mappa. -ae, f. — napkin, referring to the white cloth that was dropped by the praetor who presided over the Megalesian games to signal the beginning of the chariot races
Idaeus, -a, -um — Cretan, referring to Mt. Ida in Crete, with which the goddess Cybele was associated
sollemne, -is, n. — festival, religious rite
colo, colere, colui, cultum — to worship, celebrate
praeda, -ae, f. — booty, plunder
caballus, -i, m. — nag (a colloquial, derogatory word for horse); Juvenal sneeringly calls the praetor “the booty of the nags”
pace — ablative of pax, pacis, f., used with a genitive to mean “with the permission of”
nimius, -a, um — too great, excessive
licet — “it is permitted” impersonal verb, often followed by a complementary infinitive
plebs, plebis, f. — the people, the common people
fragor, -oris, m. — thunderous noise, din
percutio, percutere, percussi, percussum — strike, beat upon
eventum, -i, n. — result, outcome
colligo, colligere, collegi, collectum — to infer, conclude
pannus, -i, m. — rag, small piece of cloth, used with viridis to refer sarcastically to the racing colors of the greens, one of the four racing stables (factiones) in Rome. The actual names of the factions were Albatus (white), Prasinus (green), Russatus (red), Venetus (blue).
deficio, deficere, defeci, defectum — to fail; deficeret is imperfect subjunctive in a contrary-to-fact condition. The if clause indicates something that did not happen, but if it were to happen, the conclusion would follow; videres, also imperfect subjunctive, is the verb in the concluding clause.
maestus, -a, -um — sad, mourning, gloomy
attonitus, -a, -um — amazed, thunderstruck
Cannae, -arum, f. pl. — Cannae was a village in southeast Italy where in 216 BCE the Carthaginian general Hannibal won a stunning victory, leaving the Roman army with enormous casualties
victus, -a, -um — conquered (perfect passive participle of vinco)
specto, spectare, spectavi, spectatum — to watch, spectent is present iussive subjunctive, an independent use of the subjunctive expressing a command, “let the young men watch (the races)”
cultus, -a, -um — well-dressed, cultivated
decet — “it suits,” “it befits” (impersonal verb); here this verb has three subjects, clamor, sponsio, and adsedisse
adsido, adsidere, adsedi — to sit by or near, often with dative (also spelled assideo); adsedisse is the perfect active infinitive, here acting as one of the subjects of decet; it is probably best to translate it as if it were a gerund, “sitting next to”
Prepared by elee (Eva Lee), Faithia (Faith Racette), and amas (Aimée Rocha), with the assistance of Barbara McManus.