13. argentō: ‘silver plate.’
trīclīnia: properly a couch for three persons reclining at meals. Here it means the table, which was square, and surrounded on three sides by one-armed couches, while the fourth side remained open for convenience in serving. Each couch accommodated three persons, who reclined upon the left arm.
14. Gallīs: he had reserved Gaul for his peculiar province.
17. Eborācī: he was on an expedition against the Picts.
Page 95.
Ch. 2.
1. Cōnstantīnus: known in history as Constantine the Great. The most important change he introduced was the adoption of Christianity as the state religion. The story is told that while marching from Gaul at the head of his legions, he saw in the heavens a luminous cross with this inscription, ‘By this conquer.’ In 313 A.D. he issued the famous Milan decree that gave imperial sanction to the religion of the Christians. Although he openly acknowledged Christianity, his religion was a strange mixture of Christianity and Paganism. Creighton, p. 112.
6. in vīllā pūblicā: a building in the Campus Martius, intended for a lodging house or hotel for foreign ambassadors.
11. quās … habuit: ‘which he utterly disregarded.’