Satires of Juvenal and Persius

that remains. But if anything remains wrapped or intricate, both accurate and concise annotations are at hand. I have not said this rashly. I have called them accurate, as they leave nothing untouched or difficult wherever a knot worth a deliverer Reference to Horace, "Ars Poetica": Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus inciderit (Let no god intervene, unless a knot has occurred worthy of such a deliverer). has arisen: but concise, as they allow nothing superfluous. Yet, how often do even interpreters of better standing (if I may say so with their permission) nod off Reference to Horace: aliquando bonus dormitat Homerus (even good Homer nods off).? They often fly over certain obscure things, or they linger too verbosely, I will even say they ramble, on a matter sufficiently understood; and they pile up too many learned things, even if they do not entirely pertain to the subject. At other times, they neglect and skip over the author's truly genuine meaning; because a genuine and simple method of interpretation does not satisfy their genius, which is always searching for things that are deep, scattered, and arduous. Sometimes the desire to criticize, mock, and surpass their rivals makes them entirely forgetful of their plan and purpose, so that they have no concern, provided they show off their own erudition, as well as the empty gain of ambition and glory.

But do not, I pray, Reader, imitate those less than soberly wise men, who say they have nothing unless they have the entire author, as they say, even if he is rotting and stinking with filth. O the customs! Is shame really worth so much? But we, following the warning of the heavenly and Divine Oracle, and the precept and command of the Wise Men whom I have named out of respect, have separated the precious from the vile in our Interpretation and Annotations, and have expunged the obscene from the middle. And certainly