Note 85 — A. PERSIUS FLACCUS

‘Fur es:’ The accuser puts his point plainly enough; in three letters, as the Romans would say.—ait: Comp. v. 40.—Pedio: Jahn thinks it likely that this Pedius is not Horace’s man (Sat., 1, 10, 28), but one Pedius Blaesus, condemned under Nero, Tac., Ann., 14, 18; Hist., 1, 77. Persius knew more about Horace than about the causes célèbres of his own day.—rasis antithetis: commonly rendered ‘polished antitheses.’ With radere comp. the Gr. διεσμιλευμέναι φροντίδες, Alexis, fr. 215 (3, 483 Mein.). But the figure may possibly be taken from the careful removal of overweight in either scale of the balance. The antitheses are scraped down to an exact equipoise.