Juvenal 3, 193-202: the dangers of renting a room.

Humour and satire are well-known in Roman literature and especially Juvenal was a master of satire. In his famous third satire he describes life at Rome. Any romantic soul dreaming of living at Imperial Rome should first read this satire and then reconsider his or her desire.

In this selection Juvenal or rather the speaker of this satire – a certain Umbricius - is complaining about living standards in the insulae. These were flats in which the poor masses lived crowdedly together and if we may believe Juvenal, they were of poor construction and extremely liable to fire.

Juvenal, Satire 3, 193-202

(metrum: hexameter)

nos urbem colimus tenui tibicine fultam

magna parte sui; nam sic labentibus obstat

vilicus et, veteris rimae cum texit hiatum,                   195

securos pendente iubet dormire ruina.

vivendum est illic, ubi nulla incendia, nulli

nocte metus. iam poscit aquam, iam frivola transfert

Ucalegon, tabulata tibi iam tertia fumant:

tu nescis; nam si gradibus trepidatur ab imis,                   200

ultimus ardebit quem tegula sola tuetur

a pluvia, molles ubi reddunt ova columbae.

colo colui cultum: to live

tenui tibicine fultam: supported (fulcio fulsi fultum) by a thin prop, i.e. inadequately constructed. (A tibicen is someone playing on a tibia, a flute and by transference a prop for shoring up a building.)

magna parte sui: the ablative is used for describing a distance:`over a great part of it'.

labor lapsus sum: to slip, slip and fall (labentibus refers to the buildings, but it may also refer to the inhabitants.)

obsto obstiti + dat,: to oppose, hinder, prevent

vilicus: estate manager (These insulae were owned by rich Romans who themselves of course lived in rich villae outside the city.)

rima: crack

tego texi tectum: to cover, hide

hiatus –us (m.): opening, gap

securos: i.e the inhabitants

pendeo pependi, to hang down (pendente ruina: abl. abs. with collapse about to happen.)

iubeo iussi iussum: to order, demand,  but here `to be of the opinion of’

vivendum est illic: one can better live there in the countryside (illic)

incendium: fire

nulli nocte metus: the fears of the night are fires and buglers

posco poposci: to ask, demand (A fire has started on the ground floor. Shouting `aquam!’ is the Roman equivalent of `fire!’)

frivola: bits and pieces, small belongings

Ucalegon: this name is taken from Virgil Aeneas 2,311. When Troy was sacked poor Ucalegon could not escape and was burnt alive. For the Roman reader the pun of the nickname for the neighbour on the ground floor was obvious: he won’t survive!

tabulatum: floor

fumo: to smoke

trepido: to hurry with alarm (trepidatur is an impersonal construction `alarm is raised from the  stairs under’ gradibus imis `from the deepest stairs’ i.e. the ground floor)

ultimus: he as last

ardeo arsi arsum: to burn

tegula: roof-tile

tueor tuitus sum: to protect

mollis, mollis: soft, tender

reddo ova: to lay eggs

columba: dove

Translation:

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Satire_3