. 1, 56. --#Staio#: Staius can not be identified-- _homuncio nobis ignotus_ (König)-- and, as Jahn admirably remarks, it makes no difference who he was, whether Staienus, as the scholiast says (Cic., Verr., 2, 32, 79; pro Cluentio, 7, 24, 65), or an average Philistine, or a typical scoundrel. The name was a common one. Jones is measured with Jupiter. --#an scilicet haeres#: 'what? are we to suppose that you are hesitating?'

20. #quis#: may be for _uter_. Comp. Cic., Att., 16, 14, 1; Fam., 7, 3, 1; Caes., B. G., 5, 44. 'Which of the two is the better judge?' And this is the more satisfactory rendering if Staius is a neutral character. If he is a villain, 'who would be a better judge' or 'better as a judge,' is more suitable.

21. #inpellere#: 'smite' (Verg., Georg., 4, 349; Aen., 12, 618), a rather strong word for _humilis susurros_. Pretor renders 'quicken;' Conington, 'have an effect on.' 'Reach' is about what is meant. With the thought of the passage, comp. Sen., Ep., 10, 5, cited by Casaubon: _Nunc quanta dementia est hominum? Turpissima vota diis insusurrant: si quis admoverit aurem, conticescent; et quod hominem scire nolunt, deo narrant._

22. #agedum#: _#Agedum# hoc mi expedi primum_, Ter., Eun., 4, 4, 27. _Dum_ shows impatience. 'Be at it,' or 'be done with it,' as the case may be. --#clamet#: _Dic-- clamet = si dicas-- clamet._ G., 594. 4; A., 60, 1, _b_.

23. #sese non clamet#: _Iovem_ would make the joke clearer, but Persius would have had to pound his desk and bite his nails to get _Iovem_ in. 'Because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,' Hebr., 6, 13. König compares Hor., Sat., 1, 2, 17: _Maxime, quis non, | Juppiter, exclamat simul atque audivit?_

24. 'The guilty worshipper is in a grove (_lucis_, v. 27) during a thunderstorm; the lightning strikes not him but one of the sacred trees, and he congratulates himself on his escape-- without reason, as Persius tells him. The circumstances are precisely those used by Lucretius to enforce his skeptical argument, 6, 390 and 416' (Conington).

25. #sulpure sacro#: 'lightning.' Comp. the Greek +theion+, once innocently derived from the Adjective +theios+. --#tuque domusque#: Comp. Juv., 13, 206: _cum prole domoque_. The editors cite the oracle in Herod., 6, 86, 3: +pasan | summarpsas olesei #geneên# kai #oikon# hapanta+.

26. #fibris#: the extremities of the liver, +loboi+. --#Ergenna#: an Etruscan name. The Etruscans were great bowel-searchers (_haruspices_) and lightning-doctors.

27. #lucis#: local Abl. and poetic Plural. --#bidental#: According to a law of Numa, whosoever was struck dead by lightning was buried where he fell, and the spot was inclosed. The place was called _puteal_, from the resemblance of the inclosure to a well-curb, or _bidental_, because of the _oves bidentes_ (sheep with upper and lower teeth, hence 'full grown') sacrificed in the consecration of the spot, which was invested with a holy horror (_triste_), and might not even be looked at (_evitandum_). Here _bidental_ is transferred from the place to the person: 'a trophy of vengeance' (Conington), 'a monument of wrath' (Gifford). _Triste bidental_, Hor., A. P., 471.

28. #idcirco#: Emphatic resumption. --#vellere# = _vellendam_. G., 424, R. 4; A., 57, 8, _f._ On the phrase _vellere barbam_, comp. 1, 133. Jupiter was always represented as bearded, +geneiêtês+, Lucian, Sacrif., 11. 'Jove, will nothing wake thee? | Must vile Sejanus _pull thee by the beard_ | ere thou wilt open thy black-lidded eyes | and look him dead?' Ben Jonson, Sejan., 4, 5.

29. #aut#: Another (negatived) case. See G., 460, R.; A., 71, 2. --#quidnam est, qua mercede# = _quanam mercede_; unusual. Not dissimilar, Caes., B. G., 5, 31: _#Omnia# excogitantur #quare# nec sine periculo maneatur et languore militum et vigiliis periculum augeatur._

30. #emeris#: Jahn compares _praebere_ and _dare aurem_, to which Conington adds _commodare_, Hor., Ep., 1, 1, 40. --#pulmone#: for the larger, _lactibus_ for the smaller intestines +galaktides+. 'The details are mentioned contemptuously' (Conington). Comp. Juv., 6, 540; 10, 354; 13, 115.

31-40. Thus far we have had wicked prayers; now we have specimens of silly prayers, of old wives' wishes.

31. #Ecce#: _transitioni servit_ (Casaubon). See 1, 30. The showman puts in a new slide, and says 'Look here.' --#avia aut matertera#: The doting fondness of grandmothers, aunts, and nurses is proverbial. Their affection is not tempered by responsibility; hence their indiscretion. _Matertera_ is the mother's sister, as _amita_ (whence 'aunt') the father's; but, significantly enough, there is not the same moral distinction as between _patruus_ and _avunculus_ (whence 'uncle'). --#metuens divum#: +deisidaimôn+. G., 374, R. 1; A., 50, 3, _b._ --#cunis#: Dat. is more picturesque than Abl.

32. #exemit#: The Perf. brings the scene before us, and makes it particular instead of generic. --#uda#: 'slobbering.'

33. #infami digito#: The middle finger (Juv., 10, 53) being used in mocking and indecent gesture, was considered on that very account to have more power against fascination. The notion still survives, and is embodied in coral 'amulets' or 'charms' (_breloques_) manufactured at Genoa. --#lustralibus#: The lustral day for a girl was the eighth, for a boy the ninth. Such a day would be the day for vows and prayers. On the corresponding Gr. +amphidromia+, see the Classical Dictionaries. --#ante#: adverbial, 'first of all.' --#salivis#: Spittle has manifold medical and magical virtues among all nationalities. Comp. Plin., H. N., 28, 4, 22; Juv., 8, 112; Petron., 131. The Plural is poetical, perhaps intimating abundance.

34. #expiat#: 'charms against mischief' (Conington). --#urentis#: 'blasting,' 'withering,' +marainontas+. --#oculos#: If the belief in the 'evil eye' is not too well known and too widely spread to need illustration, comp. Verg., Ecl., 3, 103; Hor., Ep., 1, 14, 37. On the philosophy of the evil eye, see Plutarch, Quaest. Conv., 5, 7. --#inhibere perita#: On the construction, see Prol., 11.

35. #manibus#: We say 'in,' Prol., 1. Translate 'arms,' as often. --#quatit#: Il., 6, 474: +autar ho g' hon philon huion epei kuse #pêle# te chersin, | eipen epeuxamenos Dii t' alloisin te theoisin+. 'Dances,' 'dandles.' --#spem macram#: 'the skinny hope.'

36. #Licini#: Licinus, originally slave and steward of Caesar, then set free and made procurator of Gaul, where he acquired immense wealth by extortion. Comp. Juv., 1, 109: _Ego possideo plus | Pallante et #Licinis#_. --#Crassi#: a still more familiar synonym for wealth, Cic., Att., 1, 4, 3. The two combined in Sen., Ep., 119, 9: _Quorum nomina cum #Crasso Licinoque# numerantur_. --#mittit#: 'transports,' 'wafts' (Pretor); 'packs off' (Conington), is not in keeping with the mock-lyrical tone of the passage.

37. #hunc#: +deiktikôs+ König comp. Catullus, 62, 42: _Multi illum pueri, multae #optavere# puellae_. On _optet_, comp. G., 281, Exc. 1; A., 49, 1, _d._ --#rex et regina#: Comp. 1, 67. 'My lord and [my] lady' (Conington). As the prayer is extravagant, Pretor thinks that the words are to be taken literally, and Conington inclines to the same opinion. But there is no objection to _regina_ for _domina_ in itself, Mart., 10, 64.

38. #rapiant# = _diripiant_, +harpazoien+. 'May the girls have a scramble for him.' The sexes are to be reversed in his honor. Casaubon comp.: _Editum librum continuo mirari homines et #diripere# coeperunt_, Vita Persii. --#rosa fiat#: Casaubon comp. Claud., Seren., 1, 89: _Quocumque per herbam | reptares, fluxere #rosae#_. A fairy-tale wish. Comp. Theocr., 8, 41; Verg., Ecl., 7, 59.