PERSIUS, SATIRE IV
secret wound beneath the groin; but a broad golden belt keeps it out of view. Well, as you please; trick your body and befool it if you can!
46"What? If all my neighbours call me a fine fellow, am I not to believe them?" If, in your greed, you change colour at the sight of gold; if you yield to every foul desire; if by some crafty trick you flog the money-market with whipcord,[1] in vain will you lend your thirsty ears to the flattery of the mob. Cast off everything that is not yourself; let the mob take back what they have given you; live in your own house, and recognise how poorly it is furnished.
- ↑ This line has not been satisfactorily explained. Puteal, or Puteal Libonis, seems to stand for the Forum, which was the Roman money-market, and the line is supposed to refer to some fishy or fraudulent operation on the Stock Exchange.
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