Reading Roman writers is
often also an exercise in cultural anthropology for understanding the context of
a text. A complicated social system was the relationship between a patronus and a cliens. Ideally a patronus
cared for the material well-being of his clientes
and defended them in legal procedures. A cliens – always from the plebeian ranks - in his turn had to
accompany his patronus at public
displays and to vote for him at elections. In practice however a patronus made use of his clients,
without returning much. This so especially in the early Empire and the social
position of a cliens was thus feeble,
that he couldn’t do anything, but hoping for the best. It is with this system
in the background that we must understand Juvenal and Martial. The following
fragment is from Juvenal: what to do when your patronus summons you for dinner and how to avoid humiliation. The
satire is addressed to the poor cliens
Trebius.
Iuvenalis, Satura V, 12 – 23
Primo fige loco, quod tu discumbere iussus
mercedem solidam ueterum
capis officiorum.
fructus amicitiae magnae cibus: inputat hunc rex,
et quamuis rarum tamen inputat. ergo duos post
si libuit menses neglectum adhibere clientem,
tertia ne uacuo cessaret culcita lecto,
'una simus' ait. uotorum summa. quid ultra
quaeris? habet Trebius propter quod rumpere somnum
debeat et ligulas dimittere, sollicitus ne
tota salutatrix iam turba peregerit orbem,
sideribus dubiis aut illo tempore quo se
frigida circumagunt pigri serraca Bootae.
figo fixi fixum: (here) to consider
discumbo discumbui discumbitum: to recline at a table
mercedem solidam: full payment
officium:
the duty of a client
fructus, -us
(m.): reward, profit
amicitiae magnae:
of course irony
cibus: food
(in apposition with fructus)
imputo (-are): to reckon to one’s credit or
discredit (a term from book keeping)
hunc rex: that big boss (the word rex has negative overtones in Roman
ears)
rarum:
rarely
si libuit adhibere: whenever it pleases him to summon (libuit is here a perfect of repeated action)
cesso (-are): be unused
culcita:
cushion, pillow (tertia culcita: a lectus
(couch for dinner) had room for three guests, who were reclining on it with
their left elbow on the culcita. The
third position was the lowest in status. Three lecti were arranged around a mensa
and this all together was called a triclinium)
una simus: let us be together
votorum summa (est): it is the height of your ambition
ultra:
further, more
rumpo rupi ruptum: break, disrupt
ligulas dimittere: to leave his shoe-ties untied
sollicitus:
disquieted
salutatrix turba: the crowd (of clientes) making their complimentary
visits (these visits took place in the
morning: the greater the crowd the more prestige a patronus had. Often a cliens
has more than one patronus, hence the
hade to make a round (orbs) to visit
and greet their `benefactors’)
perago peregi peractum: to follow through the end, finish
sideribus dubiis: with stars fading away (i.e. early
in the morning)
frigida serraca: the
constellation Bear was also known as plaustrum
(wagon), a serracum is a two-wheeled cart and it is frigidus because it is in the north of the hemisphere. It was
driven by the herdsman Bootes and as this constellation is nearly stationary,
the Bootes is called piger (lazy).
circumago circumegi circumactum: to go around
Drawing of a triclinium.
Translation G.G. Ramsay
(1918)
First of all be sure of this----that when
bidden to dinner, you receive payment in full for all your past services. A
meal is the return which your grand friendship yields you; the great man scores
it against you, and though it come but seldom, he scores it against you all the
same. So if after a couple of months it is his pleasure to invite his forgotten
client, lest the third place on the lowest couch should be unoccupied, and he says to you,
"Come and dine with me," you are in the seventh Heaven! what more can
you desire? Now at last has Trebius got
the reward for which he must needs cut short his sleep, and hurry with
shoe-strings untied, fearing that the whole crowd of callers may already have
gone their rounds, at an hour when the stars are fading or when the chilly wain
of Bootes is wheeling slowly round.
