FOOTNOTES:
[237] Cynthia is Propertius' mistress; the other is Lesbia, the mistress of Catullus. V. Catull., Carm. iii. "Lugete O Veneres," etc.
[238] Conventum. Three law terms. Conventum, "the first overture." Pactum, "the contract." Sponsalia, "the betrothing." Hence virgins were said to be speratæ; pactæ; sponsæ.
[239] Lex Julia, against adultery, recently revived by Domitian.
[240] Jubis. Mullets being a bearded fish. Plin., ix., 17.
[241] Testudineo. Cf. xi., 94. The allusion is to the story told by Pliny, vii., 12, of the consuls Lentulus and Metellus, who were observed by all present to be wonderfully like two gladiators then exhibiting before them. Cf. Val. Max., ix., 14.
[242] Lagi. Alexandria, the royal city of Ptolemy, son of Lagos, and his successors.
[243] Imperio Sexûs. Cf. xv., 138, Naturæ imperio.
[244] Ulmos. Elms, to which the vines were to be "wedded," therefore put for the vines themselves. Cf. Virg., Georg., i., 2, "Ulmisque adjungere vites." Cf. Sat. viii., 78, Stratus humi palmes viduas desiderat ulmos. Hence Platanus Cælebs evincet ulmos. Cf. Hor., Epod., i., 9.
[245] Casa. There is another fanciful interpretation of this passage. The casa candida is said to mean the "white booths" so erected as to hide the picture of the "Argonautic" expedition, at the time of the Sigillaria, a kind of fair following the Saturnalia, when gems, etc., were exposed for sale. Cf. Suet., Nero, 28.
[246] Crystallina are most probably vessels of pure white glass, which from the ignorance of the use of metallic oxydes were very rare among the Romans, though they possessed the art of coloring glass with many varieties of hue.
[247] Mustacea (the Greek σησαμῆ, Arist., Pax., 869), a mixture of meal and anise, moistened with new wine.
[248] Dacicus, i. e., gold coins of Domitian—the first from his Dacian, the second from his German wars. It was customary to present a plate full of these to the bride on the wedding night. Domitian assumed the title of Germanicus A.D. 84, and of Dacicus, A.D. 91.
"She tells thee where to love and where to hate,
Shuts out the ancient friend, whose beard thy gate
Knew from its downy to its hoary state." Gifford.
[250] Cf. Æsch., Ag., 411, ἰὼ λέχος καὶ στίβοι φιλάνορες.
[251] Octo. Eight divorces were allowed by law.
"They meet in private and prepare the bill,
Draw up the instructions with a lawyer's skill." Gifford.
"And teach the toothless lawyer how to bite." Dryden.
[253] Celsus. There were two famous lawyers of this name; A. Cornelius Celsus, the well-known physician in Tiberius' reign, who wrote seven books of Institutes, and P. Juventius Celsus, who lived under Trajan and Hadrian, and wrote Digests and Commentaries.
[254] Endromis. Cf. iii., 103. "A thick shaggy coat," to prevent cold after the violent exertions in the arena. Ceroma. Cf. iii., 68. The gladiator's ointment, made of oil, wax, and clay. "Nec injecto ceromate brachia tendis." Mart., vii., Ep. xxxii., 9.
[255] Palus; a wooden post or figure on which young recruits used to practice their sword exercise, armed with shields and wooden swords double the regulation weight.
[256] Veræ. Cf. ad i., 22.
[257] Manicæ. If the proper reading is not "tunicæ" (as tunicati fuscina Gracchi, ii., 117. Cedamus tunicæ, viii., 207), the manicæ are probably "the sleeves of the tunic." Cf. Liv., ix., 40.
[258] Diversa. i. e., as a Retiarius instead of a Mirmillo.
[259] Duræ. "Pallade placata lanam mollite puellæ!" The process of softening the wool hardened the hands. Ov., Fast., iii., 817.
[260] Concha, a large drinking-cup, shaped like a shell; or, not improbably, some large shell mounted in gold for a cup, like the Nautilus of Middle Ages.
[261] Compare the well-known epigram on Pitt and Henry Dundas:
"I can't see the Speaker, Hal, can you?"
"Not see the Speaker? I see two!"
[262] Cf. Shaksp., Othello, Act iii., sc. iii. "In Venice they do let heaven see the pranks they dare not show their husbands!"
[263] Cf. ix., 117.
[264] Amicas. Lubinus explains it, "Quas tanquam dives habeat loco clientarum." In Greece and Italy blonde hair was as much prized as dark hair was among northern nations. Hence Helen, Achilles, Menelaus, Meleager, etc., are all ξανθοὶ. The ladies, therefore, prided themselves as much as the men on the personal beauty of their attendants. Cf. v., 56, "Flos Asiæ ante ipsum," etc. The nutrix is the intriguing confidante who manages the amours. The flava puella, the messenger.
"A trim girl with golden hair to slip her billets." Gifford.
[265] Novissima. Cf. xi., 42, "Post cuncta novissimus exit annulus."
"She who before had mortgaged her estate,
And pawn'd the last remaining piece of plate." Dryden.
[266] Pullulet.
"As if the source of this exhausted store
Would reproduce its everlasting ore." Hodgson.
[267] Crispo, actively, "Crispante chordas." The pecten was made of ivory. Vid. Virg., Æn., vi., 646, seq.
"Obloquitur numeris septem discrimina vocum,
Jamque eadem digitis jam pectine pulsat eburno."
"Decks it with gems, and plays the lessons o'er,
Her loved Hedymeles has play'd before." Hodgson.
[268] Lamiarum. Cf. iv., 154.
[269] Capitolinum. This festival was instituted by Domitian (Suet., Domit., 4), and was celebrated every fifth year in honor of Jove.
[270] Dictata. The repeating the exact formula of words (carmen) after the officiating priest was a most important part of the sacrifice.
[271] Otia.
"Is your attention to such suppliants given?
If so, there is not much to do in heaven." Gifford.
[272] Varicosus. His legs will swell (like Cicero's and Marius's) from standing so long praying.
"The poor Aruspex that stands there to tell
All woman asks, must find his ankles swell." Badham.
[273] Paludatis. Cf. Cic., Sext., 33.
[274] Seres. What country these inhabited is uncertain, probably Bocharia. It was the country from which the "Sericæ vestes" or "multitia" (ii., 66) came.
[275] Instantem. Cf. Hor., iii., Od. iii., 3, "vultus instantis tyranni." Trajan made an expedition against the Armenians and Parthians A.D. 106; and about the same time there was an earthquake in the neighborhood of Antioch (A.D. 115), when mountains subsided and rivers burst forth. Dio Cass., lxviii., 24. Trajan himself narrowly escaped perishing in it. The consul, M. Verginianus Pedo, was killed. Trajan was passing the winter there, and set out in the spring for Armenia.—Cometem. Cf. Suet., Ner., 36, "Stella crinita quæ summis potestatibus exitium portendere vulgo putatur."
[276] Excipit.
"Hear at the city's gate the recent tale,
Or coin a lie herself when rumors fail." Hodgson.
[277] Niphates. Properly a mountain in Armenia, from which Tigris takes its rise, and which, in the earlier part of its course, may have borne the name of Niphates. Lucan, iii., 245, and Sil. Ital., xiii., 765, also speak of it as a river. Gifford thinks it is a sly hit at the lady, who converts a mountain into a river.
[278] Exorata implies that their prayers were heard, otherwise their punishment would have been still more cruel.
[279] Fastes.
"Ho whips! she cries; and flay that cur accurst,
But flay the rascal there that owns him first!" Gifford.
[280] Œnophorum. A vessel of any size. The Urna is a determinate measure, holding 24 sextarii, or about 3 gallons, i. e., half the amphora. Cf. xii., 45, "Urnæ cratera capacem, et dignum sitiente Pholo, vel conjuge Fusci."
[281] Orexim; cf. iv., 67, 138. This draught was called the "Trope." Mart., xii., Ep. 83. Cf. Cic. pro Deiotaro, 7, "Vomunt ut edant: edunt ut vomant."
[282] Marmoribus. Cf. xi., 173, "Lacedæmonium pytismate lubricat orbem." Hor., ii., Od. xxiv., 26, "Mero tinguet pavimentum superbum."
[283] Præco.
"Dumfounders e'en the crier, and, most strange!
No other woman can a word exchange." Hodgson.
[284] Laboranti. The ancients believed that eclipses of the moon were caused by magic, and that loud noises broke the charm.
"Strike not your brazen kettles! She alone
Can break th' enchantment of the spell-bound moon." Hodgson.
[285] "Sylvano mulieres non licet sacrificare." Vet. Schol. Women sacrificed to Ceres and Juno. Vid. Dennis' Etruria, ii., 65-68. Cf. Hor., ii., Ep. i., 143.—Quadrans. Philosophers used to go to the commonest baths, either from modesty or poverty. Seneca calls the bath "Res Quadrantaria." Cf. Hor., i., Sat. iii., 147. Cic. pro Cœl. "Quadrantaria permutatio."
[286] Torqueat. Cf. vii., 156, "Quæ venient diversæ forte sagittæ," Quint., vi., 3, "Jaculatio verborum." So Plato uses the term δεινὸς ἀκοντιστής, of a Spartan orator.
[287] Palæmon. Cf. vii., 215," Docti Palæmonis." "Insignis Grammaticus." Hieron. "Remmius Palæmon," Vicentinus, owed his first acquaintance with literature to taking his mistress' son to school as his "custos angustæ vernula capsæ" (x., 117). Manumitted afterward, he taught at Rome in the reigns of Tiberius and Claudius, and "principem locum inter grammaticos tenuit." Vid. Suet., Gram. Illust., 23, who says he kept a very profitable school, and gives many curious instances of his vanity and luxuriousness. He was Quintilian's master. Cf. Vet. Schol., and Clinton, Fasti Rom. in anno, A.D. 48.
[288] Opicæ. Cf. iii., 207, "Opici mures." Opizein Græci dicunt de iis qui imperitè loquuntur. Vet. Schol.
[289] Poppæana. "Cosmetics used or invented by Poppæa Sabina," of whom Tacitus says, "Huic mulieri cuncta alia fuere præter honestum animum," Ann., xiii., 45. She was of surpassing beauty and insatiable ambition: married first to Rufus Crispinus, a knight whom she quitted for Otho. Nero became enamored of her, and sent Otho into Lusitania, where he remained ten years. (Cf. Suet., Otho, 3. Clinton, F. R., a. 58.) Four years after he put away Octavia, banished her to Pandataria, and forced her to make away with herself, and her head was brought to Rome to be gazed upon by Poppæa, whom he had now married, A.D. 62. Cf. Tac., Ann., xiv., 64. Poppæa bore him a child next year, whom he called Augusta, but she died before she was four months old, to his excessive grief. Cf. xv., 23. Three years after, "Poppæa mortem obiit, fortuitâ mariti iracundiâ, à quo gravida ictu calcis adflicta est." Nero, it is remarkable, died on the same day of the month as the unfortunate Octavia.
[290] Lacte. The old Schol. says Poppæa was banished, and took with her fifty she-asses to furnish milk for her bath. The story of her exile is very problematical, as Heinrich shows, and is probably only an ordinary hyperbole. Pliny says (xxviii., 12; xi., 41) that asses' milk is supposed to make the face tender, and delicately white, and to prevent wrinkles. "Unde Poppæa uxor Neronis, quocunque ire contigisset secum sexcentas asellas ducebat." ὄνους πεντακοσίας ἀρτιτόκους. Xiph., lxii., 28.
[291] Facies.
"Can it be call'd a face, so poulticed o'er?
By heavens, an ulcer it resembles more!" Hodgson.
"But tell me yet, this thing thus daub'd and oil'd,
Thus poulticed, plaster'd, baked by turns and boil'd;
Thus with pomatums, ointments, lackered o'er,
Is it a face, Ursidius, or a sore?" Gifford.
[292] Frangit. Cf. viii., 247, "Nodosam post hæc frangebat vertice vitem." The climax here is not correctly observed, according to Horace. "Ne scuticâ dignum horribili sectere flagello: Nam, ut ferula cædas meritum majora subire Verbera non vereor." I., Sat. iii., 119. The scutica was probably like the "taurea:" the "cowskin" of the American slave States.
[293] Diurnum. "The diary of the household expenses." Relegit marks the deliberate cruelty of the lady.
"Beats while she paints her face, surveys her gown,
Casts up the day's accounts, and still beats on." Dryden.
[294] Isiacæ. Cf. ix., 22, "Fanum Isidis.... Notior Aufidio mœchus celebrare solebas."
[295] Emerita. From the soldier who has served his time and become "emeritus."
[296] Ædificat.
"So high she builds her head, she seems to be,
View her in front, a tall Andromache;
But walk all round her, and you'll quickly find
She's not so great a personage behind!" Hodgson.
[297] Pygmæâ.
"Yet not a pigmy—were she, she'd be right
To wear the buskin and increase her height;
To gain from art what nature's stint denies,
Nor lightly to the kiss on tip-toes rise." Hodgson.
[298] Vicina.
"And save that daily she insults his friends,
Provokes his servants, and his fortune spends,
As a mere neighbor she might pass through life,
And ne'er be once mistaken for his wife." Badham.
[299] Xerampelinas. The Schol. describes this color as "inter coccinum et muricem medius," from ξηρὸς, siccus, ἄμπελος, vitis, "the color of vine leaves in autumn;" the "morte feuille" of French dyers.
[300] Superbi. The Campus Martius, as having belonged originally to Tarquinius Superbus.
[301] Ovile, more commonly ovilia or septa, stood in the Campus Martius, where the elections were held.
[302] Animam, "the moral," mentem, "the intellectual part" of the soul. Cf. Virg., Æn., vi., 11, "Cui mentem animamque Delius inspirat Vates." When opposed to animus, anima is simply "the principle of vitality." "Anima, quâ vivimus; mens qua cogitamus." Lactant. So Sat., xv., 148, "Indulsit communis conditor illis tantum animas nobis animum quoque."
"Doubtless such kindred minds th' immortals seek,
And such the souls with whom by night they speak." Badham.
[303] Linigero. Cf. Mart., xii., Ep. xxix., 19, "Linigeri fugiunt calvi sistrataque turba." Isis is said to have been a queen of Egypt, and to have taught her subjects the use of linen, for which reason the inferior priests were all clothed in it. All who were about to celebrate her sacred rites had their heads shaved. Isis married Osiris, who was killed by his brother Typhon, and his body thrown into a well, where Isis and her son Anubis, by the assistance of dogs, found it. Osiris was thenceforth deified under the form of an ox, and called Apis: Anubis, under the form of a dog. (Hence Virg., Æn., viii., 698, "Latrator Anubis.") An ox, therefore, with particular marks (vid. Strab., xvii.; Herod., iii., 28), was kept in great state, which Osiris was supposed to animate; but when it had reached a certain age (non est fas eum certos vitæ excedere annos, Plin., viii., 46), it was drowned in a well (mersum in sacerdotum fonte enecant) with much ceremonious sorrow, and the priests, attended by an immense concourse of people, dispersed themselves over the country, wailing and lamenting, in quest of another with the prescribed marks (quæsituri luctu alium quem substituant; et donec invenerint mærent, derasis etiam capitibus. Plin., ii., 3). When they had found one, their lamentations were exchanged for songs of joy and shouts of εὑρήκαμεν (cf. viii., 29, Exclamare libet populus quod clamat Osiri invento), and the ox was led back to the shrine of his predecessor. These gloomy processions lasted some days; and generally during these (or nine days at least) women abstained from intercourse with their husbands. These rites were introduced at Rome, the chief priest personating Anubis, and wearing a dog's head. Hence derisor. Cf. xv., 8, "Oppida tota canem venerantur."
"Her internuntial office none deny,
Between us peccant mortals and the sky." Badham.
[305] Commagene was reduced to a province A.D. 72.
[306] Deferat.
"Or bid, at times, the human victim bleed,
And then inform against you for the deed." Hodgson.
[307] Conducenda.
"By whose hired tablet and concurring spell,
The noble Roman, Otho's terror, fell." Hodgson.
[308] Magnus civis. Cf. Suet., Otho, 4, "Spem majorem cepit ex affirmatione Seleuci Mathematici, qui cum eum olim superstitem Neroni fore spopondisset, tunc ultro inopinatus advenerat, imperaturum quoque brevi repromittens." Cf. Tac., Hist., i., 22, who says one Ptolemæus promised Otho the same when with him in Spain. Ptolemy helped to fulfill his own predictions, "Nec deerat Ptolemæus, jam et sceleris instinctor, ad quod facillimè ab ejusmodi voto transitur."
[309] Cyclada. Cf. i., 73, "Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris et carcere dignum." x., 170, "Ut Gyaræ clausus scopulis parvaque Seripho."
[310] Tanaquil. Cf. Liv., i, 34, "perita cœlestium prodigiorum mulier."
"To him thy Tanaquil applies, in doubt
How long her jaundiced mother may hold out." Gifford.
[311] Pinguia sucina. The Roman women used to hold or rub amber in their hands for its scent. Mart., iii., Ep. lxv., 5, "redolent quod sucina trita." xi., Ep. viii., 6, "spirant, succina virgineâ quod regelata manu." Cf. v., Ep. xxxviii., II. (Cf. ix., 50.)
"By whom a greasy almanac is borne,
With often handling, like chafed amber worn." Dryden.
[312] Thrasyllus was the astrologer under whom Tiberius studied the "Chaldean art" at Rhodes (Tac., Ann., vi., 20), and accompanied his patron to Rome. (Cf. Suet., Aug., 98.) Cf. Suet., Tib., 14, 62, and Calig., 19, for a curious prediction belied by Caligula.
[313] Petosiris, another famous astrologer and physician. Plin., ii., 23; vii., 49.
[314] Fulgura. When a place was struck by lightning, a priest was sent for to purify it, a two-year-old sheep was then sacrificed, and the ground, hence called bidental, fenced in.
[315] Agger. The mound to the east of Rome, thrown up by Tarquinius Superbus. Cf. viii., 43, "ventoso conducta sub aggere texit." Hor., i., Sat. viii., 15, "Aggere in aprico spatiari."
[316] Phalas. The Circensian games were originally consecrated to Neptunus Equestris, or Consus. Hence the dolphins on the columns in the Circus Maximus. The circus was divided along the middle by the Spina, at each extremity of which stood three pillars (metæ) round which the chariots turned: along this spine were seven movable towers or obelisks, called from their oval form ova, or phalæ; one was taken down at the end of each course. There were four factions in the circus, Blue, Green (xi., 196). White, and Red, xii., 114; to which Domitian added the Golden and the Purple. Suet., Domit., 7. The egg was the badge of the Green faction (which was the general favorite), the dolphin of the Blue or sea party. For the form of these, see the Florentine gem in Milman's Horace, p. 3. Böttiger has a curious theory, that the four colors symbolize the four elements, the green being the earth. The circus was the resort of prostitutes (iii., 65) and itinerant fortune-tellers. (Hence "fallax," Hor., i., Sat., vi., 113.) Cf. Suet., Jul., 39, and Claud., 21.
[317] Mane. "The first thing seen" in the morning was a most important omen of the good or bad luck of the whole day. This is well turned by Hodgson:
"The sooty embryo, had he sprung to light,
Had heir'd thy will and petrified thy sight;
Each morn with horror hadst thou turn'd away,
Lest the dark omen should o'ercloud the day."
[318] Spurcos lacus. Infants were exposed by the Milk-pillar in the Herb-market: the low ground on which this stood, at the base of Aventine, Palatine, and Capitoline, was often flooded and covered with stagnant pools. "Hoc ubi nunc fora sunt udæ tenuere paludes," Ov., Fast., vi., 401. The "Velabri regio" of Tibull., ii., v., 33.
"The beggars' bantlings spawn'd in open air,
And left by some pond-side to perish there;
From hence your Flamens, hence your Salii come,
Your Scauri chiefs and magistrates of Rome." Gifford.
[319] Mimum. Cf. iii., 40, "Quoties voluit Fortuna jocari."
[320] Boletus. Cf. v., 147. Nero used to call mushrooms "the food of the gods" after this. Cf. Suet., Nero, 33. Tac., Ann., xii., 66, 7. Mart., i., Ep. xxi.
"That only closed the driveling dotard's eyes,
And sent his godhead downward to the skies." Dryden.
[322] Cæsonia. Cf. Suet., Calig., 50, "Creditur potionatus a Cæsonia uxore, amatorio quidem medicamento, sed quod in furorem verterit."
[323] Grande Sophocleo.
"Are these then fictions? and would satire's rage
Sweep in Iambic pomp the tragic stage
With stately Sophocles, and sing of deeds
Strange to Rutulian skies and Latian meads?" Badham.
[324] Pontia, daughter of Titus Pontius, and wife of Drymis, poisoned her two children, and afterward committed suicide. The fact was duly inscribed on her tomb. Cf. Mart., vi., Ep. 75.
[325] Tamen. Heinrich proposes to read "tantum."
[326] Alcestim.
"Alcestis, lo! in love's calm courage flies
To yonder tomb where, else, Admetus dies,
While those that view the scene, a lapdog's breath
Would cheaply purchase by a husband's death." Badham.
[327] Insulsam.
"But here the difference lies—those bungling wives
With a blunt axe hack'd out their husbands' lives." Gifford.
[328] Ter victi, by Sylla, Lucullus, and Pompey. Cf. xiv., 452, "Eme quod Mithridates Composuit si vis aliam decerpere ficum Atque alias tractare rosas."