P. 180.—“Hector.” The chief hero of the Trojans in the war with the Greeks, the eldest son of Priam, king of Troy. Having slain Patroclus, the friend of Achilles, the latter was aroused to revenge, and came out to fight. Hector remained bravely without the walls until he saw his enemy, when he took to flight, but he was finally pierced with Achilles’ spear, and his body dragged into the camp of the Greeks. Hector was the stay of the Trojans. He is represented by Homer as a man of all virtues, and is claimed to be the noblest conception of the “Iliad.”
P. 184.—“Boll of grain.” The Scotch formerly used a measure called the bōll, or bole. Its capacity varied with the article measured. A boll of wheat or beans held four bushels; of oats or potatoes, six bushels.
“Cevennes,” sā-venˈ. A mountain range of France, separating the valleys of the Garonne and the Loire from those of the Saone and the Rhone.
P. 187.—“Santa Scala,” or the holy staircase, called also Pilate’s staircase, is a flight of twenty-eight marble steps in a little chapel of Rome. They are said to be the steps which Christ passed up and down in going before Pilate, and that, like the Holy House at Loreto, they were transported by angels to their present position. Multitudes of pilgrims crawl up this staircase, kissing each step as they go. It is related of Luther that wishing to obtain the indulgence promised by the pope for this devout act, he was slowly ascending the steps when he suddenly heard a voice exclaiming, “The just shall live by faith alone.” He was so terrified by his superstitious folly that he at once fled from the place.
P. 190.—“Aulus,” auˈlus hirˈti-us.
P. 194.—“Protagonist,” pro-tăgˈo-nĭst. The first or leading actor in a drama.
P. 196.—“Obsolescence,” ŏb-so-lĕsˈcence. The going out of style, becoming old, obsolete.
P. 202.—“Lucius Catilina,” lūˈci-ŭs catˈi-liˌna.
P. 205.—“Spurius Mælius,” spuˈri-us mæˈli-us. A rich plebeian who in the famine at Rome in B. C. 440 bought up corn to distribute to the poor. His liberality won him the favor of the plebeians, but the hatred of the patricians. In the following year he was accused of a conspiracy against the government. Having refused to appear before the tribunal when summoned, Ahala, the master of the horse, rushed out with an armed band and slew him.
“Opimius.” A patrician, the leader of his party in the proceedings against Caius Gracchus in 120 B. C. Through his violence some three hundred people were slain after the death of Gracchus.